Sydney, Australia: Kangaroo spotting in the Hunter Valley and a perfect wedding in Daylesford
- Esther
- May 7, 2019
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 4, 2020
Originally, Ben and I had only planned to live here in Sydney for around 3 months (meaning we would be moving on to see some more of Aus right about now) but we've now decided to stick around for a few months longer.
This is partly because it took me a little longer to get myself out of my overdraft than I'd hoped but also because the quality of life here is so good!
I’ve been working full time here for a while now to save up for travels and have actually been really enjoying it. Trying to find a steady job with a Working Holiday Visa was a bit of a nightmare when we first arrived but I now have a good role right in the city centre, have been helping out at an off-airport check-in service at Sydney Harbour some weekends and have recently started to do some freelance writing for the lovely company I worked for back home.
As well as enjoying life in the city, I’ve loved taking a couple of fun mini trips outside of Sydney at the weekends. In mid-March, Ben and I flew down to Melbourne for my cousin Jake's wedding, which was a couple of hours’ drive away in a lovely, laid-back little town called Daylesford. I loved watching my cousin tie the knot with his beautiful wife Alannah and it was amazing to be part of such a sunny and perfect wedding day.
Everyone there was so happy, the venue (a restored church called Scrub Hill 1869 which was completely surrounded by farmland) was beautiful and the wine was flowing all day and all night! To top it all off, the sunset over the fields in the evening was bright red and picture-perfect.
Because we‘d come early to help set things up the day before, Ben and I also ended up being the only wedding guests to sleep in the teepee on both nights!
On the first night, I felt pretty scared about all the Australian animals that might be hanging out in the Aussie farmland (especially as the teepee was open at the sides) but it ended up being completely fine. I did get quite a few mozzie bites but luckily 0 from snakes or spiders!
I'm really looking forward to going back to Melbourne a little later on and spending some time in the city itself.
The weekend after the wedding, we also got to visit the Hunter Valley, one of Australia's major wine regions, to stay with our friend Alex at his house there. Again, we were really lucky with the weather as it was 30+ degrees and sunny both days (with a seriously impressive thunderstorm on the Saturday night - I'd never seen so much aggressive lightning!)
In the Hunter Valley, we spent a sunny Saturday tasting wines in the vineyards at Keith Tulloch winery and also went kangaroo spotting in the fields around the house. We were actually able to get really close to a group of them before they all started jumping away!
In the evening, we had some cheese, wine and a barbecue, and I spent most of Sunday just lying out by the pool in the heat.
Back in the city, I've also discovered lots of cool new things to see, like the colourful fireworks at Darling Harbour (which are on every Saturday night) and the amazingly scenic Olympic Pool at Milson’s Point.
I also really liked spending a sunny Anzac Day (a national holiday for honouring troops in Australia and NZ) in The Rocks, the most historical part of the city - and probably one of the parts with the most character. After the morning march, all of the pubs there were absolutely packed, but this also meant that the vibe there was really fun and lively.
The atmosphere (and views) at the Opera Bar, the Coogee Pavilion and The Glenmore are equally great, and even well into Sydney's Autumn time I've loved spending time on and around the beaches at Balmoral, Manly, Coogee and Bondi. All of this has helped make up for the fact that I've been missing home and my family and friends there a lot!
In the last week or so, it's been getting a bit chilly here because it's nearly Winter time down under. It's obviously still nothing like England's cold season - and I did spend Easter weekend on the beach so I really can't complain - but I'm looking forward to heading up to sunny Queensland when it gets into coat weather here!
For now, though, we have a couple more months of living in the city before we see some more of the East Coast. We've lived in the North Shore ever since we arrived but Ben and I are now looking for another shared house in Surry Hills, a really cool area near the city centre, so fingers crossed we find somewhere great to set us up for the rest of our time in the city.
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