With Sereen, it's tough to find time to write detailed accounts of each day so I'll shorten the updates to bullet point highlights.
Day 1 - Calgary to Sydney
- Sarim dropped us off to the airport
- Almost missed flight to Vancouver due to Electronic Travel Authorization that's required for Australia (similar to visa but can be applied at airport) so getting that caused delay
- Two hour layover in Vancouver
- 15.5 hour flight to Sydney - Sereen slept for first few hours in her own car seat, were able to watch couple of movies
- Passed immigration, bought local phone SIMs
- Took taxi to InterContinental hotel
- Took showers and got ready
- Walked to Circular Quay next to hotel
- View of Sydney Harbour Bridge while having burger and steak for lunch
- Walked to Sydney Opera House
- Hot day so had ice cream on our way back to the hotel
- Went to sleep early around 6 pm
Day 2 - Australian Animals
- Woke up at 1:30 am due to jet lag
- Played with Sereen and made plans for later travel days
- Had complimentary hotel breakfast at 6:30 am, Sereen had a banana
- Walked to Circular Quay to board ferry to Taronga Zoo
- Started raining when we were walking from ferry station to zoo
- Took the cable car to zoo entrance, saw elephants during the ride
- Saw kangaroos, Koala bears, emus, platypus, little penguins, elephants
- Had peri peri chicken and steak for lunch at zoo cafe, Sereen had rice cereal
- Close encounter with a Koala bear named Darwin
- Bought kangaroo and Koala bear stuffed toys and animal themed tableware for Sereen
- Walked back to ferry station
- Ferry cruise of Sydney Harbour for almost 45 minutes
- Dropped off back at Circular Quay and walked back to our hotel
- Midhet picked us up for dinner, met after 15 years and met his Japanese wife Minami for the first time
- Had dinner at Thai restaurant
- Had chocolate fondue for dessert at Max Brenner's
- Reached back hotel around 11 pm
Day 3 - Australia's Convict Roots
- Woke up at 7 am, had breakfast, Sereen had banana
- Came back to our room for a nap
- Got ready and left hotel around 1 pm
- Started walking to the museum, passed NSW Parliament House and Library
- Had chicken salad and chicken sandwich for lunch at a roadside cafe
- Walked to Hyde Park Barracks Museum and reached there at 2 pm
- Australia's convict roots, 160,000 convicts were transported to Australia, most of them to Sydney and they helped build the city
- Sereen fell asleep so we took turns going through the museum, also because the upper two floors were not stroller/wheelchair accessible
- Left the museum at 5 pm and it was raining so we found cover and then walked back to our hotel
- Left hotel around 8 pm to go out for dinner
- Walked along Circular Quay to Ribs & Burgers and had half rack of beef ribs and a small burger with fries
- Walked back to our hotel and went to bed around 10 pm
Day 4 - Opera House and Manly Beach
- Woke up at 4 am since Sereen was up
- Entertained her and gave her a bath
- Went down to have breakfast around 7 am, Sereen had her usual banana for breakfast
- Walked across the road from our hotel to the Royal Botanic Gardens since it was a beautiful day for a walk
- Walked along the water towards the Sydney Opera House
- Bought tickets for a guided tour of the iconic Opera House
- Had beef burger and chicken chipotle burger for lunch and got an avocado packed for Sereen for later
- The one hour tour started at 12:15 pm and we got an overview of the history, design and construction of the Sydney Opera House, along with stories about its primary architect
- After the tour, we walked along Circular Quay and stopped for dessert at Guylian Chocolate Cafe where Sereen had her avocado while we shared a chocolate mousse with almond panna cotta and a banana chocolate milkshake
- Then we boarded a high speed ferry to Manly Beach
- Manly Beach was exceptional and Sereen loved the cool breeze and smiled a lot
- It started raining so we sought shelter in a restaurant with a view of the beach and shared two tapas (goat cheese filled peppers and fried zucchini flowers)
- After it stopped raining, we walked back to the wharf and took the return ferry to Circular Quay and then walked back to our hotel
- Samia's relatives picked us up from our hotel for dinner around 7:30 pm
- Dinner at a Lebanese restaurant
- Reached back hotel at 10 pm
Day 5 - Downtown Sydney and Darling Harbour
- Woke up at 8 am, had our usual breakfast at this hotel comprising scrambled eggs, cereal, crumpets and lattes while Sereen had her rice cereal
- Came back to the room to take a nap
- Got ready and left the hotel around 1 pm
- Walked to Queen Victoria Building, a historic building that now houses a shopping mall
- Walked through Pitt street (similar to Stephen Ave in Calgary) where a few street performers were in action
- Entered the shopping mall and went to its food court for lunch
- Had Turkish Kabab and Indian chicken tikka masala for lunch from the excellent food court that had incredible variety of cuisines, Sereen had a banana that we had bought on our walk
- Got cafe lattes from a coffee shop inside the Queen Victoria Building
- Australia is famous for its splendid coffee and so far everywhere we've had coffee including our hotel, it has been great
- Walked to Darling Harbour, had to get help since elevator wasn't working so we were directed to take a different route
- Entered through Cockle Bay wharf and walked along the Harbour on the boardwalk
- Sereen loved the cool breeze and kept chattering when we stopped for a break and took her out of her stroller
- Continued walking around the Harbour and finally took the Pyrmont bridge back to Sydney Downtown and then walked back to our hotel, observing flocks of people walking back from work
- Did a lot of walking but the nice weather made it easy
- Reached back our hotel around 8 pm and were really tired so went to sleep, without having dinner
Day 1 - Calgary to Sydney
- Sarim dropped us off to the airport
- Almost missed flight to Vancouver due to Electronic Travel Authorization that's required for Australia (similar to visa but can be applied at airport) so getting that caused delay
- Two hour layover in Vancouver
- 15.5 hour flight to Sydney - Sereen slept for first few hours in her own car seat, were able to watch couple of movies
- Passed immigration, bought local phone SIMs
- Took taxi to InterContinental hotel
- Took showers and got ready
- Walked to Circular Quay next to hotel
- View of Sydney Harbour Bridge while having burger and steak for lunch
- Walked to Sydney Opera House
- Hot day so had ice cream on our way back to the hotel
- Went to sleep early around 6 pm
Day 2 - Australian Animals
- Woke up at 1:30 am due to jet lag
- Played with Sereen and made plans for later travel days
- Had complimentary hotel breakfast at 6:30 am, Sereen had a banana
- Walked to Circular Quay to board ferry to Taronga Zoo
- Started raining when we were walking from ferry station to zoo
- Took the cable car to zoo entrance, saw elephants during the ride
- Saw kangaroos, Koala bears, emus, platypus, little penguins, elephants
- Had peri peri chicken and steak for lunch at zoo cafe, Sereen had rice cereal
- Close encounter with a Koala bear named Darwin
- Bought kangaroo and Koala bear stuffed toys and animal themed tableware for Sereen
- Walked back to ferry station
- Ferry cruise of Sydney Harbour for almost 45 minutes
- Dropped off back at Circular Quay and walked back to our hotel
- Midhet picked us up for dinner, met after 15 years and met his Japanese wife Minami for the first time
- Had dinner at Thai restaurant
- Had chocolate fondue for dessert at Max Brenner's
- Reached back hotel around 11 pm
Day 3 - Australia's Convict Roots
- Woke up at 7 am, had breakfast, Sereen had banana
- Came back to our room for a nap
- Got ready and left hotel around 1 pm
- Started walking to the museum, passed NSW Parliament House and Library
- Had chicken salad and chicken sandwich for lunch at a roadside cafe
- Walked to Hyde Park Barracks Museum and reached there at 2 pm
- Australia's convict roots, 160,000 convicts were transported to Australia, most of them to Sydney and they helped build the city
- Sereen fell asleep so we took turns going through the museum, also because the upper two floors were not stroller/wheelchair accessible
- Left the museum at 5 pm and it was raining so we found cover and then walked back to our hotel
- Left hotel around 8 pm to go out for dinner
- Walked along Circular Quay to Ribs & Burgers and had half rack of beef ribs and a small burger with fries
- Walked back to our hotel and went to bed around 10 pm
Day 4 - Opera House and Manly Beach
- Woke up at 4 am since Sereen was up
- Entertained her and gave her a bath
- Went down to have breakfast around 7 am, Sereen had her usual banana for breakfast
- Walked across the road from our hotel to the Royal Botanic Gardens since it was a beautiful day for a walk
- Walked along the water towards the Sydney Opera House
- Bought tickets for a guided tour of the iconic Opera House
- Had beef burger and chicken chipotle burger for lunch and got an avocado packed for Sereen for later
- The one hour tour started at 12:15 pm and we got an overview of the history, design and construction of the Sydney Opera House, along with stories about its primary architect
- After the tour, we walked along Circular Quay and stopped for dessert at Guylian Chocolate Cafe where Sereen had her avocado while we shared a chocolate mousse with almond panna cotta and a banana chocolate milkshake
- Then we boarded a high speed ferry to Manly Beach
- Manly Beach was exceptional and Sereen loved the cool breeze and smiled a lot
- It started raining so we sought shelter in a restaurant with a view of the beach and shared two tapas (goat cheese filled peppers and fried zucchini flowers)
- After it stopped raining, we walked back to the wharf and took the return ferry to Circular Quay and then walked back to our hotel
- Samia's relatives picked us up from our hotel for dinner around 7:30 pm
- Dinner at a Lebanese restaurant
- Reached back hotel at 10 pm
Day 5 - Downtown Sydney and Darling Harbour
- Woke up at 8 am, had our usual breakfast at this hotel comprising scrambled eggs, cereal, crumpets and lattes while Sereen had her rice cereal
- Came back to the room to take a nap
- Got ready and left the hotel around 1 pm
- Walked to Queen Victoria Building, a historic building that now houses a shopping mall
- Walked through Pitt street (similar to Stephen Ave in Calgary) where a few street performers were in action
- Entered the shopping mall and went to its food court for lunch
- Had Turkish Kabab and Indian chicken tikka masala for lunch from the excellent food court that had incredible variety of cuisines, Sereen had a banana that we had bought on our walk
- Got cafe lattes from a coffee shop inside the Queen Victoria Building
- Australia is famous for its splendid coffee and so far everywhere we've had coffee including our hotel, it has been great
- Walked to Darling Harbour, had to get help since elevator wasn't working so we were directed to take a different route
- Entered through Cockle Bay wharf and walked along the Harbour on the boardwalk
- Sereen loved the cool breeze and kept chattering when we stopped for a break and took her out of her stroller
- Continued walking around the Harbour and finally took the Pyrmont bridge back to Sydney Downtown and then walked back to our hotel, observing flocks of people walking back from work
- Did a lot of walking but the nice weather made it easy
- Reached back our hotel around 8 pm and were really tired so went to sleep, without having dinner
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