33.8568° S, 151.2153° E
Sydney Opera House

Today we booked a city tour on the local hop on-hop off bus service. Good thing I had a kangaroo burger a few days ago so I could hop on and off easily!

We caught our first bus on the “red” line at a stop across the street from our hotel.

It took us through Sydney’s central business district & then to the Sydney Opera House. In the business district we saw many old sandstone buildings mixed in with spectacular modern architecture.

We hopped off the bus at the Opera House & took in the great views of it & the Harbour Bridge.

There was a Carnival cruise ship at the dock where we will be boarding our Princess cruise ship on Wednesday. Very exciting!

We walked around the Opera House which is set on 4-1/2 acres so we got a lot of steps in just circling it!

The bus took us back to Darling Harbour where we had lunch, then got back on the bus on the “blue” line which took us on a different route out to Bondi Beach.

We popped back into our favourite cafe – Le Paris Go – for a cappuccino as it had started to rain. Hard to believe it was three weeks ago that we were here in the 30 C sunshine!

We got in line for the next bus back and were able to get a seat inside. We saw different parts of the Bondi area and some more spectacular views of the Sydney skyline and harbour. The real estate prices in this area must be obscene!

Some of the return route was starting to feel a little familiar. We drove by “our” laundromat three times today! Surely a cultural highlight!

This morning we hopped on the first bus of the day and this afternoon we hopped off of the last one – so we certainly got our money’s worth!

Photo below: the world’s tallest vertical garden building – One Central Park, located in downtown Sydney. 34 stories, 2,200 apartments & accommodations for 900 students.

We bought a two day pass so we can go back to the Opera House tomorrow for a longer visit.

This service is a great way to see the city and hear more about the history of the area. For example, the tour bus guide told the story that when the first British arrived in Australia they pointed at the kangaroos and asked the aborigines what the name of the animal was. They responding saying “kangaroo” which actually means “I don’t understand what you are saying.”

Cheers, mates!