Sydney

Travel Advice for Seniors: Sydney

We arrived in Sydney after a fantastic three weeks in Australia. The flight to Australia s so long that we always like to spend enough time touring to make the trip worthwhile. No one wants to spend the several days it takes to get over jet lag just to have to get back on a plane to go home!

Our journey to Australia took us through Melbourne, Adelaide/wine country, Ayers Rock (Uluru), Port Douglas/Cairns and then to Sydney for New Year’s Eve. Our plan was to tour through and then meet my husband in Port Douglas where he was just coming off his dive trip to the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. He then accompanied us to Sydney to ring in the New Year.

December is summer in Australia as it is below the equator, so opposite our weather here in the States. We didn’t see the tourist crowds until we arrived in Sydney, but again, it was right at New Years. Australia is a very big country, and we flew between destinations, making the best use of our limited time.

Back to Sydney. We checked in to Harbour Rocks boutique hotel which was very close to the harbour area. We only had four days in Sydney before heading home, so wanted to make the most of it.

We visited the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Royal Botanic Gardens plus took at tour of the Sydney Opera House on Day One. The Art Gallery had a large collection of art by an international assortment of artists including indigenous works. The Royal Botanic Gardens were filled with summer blooms and an assortment of indigenous plant life.

Second day we toured the Australian Maritime Museum, checked out the Harbour Bridge and did a little shopping at the Queen Victoria Building. The Maritime Museum has a fantastic collection of maritime artifacts dating back to British and Dutch times. Several full-sized boats are in the harbour including military vessels and replicas of older ships. The Harbour bridge was an interesting museum and walk, though we declined to walk on top of the bridge.

Third day was New Year’s Eve. It is very popular to go down to the harbour and watch the fireworks for New Years, which are outrageously spectacular and seem to go on for hours. They light them in the harbour and also off of the Harbour Bridge, an incredible sight. We walked down around the harbour areas early in the afternoon where people were already securing spaces for later that evening. Important to note: Check the location of toilets before you settle on a spot. We didn’t see very many. And get your spot secured early if you want to sit down and have a little elbow room.

Instead of sitting at the harbour with the crowd, we instead opted for a once in a lifetime New Years Eve dinner at the top of the Shangri-la Hotel. Front and center to the fireworks, with a seven-course meal with wine pairings and champagne to ring in the New Year. It is likely the most expensive meal we will ever enjoy, but considering the view, the exquisite food and wines plus the pampering, it was definitely worth it.

New Years Day was pretty light as not much was open, so we took a bus out to Manley Beach and had lunch. The beach is close to the famous and popular Bondi beach, but we were hoping it would be a bit less crowded. No luck. It was, however, nice to stroll around and have a relaxing lunch.

Fourth Day: What better way to ring in the New Year than to go on a wine tour to Hunter Valley Vineyards? This was an all-day affair, and we visited several wineries and bought ourselves a nice lunch at one. We picked up a few nice bottles of Shiraz to compare with our Shiraz purchased in wine country near Adelaide.

There is plenty more to do in Sydney and it would likely be a lot less crowded during another time of year. But we found it was not so crowded that we didn’t enjoy ourselves. I would say that you should book what you’d like to do there well in advance. We booked the New Year’s eve hotel almost a year in advance and would suggest doing the same for any accommodation.

Where we stayed: Harbour Rocks Boutique Hotel, centrally located. Rooms very nice.

How we got there: Flew from Cairns then private transfer to hotel. This was part of a three-week private tour through Australia. We began in Melbourne and ended in Sydney for New Years’ Eve.

General Accessibility Information: Major tourist sights, hotels and transportation in most major cities is accessible. Further, several hiking trails are accessible. See AllTrails’ wheelchair-friendly trail guide.Call in advance to verify and make specialty arrangements.See our sections on specialty apps and accessible travel for more on accessibility assistance.

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