Sydney Fish Market

Sydney Fish Market, a place where we heard long long time ago before depart to Australia. Hubby and I take a bus to Pyrmont, walk cross a few street and reached Sydney Fish Market. It's easy!

Sydney Fish Market incorporates a working fishing port, wholesale fish market, fresh seafood retail market, a delicatessen, a sushi bar, a bakery, a gift shop, a fruit and vegetable market, a beverage outlet, a seafood cooking school, indoor seating and an outdoor promenade for visitors. There are daily wholesale auctions for Sydney's seafood retailers.

Hubby and I bought a lot of great cooked seafood inside Sydney Fish Market, and because all the seats are fulled due to the Easter holiday, we went across the street to a large field, sit down to enjoy!

Hubby and I went Sydney on free and easy, no guide was appointed to bring us around. Thus I had put in a lot of effort finding our own itinerary.

Paddy's Markey, Sydney

When you are in Sydney, do not left out Paddy's market. I bought a lot of souvenirs and gifts there with cheap price. LOL

Paddy's Markets is a commercial enterprise that has two large markets in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Paddy's markets are located in Haymarket and Flemington and specialise in the sale of fruit, vegetables, fish, clothes and giftware.

Flemington Paddy's is the larger site and specialises in fruit and vegetable sales. The market is the primary delivery service of these products for Sydney. The market has a wholesale sales section that caters to larger business and general sales to the public. The market is the central marketplace for Sydneys farmers to sell their products. Paddy's Flemington also has Sydney Central Fresh-Cut Flower Market, that is the central provider of flowers to Sydney's florists. On weekends, the markets also feature clothes, gifts and souvenirs. There is also a second hand market, where vendors set-up a sales stand selling a range of second-hand goods.

The Haymarket Paddy's is located in the 'Market City' site, beside Chinatown and is more like a traditional flea market, specialising in cheap imported clothes, giftware and also has a small section for fruit, vegetables and seafood. Paddy's Haymarket also sells souvenirs which makes it popular with tourists. Market City features these markets along with The Peak apartment building and a modern shopping centre containing a food court, restaurants, boutiques, specialty shops and a cinema complex.

There were street performance outside Paddy's market on the day we visit. I've snap some photos. It was amazing!

Sydney Opera House

Australia landmark - The Sydney Opera House, a must-visit during Sydney trip.

The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre on Bennelong Point in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, who, in 2003, received the Pritzker Prize, architecture's highest honour.

Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

The Art Gallery of New South Wales is the leading museum of art in New South Wales and Sydney, and one of Australia's foremost cultural institutions. It holds significant collections of Australian, European and Asian art, and presents nearly forty exhibitions annually. Free admission!

Open every day: 10am - 5pm
Late closing every Wednesday: 9pm

Sydney - St Mary's Cathedral

St Mary's Cathedral is the first place hubby and I went. It is located very near the hotel we stayed. So we just walk and walk until wow, what a grand church! Without knowing about any restriction of public visit, we went in to explore!

St Mary’s Cathedral stands in the centre of Sydney as a Christian statement of grace and beauty. Generations of artists have bequeathed to it their magnificent gifts in stone and glass, designing a unique space of solace and prayer within this vibrant city. This Cathedral represents the spiritual origins of the Catholic Church in Australia. It is one of Sydney's most treasured historic buildings and one of the finest examples of English-style gothic churches in the world. William Wilkinson Wardell, the 19th century architect, dreamed of a gothic structure shaped from the local yellow-block sandstone on which this city is built. The building was finally completed 100 years after the architect's death. The Cathedral is dedicated to Mary Help of Christians.

Backed from Australia

Hubby and I just came back from Australia.

The flights are extremely on time for Air Asia and Jet Star. We arrived at the destination earlier than the estimate arrival time.

We are on free and easy for this trip and everything was running smoothly.

We check in to the hotels in Sydney and Gold Coast without any problem. The hotel in Sydney is very nice with a cert published rating 4-star. It is real nice and we enjoy staying there and was always taking away our dinner backed to enjoy. Our only dissatisfaction was on the hotel in Gold Coast. The hotel is said to own a 3-star rating, but to us it merely have a star!!! All the wooden furniture are ROTTING!!! And most horrible that it is HAUNTED!!! Someone disturb me while I bath! I prayed hard to leave this god damn hotel as soon as possible.

For the destinations and attractions, Sydney is better compared to Gold Coast. Sydney's buildings are more toward England style, classically and beautifully built. Most of the attraction are free of charge! While Gold Coast as a place where theme parks are welly-known had mostly a charged entrance fee for every attraction. I prefer Sydney and hubby promised to bring me backed to Sydney next time.

I will describe in detail the attractions we visited in the coming post. Please come back in few days time to follow up!

Few days to go

Hubby and I are departing to Australia on April 8th, few days away from now!!!

Wow, I'm really excited and looking forward to it!

So what I'm doing right now?

I'm waiting,
waiting,
waiting....

Australia trip

Hubby and I are going to have a 8D7N free and easy trip to Sydney and Gold Coast, Australia on the coming April which is only a week from now! Wow, I'm really excited and looking forward for it! I have been doing a lot, really a lot of researches about the attractions, transport, and accommodation in both Sydney and Gold Coast.

Map of Australia

Our air tickets from Malaysia to Gold Coast have been bought for a year, when Air Asia giving out free seats. The tickets cost only RM787 round trip per person, including 15kgs luggage allowance and seat allocation.

For air tickets from Gold Coast to Sydney, I just bought last month with Jet Star. It costs Aussie $264 round trip per person, including 20kgs luggage allowance and seat allocation.

Four nights of 4-star-hotel-stay in Sydney costs RM1,413 and three nights of 3-star-hotel-stay in Gold Coast costs RM876.

Application for Australia visa costs RM20 per person.

One thing special I've found out during my research, all the travel agents are very very selfish! Even the one where I paid for my hotel booking and visa application would not give me any advice on the transportation in Australia! But anyway, I depends no one but myself, searching through the Internet finding our own solution! And most delighted, I found what I want!

For our transportation in Sydney, we'll depends on the "Sydney Pass" which includes "Sydney Explorer", "Bondi Explorer" and most of the train, ferries and local buses. All we need to do is to buy a 3-day-ticket which cost Aussie $115 per person. It includes train service from the airport to city too.

On the other hand, we will buy "Freedom Pass" which includes airport transfer, unlimited theme parks transfers and unlimited travel on the local bus network. A 3-day-ticket costs only Aussie $58 per person.

Arriving in Sydney, it is a must to pay a visit to Sydney Harbour, Sydney Opera House, Sydney Aquarium, Sydney Fish Market, Taronga Zoo, Rock Markets, Bondi Beach, Manly Beach and shopping at Paddington.

While in Gold Coast, visiting to the Warner Bros Movie World, Sea World and Dreamworld are probably a must also. There are also other interesting places such as Currumbin Sanctuary, Paradise Country, Wet n' Wild Water Park, Mount Tambourine, Sirromet Winery, Mt Nathan Winery and Catch-A-Crab at Tweed Heads.

I'm not sure whether there are Golf in Australia. But by the way, I knew that there are company which offer golf holidays (Golfreisen), offer a golf license that is necessary to play golf in Germany (Platzreife) ad also offer online shopping possibilities. If you wanted to go somewhere for golf, check it out!

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.34 million (2008 estimate). It is the state capital of New South Wales, and was the site of the first British colony in Australia. It was established in 1788 at Sydney Cove by Arthur Phillip, admiral of the First Fleet from Britain. A resident of the city is referred to as a Sydneysider.

Sydney is situated on Australia's south-east coast. The city is built around Port Jackson, which includes Sydney Harbour, leading to the city's nickname, "the Harbour City". It is noted for the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, and its beaches. The metropolitan area is surrounded by national parks, and contains many bays, rivers and inlets. It is listed as a beta world city by the Loughborough University group's 1999 inventory and ranked 16th among global cities by Foreign Policy's 2008 Global Cities Index. The city has hosted international sporting events, including the 1938 British Empire Games, 2000 Summer Olympics and the final of the 2003 Rugby World Cup. The main airport serving Sydney is Sydney Airport.

Sydney is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, which reflects its role as a major destination for immigrants to Australia. According to the Mercer cost of living survey, Sydney is Australia’s most expensive city, and the 15th most expensive in the world. Sydney also ranks among the top 10 most liveable cities in the world according to Mercer Human Resource Consulting and The Economist.

Gold Coast

The Gold Coast is a city and local government area in the southeast corner of Queensland, Australia. It is the second most populous city in the state and the sixth most populous city in the country. It is also the most populous non-capital city in the country. Gold Coast City is renowned for its sunny subtropical climate, popular surfing beaches, expansive waterway and canal systems, a skyline dominated by high-rise apartment buildings, a peaceful rain forest hinterland in the west of the city, active nightlife and its wide variety of tourist attractions.