It’s only been about 24 hours since we arrived in Sydney, but it took me no time at all to fall back in love with the laidback Aussie lifestyle. Nearly 10 years have passed since my semester abroad at the University of New South Wales, but my love for Australia has remained as strong and steady as ever over the years.  So when my husband was offered an opportunity to work there for a few weeks, I immediately looked into how I could come along, too.

This view will do just nicely, thank you

Despite this being a working vacation for both of us, we’re planning on seeing quite a lot over the next three weeks. The fact that we have to spend 10 of those days working has actually made us do a lot of planning in advance and we’ve put a lot of thought into where we’re going to stay and what we’ll do in our time off.

Shot taken during my morning run

Just a prop… probably

This work week we are staying in a lovely Airbnb apartment near the beach in Manly. After we landed at the airport, we took the train to Circular Quay, purchased some Opal cards, then hopped on the first ferry to Manly. Whether it’s your first or fifth time in Sydney, the ferry ride to Manly is absolutely breathtaking with picture-perfect views of the Harbour Bridge, Sydney Opera House, and all of the multi-million dollar homes and yachts throughout the harbor.

Not a throwback!

Harbour Bridge

Home sweet home

The weather here has been all over the place, but we’ve made the most out of the sunny bits by getting some BBQ on the main beach, checking out Shelly Beach, strolling along the Corso, and generally getting acquainted with our new neighborhood. Over the next five days I’ll compile a list of our favorite places in the city.

Lifeguard, lifeguard, lifeguard, Aaron!

Sunny on Shelly Beach, but the storm is over Manly

The Corso was packed on Sunday, but nearly empty Monday morning

Merry Christmas, indeed

Next up: a weekend in Melbourne!