Experience Australia Day January 26th
Australia Day (or ‘Straya Day as the locals call it), landing in Sydney with some great excitement, I started Sydney off with a bang, by planning to make it for Australia Day on January 26, and I arrived just in time on the 25th! On the 25th, however, 4 hours into being in Sydney, my host asked if I wanted to head out for a drink at the bar down the street. I hadn’t even left the building when that jet lag finally caught up with me; I tripped and fell down a step spraining my ankle in process! It was black, purples, browns, greens and blues like I had never seen before (Check Out My Ankle)! I am a “walk it off” type person and as long as I could walk, I would, so I still made it to a bar in Potts Point (a popular backpacker spot) that night for a little celebratory drink, but I headed home shortly after as the rest of them continued on their joyous night.
The real Australia Day Bonanza!
Starting the day off with just a little R&R while I elevated and iced my ankle; I was still determined to experience the full swing of ‘Straya Day on January 26th, so I headed to Bondi Beach via public transit. The transit can be quite confusing at times, especially at large stations or transfer stations.
Check out the Tips for Traveling in Sydney.
I took the train to Bondi Junction and followed signs to get to the bus platform. Bus number 333 goes to Bondi Beach. There are about 5 stops before you get to Bondi Beach (the buses do not have prompts so you have to watch out the window or follow along on your phone). There are, I believe, 3 stops along the actual beach itself, try to get off close to the center of the beach (the second stop after you initially see the beach). The buses do not have signs for which stop is which so you just have to do a bit of guessing or ask the bus driver. The stop closest to the center of the beach is close to the lifeguard station, the Open Air Cinema, the changing area and bathrooms and some cute shops and cafe. I highly recommend trying out Chacha’s Ice Cream. It is made in Australia with all natural ingredients and spices, they even have flavour markers that mention which gelatos are good for inflammation or gut health, etc. All the gelatos are vegan and gluten free.
Once we were finally settled onto our spot on the beach with our bellies full of Chacha’s, I started to sun bake and enjoy my first Australia day! I watched the waves crashing, the tide rising, I listened to the music playing and everyone just generally enjoying Australia Day. The beach was not as packed as I thought it would be, so it wasn’t too hard to find a spot. Buuuttt… sometimes bad luck stikes and I noticed that my ankle was really swelling and changing a bit of colour; watch the video below to see what happened!
The lifeguard looked at it and explained that she was certain it was just a bad sprain. She wrapped it for me and gave me a bag of ice and a ride back to our spot on the beach!
Eventually, the sun tucked behind the clouds and the temperatures started to cool, it was time to head home, but ‘Staya Day was not over yet because the main event was the fireworks show over the Sydney Opera House. Sydney has the most spectacular fireworks you have ever seen and they hold them on two days of the year; New Years Eve and Australia Day! So I dug out my camera and we headed toward the Sydney Opera House.
I tried my best to show you the best of the best fireworks in the world condensed into 3 minutes and 28 seconds, trust me, it is still amazing!
All and all a successful Australia Day!
#2018 #Australia #Sydney #Travel