I was lucky enough to head back to Australia this year for my friend Clare’s wedding in March. I was only able to get 2 weeks off work. So I spent the first week in Australia and then I headed to Japan for my second week to see cherry blossom season with my brother. Not exactly close, but I was already halfway around the world so I thought why not? It was coincidence that Joe took the same time off to travel back to Japan for a few weeks, and it’s so hard to time cherry blossom season right. So I joined him for his first week abroad and then he stayed an additional two weeks after I left. More on that later.

Bronte Beach

I really love Sydney. I think it’s the ideal place to live. The weather is great, the beaches are amazing, they have a really good sense of work-life balance, and the people there are all very nice. I decided to rent an Airbnb on the coast for the first 4 days of my trip. When I visited Australia in 2023 I stayed in the Bondi beach area. I wanted to try something a little less touristy this go around, so I booked an Airbnb in Bronte beach. It’s much quieter than Bondi. It only has one little street with a few cafes open for breakfast/lunch, but it was perfect for a nice relaxing holiday away. I was coming from winter in Colorado so I appreciated the sun and beach even more.

Clare’s bachlorette party

I was supposed to get into Sydney on Friday morning and have one full day to recover from jet lag, but my travel day did not go as planned. My flight out of Denver to LA was cancelled and couldn’t be rebooked until the next day. So I missed the first full day of my trip. Tip: always buy travel insurance! I was able to get reimbursed for the first night in my Airbnb and all my meals for my 12 hour layover in LA 🙁 that was unplanned. Otherwise everything I booked was non-refundable through Airbnb and I would have been out of luck. So I landed 8:00 AM Saturday morning and had to rush to Clare’s bachelorette party that started at noon. She rented a boat to cruise around Sydney Harbor for a few hours. It was really amazing and a once in a lifetime experience! The theme was disco Mamma Mia.

Bondi Beach

Sydney Zoo

In my opinion Sydney has one of the best zoos. It’s right along the harbor with great views of the city in the background. Doesn’t look real with the wild animals against this backdrop! That giraffe looks very out of place if you ask me.

Clare’s wedding

The venue Clare picked reminded me of the English countryside. They got married on a property in Berry, NSW which is about two hours south of Sydney. The property had sheep, cows, and ducks wandering around. Lavender in the garden. It was very picturesque and so beautiful.

That’s a wrap on my Australia portion of the trip! Next up I’ll be sharing my Japan trip. Stay tuned.