When you think of Sydney, you might conjure up in your mind- Finding Nemo, the Sydney Opera House, and of course, shrimp on the barbie. While my trip did consist of trekking near the spectacular Sydney Opera House- there is so much more many don’t know about besides the regular, “tourist traps”.
I for one love the idea of exploring unknown territory and frolicking around god knows where, finding hidden treasures. If you feel the same way, you might be moved to start packing your bags and heading off to the land down under.
Where I stayed was a suburb right outside Sydney called, Matraville. The streets are always bustling in the mornings with construction workers and students in their uniforms running to catch the buses, small restaurants opening up, and in the air- that delightful smell of strong, delicious coffee.
When I said to a friend, “I love Starbucks”, she flipped her hair and just laughed. Australians admit they’re indeed coffee snobs. And I tell you, when I tasted a lick of that cup of Joe with extra espresso, I was addicted.
Four Natural Wonders Outside Sydney
Only a 20 minute walk from where I was staying in Matraville is the quiet retreat of Malabar Beach, nestled in between a golf course and cliffs extending on both sides. Some locals there never even heard of Malabar Beach. Yet, it is only a 25 minute drive south of the city. We are creatures of habit, and I came to find most Australians have their favorite places and stick to them. I for one like to explore every nook and cranny.
At Malabar Beach there is a park, a café (Malabar Beach Café) to grab a bite or a cold one, a cliff hike on the left side of the beach that is moderately difficult- but the end is a 180 view of ocean hugging skyline- and finally my favorite; a rock pool right off the side of the ocean.
Me and my cousins jumped in when it was lightening out, which I don’t advise. Victoria slapping the water yells, “I’m the God of the ocean”, like a lunatic trudging forward. I just died laughing taking cover from the storm under a nearby palm videotaping. What put the cherry on the cake was when walking home from the beach a passing car pegged an egg at me. I yelled, “what the hell?” I thought something fell from a tree, only to look down and see an egg cracked on the pavement. Quickly looking up I caught a smirk on the ranga’s (red head) face driving away. Needless to say, we laughed all the way home in disbelief.
One day we hopped on the train and headed to Cronulla Sand Dunes. You have to walk quite a while down a long strip of sidewalk and beach before you reach this natural landscape. It felt like we were sneaking into Area 51 or something; beach and ocean stretched on one side, and a peaceful lagoon on the other. There was not a soul in sight. We rolled down the dunes- sand flying in the air and mouth.
On the way home we got lost... in the dark. It’s never an adventure without getting a little lost. Thankfully some kind locals led us back to the train station while telling us stories about their travels. We yelled off to the couple as we got close to the station, “See ya mates!”
The third place we drove to with friends for a day trip was Wattamolla. It's a cove and a beach placed between cliffs. We nervously climbed our way up one of the cliffs to take a jump off. It was a rush! Just make sure when you jump you don’t flail your arms out. I made that mistake, but at least I wasn’t as bad as this drunk Aussie staggering around the cliff. He did a belly flop from 25 feet up. A man shouts, “He’s going to lose his budgie smugglers!” I had no idea what that meant, so I was enlightened on the Australian slang meaning, Speedo.
Lastly, the Blue Mountains hike was truly breathtaking. Below the valley you can find caves to trek though and various trails that can even take days. We sang and trotted our way through the mountain seeing waterfalls, exotic birds, a wallaby, and some aboriginals playing a didgeridoo. A man walking by us asked, “Can you play us a tune there mate?” My friend with ukulele in hand can never turn down playing music. The echoes of the tunes bounced off the walls melodically. It's spontaneous moments like that- that can put a smile on your face.
