March 26, 2018 Flying to Melbourne

March 26, 2018

Today we leave the Radisson in Sydney for our short visit to Melbourne - 3 nights.

Our plane leaves at 2 pm so we have most of the morning to pack, have a leisurely breakfast and lunch and walk outside a bit before we have to get our transport to the airport.

The airport was busy as lots of folks were still on holiday. The Virgin Australian flight left on time at 2 and  we arrived in Melbourne at 3:35 pm.
We got our luggage and found the car service driver  and went to the car for the ride to the hotel.

The tour company booked us at the Jazz Corner Hotel which was a half a block away from the Radisson.
We checked in and discovered that this property was part condos and part rental condos.
The BR was very small and hardly any room to get around in nor access the closet.

It had a full kitchen living room design.

We decided to contact the tour company the next day to see if we could move to the Radisson.

Around 5pm we decided to go to the central district (as they call downtown)  for dinner.
Looking at the tourist map the hotel clerk gave us we discovered the Greek District so we decided to walk there to find a restaurant  and have dinner.

We were shocked when we arrived in the so called Greek District to find that it was one block long and consisted of two restaurants, a gift store and a pastry store.

We decided to eat at Tsindos, which turned out to be a Cypriot restaurant serving Greek and Cypriot food.

 Keftethes

 Sheftelias

Diples

We had a delicious dinner and dessert and then walked back to the hotel to get ready for  our half day city tour.

March 25, 2018 A free day in Sydney

Sunday Mar. 25

Today is a free day before we leave for Melbourne  tomorrow. We planned to go to the zoo via ferry and the concierge said it was very easy since we are so close to the Quay and ferry terminals.

After breakfast we walked down to the Quay to find the zoo ferry. We were able to buy a combination ticket which include round trip ferry ride and entrance to the zoo.

The ferry ran every 30 mins. It took us about 25 minute to reach the pier for the zoo and a 10 min walk and bus ride to the zoo entrance.

As you can see from the photo the zoo  admission was pricey. Afterwards we thought the price should have been reduced since the zoo was undergoing a renovation and a lot of the exhibits and animals were closed.

Since the zoo is located on the side of a hill we had to take a sky gondola to the top where the actual entrance is.

https://taronga.org.au/sydney-zoo

We walked around the top area of the zoo which featured native Australian animals. There were either one of ea. species or several of ea. species.

We then walked down to the tiger experience which was very  interesting. We walked into a set designed like the cabin of a plane and it was flying us to Indonesia to a tiger reserve.
Once we "landed" we walked through a village to the tiger enclosure.

After we visited the tigers we headed to the elephant exhibit. There were 3 adult elephants and a baby elephant. The keepers came out with a hose and were washing down the elephants to their delight. 

After we left the elephants we headed to the giraffes. This location was great as we could see across the bay downtown Sydney and the Harbor Bridge. 

We proceeded further down the hill going through the aviary and then to the penguin and seal exhibits. 
Only the fairy penguins were out and they were so cute darting around underwater.

By now it was 1:30 and decided to head back to the Quay.

We liked the Four Frogs cafe so we stopped there for crepes and coffee and then back to the hotel.

Watching the Greek 4pm news we saw that because it was Greek Independence Day there was a big celebration at the Opera House. The mayor of Melbourne who is Greek was there as well as Evzones (Greek Soldiers) from Greece participating in the event.

We had searched for a Greek district but found out all the Greeks have moved to a suburb 30 mins away. There are few Greek restaurants in the central bus. district and they are either very expensive or a Greek fusion menu.

I found a Greek Taverna in the outer part of the city and made reservations for dinner at 8pm. The live music would start at 9pm.
We took an Uber to the taverna which was in an alley off the main street.

We had a delicious dinner - I had the roast lamb and potatoes and Sophia had the pork strips. 

 After dinner we stayed to hear the music for awhile and then Ubered back to the hotel to get ready for our trip to Melbourne.

March 24, 2018 1/2 day Sydney city tour

March 24, 2018

Bondi Beach
Today we go on a half day city tour that was organized by our Tour Company.

We were picked up at the hotel in  a small bus as this was a small group tour at 8am at our hotel.
http://www.aealuxury.com.au

The drive started by going by the Rocks district above Circular Quay and the Harbour Bridge.

Tour description from brochure...

Visit the historic Rocks area and hear early convict history. 

Enjoy magnificent views of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. 

See the shopping heart of the city, QVB, Centre point. We were driven through the Central Business district to Macquarie's  Point for photos and to see the famous Mrs. Macquarie's chair.

Visit Mrs Macquarie’s Point, Kings Cross, Double Bay and Sydney’s best panoramic view at Dover Heights then onto famous Bondi Beach. Visit the beachfront promenade,

The chair/bench was made by convicts

We stopped for tea (coffee break) at the famous Bondi Beach. Since it was fall the beach was not too full and the weather mild.

 Lattes and giant croissant

Return to City via the beach coast line, Centennial Park, Paddington, Oxford Street then onto  Darling Harbour.

 wild cockatoo

light house

After the tour the bus left us at our hotel and we decided to go to the central shopping pedestrian mall for lunch.  When we went into the Westfield Mall we found a Greek restaurant in the food court. We of course had to have lunch at Zeus and ordered soulvakia and greek salad.  Prices were a bit high for food at a food court.

After lunch Sophia decided to to up to the top of the Sky Tower and I waited for her in the food court. She said she could see a 360 degree view of the city.

 We then walked around the shopping area and then decided to go to the Queen Victoria Building which was restored and converted to small shops.

https://us.sydney.com/destinations/sydney/sydney-city/city-centre/attractions/queen-victoria-building

The building was beautiful with high center ceiling, stained glass windows and a large clock in the center of the building.

We found a Starbucks in the basement to have coffee and a sweet and a rest.

Afterwards we explored the shops in the building.

Then we headed back to the hotel. Tomorrow is Sunday and we plan to take the ferry to go to the zoo.