A year ago on this date, we were in Sydney for our first Aussie summer. It was for Elian’s 2nd birthday and looking back now I’m so glad we already made it happen. 3 cities in 3 weeks, while he was still free as an “infant”, well not really free as we just paid for tax but it’s so much cheaper and a really good deal. I actually miss it now that he’s almost 3 years old and his airfare is already same as and adult.

If you read my first post on our Sydney trip, you already know how our first days were spent. A week in Sydney meant having so many videos and photos of all the places we went to that it took me a year to finally get it together in a blog post and video.

One of our favourite spots visited for this trip was the University of Sydney, thanks to my dear friend Jojo who is also Elian’s Ninang. Part of the reason why we went ahead with this Australia trip was to visit Jojo who was studying here and living in Sydney at this time. It was the perfect time! We had so much fun! So we went to University of Sydney complete with Gryffindor and Hogwarts shirts and took photos feeling like wannabe students of this school hahaha! The school was oozing with Harry Potter vibe with its very beautiful and grand Great Hall, the old-world architecture, it’s really like Hogwarts came to life. Elian enjoyed running around and we enjoyed daydreaming how it would be like if Elian went there for college. Thanks to his Ninang for showing us around and giving us a glimpse of Elian’s future school hopefully haha!

Another favourite place discovered during this trip was Taronga. I didn’t expect it to be such a scenic place for a zoo but it was. The whole experience of riding the ferry then the cable car to get to the actual zoo was really something memorable. It showed us the best view of Sydney from above! And I’m really glad we made this part of our itinerary.

Elian loved watching the elephants, feeding the giraffes, but unfortunately he already fell asleep when we met the koalas. We just have to come back here again then! :p

From Taronga Zoo, I was hoping to go to Balmoral Beach (I read somewhere this is where Princess Diana likes to go before hehehe) it was just a quick bus away and there’s even a path where you can easily walk to it from the zoo. But it was a long and hot day and we were already tired so we decided to head back to the city. We had to take it easy on the itinerary since we were traveling with the bub. When we got back, Elian enjoyed running after the birds in the Rocks overlooking the Opera House.

For our last full day in Sydney we decided to start the day with breakfast at the park across our apartment in this brunch restaurant called The Fountain at Potts Point. Then we went to Darling Harbour for Elian to play in the Children’s Playground. It is truly one of Australia’s best — from water games, water fountains, ropes, swings, and so much more. It was such a shame we discovered it late and didn’t have enough time to let Elian play there. It’s something I wish we had here in Manila. Sydney has such great parks and playgrounds for kids of all ages.

We spent the rest of our day in Bondi where Elian took his afternoon nap and we lounged around while waiting for Jojo to catch up with us after her work. We all went and had a swim, playing in the cold water. Getting to and from Bondi was just easy with just a short bus ride. If only we also had that back home then beach trips wouldn’t be so hard to do. I remember my first time in Bondi, 8 years ago with Jojo too. It was both our first time yet we didn’t get lost as getting around was so tourist friendly.

For our very last day, we want back to Circular Quay. I sort of always start and end a trip to Sydney seeing the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. So we went back and we wanted to dine again in Opera Bar just as we did on our first day but it was full. We had lunch at the restaurant beside Opera Bar where the big birds attacked our lunch and stole our fries haha. We then spent our afternoon at Hyde Park with a nice view of the St. Mary’s Cathedral. It was a beautiful beautiful park. One of my favourite parks ever. I love the fountain, the view of the church, the church’s architecture and all the nice flowers and trees. Elian loved the space. He kept running around chasing bubbles. There was somebody playing music and blowing bubbles. It was a nice last afternoon in Sydney.

That night we packed all our things, slept early, woke up at 4am and flew back home to Manila.

It was the perfect birthday trip for Elian, from beginning to end. Thank you Sydney, we love you! Australia was the perfect choice for his first long haul flight. Grateful to have our little family’s first Aussie adventure. We hope to do it again sooner than later! 🙂

For now, I leave you with this video 🙂