Best of Sydney

We loved Sydney. After sailing there for the holidays, and extending our stay a few times, it was hard to leave. I miss the city’s clean streets, happy residents, busy bars and restaurants, excellent museums, and fun festivals. After two months in The Harbour City, here’s what we loved the most. The best of Sydney ranges from cool music venues to funky neighborhoods to free art galleries and hikes.

Best Anchorage: Glebe Bay

My list of the best of Sydney wouldn’t be complete without talking about where we spent most of our time on the boat. In many of the cities we’ve sailed to, like Auckland and Cartagena, we’ve stayed in marinas because that was the best choice. Sydney is the opposite, fortunately, as it has a lot of boats and a lot of great anchorages. Plus, it’s easy to move around as long as you avoid the ferries. You can find good anchorages close to great beaches and others convenient for the fireworks. For us, the best bay for provisioning and sightseeing was Glebe, which has three anchorages.

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A Weekend in Brisbane

Brisbane is not nearly as famous as Sydney or Melbourne, but we loved Australia’s third largest city. Known as Brissie for short (Aussies love nicknames), it has a great climate and lots to do. With amazing outdoor spaces, and a huge selection of restaurants, we thoroughly enjoyed our weekend in Brisbane. We want to go back!

About Brisbane

The capital of Queensland, Brisbane is the third most populous city in Australia. It’s the biggest city we’ve sailed to in our five plus years living aboard, and we loved being anchored in such a cosmopolitan place. The population is more than 2.5 million, way more than Auckland’s 1.6m, our previous biggest port.

Brisbane city sign, weekend in Brisbane
The Brisbane City sign along the park filled South bank

Brisbane has everything a city should have. It’s got tall buildings and bridges, lots of public art, great dining, and outdoor parks. The population is big, but compared to North American cities, didn’t feel crowded. In fact, everything feels spacious and spread out. Even the bars and restaurants have loads of space.

Felons Brewery
Felons Brewery, a huge brewery on the river in Brisbane
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New Zealand Quirky Attractions

One thing you learn after spending just a short time in New Zealand is that Kiwis have a sense of humor. And, if you do a New Zealand road trip, you’ll notice countless oddball sculptures, and lots of BIG things. They’re everywhere in New Zealand, alongside roads and in towns. These New Zealand quirky attractions make for great stops on a road trip or even a day trip, and we took advantage and stopped at a lot.

Favorite Quirky Attractions

While not as famous as the big sites and museums, these New Zealand quirky attractions are part of the fun of visiting. Plus, there are so many scattered around the country, you don’t have to plan anything. You’re bound to run into a kiwi sculpture or something!

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