PART ONE:

Day One

Maroubra, New South Wales, Australia

Of late I’ve decided I’m going to spare you all the boring details where the flight portion of my trips have been concerned. I hope that is alright with you all. Here’s all I’ll say in that regard. Evan & I departed Nashville on Saturday, December 28th around 4 PM, we had a three hour layover in LAX before departing there at 10:40 PM aboard a Sydney bound American Airlines flight. As per usual, we treated our flight attendants to a care package as a thank you for the time they were about to put in on our behalf. The flight was around fourteen hours & in fact we ended up landing an hour earlier than expected which resulted in us getting to sit on the jetway while we waited for a gate to open up. The local time of our arrival was around 8 AM on Monday December the 30th. After breezing through customs & immigration we met our friends Isabella & Logan & off we went to Bella’s mother’s house in Maroubra where we were to stay for the next two nights.

Before we venture farther I want to tell you a bit on the above mentioned pair & their importance to the story here within, especially in this first part. Isabella is an incredibly talented singer/songwriter who is originally a Sydney native, but now lives in Nashville, where we met. We met through our friend Blake & immediately hit it off. I think it’s because we share a lot of the same interests, but back in the summer when we all went camping, Isabella invited Evan & me to spend Christmas & New Year’s Eve in Sydney at her mother’s. I told her that my own mother would kill me if I didn’t come home for Christmas, but we took her up on transitioning into the new year abroad. Logan, Isabella’s boyfriend & a ludicrously talented fashion designer, came into the picture back at the end of the summer & he too took Bella up on her invitation, only he also ventured over for the Christmas holiday.

Isabella’s mother, Barbara, retired to an apartment on the East Coast of Australia, in a suburb of Sydney called Maroubra. Her two bedroom sits literally across the street from the ocean & the very famous Maroubra pool, Mahon Pool. We dropped our bags at hers before we went off in search of coffee, the local time now being around 9 AM. The plan was to dress for the pool, grab coffee & pastries from down the hill, then go to the pool to swim, sun, & eat.

The spot we ended up was a local Sydney chain called The Grumpy Baker. We each got a couple of pastries from them; I got a Lamington (an Australian dessert made of spongecake that is dusted in cocoa & coconut) & a Seafood Meat Pie (Salmon, whitefish, & prawns in a white wine creams sauce packed in a flaky pasty crust), as well as an Affogato (espresso poured over vanilla gelato). The roaster for TGB is called Single O, & in all honesty, it was the best coffee we found during our time in Sydney! With all of our baked goods & caffeinated beverages secured we walked back up the hill to the pool.

The Australian coast has its fair share of “natural pools,” especially around Sydney. They’re man made structures that are built right into the side of the coast & sit below the waves during high tide being fed & cleared by the ocean. In addition to the concrete incasing, the pools feature built in steps with hand rails & an additional drainage system but still maintain the natural rock work & often the natural flora & fauna as well. They’re honesty lovely. So we sat about in the sun, eating our selected delicacies, sipping our espresso, & catching up, eventually venturing into the cool ocean once the sun got too intense.

After our morning in the salt & sun we made our way back up to the house where Evan & I formally met Barbara. We then sat around in her garden chatting & getting to know one another truly enjoying the 70 degree weather & the company.

Around mid afternoon Isabella proposed a hike. She said we’d take the bus up to Coogee & hike the coastal trail from there to Bondi. Logan had scouted a restaurant for us to dine at once we arrived there & had booked us a reservation, so off we went.

The bus from Maroubra to Coogee was a short one & we instantly found Coogee to be far less ‘sleepy’ a town from neighboring Maroubra, where unlike the casual neighborhood vibe we found Coogee abuzz with tourists & locals enjoying the holiday. We set about the Bondi to Coogee trail, in reverse, weaving up the coast line making our way through the coves, parks, cliff sides, & beaches. The walk was stunningly beautiful & the weather was sheer perfection. All in all it took us between an hour to an hour & a half before eventually we landed at the famous Icebergs of Bondi Beach, another natural seaside rock pool. We had about forty-five minutes until our reservation but, unlike the Maroubra Pool, the Bondi Iceberg is privately owned & has a cover of $10 AUD per person. We opted just to go down to the beach & take a dip.

Spaghetti With Swimmer Crabs & Cuttlefish

Our 5 PM reservation was at an Italian restaurant called Bondi Trattoria. We were greeted by one of the owners who sat us, explained their specials, & got us situated. I ordered a drink called a “Boom Boom” which was a gin/limoncello/prosecco/lemon spritz & Evan & I split an order of Focaccia, ‘Bugs’ in Garlic Butter, Truffled Four Cheese Pizza, & a citrusy Spaghetti with Swimmer Crab & Cuttlefish.

I’m sure for my Americans the term ‘bugs’ was a jarring one to read. Believe you me, I was a touch put off when I saw it listed on the menu. However, bugs are a local crustacean known as al Balmain Bug. It’s like a smaller, flatter lobster. They’re quite good eating!

After dinner we hopped an uber back to Maroubra where we each took turns showering before we settled into the couch to watch a show the three of them had been watching over the holidays called Head. I didn’t make it very far into the episode though before the day in the sunshine & the lack of sleep started to catch up to me & before I ended up falling asleep on the couch I got myself up & took myself to bed.

End Of Day One

Day Two

I’d like to say we slept in, we didn’t. I have this obnoxious thing happen when I’m abroad where I wake up naturally fairly early. Australia seems to have been no exception. We awoke to a bright, shining New Year’s Eve & as was meant to become routine we once again started it off with The Grumpy Baker & a dip in Mahon Pool.

My bevy of choice was once again an affogato, only this time I opted for something smaller to snack on as Barbara had expressed interest in the five of us all going out to brunch at a cafe down in Little Bay where she knew one of the owners.

The restaurant in question is called Piccola Baia. It’s an Italian bakery that sits at the end of a strip a little inland from the beach. As per expected, we were greeted by the owner, who sat us & showed us around the menu & talked their specialties. Most of the group went for full on breakfast spreads but I opted for the Muesli with a Hazelnut Macchiato. Many coffees & conversations later I snuck off to grab the bill, a small thank you for allowing us to stay, & we went about making our plans for the rest of the day.

Barbara opted to not join us for the rest of the afternoon’s escapades so Evan, Logan, & I sat at the restaurant for about twenty minutes while Isabella returned her mother home. We talked life & travel while sipping bitter Chinotto Sodas & Mango Smoothies before Bella returned & we continued on farther south.

Isabella took us down to Botany Bay for a peak at the fort & a potential swim. Botany Bay is where Captain Cook first landed in Australia & is currently the home to the Bare Island Fort as well as a number of stunning beaches & reefs. Isabella bought us all ice cream from one of the trucks parked there & we went down the promenade to peek around the fort, which was closed for the holiday. We followed this up by walking back to the car where we changed into swimwear before making our way down to Congwong Beach.

We didn’t stay at Congwong long, mostly just long enough to dip in the ocean & go poking around the rocks & tide pools for small critters. The beach was stunning though; clear blue water, minimal waves, soft white sands. Stunning.

The plan for the evening was to have a charcuterie dinner complete with Aperol spritzes but for all of that we needed a few things from the shops. That’s where the mall comes in.

Once again, for my American audience, that last sentence may seem a bit confusing. I didn’t realize that is where we were headed until we got there, but before groceries we had to make a throwback of a stop at Kmart.

Yes. Kmart. No, not the same Kmart as is in the US, but also not not the same. I would say this Kmart situation was about halfway between a Walmart & an American Target, because yes, there is Australian Target, & no it is not the same…it was bought & is not operated by…kmart.

Side bar. This will come up a lot in this blog series. This ‘x’ thing exists, just like in the states, except ‘x’ thing is entirely different here. There’s also the inverse where you have something like Burger King in the US which is Hungry Jack’s in Australia. Same restaurant, different name. There are even brands that are the same item with different names or items with the same name but an entirely different product there within. It’s like being in an alternate universe where the seasons are switched, the healthcare is universal, & a lot of the animals can kill you.

Back to Kmart.

Bella had a few things she wanted to pick up there but we had all decided that we wanted to get this matching pair of pajama pants that Logan had bought a few days prior for hanging around the house in the evening with. Did I mention the Kmart was in the mall? I may have said it but glazed over the specifics. From Kmart we then went to the chemist for sunscreen, Aldi for cheese & other charcuterie offerings, & the liquor store for Prosecco & Aperol, all of which were within the mall. Yes, the mall also had your clothing stores, your shoe stores, your what have you, but it also had a full on grocer, liquor store, smoke shop, etc, etc, etc. Truly an all-in-one experience. With all of the bags secured we headed back to Maroubra to prepare for the evening’s festivities.

I suppose it’s worth noting, as I’ve had people ask, why we didn’t do Sydney Harbour for New Year’s Eve. Well it was proposed, but the options surrounding it were basically camp out all day to try & get a good view of the bridge & the fireworks, pay around $500 a person to get into somewhere with a good view, or have a lowkey ringing in of the new year & watch the fireworks down the coast from Maroubra. We all opted for the latter.

We all got into our matching pjs & Bella & Logan made the boards & the spritzes. We all enjoyed them in the garden, conversing & watching the people gather in the park in preparation for the 9 PM fireworks they did for the kids. It wasn’t too far into the evening that Isabella’s friend Barbara (not to be confused with her mother) joined us. A lovely, beaming light of a human, we got to know Barbara & hear of her many adventures before darkness fell & we wandered down into the park with the rest of the folks to watch the festivities unfold.

From Mistral Point, the park at the top of Maroubra, you can see all the way down the coast to Bondi. Coogee, which is about halfway between the two, does their fireworks at 9 PM so that people can get their children off to bed. It apparently used to be that Bondi would also do theirs then & you would get two shows for one simply by being at Mistral Point, we only saw Coogee’s.

Following the fireworks we went back to Barbara’s & continued to lounge, eat, drink, & enjoy each other’s company.

About an hour later we were joined by another friend of Isabella’s who had just come from a singing engagement in the city. Felicity, she told us stories of her singing gig mishaps & we all continued along laughing, eating, & drinking until Midnight rolled around.

We weren’t really sure if anyone along the beach was planning to do a midnight launch of fireworks, but we went back out to the point anyway. We were pleasantly surprised when we were able to see almost the entirety of Sydney Harbour’s show sans the bridge bit, just from where we were sat! There were an additional two or three shows going on as well but none of us could decide where they were based out of.

With the second set of fireworks finished out we went back to the apartment once again where we packed up the board, finished off our drinks, wished each other a happy new year, & drifted off to sleep.

End Of Day Two

Day Three

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2025!

We DID actually sleep in on the morning of the first of January 2025, all of us. I think until at least around noon. We all groggily emerged from our respective sleeping chambers & stations & began the day as the newly minted ritual insisted, with The Grumpy Baker & a dip in Mahon Pool, finding a rather large Huntsman Spider hunkered in the gutter along the way.

Evan & I were set to depart Maroubra on this day so after about thirty minutes to an hour at the pool we returned to the house, showered, cleaned up, repacked, & assembled all of our belongings in preparation for our turn in downtown Sydney.

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

It was fairly late in the afternoon when we made our way into Sydney proper. Isabella had offered to give us a ride in to our hotel so that we didn’t have to take an Uber. She also gave us a bit of a tour of the different districts as we drove through.

Our hotel, Aiden by Best Western Darling Harbour, was, as the name suggests located in Darling Harbour. I had found it while looking for post NYE accommodations in the city through a TikTok where an influencer had stayed there. Taking advantage of the exchange rate Ev & I booked the King “Influencer” Suite for what equated to us to be about $200 a night.

Bed with Custom Mural at Aiden Darling Harbour

The hotel was charming, featuring a bar & restaurant as you walk in & filtered still & sparkling water on tap on each floor.

We were given the corner room on the 6th floor. It had a wrap around balcony with views of the harbour & surrounding city & a number of darling (get it?) details including a hand painted mural by the bed, a seating nook, a ‘mud room’-esque entrance, an espresso machine, & amazingly, a fully enclosed shower!

This is where I go on a bit of a rant.

This one goes out to The UK, Australia, & Europe. Y’all. What is up with the half glass showers?! If you don’t know what I’m talking about, all over The UK, Australia, & Europe you will find a shower with a sheet of glass that only covers about two-three feet & then the rest of the shower is entirely open to the bathroom. So, no matter how hard you try, you end up getting water everywhere, all over the bathroom. It’s not like there’s a pane of glass, then a curtain, no. It’s just this sliver of glass right where the shower head falls & that’s it. Yes, there’s usually a drain in the middle of the bathroom floor as well. Yes, there’s sometimes a tub that accompanies this, but why is this the standard?! Just enclose your showers. You don’t even have to use a full pane of glass, just add a curtain.

-End of Rant-

Addendum: I’m sure Evan will want me to add in the fact that upon arriving at our room the couple in the room next to us was very clearly… *clears throat “engaged” in certain activities…very loudly. Like we’re talking loud enough that we could hear them from the balcony clear on the other side of the room from the shared wall. Other than that, we never heard a peep from our fellow hotel goers the remainder of our stay.

Isabella & Logan are not out of this story yet, btw. In fact the plan was for them to drop us off, allow us to get checked in & drop our bags in the room, then head over to the main part of the city for dinner. So that’s exactly what we did.

I had found a place in the city called King Clarence, a contemporary Asian fusion restaurant. We arrived right around the time that they opened & without having a reservation they told us that they were able to seat us for about an hour & some change but that was about it.

I don’t want to break off in another rant here, but I feel I must. Something I noticed about Australia is that restaurants & bars are not afraid to rush you the hell out of the door. They come around grabbing plates & empty cups as soon as they look even the slightest bit empty, to the point where I often had to stop the waiter & say “sorry, still working on that.” This is not an exclusively King Clarence issue, in fact I understand their rush, they told us we had limited time, but this is a phenomenon I noticed all over the island to the point where I often perceived it to be a little rude. Anyway, back to dinner.

At King Clarence they offer something that I found common amongst a lot of Aussie restaurants as well, where you can basically order an ‘I trust you’ for a set price per person & they bring you basically a prefix menu of their choosing. Kind of enjoyed that…even though that’s not what we ordered anywhere…

At King Clarence Evan & I ordered Fish Finger Bao with Mustard Greens, American Cheese, Pickled Chili, & Salmon Caviar, Duck Tsukune with Water Chestnuts, Hoisin Tare, Shokupan, & Onsen Tomago, Mapo Tofu with Red King Prawns, Smoked Marrow, & Baby Corn, & then the four of us split an order of the Rangers Valley Wagyu MB5 with Chickpea Miso, Horseradish Oroshi, & Sweet Soy, the Wood Roasted Pork Belly Ssam with Leaves, Pickles, & Condiments (think lettuce wraps), Wok Fried Greens with Strange Flavour, Typhoon Shelter, & Szechuan Peppers, & the Short Grain Claypot Rice with Char Siu Pork Jowl, Garlic Chive, & Egg Yolk. Additionally I got a bomb cocktail, though now I can’t recall the name or anything about it. My bad.

I think all in all our favorite things that we ordered were the Duck Tsukune, the Wagyu, & the Claypot Rice!

At dinner Logan informed us that he had surprised Bella with tickets to Nosferatu in the city & their showing was around 8:15 if we wanted to join. We opted in & made our way back across Darling Harbour to change into comfier clothes & hop in the parked car to head to the movie.

On our way to the Palace Norton St Cinema, the theater Isabella & her father used to go to, we passed their old home. Located off of Glebe Street, the townhome had a charming New Orleans-esque style to it. The area itself perpetuating that feeling.

We got to the theater fairly early, fortunately it had a bar & snack stand open. The theater is known for their “Choc Tops” an ice cream cone of varying flavors dipped in chocolate. I got a Macadamia Nut & Caramel one & woof, it was fire. In addition I got an Alcoholic Ginger Beer, something we must do more of in the states, & a bag of their famous Olive Oil Popcorn!

I deeply enjoyed Nosferatu…as an art piece. I don’t think that it’s a film I would see again, or seek out to see again, but I did still find it incredibly enjoyable & macabre. Most of the reactions of the people coming out of the theater were along the lines of “WTF did I just watch?!” Which I think is fair. Roberts Eggers (the director) is not for everyone I suppose.

With the day’s events wrapped & more than enough food to carry us into the night, Isabella took Evan & I back to our hotel & off we went our separate ways, capping off a truly wonderful New Year’s Day!

End Of Day Three

Day Four

Back in Nashville, & frequently in LA, Evan & I attend Barry’s Bootcamp classes. Barry’s is an international fitness brand that utilizes fifty minute HIIT classes, alternating rounds between lifting/HIIT & use of a treadmill or bike. You also have the option to “double floor” if cardio isn’t your vibe for whatever reason. Australia is home to several Barry’s locations, the majority of which are located in Sydney. We decided to make our way to one of these locations. The Barry’s we found our way to was located in Surry Hills.

Making our way from Darling Harbour to Surry Hills we made a pass through Thai Town. While in Thai Town we stopped at a coffee shop that I had found previously called Kingswood Coffee, where I got an Iced Hazelnut Latte.

Kingswood Recyclable Glass Iced Coffee Jar

Australia is famous for their coffee, truly. They revolutionized the industry a few years ago & since then they have been a hot spot for quality coffee the world over, so there is no shortness of incredible coffee to be found.

Kingswood is located on the outer edge of the World Center in Thai Town. Hidden amongst the collection of mostly restaurants with a few shops dotted throughout, Kingswood does something that drives me, as a consumer, nuts. They don’t have a menu, you just order what you want & hope they can make it. They do however give you your iced coffee in a reusable/recyclable glass jar which they instruct you to either wash & reuse yourself, or chuck it into the numerous recycling bin that dot the Sydney streets. I liked that aspect of it.

We got to Barry’s pretty early, but that allowed us to do a bit of shopping. I have Barry’s merch from all over the world; Singapore, London, LA, Nashville, etc, so I was excited to get some from Australia! I ended up getting a yellow “Barry’s Australia” Dry Fit Shirt & a hella comfortable, sky blue, “Barry’s Sydney” pullover.

After our class we had a little bit of time to burn. I had wanted to see about getting another pair of running shoes, the ones I came to Australia with had the rubber layer of the soles coming off. So we went up to Westfield Sydney, a mall at the center of the downtown area.

Initially we found Sydney to be a little sleepy as well, we were wondering, as we walked to Barry’s why all of the streets were so dead despite being in the city & where all of the people where. We found them, they were all at the mall.

I didn’t end up finding any shoes at the mall, but we did end up in Aesop. I needed some sunscreen & a post sun product as well as Evan needing a few things & the conversion rate, along with Aesop being an Australian brand, made it hard to pass up. Our sales associate there, Victoria, went above & beyond & even gave us a list of coffee shops, bars, & restaurants in Sydney to check out. The first of those was Edition Roasters, a Matcha/Coffee bar around the corner.

I didn’t necessarily want another coffee so I went with their signature Iced Matcha. It was heavenly, truly may have been one of the best matcha lattes I’ve ever had in my life.

We had an afternoon date set with Isabella & Logan at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. So we walked back to the hotel to change & freshen up before the museum.

We met the two of them on the steps of the museum after our Uber dropped us off. The Art Gallery is two separate buildings set in the middle of a park called The Domain. We only did the southern building on this day.

We walked around the gallery a bit with Bella & Logan, drifting in & out of the exhibit halls, before we nestled into the cafe for the duo to get a coffee. We sat there & chatted for a bit before making our way to the Aboriginal art section & then lastly venturing into the gift shop where Evan bought a few postcard sized prints to take home of pieces that we had seen around the gallery.

Here is where we, & our tales, say goodbye to Isabella & Logan. they had been our hosts & companions for the four days prior but it was time for the four of us to go our separate ways. Isabella & Logan had plans to go with her mother up to an Onsen in The Blue Mountains & we were departing the next day from Sydney to go up to Cairns (see part two for that). We hugged them both, exchanged wishes of great times & fortune, & off we went.

Ginger Blossoms in the Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens

Isabella had suggested to us that we walk north from the gallery through the Royal Botanic Gardens & from there make our way up to the Sydney Opera House, just so we could say we’d seen it & the Harbour Bridge. Being a massive lover of botanics, you didn’t have to tell me twice.

Giant Fig Tree in the Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens

Before making our way through the Botanic Gardens, we stopped at one of the stalls for a snack. Evan had become a bit hangry, so we split a sandwich, planning to have dinner on the early side.

The gardens were stunning! There was a whole section of all different kinds of Ginger, each blooming their own unique style & variations of the waxy, honeycomb like flowers they put out. There were tons of varietals of Bird-of-Paradise, a shaded Fern garden, & some of the largest Fig trees I have ever seen in my life. Some of the trees had to be hundreds of years old & were spread out in all directions in just as many feet. They were mesmerizing!

At the top of the Botanic Gardens sits the Sydney Opera House. What kind of ends up happening is that you’re walking along, walking along, looking at the trees, looking out into the harbour, then BAM! Opera House. They still had the barricades up from NYE & the parts of the Botanic Gardens that over look the are still had the remnants of what were clearly food & drink stands with white covered tents.

We didn’t go inside the Opera House at all, in fact we kind of skirted the edges. There weren’t too many people about but neither he or I really had a great deal of interest in being overly ‘touristy.’ We’d seen the thing that you’re meant to see while you’re there, we’d seen the thing we’d seen a million & a half pictures & references to & I think that was enough. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful building, it’s just that neither of us needed that full on selfied photoshoot in front of it.

From just up the road from the Opera House we grabbed an uber back to our hotel. We had gotten the recommendation to go to a restaurant called Ante from Isabella, Victoria, the internet, TikTok, etc. So we said “enough” & made it a priority.

Ante brands themselves as a “sake & sounds” bar & to their credit, that is almost exactly what they are. Located in Newtown, Ante offers sake, yes, but also a wide range of incredible Japanese inspired dishes, all set to the backdrop of a moody space that still has a vintage flare thanks to the vinyl racks & the duel turn tables that line the bar.

We got there just before their opening at 5 PM. Ante, does not take reservations & for all intents & purposes, they seem very popular, as the line of people outside the door prior to opening would insinuate & certify.

I really have got to start writing down my cocktails because Evan & I both had two incredible ones. For dinner we ordered a bit of the menu. We got the AP Bakery Sesame + Fenugreek Bread with Kasu Cultured Butter, the Plate of Pickles (mostly Carrots & Beets), the Fried Potato Mochi with Everything Bagel Sprinkles, the Torched Bonito with Calamansi, Makrut, & Urfa Pepper, the Grilled Baby Corn with Nori Butter (I’m a sucker for baby corn), the Beef Tongue Katsu Sandwich with Cabbage & Curry Mustard, the Tagliatelle with Fermented Shiitake Mushrooms, the Casarecce with Prawns, Kanzuri, & Clementine, & the Moonacres Lettuce with Burnt Honey. I told you, we ordered the menu. Additionally, lol, we also had the Panna Cotta with Black Splendor Plum & the Warm Madelaines with Yuzu Curd for dessert. Or.Dered.The.Menu.

Our favorite things, of the many we ordered, were the Bonito, the Baby Corn, the Beef Tongue, & the Casarecce, though none of the items listed about where anywhere short of entirely delicious. I preferred the Panna Cotta dessert, while Evan preferred the Madelaines.

After our amazing dinner it was time for more drinks. I do think we ended up spending about two & a half hours at Ante, so by the time we left, it was starting to get dark out.

Our next stop was Cantina OK!

I am a frequent follower of food & drink lists. I love me a good accolade, James Beard, Top 50, Michelin, etc., though the hidden gems are also not to be out done. Cantina OK! is one such place that I found through their accolades as they are currently rated the 41st best bar in the world. Yes, you read that correctly, the 41st. best bar. in the world.

Cantina OK! is a literal hole in the wall. I am not hyperbolizing here, it is probably a five foot by twelve foot (if that) space located in an alley. There’s a single bar, no chairs or stools, & standing room for I would say around 15-ish guests at a time. Cantina OK! is a mezcal bar. They are a group of tequila fanatics that fly to Mexico every year, going around to tequila distillers, trying & buying product. The bar menu has six items total, not counting their extensive top shelf tequila selection. Those cocktails include two constants; the Margarita OK! (regular margarita) & the Spicy OK! (Spicy Marg), three seasonal drinks currently themed around the zoo; the Argo OK! (Tequila, Crocodile Pechuga, Pine, Apple, Pineapple), the Jumbo OK! (Tequila, Peanut Sorbet, Palm Sugar, Lime Leaf, Salsa Matcha), & the Bongo Ok! (Mezcal, Montenegro, Umeshu, Whites, Watermelon). The last menu item changes week to week, this time it was the Christmas Special (Tequila, Mezcal, Lime, Fresh Cherries, Orange Oil.)

We initially had to wait in line for a spot to open up, but it truly didn’t take longer than about five-ish minutes. Ev & I worked our way through the menu. We started out basic with the Marg. Truly might be the best margarita I’ve ever had. They finish off the drink by pouring it over a bed of shaved ice that they manually shave. After that Evan got the Spicy, I got the Argo. Then I pulled ahead by ordering a tasting of Fortaleza Añejo neat (if you know, you know). Then we closed out the night with Evan ordering the special & me getting the Jumbo. Truly not a bad drink in the bunch & the staff were super friendly & knowledgeable!

End Of Day Four

Day Five

The next day it was a struggle to get Evan up & out of bed. I asked him around an hour ago & a half prior to the scheduled time if he wanted to go do Barry’s again. He had grumbled me off & told me no. An hour later that tune changed. So we scrambled to get dressed & went down to the corner market to get a quick snack so that we would at least have something in our stomachs to work out on.

We ended up at the locale in the downtown part of the city, Martin Place. The class was once again death but the lack of food & heavy amount of drink from the night before made it even more so.

After death by trainer we ended up wanting coffee. I had pointed out Gumption the day prior while we were in The Strand Arcade, as it was one of the coffee shops on my list. Since it was only about a ten minute walk from us & was on the way back to our hotel we made it our heading. At Gumption we got Chinotto Espresso Tonics, which were bomb AF, & continued about our morning.

We had asked for a late checkout from Aiden, but there was still a lot of time between noon & our flight at 3-ish, so we went back to the hotel, packed up, asked the desk to hold our bags (which they lovingly did), & went in search of food.

Earlier when Evan had decided we weren’t working out I had started looking for Brunch spots. I had actually stumbled upon one just down the street from our hotel called the Quick Brown Fox.

The Quick Brown Fox is located in a sandstone corner cottage from the 1840s. It’s a breakfast/lunch spot that is apparently famous for their XO Congee, which is exactly what I got & let me tell you, it lived up to the hype! Ev got a burger & we both ordered non-alcoholic spritzes & we sat in the gorgeous afternoon sun & passed away the minutes until it was time to return for our bags & head off to the airport destined for Cairns.

Day Five To Be Continued…

END OF PART ONE

Part Two

Travel Blog: Australia- Part One: New Year, New Continent

Charlie Rogers