Most of the time I was travelling for work, training other newsrooms who are about to start work on the project I've been piloting for a year. But there was plenty of fun things in between. I saw friends for dinners and coffee, and had just enough time to explore each city.
When we were in Sydney, we met our new niece Maeve, saw the Archibald Prize ... and had to get our car towed when it broke down on the highway at night! It was an eventful few weeks.
Here are a few highlights:
SYDNEY
One of my favourite discoveries was Blackwattle Bay Park, which was a few blocks away from our Airbnb in Annandale. It's a beautiful city walk that's right by the water, with plenty of spots to picnic and rest. There's also an impressive kid's playground that I texted my friend about!
We swung by Black Star Pastry in Newtown to pick up pastries for a breakfast with friends. We ordered a few coffees too, and it was hands down the most satisfying coffee I've ever had.
A few quick city recommendations - the Jenny Watson exhibition at the MCA is fantastic, it's fun and feminist. It's also a free show. We grabbed lunch at the Burger Project nearby, they reminded me of Shake Shack burgers from New York. A very good thing.
On the days that I was visiting for work, I woke up early to check out The Grounds of the City, which was old-worldly. It's worth booking - I wandered in on a weekday and almost missed out on breakfast. I'd love to return to try the cakes. And I finally made it to Aqua S, which had an English Breakfast Tea soft serve special running. If you visit the Town Hall shop, you'll find it in an arcade that I'd love to visit at night. It's full of Asian eateries and shops, where I bought these fun phone stickers.
We spent a bit of time in Manly too, because Tony is part of a group exhibition at the gallery (the show's still on if you're keen!). One night, we had dinner at Papi Chulo and shared a delicious barbecue chicken platter. For coffee, we went to the Barefoot Coffee Traders, which happened to specialise in waffles :)
ADELAIDE
My time in Adelaide was shorter, I had a cosy Sunday lunch at Hey Jupiter!, a French-inspired cafe. There was also time to visit the JamFactory, a design space that my friend Sabine recommended. I was secretly hoping I'd be in Adelaide later in the week, so I could try Africola. Instead, I had breakfast at Crack Kitchen and dinner at a cute Hong Kong inspired diner. There are more Adelaide recommendations from our recent visit, and from a local too :)
DARWIN
My friend Georgia lives in Darwin, and every night after work she'd pick me up to see the sunset. We went to the Nightcliff Jetty on my first night, and I loved seeing how many people were there. Some were picnicking (there were some cute food trucks nearby), others were just taking it in with their dogs. I hear there's a lovely pool nearby too.
On my last night in town, we watched the sun go down from Fannie Bay. Next time I'd love to visit the Fannie Bay Cool Spot, which is an iconic ice cream shop! I had the most free time in Darwin, so I visited the museum and gallery, looked tentatively at the beach (it was so hot but no one was on it!), and swam at the hotel pool instead :)
This was my favourite dinner. We went to PM (worth booking ahead), and shared fries, calamari and the most delicious saganaki, which was covered in honey. On my lunch break, I loved poking around the Star Village. I bought tassel earrings from Lulu and Daw (they had stacks of them!) and joined the line for a salad and juice at Simply Foods.
I had such a good time but am very happy to be spending a Sunday at home. I managed to finish four books while I was travelling, which I'll share soon.
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