The Blank Page Girls Guide to...

Sydney

I spent three weeks in Sydney over the Christmas/ New Year’s period of 2011/2012 and it was absolutely fantastic. Whilst this does not aim to be a definitive guide this is a couple of things I would recommend if you go to Sydney.

Max Brenner Chocolate Restaurant

Why anyone would want an overwhelming amount of warm gooey chocolate when the sun is trying to melt you is perplexing, and yet I still went to Max Brenna and felt like a small child, excited by the menu. I ordered a chocolate pizza, the guys behind the counter assumed that other people were coming to help me eat it, sadly they were mistaken and after a few slices I was defeated. They came and gave me a takeaway box, which meant the next morning I had chocolate pizza for breakfast with a cup of tea (breakfast of Princesses) Max Brenner is a great novelty to visit just be prepared for the crazy amount of chocolate.

http://www.maxbrenner.com.au/

Sports Girl

 I really wish that Sportgirl existed in the UK, Australia’s answer to Topshop but a little less crazy, a lot more chilled out and great weather orientated. Sportsgirls are everywhere but considering how many rubbish women’s shops there are in Sydney I’d recommend checking out Sportsgirl.

 http://www.sportsgirl.com.au/

Australian Hotel

If you get a chance to walk to Australian Hotel which is in the Rocks area of Sydney City, underneath the bridge, then grab a Scoona and try out either the Kangaroo or Thai Crocodile Pizza, such an unusual flavour and bazaar combination to be on Pizza but it really is great.

Pancakes on the Rocks

I did not cope well with the portion sizes in Oz, Pancakes on the Rocks a perfect example of such. The Rocks is such a lovely area and we had to queue up for a little while, but a restaurant dedicated to pancakes is too good to pass up. Serving savoury and sweet I opted for Blueberry heaven which involved two pancakes, blueberries, butter cream and vanilla ice cream. Delicious but way too much for me to handle, a long walk around the Rocks was required to ease the nausea!

The Argyle

The Rocks has The Argyle which serves amazing cocktails, we tried out the following:

T2

Tea House, I’m not sure why we don’t have T2 over here in the UK I think it would go down a treat. A pot of creme brulee tea with raspberry scones (which naturally come in threes accompanied by clotted cream and raspberry jam, a contemporary twist on the cream tea) was a personal favourite.

New Years on the beach, an absolutely incredible experience

2011/2012 New Year’s Eve was the first year that Sydney banned alcohol consumption on the streets for New year’s and after a day of confusion trying to find the best place to watch the fireworks, we set out to get onto Milson’s point near Toronga Zoo, however finding a check point which was searching for alcohol and tickets to get through onto the point we decided to take a little walk around the outskirts of the zoo and found a little secluded beach where we spent from three in the afternoon until one in the morning. We sunbathed, watched the sun set. Sydney put on a set of fireworks at 9 o’clock for the kids and another set at midnight and the whole experience was incredible. By the time we got back to the bus point to get home a load of buses were running for free taking people back into the city and although the underground system was packed the whole transport system worked really well, much better in fact than the experience I’d had the prior year spending New Year’s Eve in London on the embankment where many tube stations closed down and police were out in force.

 

I also recommend finding yourself a 'Manly Lifeguard' on Manly beach, but avoid the crowds and wander round to Shelley Beach for a beach day.