G'day mate: Best of Sydney in a week

Sydney is surprisingly easy to navigate with a GPS (get a SIM card from OPTUS at the airport. AU$2/day unlimited 3G and calls). Scoot now offers cheap air tickets from Singapore to Sydney (8h flight) and I do recommend paying $30 more for extra seat space. It's really worth it!

Here I'll recap my MUST DO-s in a quick list:

Sightsee

• Sydney Harbour Bridge (Circular Quay)
• Sydney Opera House (Circular Quay)
• The Royal Botanic Gardens (Walk from Circular Quay and to see Mrs Macquarie's chair)
• Museum of Contemporary Art (free entry)
• The Rocks Weekend Flea Market (Circular Quay)
• Darling Harbour (IMAX sydney - AU$26 with the 20% off coupon in the visitor's guide found in the airport)
• Wildlife Sydney (AU$25 if tickets booked online as compared to AU$30 at the door)
• Sydney Fish Market (fresh produce and sashimi)

Sydney Harbour Bridge and the view from within the Royal Botanic Gardens



Wildlife Sydney



Sydney Fish Market and its fresh product and cheese deli

Shopping

• Westfield Bondi or Maroubra
• Queen Victoria Building (Downtown - Take free loop service shuttle bus 555 from Circular Quay)
• Paddy's Market (Chinatown for all your nougats and fresh nuts)

Beaches

• Manly Beach (take the Manly Beach ferry from Circular Quay AU$7 for the most scenic 30mins ride)
• Bondi Beach (world famous beach with crystal clear water)
• Bondi beach walk to Tamarama and Bronte if time permits
• Maroubra Beach

Bondi lifeguards; Bondi's finest


View of North and South Bondi respectively


View from the Bondi Icebergs

Transportation
If you're taking a lot of public transportation, do get a prepaid Travel10 card or a MyBus Zone 2 card for unlimited rides on all Sydney buses. Note of caution: do check which Zone you will be travelling in on the Transport website as you'd need to purchase the corresponding zone's bus ticket.

**It is true shops in Sydney close very early at 5pm so do plan to either have dinner or pub after 5pm.

Food and day trip recommendations in a separate post.