A day @ The Rocks

The last Sunday in July, I checked out the historical area in Sydney, The Rocks, for the markets as well as the Aroma Festival.

The Aroma Festival happens once a year and is known for coffee, chocolate, tea and spices although there was plenty of other great food to choose from as well.  I didn't know the brand names but selected a few long blacks out of the dozen of coffee stands and they were all delish.

Food & entertainment was divided into 4 areas- the Oasis, Continent, Orient & Latin Quarter. The city went all out for the festival and took the regional themes seriously. Camels and belly dancers anyone?

so many people

 yet another bridge shot

 latin quarter band

 camel rides in the oasis

 hilarious

 instead of fortune tellers they had teacup readings

 continent band

 hot chocolate in the continent

 the oasis- love the guy on the left

 opera house

chips on a stick- huge crowd pleaser

After I had my caffeine fix and assorted other snacks I went to the Museum of Contemporary Art which was conveniently next door. Here are some of the current exhibits.

Sydney Fish Market

Sydney is known for it's seafood and I'm lucky that my apartment is a quick walk to the fish market. On a lazy & rainy Sunday (both are very rare here) I finally had the chance to check it out and I really enjoyed it! 

Although it was rainy when we got to the fish market the weather had already cleared by the time I could decide on my lunch.

so good!

Fortunately, for me the seagulls didn't bother me or my lunch. I'm not sure if I look scary to them or possessive of my food but whatever it is, I'll take it. Sadly, my friend wasn't as fortunate and she lost her entire plate of sushi to the birds :(

Watsons Bay

A few weeks ago on a Saturday afternoon we took a ferry to Watson's Bay

1 month!

Some days I can't believe I've been in Sydney for a month and on others I feel like I've been living here for ages. All I know is that time really does fly when you're having fun and I am having an absolute blast!

Anna and I celebrated our 1 month mark this past weekend with a day trip to Palm Beach. It was a very easy bus trip (about 2 hours door to door) and I would happily return if time allowed.

I started the day off early at the Good Living Grower's Market, a cute farmers market right next to the Google office. Although I don't cook, I love to eat and wander around markets to see local vendors. It was a fun stop for my first bacon and egg roll & hundredth soy flat white.

bacon & egg roll

I was too eager to bite in and forgot to take a picture so this doesn't look extremely appetizing but it was delish! One perfectly oozy egg, bacon (they don't have the crispy strips here, it's like Canadian bacon) and chili jam on a bun, yum!

And we arrived at another beautiful beach on another beautiful day. LOVING SYDNEY!

Had some time to kick back and relax on the beach before we were off to our next stop for 

lunch on the water @ The Boathouse

can't beat this!

This burger looked amazing & reminded me of many drunk brunches @ the Sunburnt Calf in NYC (beef patty with beets, egg, bacon, cheese, lettuce and tomato) but since I had a bacon & egg roll for brekkie I decided to keep it kosher and go with a bucket of prawns & some oysters.

so fresh!

happy as a clam

And when I thought my day couldn't get much better, I found a little red poodle named Beau! Well, he was actually with his owner, sitting next to us at the table. Of course, we quickly bonded (both the pooch and the owner) and I got a lot of great Sydney recos as well as some much needed puppy love.

Beau is cute but doesn't come close to the Rubster

stayed and chatted over another soy flat white!

And then went to walk it off on a hike up to the lighthouse

 great view

 lighthouse

of course we returned to The Boathouse for sunset & wine

great weather, delicious food and even some poodle love, what more could I ask for?