Stories & Snaps: 3 Days in Sydney.

I’m back today with another ‘Stories & Snaps’ for you, this time from my three days in Sydney! This trip had been such a long time coming. As many of you know, I used to live and work in Sydney, and my last visit was in February 2020 – right before the worldwide lockdowns started. During the pandemic I was stuck in the UK, unable to return home to Australia due to the border closures and insane rules. So my usual annual trips were paused, until 2022, when the borders finally reopened.

Honestly I can’t even tell you how excited I was to go home, and how excited I was when I FINALLY arrived – I’ve also been SO excited to write these blog posts to share everything with you all and tell you all about it! So, let’s go!

Day 1

Now, firstly you may have noticed, but I’m starting at the end of my trip and working backwards – so I’ve already written about my long weekend in Beverly Hills at the end of my round-the-world holiday, and after Sydney I’ll tell you all about Perth, and then Singapore! We have an exciting few weeks of blog posts and stories ahead of us…but first, let’s get back to Sydney…

Arriving back in my familar old home, Paddo

I landed at Sydney domestic airport from Perth on a Monday evening, and just like being back in Perth, it just all felt so lovely and familiar and like I’d never even been away. I grabbed my bags and headed out to meet my Uber, and as we drove through Surry Hills, I couldn’t help but grin.

And then we got up to Oxford Street, and I saw two extremely camp men walking along holding hands, in tiny tight hotpants and sequin tops, and I wanted to woop and laugh out loud and cheer at them. For me, Sydney is so many things, but the main one is self-expression and the ability to be whoever you want and no one will really bat an eyelid.

Finally we pulled up outside the Mrs Banks Hotel in Paddington. It’s a luxury boutique hotel that sits on Oxford Street just across the road from where I used to live on Victoria Street.

The whole time I lived there I would walk past Mrs Banks every single day, and every day I always looked at it and thought “I’d love to stay there one day.” So I decided to finally do it.

I checked-in and fell in love with the swish interiors and my cute little room, then got changed and headed out for a drink at my old local before meeting my friend Nicole for dinner.

Drinks at The Paddo Inn

The Paddo Inn is a gorgeous pub/bar on the corner of Oxford and William streets. It is literally a 30-second walk from my old house, and I used to frequent it fairly regularly whether it be for dinner or drinks with friends, or a solo after-work drink. I even took my mum there for Valentine’s Day when she came out to visit me in 2017!

And you know what? They do the best amaretto sours.

The staff are lovely, it has a really cool ‘Paddington’ vibe, and the food is incredible. Paddington is full of really amazing restaurants and bars, and it’s one of the reasons why I chose to live there for the 18-months I was in Sydney, but The Paddo Inn is one of my faves.

Dinner at The Butler

I saw Nicole speeding down the road in her Lexus SUV and I instantly felt joy. She’s one of those people who is just an absolute vibe. We have so much fun together and we bonded when we met at a Sydney blogger event in 2017 and discovered that we’d both kissed the same guy back in London haha. She’s a true Sydneysider having been born and grown up there, but she’s a member of the same private members club as me in London and is constantly jetting around the world and managing her wine import business from her phone.

I’d actually seen her three times in 2022 already – twice in Dubai when we both happened to be there at the same time, and then once in London when she was in town and we went for lunch at St Martin’s Lane Hotel. But it was so lovely to see her in Sydney like the old days! I jumped into her car and we sped off towards The Butler, a restaurant I have been wanting to go to since I first moved to Sydney in 2016, but had never got round to.

The restaurant has the most incredible views over the city from their terrace. Thankfully we had the loveliest table right at the edge of the terrace overlooking the skyline, and we were so impressed by the cocktails, food and service that I might have to do an individual review of the place!

It was a pretty dreamy first evening in Sydney and it made me so grateful and happy to be back.

Day 2

I woke up bright the next morning and grabbed a ham & cheese croissant from Alimentari, an Italian deli in Paddo, then went to see my old house on Victoria Street. The whole house used to be that dark grey colour that’s on the bottom half and it looked really cool, but for some reason they’ve painted the top half beige :/

Anyway, I decided to go to Bondi Junction to grab some of my favourite snacks to take home with me (things like Shapes, Cherry Ripes, TimTams etc), and had a wander around the shops, before heading to Bondi Beach to do the Bondi to Bronte section of the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk!

Shopping at Bondi Junction

Bondi Junction is the closest shopping centre and ‘big’ supermarket (I’m a Coles girl, fyi. There just isn’t as good a selection of food in Woolies) to where I used to live in Paddington, so it was nice to go back. It sounds really sad, but when you’re an expat (or a boomerang expat x2 in my case) it’s the really small things like revisiting your favourite supermarket or old shopping centre or old gym that makes you feel all nostalgic and like you’re home again.

Bondi to Bronte Coastal Walk

I then caught the bus to Bondi Beach, where I began the hour-long walk from Bondi Beach to Bronte. It’s part of the longer Bondi to Coogee walk, but I didn’t have time to go all the way to Coogee, and to be honest the Bondi to Bronte section is my favourite part of it.

I stopped by Bondi Icebergs for a quick photo snap, and continued on my way along the cliff walk. The views are so beautiful, it’s one of my favourite things to do in Sydney and I was very lucky to have beautiful blue skies as Sydney can be quite rainy in the springtime.

Hot and sticky by the time I got to Bronte, I grabbed an iced-chocolate from the Bogey Hole Cafe, then headed to Totti’s to meet Nicole.

Lunch at Totti’s Bondi

Totti’s is one of Sydney’s top restaurants to go to at the moment, it’s a super popular Italian restaurant owned by the Merivale group, which is one of my fave restaurant groups in Sydney (they also own my faves, Mr Wong, The Paddington, Coogee Pavilion, and The Establishment).

Oh my gosh you guys, when I first arrived I was so confused – you have to go through The Royal, which is an old-school Australian style pub with brightly coloured wacky carpets and dark wood. I literally thought I was in the wrong place, then spotted the sign for Totti’s, so walked through the pub and OMG. It is SO cute!

It feels like an old school local Italian joint inside, and out the back there’s a beautiful terrace with olive trees and a gorgeous green and white colour-scheme.

Nicole and I sat outside and ordered the famous Totti’s ‘woodfired bread’, along with burrata, tomato salad, and prosciutto. It was honestly so dreamy – the idea is that you order the bread and then get bits to eat with the bread. They also do pastas that are apparently amazing, but we wanted to save ourselves for dessert!

Dessert for me was the daily special, a really beautiful apricot tart with ice-cream. Nicole went for the choc torta – she let me taste a bite and it was insanely good!

I was super impressed with Totti’s and can’t wait to go back the next time I’m in Sydney. I’m hoping that next time I’m there I’ll be in the city for longer than I was this time – I was just stuck to only three days because of the round-the-world flight dates and prices.

Anyway, I then made my way back to my hotel to get changed and then go to see my favourite hair colourist in the entire world…

Getting my hair coloured at Mr O

…Mr O! I first found Glenn O’Reilly (aka, Mr O) in 2017 when he worked at Prema Surry Hills. I was really nervous to get my hair done by a different hairdresser to my usual one, but he put me at ease and completely transformed by hair colour. Every colour he’s ever done for me has just been absolutely stunning and complete perfection, and everyone always compliments my colour after I get it done by him, so I make sure to go back and visit him and get my hair done whenever I’m in Sydney.

Glenn left Prema shortly after I moved away from Sydney, and opened up his own salon in leafy Woollahra. Mr O Hair is handily just a short walk away from Paddington and my hotel, so off I went to see him and get my hair sorted out. It was so nice to catch-up, and he’s promised me that if I ever get married he’ll fly to the UK to do my hair for me, haha.

I left the salon with swishy bright blonde hair, and was all ready for dinner at Hubert!

Dinner at Restaurant Hubert

Shortly after leaving the salon I was in the city for dinner at Restaurant Hubert with Nikki (not Nicole, Nikki is a Nicola lol). Hubert is my favourite French restaurant in Sydney – they do the best steaks and they have live music each night and it feels a bit like a glamorous old-school French cabaret/speakeasy sort of place.

We had a short-but-sweet catch-up, and then Nikki and her fiance Aaron got a cab to the airport while I went to my fave gelato spot for dessert…

Gelato Messina

Gelato Messina is hands down my favourite gelato/ice-cream place in the world. They do the most heavenly flavours, and everytime I’m away from Sydney I miss it SO much! My favourite flavours are the Panacotta with Fig Jam & Amaretti biscuits, and the Salted Caramel & White Chocolate.

I walked from Hubert up to the Circular Quay Messina and joined the large queue (there’s always a queue and it’s a bit chaotic, but I promise it’s worth the wait). Each location also does special flavours each month, but none of them took my fancy so I stuck to my usual choices, and when I had that first mouthful, oh my goodness. I still drool just thinking about it.

I finished my evening by getting an Uber over to my Rob and Tash’s apartment in Double Bay. I used to work with the two of them in Sydney, and remember the early days of their office romance when Rob was absolutely obsessed with Tash and kept telling us all how he would marry her one day. Well, they got married during the pandemic and also had a baby, so we had a lot to catch-up on!

We drank red wine and chatted for hours and it was just so lovely. The two of them always make me laugh until my sides hurt, and are proper ‘fill my cup’ sort of people who just make you feel full of joy.

I had such a great day that I went to bed drunk on wine and happiness.

Day 3

My last day in Sydney was spent mostly around the city and catching up with more friends in the evening. Because I was in Sydney for such a short period of time, and during the week rather than on a weekend, it was really hard to see everyone, and I’m still so sad I wasn’t able to see all the people I wanted to see :'( But I think I did pretty well seeing six people in 2.5 days AND doing/seeing most of the things I wanted to see and do.

Breakfast at The Mayflower Darlinghurst

I began my day with breakfast at The Mayflower in Darlinghurst (also known as Darlo). I walked along Oxford Street from my hotel, and it was so lovely retracing the steps I used to take whenever I walked into darlo, surry hills, or the city from my house.

I’d heard great things about The Mayflower but had never eaten there before, so was keen to try it out. It’s a super cute cafe on the corner of Bourke and Liverpool streets, and literally around the corner from one of my favourite neighbourhood pizzerias in Sydney – Lucio’s.

I had an iced chocolate (I lost count of how many I had on my entire Australia trip, as you’ll see when I write up my Perth posts!) and chose the French Toast with brulee, hazelnut crumb, orange, and cointreau curd. It was tasty, but I do think it could have done with some maple syrup just to make it a little less dry!

Strolling through Hyde Park

After breakfast I walked from The Mayflower into the city, through Hyde Park. I love Hyde Park, it’s a beautiful green space right in the heart of Sydney, and although it isn’t as big as the nearby Botanical Gardens (which I really wanted to go back to but didn’t have time for), it’s still really pretty and peaceful.

I just love the big ol’ trees with their gigantic roots, and the big walkway that runs through them towering over you. The war memorial is also now fully reopen after being covered in scaffolding for years, and is a lovely tranquil spot to sit and reflect.

Strand Arcade & Pitt Street

I exited Hyde Park at St James’ station, and walked across Elizabeth Street into David Jones, one of Australia’s big department stores. I needed to run an errand for my best friend back in Perth – she’d ordered some shoes on sale for ‘click and collect’, and had asked me to pick them up and then post them to her in WA. So, shoes in hand, I then walked up Castlereagh Street to Martin Place (the main business and news hub), where there’s a post office (and the big Christmas tree!)

Half an hour later the package was sent off to Perth, and I walked down George Street (and past the Tourism Australia office where I used to go for my weekly meetings there, back when they were my client when I worked at Reprise/UM Sydney), and through the Strand Arcarde.

The Strand Arcade is a really beautiful heritage-listed, Victorian-style retail arcade with lots of cute shops and cafes. If you’re visiting Sydney it’s worth walking through. Make sure you stop off at Haigh’s Chocolates for fancy choccy souvenirs to take home, Gumption for a quick coffee stop, Gewürzhaus Spice House for their mulled wine spice mix, and Koko Black for more chocolate!

Coming out of The Strand onto Pitt Street, I then walked down Pitt Street and, after looking fondly at the sign and entrance to my old gym (Virgin Active Pitt Street, which is incredible if you’re looking for a gym in Sydney) I checked the time and realised I had an hour or so to spare…

National Library

I decided to pay a visit to the National Library. I’m currently writing a book, which is partially set in Australia in the 1940s, so thought it would be worth signing up for a library card so I could access the National Library’s archives online.

The library is beautiful, but a very confusing layout! After walking into the main reading room and then realising I was actually in the wrong place for the archives, it took me ages to find the right place as I had to go to the other side of the building. Eventually I found it, got my library card, and made a note of some of the records I wanted to see in person the next time I’m in the city. The book is a long-term project, I’ve been writing it for nearly four years already and I’m only half-way through it!

Anyway, I then walked down Macquarie street and past the old Mint and Hyde Park Barracks, on past St Mary’s Cathedral, and then down to Surry Hills.

Lunch & Christmas Decorations at the Grounds of Alexandria

I made it all the way to Foveaux Street and realised how tired I was from so much walking, so I called an Uber and it took me down to the Grounds of Alexandria. Now, the Grounds of Alexandria is a really special place and I highly recommend a visit if you’re visiting Sydney!

It’s a sprawling space with a cafe, restaurant, organic garden, a flower shop, and other various stalls dotted around the place. It’s housed in a former pie factory, and every month they change the decorations around the grounds. The decorations are EXTRA AF, but beautiful and very ‘instagrammable’ and impressive, and my favourite seasons there are Christmas and Valentine’s.

With it being Christmas, I was SO excited to see the decorations, and they certainly didn’t disappoint!! I mean, just look at the photos…

After walking around I then popped into the restaurant – it was 2pm and I was ravenous after all my walking! I chose the Grilled halloumi bowl, with cauliflower, Job’s tears, chickpeas, chopped greens, cucumber, sesame pumpkin, almond herb pesto, hummus, tahini & pomegranate. You guys, it was DELICIOUS. Unbelievably good and the perfect healthy meal after all of my iced chocolates!

My belly full, I got a taxi back to my hotel to get ready for my last evening out…

Drinks at The Paddo Inn…again

I had dinner with my friend Laura (who you may remember from Dubai and my South Pacific island-hop – Vanuatu, Fiji, and Samoa blog posts) later that evening, so before dinner I managed to grab a couple of drinks with my friend Mercy at The Paddo Inn (yes, I went twice in a 2.5 day trip lol).

Mercy and I have been friends for about eight years now. She’s a professional model and we first met in London at Peter’s pool party in the summer of 2014, and then I also visited her in NYC in both 2016 and 2017 when she lived in New York for work. She moved back to Sydney shortly before the pandemic, and although I saw her when I was there in Feb 2020, it was with a group of us so it was really nice to have one-to-one time with her. We didn’t get any photos this time around, but here’s a couple of cute photos from our last night in NYC together in 2017…

We drank wine, caught up on life, and I always just think it’s so nice to be around people who really ‘get’ you, and who love you for you and are constantly championing you from afar. She also really kindly gave me a bottle of her friend’s sunscreen as it’s all natural/organic and she knows I love natural/organic skincare brands due to my sensitive skin!

Pasta, Baileys, and Messina

And then it was time for my last dinner in Sydney! Laura and I both really fancied Italian food and really wanted to go to Pellegrino 2000, but sadly it was fully booked so I’ll need to do that one next time, so we went to Giuls instead.

Giuls is a proper neighbourhood Italian (I had a lot of Italian food while I was in Sydney, but honestly they do the best Italian food because there’s such a big Italian community in Australia) and it was exactly what we needed. We ordered burrata, mortadella, and big bowls of squid ink fettuccine and rigatoni with grass-fed lamb ragu and parmesan. Of course, we also had cocktails and prosecco. It was perfection.

We had such a great time catching-up over dinner that I didn’t take a single photo, but after dinner we decided to go to The Clock for old times sake for a cheeky Bailey’s. I had an early flight the next day so I couldn’t have a super late night, but our nightcap was the perfect way to end my time in Sydney…

…although, I obviously couldn’t leave without one more Gelato Messina 😉 this time from the store just across the road from The Clock! It was dreamy.

After a good night’s sleep, the next day it was time to say another goodbye to Sydney as I headed to the airport to get my flight to Los Angeles. I will see you again soon Sydney.