Making A Trip Down Under

I am making a trip down to Canberra and Sydney. My brother has been studying in Canberra for the past few years, and I have relatives in Sydney, so I have wanted to go there for a long time ever since my last trip in 2002, but the Australian currency is getting stronger all the time and the flights are getting more expensive all the time.

This year, suddenly, two budget airlines are flying into Sydney! Air Asia and the newly-formed Scoot! When I checked the price, Scoot is cheaper since it flies off from Singapore direct to Sydney, whereas Air Asia is cheaper if flying from Kuala Lumpur.

So I booked a return ticket to Sydney for just S$450, inclusive of all taxes. Where can there be a better deal than this? Finally I get to go Australia to see my relatives, and get to see my brother just one time before he graduates.

My schedule for my upcoming trip is finalised! Besides seeing my brother and fussing over him on my mum's orders, there are quite a few places and activities which I have lined up. I will be scoot-ing off on the red eye on Tuesday 17 October, going to Canberra first then back to Sydney on Saturday 20 October, and then coming back on the evening of Thursday 25 October.

Here is the finalised itinerary :

Day 1 - Sydney to Canberra by bus, dinner with my brother

Day 2 - Canberra sight-seeing, most likely a farm trip and a model village. My brother will accompany me if he is free that day.

Day 3 - Canberra sight-seeing around the city area, namely Lake Burley Griffin, War Memorial, National Film and Sound Archive, National Museum, National Capital Exhibition, Blundell's Cottage, National Carillon on Aspen Island, National Library, High Court, National Gallery, Portrait Galley, Parliament House and Old Parliament House and Gardens. Incidentally, all these attractions are free and within walking distance from one another.

Day 4 - Canberra to Sydney by bus, Whale Watching Cruise, Hyde Park (with Australian Museum, State Library, Parliament House, Hyde Park Barracks, St James Church, Reserve Bank, Martin Place and Mint Museum along the same stretch), and sunset mass at St Mary's Cathedral (the biggest Catholic church in New South Wales), then probably dinner with my relatives

Day 5 - Sydney free and easy. Visit and catch up with my relatives, or maybe make a trip down to Jervis Bay on the South Coast to meet up with the Australian family I met in Mulu

Day 6 - Sydney City, including Entertainment Centre, Chinatown, Martin Place Cenotaph, Fountain, Pitt Street Mall, Sydney Town Hall, St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney Tower, Conservatorium of Music, Royal Botanic Gardens and The Domain, Art Gallery, Mrs Macquarie's Chair, Woolloomooloo (Finger Wharf), King's Cross, Paddington, the eastern suburbs like Rushcutters' Bay, Double Bay, Rose Bay and The Vaucluse, Queen Victoria Building, Bondi Beach, The Gap, The Spit Bridge and The Spit, Sydney Harbour National Park like Seaforth Lookout and Oval and Arabanoo Lookout, Freshwater Beach, Curl Curl Beach, Manly Beach and The Corso, The Rocks, Cadman's Cottage, Sydney Cove and Opera House

Day 7 - Featherdale Wildlife Park, Blue Mountains and Three Sisters and the villages of Katoomba and Leura, Sydney Olympic Park and if possible, a river cruise on the Parramatta river back to Circular Quay

Day 8 - Harbour Bridge Pylon Lookout, Madame Tussaud's Sydney, Sydney Aquarium

Day 9 - Home Sweet Home

Seems like quite a feat to see everything in this trip, but I shall do my best to explore as many places as possible to make the trip more fulfilling and enriching!