Sydney 6D/4N Itinerary - Day 3

Date of Travel: 16-21 Aug 2012

Fireworks at Darling Harbour on some/most Saturday nights

Today started out with a trip to Paddington market. Sydney has quite a number of weekend markets to take a browse at, and someone had recommended Paddington to me, as opposed to the Paddy's market nearest to our hotel. Upon getting off the bus, we found a butcher directly opposite Paddington market and loved loved loved the pies there. I had a beef mince (A$4.90) and HH had the quiche (A$3.95). Both tasted so lovely, that I couldn't resist and went back to buy a turkey drumstick (A$3.50).

This is Paddington Market

Quiche for A$3.95 - very yummy!

My turkey drumstick for A$3.50

Unfortunately, I did not like Paddington much as things felt messy and home-made here. On hindsight, I would return for the butchers, but not the market. We then took the bus back to town and walked to QVB (Queen Victoria's Building). This was because my bro had asked me to look for a shop there carrying a particular brand of handbags. The place is quite dead as far as shopping is concerned, but they had many clocks to take photos with.   

Automated public toilet for A$0.50! It was free in Paris

Pedestrian malls of Sydney

Outside the QVB

Clocks inside QVB

Inside QVB

Inside QVB

Since I did not like Paddington Market, I thought hey, let's see what Paddy's market looks like instead. Bleaghhhhh it was FULL of Asians selling fruits, vegetables, herbs and souvenirs. Bought 3 magnets for A$5 and really great cherries and grapes for A$3.20. 

Outside of Paddy's Market, i.e. Chinatown

A scene from inside Paddy's Market

The Light Rail to the Fish Market

Next we took the light rail to the Sydney Fish Market. I remember visiting this place in 1997, and really loved sitting by the water feeding gulls. What did we see instead?

The very crowded Sydney Fish Market

First up, there were many many steps to climb getting from the light rail station to the fish market. Having arrived at 2pm on Saturday, I was shocked to see all tables were full. Long ago, you can buy fresh seafood from the shops outside, and bring it in to be cooked at the restaurant. But almost nobody does that anymore. Instead, the restaurants will try to sell you platters. Many many kinds of platters ranging from A$12 to A$49! Most Asian tables had platters of all kinds on the table for a big family. The sashimi did not look appetizing at all, as it was haphazardly cut into thick chunks. The "seafood platter" ended up looking like "dog mush" when people around the table poked at it with forks. My best memory of the Fish Market was having grilled baby octopuses, freshly cooked at a stall outdoors. We bought one (massly produced) and it tasted not nice - quite rubbery. Bleaghhhh.

Fresh seafood from outside

The view outside the Fish Market

My meal for A$14.50 - grilled baby octopuses

We continued with the Light Rail to Glebe for our 4th market today. Upon reaching the Glebe light rail station, we were supposed to go to Glebe Point Road. The sign asked us to go up the hill. You gotta be joking, the hill was immensely steep! But I kid you not, we had a very TORTUROUS climb up a street aptly named Lombard Street after San Francisco's hilly roads. Note to self: Don't try this again! We loved the houses around Glebe, it had a very Bohemian feel. We found a good bicyle shop and many book stores and cafes here.

This is already halfway up the torturous hill of Lombard Street

Houses around Glebe

Enjoying the neighbourhood

Market no.4 was also another letdown. We have no luck with markets today. It was about closing time honestly, but the feel and stuff they sold felt slightly worse than that at Paddington Markets. But I am grateful for the meal we had afterwards farther down from the Glebe Markets, a place that HH had researched about. It's called Clippers Cafe at 16 Glebe Point Road. We had a grilled lamb salad, pumpkin soup, iced chocolate that was super nice (A$5) and a smoothie (A$5).

Glebe Market

Book store along Glebe Point Road

Inside Clipper's Cafe

Very good pumpkin soup - A$11

Grilled Lamb Salad - A$13. Very delicious!

Being a Saturday night, we were getting ready for the fireworks at Darling Harbour, supposedly starting at 8pm. We took the bus to Circular Quay for twilight photos. When we got there, we wanted to catch photos of the Sydney Opera House. But the ferry terminal was blocking the view. So we blindly hopped onto the ferry for the sake of taking that photo. Little did we know that the ride to Manly took 30 minutes! We got off at Manly ferry terminal, and immediately hopped back onto the same ferry back to Darling Harbour HAHAHA. Along the way, the ferry stopped by Luna Park, and I could hear people screaming from the rides. I'm too old for scary roller coaster rides.

Sydney Harbour Bridge, as taken from the ferry terminal

Not easy snapping this from a moving ferry

When we got to Darling Harbour, it was almost 8pm. We eavesdropped on a Chinese tour guide telling them where to watch the fireworks. So we picked a spot facing Harbourside. It started late at 8:40pm and lasted 8mins. But boy was it worth it. On hindsight, I would rather face Cockle Bay.

Fireworks at Darling Harbour

We walked all the way back. Since HH was hungry and really cold, we found a Japanese restaurant serving cheap noodles. Picked a clams udon for A$11.90 and unagi don for A$12.90. Very good as compared to the previous day's Japanese.
 

Unagi Don at Kura Japanese Restaurant at Chinatown. A$12.90

Udon in clams broth - A$11.90

Day 3 Expenses:
Breakfast - Pies = A$12.35
Hh's cycling gloves from bicycle shop = A$5.50
Magnets A$5.00
Cherry & grapes A$3.20
Lunch at fish market A$14.50
Tea time at the Clippers Cafe, Glebe Point Rd = A$34.00
Supper at Kura Japanese Restaurant = A$23.80
Total A$98.35

Other posts in this series:
Sydney 6D/4N Itinerary - Day 1 & 2 (Part 1)
Sydney 6D/4N Itinerary - Day 1 & 2 (Part 2)
Sydney 6D/4N Itinerary - Day 3  
Sydney 6D/4N Itinerary - Day 4   
Sydney 6D/4N Itinerary - Day 5 
Sydney 6D/4N Itinerary - Summary of Expenses (Final)