A weekend in Barangaroo – Sydney – New South Wales – Australia – March 2017

Tags

Australia, Barangaroo, Friends, New South Wales, Sydney, weekend away

Airbnb on the water in Sydney – what a weekend!

(source: http://www.barangaroo/sydney.com.au)

A few weeks ago, along with my colleague/friend, I travelled to Sydney for work and as there was a huge event on in the city, accommodation was scarce so I booked an Airbnb at a new waterfront inner-city suburb called Barangaroo.  I really had not heard much of this part of Sydney apart from knowing that Australia’s third richest person was in the process of building a huge casino there. After a bit of research I now know that Barangaroo was the second wife of Bennelong who was the interlocutor between the Aboriginal people and the early British colonist in New South Wales and for those of you that don’t know Bennelong Point is the site of the Opera House which is beautiful both during the day and evening.

It was my first time using Airbnb and must admit it was so easy to use and the apartment was exactly as stated on the site.  We were on the first floor of a huge apartment block with a range of restaurants and bars underneath and about fifteen or so floor above. The apartment was really stunning with water views and even with the cold and rainy weather it was lovely to have the huge doors open and enjoy the sea breeze.

On our first afternoon we went for an hour long walk along the boardwalk [in the rain] to Darling Harbour which is one of Sydney’s popular waterfront areas comprising cafes, restaurants, IMAX cinema, maritime museum and lovely Chinese gardens.

(source: http://www.google.com.au)

And on the way back to the apartment we enjoyed great views out to the harbour albeit again in miserable weather but I think water views are great in any weather.

Saturday night was work and then the next morning we went for another walk and found a fabulous combined shop/bar/restaurant/cafe across the road from the apartment.  It’s called Bel & Brio and was just the most amazing place I had been to in a long time.

As you walk into the store, which by the way is ‘huge’, there is a very large area that stocks all sorts of stuff – cheeses/fresh breads/jams/biscuits/fresh pasta sauces/meats/drinks – you name it this great shop has it.

Then we saw the cafe area so thought we would have breakfast but not before stopping by the easter eggs and chocolates…

And then the cakes and doughnuts – wow…they all looked so delicious!!

Finally we made our way to our table and ordered breakfast.  We started off with a lovely cup of peppermint tea and English breakfast tea which arrived in a nice little pots with a delicious little butter biscuit on the side.

The cafe was actually located in the bar area along with the many [many] bottles of alcohol displayed so orderly along the back of the wall of the bar.

Our breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs on toast (me) and smoked trout and poached eggs with sourdough (Jane).  Delicious and very filling meals!!

And after relaxing with another cup of tea, it was time to take a taxi to the airport and return to our homes….a quick but good weekend away!