Trip #14: Taronga Zoo

Most Zoo's are located a fair way away from anything suburban, it's hard to imagine one being right on the cusp of the famous Sydney Harbour. Because that's exactly where Taronga Zoo sits. 

Just a short ferry ride across from the city, Taronga zoo is the perfect place for a day trip for the whole family. 

The parks residents are used to a lot of people coming by and paying them a visit. The zoo more than showcases the wonderful diversity available in australian wildlife. With a brilliant mix of local and foreign species.

The elephants are easily the highlight of any trip here. Located right in the center, it is the major thoroughfare for the whole zoo. You'll never be bored with 2 young mischievous calf's who are more than willing to have a little wrestle in the water until mum comes to split them up.

The goats however, not so much.

For an adult the Day ticket would set you back about $45, including the ferry that can be around $50. But discounts for families apply on both. For a day in the sun staring out over Sydney Harbour with a couple of sea otters and seals behind you, it is entirely worth it. 

Sandy's Trip #13: Sydney Chinese Garden

Sydney Chinese Garden

"Have you ever imagined your own secret garden? A place to escape; to breath deeply and feel the sun on your face. Darling Harbour's Chinese garden of Friendship is that place" - Is a quote from their official website that accentuates the awesome experiences that you could encounter whilst exploring the Chinese Garden.

Entrance to the Chinese Garden :)

Before we went to the garden, we had a Japanese traditional bento box, at Waguya

Sydney Chinese garden is one of the best places to go for nice photos to be taken. 

The garden is so beautiful that it looked like the scenery was from a vibrant painting.

We decided to try on the traditional Chinese dresses. It was $10 for a set including head pieces. 

The head pieces were light but, apparently after wearing them for a while one of my friends said she started to get a headache. 

This is one of my favourite places to go to! Bring your friends, family or even your lunch and embark on a great adventure. 

For more information visit their official page

Sydney Chinese Garden

Kat's Trip #12 Royal National Park Coastal Walk

Royal National Park Coastal Walk

The coastal walk is a 26km track, ranging from easy to difficult routes. The walk takes you from Bundeena to Otford. This track takes you past cliff edges but also to wedding cake rock. Pasting spectacular ocean views especially during the winter months of May and August, as there is a possible chance you will see the migrating whales.

This is a great activity to do with friends, and taking in the scenic views of Australia’s coasts. The best times for the walk is during the morning and afternoon before the sun sets, as this is the best time to take in the views and photograph spectacular views.

The best part of this walk is enjoying it with friends and challenging each other to no give up till we get to the destination, rewarded by the view. An extra tip is to bring portable speakers so that this makes the walk far more enjoyable as you can sing along to your favorite tunes as you walk.

It is important to wear comfortable and sensible footwear and clothing for this activity. Bring some sunscreen and plenty of water. And the best thing about this is that its for FREE!

Best things come for FREE!!!!!! 

Sandy's Trip #11: Contributing back to society - Cabramatta

Good Food Month

Hello to all fellow Travel squatters :)

Last week, a friend and I decided to volunteer for Good Food Month at Cabramatta.

For those who don't know about Good Food Month, It basically allows individuals to discover the vibrant cuisines of Southeast Asia, in Cabramatta. There were many stalls that shared their signature dishes like Pho, dumplings and crispy chicken. It was a great festival to attend especially if you wanted to learn about the Vietnamese cultures or simply, to just have fun and participate in the games that were set up.

Signature Vietnamese Dish - Pho

As volunteers we all had to wear the traditional vietnamese conical hats called Non La. 

Squatting with my gigantic chess horse XD

Trolling another fellow volunteer :)

These are some of the traditional plants that Vietnamese uses as ingredients, in their signature dishes. 

Overall, it was a great experience to travel into Cabramatta and watch individuals have fun whilst, engaging in the culture that we had brought to them. I recommend for everyone to give back to society by giving up some time and, surround themselves in a culture that they can learn from and have fun in. 

Trip #10: Crows Nest

Australia own café culture is large enough to rival France's. Ask any local and they can point you to their favourite little corner cafe for their own version of the best coffee. While coffee isn't really my thing, food definitely is. 

About 15 minutes north of Sydney via train, or a 10 minute drive is a suburb called crows nest. Crows Nest contains one of the best cafe strips on the north shore, perfectly showcasing what Australian cafe culture has to offer. 

Quality food and drink are not hard to come by alone here. Places such as Charlie Lovett's, Kütósh, and The porch will keep you coming back again and again. 

If lunch isn't your thing, there is a serious pub crawl to be enjoyed here as well. Starting off at Small Bar, before heading up to the larger and more popular Stoned Crow and Crow bar. Drinks are reasonably priced, and the people are sensational. It's the perfect start to a long night as the city is just a short drive away. Or if a pub setting is more your feel, the Crow's Nest Hotel has you covered as well. 

Kat's Trip # 9 Bondi Beach

Bondi Beach

One of Australia’s most famous beaches and is well known worldwide. Visited by tens of thousand of people all around the world each year. The beach is a 1km long expanse to walk, jog, run, or just to take in the surroundings and the sun. This is one of Australia’s busiest beaches, especially during the spring and summer breaks.

Throughout the year Bondi holds various sporting and social events. Bring people around the world together in this one beach. Surfers and swimmers love coming here, due to the waves and cool clear waters, but also the streets of fashion shops, cafes and restaurants, favor the beach.

Visitors are also able to discover the nearby beaches just by taking the Bronte to Coogee coastal walk. This walk gives you the sight seeing experience of the entire expanse of Bondi beach.

This is one of the top beaches you should visit if you visit Sydney. Only about 30mins way by public transport from the city centre.

Hyun Sik's Trip #8 Forbidden City in Beijing

The ‘Forbidden City’ is located in the heart of Beijing and it is the world biggest imperial palace that still exists. It is built in 1406 and starting from 1421, 24 Chinese emperors of Ming and Qing dynasty lived in this huge palace in about 500 years until 1924. There are 980 separate buildings, 8707 rooms covering 720000 square meter in total! It is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. This place is definitely one of the best at showing how great the Chinese dynasties are.

The name ‘Forbidden City’ is direct translation of Zijin Cheng which actually means Purple forbidden palace where it is the centre of the world, and only allowed to emperors. After 1924 where it has lost its function as imperial palace, it is opened to crowds as ‘Palace Museum’.

Information from official Website (Travel China Guide)

We STRONGLY recommend you to bring enough water to drink when you visit here. As the dimensions and size say, The Forbidden City makes you extremely tired and you might consider going to gym when you realize you cannot even wonder around one’s house. It will be good to free yourself after the visit to the Forbidden City when you plan your trip. Also, make sure you carry the map with you otherwise you will probably get confused since some places are very look alike.

IT'S HUGE!