This was the day we said bye bye to NZ and hi hi to Aussie land once again. We had planned our trip in a way that we landed in every destination once. Our flights schedule was like:
DXB->MEL->AKL->DUD-> then we traveled all the way to ZQN by road ->SYD ->DXB
WHILE IN QUEENSTOWN
A day when we opened our eyes in the cold mountainous city of Queenstown and closed in warm urban city of Sydney. Our flight was around mid day so we checked out from the motel (left our luggage in the their luggage room which we picked up while going towards airport later on) and roamed around the pier once again because that is all we could do in the limited time we had.
E loved running after the ducks and showed them the way to water (which they definitely did not like, check out some scenes in the video below). We thought to ride the jet boat (children aged 2+ are allowed, that was a surprise for us) but we decided against it because it was wayyyy too cold and I did not want E to get sick specially when we were nearing the end of our trip. She had fallen ill in the very start but after that she was coping up with all the climate and city changes very well mashaa Allah.
We resolved to eat good food instead and found a restaurant named Tandoori Palace serving halal Indian food at 62 Shotover Street, Queenstown Central. Ordered lots of scrumptious food and devoured it before catching a cab towards airport.
THE FLIGHT STORY
Boarded the flight and luckily got window seats (they always excite me 😛). Anyways, the window seats proved to be icing on cake for this trip. We witnessed some really cool views from high above (in no additional cost. referring to helicopter tours here :p). The long steep curvy road going up the hill, stunning Lake Wakatipu sights and snowy peaks amidst those white blanket of clouds took our breath away. I kept on clicking each angle until we were high enough and deep blue water was all I could see through the glass. Attaching some of the awesome shots below, have a look!
The flight was about 3 hr 15 min long but there was no entertainment option on board. E had slept the moment we took off so after settling in we took out our lappy and began watching an Indian movie ‘Ae Dil hai Mushkil‘ which proved to be too long for that flight (we had to stop it in between, completed it after monthssss because we found it a little dumb. Also, I had read about the climax on internet hence the not-so-interested feeling prevailed :p).
TALES FROM SYDNEY
We landed at Sydney airport and after emerging successful through all the security checks that I have mentioned earlier (you can read about them here) a sunny, warm and cheery city welcomed us. We took a taxi to our hotel ‘Travelodge Hotel Sydney‘ which was located in CBD (you must have an idea by now why we opt for hotels in and around city centre. If not then read the reasons at this link). The ride was around 30-40 minutes long since the rush hour had started as soon as we hit the road. We arrived at the hotel, checked in and jumped into the bed as soon as the door closed behind bell boy. We rested for a while, recharged our spirits with some tea, put E in stroller and set out to explore the city on foot. Our most favorite part!
A WALK TO REMEMBER IN SYDNEY
The main attractions of city were nearby (one of the advantage of booking hotel in CBD). We bumped into Hyde Park as soon as we crossed some blocks, St. Mary’s Cathedral came in view right after that where some light show was in progress on account of Christmas (we went there in December). We stopped and watched the show for about a good 15-20 mins, resumed our exploration afterwards, found Queen Victoria Building (QVB) while strolling at George street, took some shots of Christmas decorations inside the building since the mall was closed (all markets and malls close around 5-6 pm there).
Headed straight towards Darling Harbour next, it was a nice happening arena with cruises (you can hop on one and go all the way to Harbour bridge and Opera House via sea, will be talking about the ride in detail in upcoming post). A mall is located at Darling Harbour (which was closed, of course). You can also find lots of restaurants which were open and serving till late hours. We marched all the way to ‘Star of the Show Ferries Wheel‘ and a little more farther until we realized that we have come quite far from our hotel and we have to traverse the way back as well (Lol, overexcited we were). E had already slept in her stroller, she was now managing her nap and sleep time on her own after all the days of exhaustive traveling.
Embedding my live session from Darling Harbour below which was recorded during day time later on when we visited the place again (in case you are wondering why it is so bright :p)
We started to walk back and found our stomachs rumbling mid way. It was too late and all the restaurants were almost closed. Also, we had to look for halal food which looked a bit difficult at that point in time. We decided to buy some snacks from any grocery store on our way but luckily we came across a Kebab shop serving halal food near George street. Quickly we ordered food and devoured it. The guy at counter was also Pakistani, he came over and did some chit chat with HI (people love meeting their fellow country mates abroad).
We strolled back to our hotel afterwards and went into deep sleep as soon as we were down on bed. This was about our one happening day that started in NZ and ended in Australia. Watch (in HD or 4K) the video attached below and enjoy the highlights 🙂
Check out where we headed the next day in the upcoming post.
Stay tuned!
Breaks & Bites 
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