Sydney, Australia (May, 2012)

Toni and Scott used 150,000 Delta Skymiles each (300,000 miles total) to fly from Salt Lake City to Sydney, Australia (thru Los Angeles) on V Australia in business class.  Cody and Eliza got a babysitter for the kids for 2 days and took the opportunity to meet them in Sydney to check out the city.  We booked our tickets from Perth to Sydney for 20,000 American Airlines Aadvantage miles each roundtrip.

We took a cab from the airport to the Park Hyatt Sydney (that we had booked using 22,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points and normally goes for $1,100-1,200 per night) to drop off our luggage.

We took public transport to Milson's point and walked back along the deck of the Harbour Bridge.  Instead of doing the bridge climb, which we understand takes ~3 hours, most of which is safety instruction and waiting for the tour group to walk up the steps, we opted to climb the steps up the Pylon (only $9) and gets you 3/4 of the way to the top of the bridge anyway.  The views were excellent, we could see 360 degrees and the weather was gorgeous.

We walked back to the end of the bridge and then down through "the Rocks" area and into Circular Quay, where we had some lunch at one of the cafe's in the area.

We then made our way on foot over to the Sydney Operahouse and booked our tickets for the night showing of MacBeth.  We also spent some time wandering through the botanical gardens which were beautiful.  Scott and Cody spent a couple hours in the afternoon swimming in the rooftop pool while Eliza and Toni had a brief afternoon nap (gearing up for a long night).  By the time the play started, we were all dragging, being exhausted from the early start to the day and all of the walking and exploring we had done.  Toni and Scott were especially tired due to the jet lag.  Macbeth was good, but we were all past the point of being ready for sleep by the time the show ended.  We struggled to get ourselves back to the hotel from the opera house on foot after such a long day.

The Park Hyatt Sydney was a pretty amazing hotel.  We couldn't get over its perfect location nestled right below the Harbour Bridge with great views of the Sydney Operahouse.  The room was very modern with views of the opera house right from the balcony.  All 4 of us shared a room, which was probably against their rules, but it worked out great.

 View of the Sydney Opera house from just outside our room at the Park Hyatt Sydney.

 An aboriginal, didgeridoo playing snake charmer…this is Australia, mate!

 Up close and personal with the Sydney Opera house.

We went to the late showing of MacBeth and the jet lag got the best of Toni and Scott, while the redeye from Perth to Sydney got the best of Eliza.  Only Cody was able to stay awake for the whole play.

 View of the Sydney Harbour Bridge from outside the opera house.

 Manley Beach.  Watching the surf lifesaving classes being taught to the school aged kids.

 View of the Park Hyatt Sydney on our walk back from Circular Quay.  Location, location, location...

Walking across the famed Harbour Bridge.

The next morning we got up early and took the ferry to Manley and hung out at the beach and wandered through the shops for a while before heading back to catch our late flight back to Perth.