My sister and I had talked many times about going on a trip far away from Belgium, where we live, and after some late night conversations we decided to plan a trip to Australia to visit the most beautiful city of the world, Sydney!

The flight from Belgium to Australia seemed endless and we were so tired upon arrival that we rushed to our hotel, took a shower and went straight to...

Darling Harbour is one the nicest parts of Sydney and a great place to escape some of the chaotic city life. You can reach Darling Harbour by bus, ferry or metro but the best and fastest way to get here from the CBD would be by monorail. Just buy a ticket on one of the stations and get out in front of Darling Harbout. Not to worry if you forget to get out because this city skytrain will keep going in circles all day.

Darling Harbour is a waterfront harbour esplanade and park built around Cockle Bay. There are a lot of interesting things to do and see in the Darling Harbour area and the best way to explore the park is by walking accross the Pyrmont Bridge.

From the Pyrmont Bridge you will have a great look...

Another great place to go in Sydney would be the eastern suburb of Paddington which runs along popular Oxford Street. Paddington is located 3 kms from the Sydney City centre and you can walk there but you can also decide to take a bus. Most busses leave from Hyde Park and you could take almost every bus passing the park because Oxford Street is one of the most central streets of Sydney.

You could combine a visit to the Paddington Markets on Saturday morning with an afternoon at the beach in Bondi. Just get off the bus in front of the Paddington Uniting Church where the open-air market is held.

The Paddington Markets are great for vintage and jewelry shopping but you will also find a lot of local produces...

If you want to escape Sydney's buzzling city life a walk through the Royal Botanical Gardens is a great alternative. Especially on hot days the park is a great place to spend some time in the shades or close to the water.

Teh Royal Botanical Gardens also offer a great view of the Sydney Opera House and people say that it's the most photographed angle by professionals who want a nice...

Sydney is definitely a city that never sleeps. Just hit George St, The Rocks or Chinatown and you'll find alleys ans cross roads filled with young people looking for a good time. There are quite some good restaurants in Sydney's CBD and you can change cuisine every other night making your choice out of Italian, Thai, Greek, Japonese, Mexican, Chinese, Indian or simply Od Moz, a little bit of everything.

There are some amazing sushi places around Liverpool St and for the desperate, at least a hand full of Mc Donalds, Hungry Jack's and Red Roosters.

You could spend your evening at the huge cinema complex on George St, drink a coffee at neighbour Starbucks or make fun of your friends at the several gaming halls.

Later...

When you´re in Sydney you must try some of the Asian cuisine. Especially the Thai restaurants are of a high culinair standard and are very popular.

A great Thai Restaurant is the Thai Express on 644 George Street in the World Square Shopping Centre. Their menu is modern and refreshing but at the same time their dishes wont lack the traditional Thai ingredients and flavour. The restaurant itself is very classy with modern design. The green curry is really good and so are their starters. Try the spring rolls or the fried shrimps, amazing!

Alcoholic drinks aren´t part of the menu at the Thai Express but the juices, shakes, teas and coffees are worth a try!

The food very good and the menu...

We tried to spot some possums pretty much all over Australia and in a few places we even got lucky but had we only knew there was a place called Hyde Park in Sydney City...Never seen so many possums in one place!

We hired a car from Hertz and chatting to the lady working at the counter about the places we should see in Sydney she told us Hyde Park was a great place for possum spotting. Luckily, we stayed in the Marriot which is practily inside Hyde Park so we had a lot of opportunties to spot the possums.

The best time is dusk or dawn but we spotted groups of them, in front of the Anzac Memorial in the middle of Hyde Park, sitting in the trees late at night. I was surprised how close you can get to these...

If you go to Sydney, you can't go past the Sydney Opera House. People stop in groups at this architectual wonder to admire this world famous building and to get a good picture of the entire structure without getting to many fellow travellers on their lense.

The Opera House is told to be inspired by the shapes of a pealed orange and standing in front of it while the sun was ready...

One of Sydney's biggest indoor attractions must be the Sydney Aquarium and the place has become an even bigger hit since they introduced their magical dugongs. These creatures also known as sea elephants can be seen in certain parts of Australia where the stronger growth of seaweeds occur like for example in Monkey Mia.

You can do sailing cruises to spot the dugongs in the wild but...

Chinatown is one of Sydney's best spots for souvenir shopping and people watching. During weekdays, wednesday to sunday, you'll find the Paddy's Markets just at the entrance of the Chinatown walls. This place is amazing and forget about buying your holiday gifts elsewhere because they sell the same stuff, stuffed animals, key chains, ' aboriginal art' , post cards, beach towels and a milion of other Australia items for almost nothing!

Obviously I already got my gifts elsewhere but hey you can't limit a shopping spree:)

If you're in Sydney on weekdays be sure not to skip the Paddy's Market because it's the only one open as markets like Paddington Markets and the markets in Sydney's suburbs Glebe and Balmain...