AUSTRALASIA NEW SOUTH WALES DESTINATIONS T


here’s no better way to beat jet lag than by heading


straight from the airport to the beach. Fact. That’s why, just hours after


touching down in Sydney, we’re at the mighty Bondi, where surfers skim the waves and the cool blues of the Pacific Ocean crash against the shore. In a city of icons, nowhere sums up the laid-back lifestyle of New South Wales quite like Bondi. There’s the most- Instagrammed lido in the world, Bondi Icebergs Club, at one end, a kids’ pool at the other, and some of Sydney’s best bars, restaurants and cafes lining the promenade in between. It’s the


stomping ground of the city’s beautiful people, where surfers and tourists come to sample the epitome of Aussie cool. If, like me, you’re a little intimidated at the idea of squeezing into a wetsuit and getting into the water in front of Sydney’s pro surfers, don’t be. The teachers at Let’s Go Surfing Bondi make it easy and, after a couple of hours, I’d caught my first wave – albeit a little frothy white one. Many people use Sydney as a jumping-off point to visit Australia’s big-hitting sights, but it would be a mistake to miss out on all that New South Wales has to offer. After our jet lag- busting surf lesson and a proper


The surfing teachers make it easy and, after a couple of hours, I’d caught my first wave – albeit a little white one


Aussie breakfast of flat white and bacon-and-egg sandwich, our group of five travel agents – who won their places on this premium fam trip through a Travel Weekly competition with Qantas and Destination New South Wales – set off to explore the state in style.


w CITY LIVING The gleaming sails of Sydney Opera House fill the frame of the bedroom window at Sydney’s Park Hyatt, which sits among the cobbled lanes of The Rocks, hugging the curve of the harbour. Waking early the next morning, I sit on the balcony and watch the sky change from black to bruised purple to peach, until the sun bursts into gold from behind Sydney Opera House and the harbour comes to life, with the Manly Ferry buzzing commuters to and fro, and Sydneysiders running beneath my window. You can’t spend so much


time staring at the opera house without actually visiting.


10 January 2019travelweekly.co.uk63


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