FAM-tastic Sydney !!

Thanks to Travel2 I was lucky enough to be chosen to go on an amazing “FAM (Familiarisation) Trip” to Sydney.

We were due to fly from London Heathrow early on 5th May, so being from the North West, I decided to fly the day before from Manchester, along with 2 others in my group.  We stayed the night before at Crowne Plaza, London Heathrow. I would certainly recommend the hotel, rooms were spacious and very comfortable beds. However the canapes  in the club lounge left us feeling disappointed.

Our group of 10 met at London Heathrow at 6am the following morning, and we were all very excited for the trip ahead. We checked in, went through security and waited at the gate for us to be called for boarding. We were flying with Etihad Airways, and as the leading airline for 2016, I was looking forward to good things ahead.

However there were some technical issues with our plane, and we soon realised we were not going to be flying that day. Disappointing start but Etihad looked after us well, they gave us food/drinks vouchers and then retrieved our luggage and booked us back in at the Crown Plaza where we stayed at the night before. 

Now on day 3 and feeling like groundhog day, we woke up refreshed and ready for the flight ahead. This time it went smoothly and we were boarded, only 7 hours to Abu Dhabi and then a further 14 hours to Sydney.

We arrived in Sydney on Saturday evening (7th May). Our first stop was the Holiday Inn at The Rocks, Sydney. We checked in and straight away went to do a site inspection. Once completed we had dinner and then went to see what Sydney had to offer. Our hotel was very central and only around the corner from the harbor and Sydney Opera House.

Morning of 8th May. We checked out of the Holiday Inn and headed on a 2 hour 30 minutes journey to Hunter Valley. Along the way we stopped at the Reptile Park. We got to see Kangaroo’s and Kuala Bears among others. If is forbidden in New South Wales to hold the locals, but Colette was very happy she was allowed to stroke them 🙂

On to Hunter Valley Resort, well what can I say about Hunter Valley? Remote, Beautiful, Scenic, Perfect for weddings, oh and plenty on wine and beer. Miles and miles of vineyards. After the site inspection and lunch, we headed on to an unforgettable experience on Segway’s. We were due to have a 10 minute warm-up and then a 1 hour Segway course. Thankfully we had a patient instructor and over 2 hours later we were racing up to the hill to the finish line. Well recommended and an experience for all ages.

Hunter Valley was a fantastic educational and fun place to visit. Wine lovers or not it is a must do with more and more families visiting. The accommodation is in lodges and has a swimming pool on site. You can take a massage, have beauty treatments, go horse riding or just relax in the beauty that surrounds.

If the journey from the airport is to long, why not enjoy a private helicopter transfer.

We finished the evening off with excellent hospitality and amazing food.

Even the bar manager was showing us how to surf, which came in handy the following day.

The next day (9th May), we checked out of Hunter Valley and headed back towards Sydney. However this time our destination was Bondi. We stayed at Adina Bondi, again we did a hotel inspection and it was very impressive. Totally different to Hunter Valley, very modern, new and great central location.

Adina Bondi is a 10-15 minute walk to Bondi Beach. This is where we headed for our surfing lesson, yes surfing on Bondi Beach !! A few of us were apprehensive at the beginning but by the end we didn’t want to leave. This is me attempting to surf.

Instructors at “Lets go Surfing” were amazing and although they normally take around 8 people out, they made an exception for us and really educated us on surfing. Again well recommended and a must do.

After a full day of activity, we then relaxed and watched the sun set on Bondi Beach.

Tuesday 10th May. We checked out of the Adina Bondi, and after breakfast, headed on the most scenic coastal walk I have ever seen. It took around 3 hours, and we walked from Bondi to Coogee. There is around 5 small beaches on this walk all stunning, but personally Bondi and Coogee are the best.

The evening finished with a hosted dinner at Crowne Plaza in Coogee. We stayed at Adina Coogee, again very central and within walking distance to everything. Coogee is around a 20-30 minute drive from central Sydney.

The following day we did that drive and checked in at another Adina Hotel, called Adina Apartment Hotel, in Central Sydney. This hotel couldn’t be more central (as the name suggest) and has a great heated pool.

This was our last full day, so what better than to have lunch at Darling Harbor then do a sky walk on Sydney Tower ! If you like heights or not (I don’t) the views are stunning.

Okay so on to our last day, we don’t fly until the evening. So we took a train from Sydney Central to Sydney Wharf and jumped onto Captain Cook Cruises around the harbor. It was a good way to finish the trip and again the sights were awesome.

Amazing Trip, Amazing Hospitality, Amazing Group and a special thanks to Travel2 !!