This is our first leg. The first 2 days of our entire 15 days Australia trip.
We had 2 families and 5 kids to Sydney for 2 days.
We landed at 7am on a Saturday.
By 8.30pm the same night, we had almost lost a kid in the Opera House crowd.
By the end of Day 2, we had eaten at 2 great restaurants, walked past 2 tourist traps, and figured out the rule of Sydney travel with kids.
This is the Sydney leg. 2 days. 9 people. 5 kids.
Day 1: 30 May, Saturday, Sydney Arrival
8am: The A$80 Lesson: Hotel Early Check In
At the hotel, the front desk offered us early check in for A$80. I was tired. I said yes.
The A$80 got us into the room about 2 hours earlier and a balcony view I never used.
Because the Balcony looks like this. The kids were energetic and did not need a hotel room to play.
What I actually needed was sleep. The upgrade did not buy sleep.
It bought a photo spot.
If you have a 7am landing and tired kids, the cheaper move is to find an airport lounge or a quiet rest zone, not pay for early check in.
We should have just taken turns napping in the lobby.
Or waited.
The kids would have been fine in the lobby with snacks and the iPad for 90 minutes.
The A$80 photo spot would still be there tomorrow morning with the same view and no line.
The lesson is universal. The A$80 early check in is the move if you have a wedding or a meeting.
It is not the move if you have 5 kids and a 7am landing. The kids do not care about the balcony.
They care about the snacks.
11am: Sydney Seafood Market
We walked to Sydney Seafood Market at 11.30am.
It was a Saturday and the crowd was thick. The new building is cleaner and feels more like a proper food hall. That is where the good news ends.
We bought 12 oysters for A$29, a watermelon tub, a melon tub, and a strawberry chocolate tub at A$9.90 each.
Total damage was about A$59.
The verdict: the oysters were not as fresh as the price suggested. The fruits were not worth A$10 for a small tub.
The new venue is fine for a vibe walk through, but skip the food. If you have been to a proper Japanese market like Toyosu, this will feel like a downgrade.
We left feeling like we paid tourist tax for the building.
The market is at the south end of Pyrmont Bridge. Easy to reach by light rail from Central Station.
The walk through is fine for 15 minutes. The vibe is fine for 1 photo.
The food is overpriced by 30% to 50% versus a Sydney supermarket.
A$10 for a small fruit tub is not a Sydney price.
It is a tourist price. Skip the food. Buy oysters at the Oyster Shed on Wray Bay later in the trip, where 12 fresh oysters cost A$25 to A$28 and the staff show you the freshness in front of you.
The lesson: Sydney Seafood Market is a vibe walk through, not a meal. If you want oysters, save the Oyster Shed for the road trip. If you want fruit, buy at Woolworths.
The 2 Hour Nap Saved The Evening
After the market, we went back to the hotel. The kids crashed for 2 hours. That nap was the smartest move of the day. It bought us a proper evening. With 2 families and 5 kids, the secret to a good night out is the afternoon nap. No nap, no Opera House, no ramen, no story.
This is the part of travelling with kids that no itinerary tells you. Schedule the nap. Protect the nap. Everything after the nap is bonus.
We set an alarm for 4.30pm. We told the kids we were going to walk to the Opera House after the nap. They slept. We slept. We woke up at 4.30pm. The kids were ready. The mums and dads were ready. The evening was a win.
The afternoon nap is the cheapest line item on a Sydney trip with kids.
It costs A$0 and saves A$200 worth of bad decisions.
The Ramen Win: Kokoro Ramen
For dinner, we walked into Kokoro Sydney without a plan. We thought it was some random ramen joint. We were wrong. The place filled up fast and we got lucky with tables for 9. The broth was rich, the mazesoba was good, and the kids ate it all. That meal reset the whole day.
Kokoro is the kind of place that is easy to miss because it does not look like much from the outside. Walk in. Get the rich broth. Get the mazesoba. The kids menu at Kokoro is A$12 to A$14 with corn, rice, and a small ramen. The adult ramen is A$18 to A$24. For 9 people, the bill was about A$160 with drinks. About A$18 a head. That is the right ramen math for a Sydney family dinner.
Kokoro is in the CBD, walkable from Circular Quay and most central Sydney hotels. It does not take reservations for groups under 10. Walk in before 7pm to avoid the queue. Walk in after 8.30pm and the queue is gone. The move is the early dinner or the late dinner. Skip the 7.30pm rush.
Circular Quay At Night Is Beautiful And Stressful
At 8.30pm, we walked down to Circular Quay to see the Opera House. It was beautiful. It was freezing. It was packed. The crowd was thick enough that we had to cling onto the kids the entire time. If one of them had run off, we would not have found them in the dark. It was not relaxing. It was a photo mission. We got our photo. We got out.
With 2 families and 5 kids, the right move is to walk along the harbour for 20 minutes, take the photo, and leave. Do not try to soak it in. The Opera House is the same Opera House the next morning with half the crowd.
The night crowd at Circular Quay is the worst of both worlds.
Cold weather, dense crowd, dark lighting, and 5 kids who are tired after a full day. The 8.30pm crowd is the Instagram crowd.
The 1pm crowd is the parent crowd. Choose the parent crowd.
Day 2: 31 May, Sunday, Sydney Full Day
The Brunch Win: Wild Sage In Barangaroo
We walked to Wild Sage in Barangaroo for an 11am brunch. Singaporean dad time runs late.
The order for 9: 2 hot chocolates, 1 latte, 1 flat white, Bacon and Eggs, 2 Prosciutto Toasties, Eggs Benny, Steak and Eggs, plus sides of hash brown and scrambled egg. Subtotal A$157.60. Sunday surcharge 10% added A$15.76.
Total A$173.36. In Singapore, $170+ can eat buffet already.
For a harbour side brunch in Sydney with 5 kids, that is solid value though.
The kids ate toasties. The dads ate the Steak and Eggs.
The verdict: worth it. Book it. The Sunday surcharge is real, but the food and the view are real too.
The Free Win: Juggling Busker At Circular Quay
After brunch, we caught a juggling busker at Circular Quay at 1pm. The kids sat on the harbour edge and watched the whole set. We donated A$10. That is how busking works in Sydney.
With kids, the free street performers at Circular Quay beat any paid attraction. The 1pm crowd is also 10 times easier to manage than the 8.30pm crowd from the night before. Go early. Bring A$10. Skip the paid shows.
The buskers at Circular Quay rotate through the day. The jugglers, the magicians, the musicians, the acrobats. The 1pm show is usually 20 to 30 minutes. The kids sat on the edge of the harbour and watched. We donated A$10 total. A$10 for 30 minutes of entertainment for 5 kids is the right math. The paid shows at the Opera House are A$50 to A$200 per ticket. The buskers are free.
The lesson: the buskers are the show. The Opera House is the backdrop. The 1pm crowd is the parent crowd. Bring A$10. Skip the paid shows.
The 2nd Tourist Trap: The Rocks Market
We walked to The Rocks Market at 2.30pm. The market itself is fine for a 20 minute stroll. The food is not.
Donuts at A$10 a piece. Ice cream priced like a museum gift shop. Crepes that taste more like prata than crepe. Dumplings at 4 pieces for A$13, or 10 pieces for A$24. The same kilogram of dumplings at the supermarket back home is around 30 pieces for less. The Rocks Market is not really a market. It is a tourist trap with a postcode.
The Sydney Seafood Market did the same thing to us yesterday. 2 tourist traps in 2 days. With kids, the move is to walk the market for the vibe and skip the food. Spend the food money at the supermarket or at a proper sit down restaurant.
The Rocks Market runs on weekends from 10am to 5pm. The craft stalls are interesting. The food stalls are tourist tax. The vibe is nice for a 20 minute stroll. The food is the same A$10 donut you would find at any Sydney tourist spot.
Skip the food. Walk the market. Leave.
The 4.30pm Split: When Half The Group Hits The Wall
By 4.30pm, the 3 year old was hitting the wall. The 8 year olds had lost interest. The plan had been to walk the market together, grab snacks, head back. The reality was a cranky kid, a tired group, and zero interest in another stall.
So we split. My friend saw a bar with long bench seats just past the market. The dads grabbed the bench seats and ordered beer. The mums and the older kids moved on down to the crepe stall. It was not in the itinerary. It was survival. And it worked.
The 4.30pm split is the best travel hack of the trip.
Travelling with 2 families means you can split the group when half of it hits the wall. Dads get the bar. Mums get the walk. Everyone wins.
The Dinner Win: Yayoi Japanese Restaurant
For dinner, we walked into Yayoi Japanese Restaurant. It is a sit down place, not a conveyor belt. We ordered ramen, rice, and the usual. The kids loved it.
The verdict from my wife: will not go wrong. The verdict from the dads: they managed to fit a table for 9, which is harder than it sounds for a Sydney restaurant on a Sunday night. We loaded up on Asian taste before the road trip tomorrow.
Drone Show & Light Show
There was supposedly drone show at 7.30pm, we finished our dinner fast and went to the circular quay to find where is the drone show.
Apparently due to some technical things, drone show was replaced by Light Show.
The Sydney Rule
Sydney has 2 speeds. Pay tourist prices and regret it. Or pay sit down restaurant prices and enjoy it. The seafood market, The Rocks Market, the Opera House crowds at night: they are all priced for tourists.
The sit down places like Wild Sage and Yayoi, the free buskers at Circular Quay, the harbour walks at 1pm: these are the wins.
The next article is the campervan leg. Days 3 to 8, Sydney to Melbourne, with the Penguin Parade broadwalk reveal, the Kmart heater hack, and the cassette toilet lesson.