australia,  rtw rookie,  sydney

relaxing in rocks square (or, how i fell in love with a house in ruins)

theromanticAfter our morning tour of the Sydney Opera House, the hubs and I decided to stay close to the harbor. The weather was absolutely gorgeous on our first day in Australia, and after the chill of New Zealand’s South Island, we were craving more sun and waterfront views.

 As we wandered, we eventually found ourselves in The Rocks, which, as it turns out, was one of the best ways to spend our mid-morning.

ROCKS SQUARETo be honest, it’s clearly a super touristy area. It was reminiscent of New York’s South Street Seaport, and some of the stores and restaurants were the cheesiest. Still, in a city that feels so new, it was a nice little reminder that there’s history to be found, too.

And, because I am an official Lazy Traveler, we naturally did wander off the main street, almost immediately. This is how we stumbled upon one of the coolest public city spaces I’ve ever found.

the rocks square entrance

At first glance, I wasn’t really sure what we had just walked past. It was just the frame of a house, with a few café tables piled to the side? We backtracked, and when I peeked over the edge, I pretty much never wanted to leave.

the rocks square interior

Located in the ruins of what was formerly the harbourmaster’s mansion, the space has been filled with wooden pieces emulating old fashioned furniture that might have once filled the home. The rooms are small, but there are so many that anyone can easily find a place to relax, sit with a cup of coffee, and get away from the more crowded areas nearby.

the rocks

Seeing as we had found this respite right around lunchtime, we realized it’s value as soon as we stumbled back onto a main street and saw how swamped the area had become thanks to the recent docking of a nearby cruise ship (and if you didn’t already know, cruise shippers make me exceptionally stabby).

We unfortunately didn’t make it back over to Rocks Square again during our brief stint in Sydney, but based on our brief meeting, this place has perched itself neatly at the top of my favorite little places hidden in the city.

xo!

the romantic

The Lazy Travelers are two transatlantic best friends who have mastered the art of exploring a new city. Though Ashley is based in London and Carolyn is in Philadelphia, we'll use any excuse to reunite around the world. We’re professional bar hoppers, pub crawlers, and food testers, and you’ll never see us zipping around, checking things off a list of “must-sees.”

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