As the DeLorean revs its flux capacitor back to life on the Sydney Lyric stage, Back to the Future: The Musical‘s Australian opening night feels like a fitting place to launch our weekend in the New South Wales capital.
Once Marty McFly, played by Alex Duffy, strikes his guitar and rips into It’s Only a Matter of Time, the world outside dissolves as we enter an engrossing two-hour-and-40-minute vortex of nostalgia (and surprisingly catchy tunes).
A stage production channelling Hollywood on steroids with wild choreography and mind-bending special effects, Roger Bart’s eccentric rendition of Doc Brown and the rest of the cast do little but enthral us spectators with their quintessentially Antipodean take on the yuppie decade classic that so many of us grew up watching.
You’d expect to see a play of this calibre in the likes of Broadway or the West End, yet right now, it’s playing until the end of January in an enchanting modern theatre just a three-hour plane ride across the Tasman.
It’s tempting to call Back to the Future the weekend’s main drawcard - and don’t get me wrong, it’s up there - but Sydney’s entertainment scene doesn’t rest on the hype of a single show.
In fact, there’s so much happening in this city right now that it reminds us reticent Kiwis of why Sydney steals the spotlight and takes some of our best and brightest along with it.
Step outside the Sydney Lyric, and the thrills easily switch gears.
After landing at Sydney Airport, our bags find their way to the Hyde Park-fronting Sheraton, where, from the hotel balcony, we spy a gracious wedding unfolding at Saint Mary’s Cathedral.
(Best wishes to the newlyweds.)
The Sheraton’s height, however, pales in comparison to the real bird’s eye view you get from the Sydney Tower Eye.
We suit up to traverse the Skywalk Tour’s stomach-churning exterior platform, taking in panoramic scenes down the harbour to the Blue Mountains to put into perspective just how vast this metropolis of 5.5 million really is.
Lunch at Grandfather’s - a bespoke Chinese restaurant newly opened on Angel Pl - sees us refuelling our reserves on crispy skin chicken and chow mein noodles before rushing to Circular Quay with full bellies in tow to cross the blue waters for Taronga Zoo.
Here, enter a completely different Sydney. The skyline lingers in the distance like plastic figurines, but the city buzz gives way to the hush of near-tranquil nature, save for the calls of exotic animals from outside the continent roaming to and fro.
Taronga sprawls across 28ha of prime waterfront real estate - even sporting its own ferry dock - where koalas and giraffes alike share the kind of harbour views that make even the penthouse dwellers jealous.
As the country’s largest zoo, Taronga balances its idyllic inner-city site with conservation credibility. As a non-profit, revenue beyond operational costs is funnelled directly into protection programmes, safeguarding funds for preserving Australia’s world-renowned, and equally vulnerable, biodiversity.
Have the kids with you? Even better. There’s a full-service wildlife retreat and a range of camping-style stays that transport families into an African safari experience, a mere 4km from the CBD.
Dinner at the award-winning Sydney Common appeals to the finer tastes back at the Sheraton; its seasonal menu, woodfire cooking and Japanese twist favour the best of local produce in this gourmand state. Being right in the hotel, it’s also only a few steps to bed too.
After a morning pick-me-up at caffeine haven The Grounds of the City, which embodies more of New York’s Roaring Twenties than Sydney’s 21st-century downtown, we change tack with a visit to the Museum of Contemporary Art.
Welsh contemporary Cerith Wyn Evans has just wrapped his incandescent ‘in light of the visible’ exhibition, a hypnotic experience previously unseen in the Southern Hemisphere.
Its tonal shifts and story tropes can be dangerous for the pensive wanderer, so returning to the ferries for restoration and replenishment at Sails on Lavender Bay is an almost uncanny transition from savouring thoughts to savouring a real feast.
From our table, the Harbour Bridge arcs above us in all its steel glory. It’s a sight too tempting to admire from afar, so naturally, we ascend it. Harnesses on and nerves steadied, we join a group of visiting Aussies for the celebrity-approved BridgeClimb.
Good thing we had a hearty meal and quenched our thirst beforehand, because once you start the three-hour climb, there’s no turning back.
The higher we rise to the 134-metre summit, the more intimate view we receive of the world’s largest natural harbour. Our guide weaves stories of the site’s history between Country, colonisation and modern-day engineering ambitions, revealing the bridge’s fraught beginnings in the post-WWI era and its transition into an emblem of the city’s progress since.
If the BridgeClimb delivers the weekend’s most profound high, the NRL Grand Final at Accor Stadium certainly brings the loudest. By Sunday night, Olympic Park lights up in a tide of purple, maroon and gold, as Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos fans level chaotic chants between the stands.
One straggling Broncos supporter squeezes through the narrow seats as kick-off begins, apologising for his tardiness while lambasting the 10-hour drive from Brisbane.
Even if you’ve barely followed a minute of rugby league, there’s something about the sheer scale of the 80,000-strong crowd that’ll inject a certain passion into you.
As the Broncos claim victory, the crowds pour on to the streets and into the pubs in what could only be compared to New Year‘s-esque celebrations in the Mount Maunganui establishments back home.
A few days in Sydney barely scratch the surface of this multilayered city. But hey, it’s a good place to start, and leaves you itching to keep up with the rest that’s going on.
Sydney, Australia
GETTING THERE
Fly from Auckland to Sydney with Air New Zealand, Qantas, Jetstar, LATAM, China Eastern or Emirates.
DETAILS
New Zealand Herald Travel visited courtesy of Destination NSW.