← All articles · Australia · 12 August 2025

Sydney

Sydney in August 2025: the Opera House in every light, a breaching humpback offshore, high tea under the QVB clock and a crash course in Aussie jerky.

We gave Sydney a few days in August 2025, deep in the southern winter, and braced for grey. Instead we got rain-washed golden light, a whale, high tea under a four-tonne clock, and a thorough education in Australian jerky.

The Opera House, in every light

You think you know what the Opera House looks like. Then you spend three days walking past it and realise it refuses to look the same twice.

Sydney Opera House sails lit by low golden sun under a clearing sky, crowds on the wet forecourt — Late sun after a rain shower, the forecourt still wet and everyone out for the same photo.

Sydney CBD skyline and Circular Quay waterfront with green and yellow ferries on the harbour — Circular Quay from the Opera House steps, ferries shuttling in and out all day.

Inga and Dileep in front of Sydney Harbour Bridge at sunset, yellow sky behind the steel arch — The obligatory Harbour Bridge portrait. The sky did its bit.

Inga and Dileep either side of the Sydney Opera House seen lit across the water at dusk — Blue hour from across the water, sails just lit.

Dileep at a restaurant table with a share platter, the lit Opera House through the window behind — Dinner with the sails floodlit across the quay. The platter did not survive the view.

Sydney Opera House seen side-on from the harbour under a bright blue sky with scattered clouds — And finally from the water, which is where it makes the most sense.

A whale, in the middle of winter

August is humpback season on this coast, so we took a boat out past the heads to check. The ocean delivered within the hour.

A humpback whale lunging head-first out of dark blue ocean swell, barnacles visible on its jaw — A humpback surfacing a few kilometres off the coast, August 2025. No zoo required.

The Queen Victoria Building

The QVB is technically a shopping centre, which is like calling the Opera House technically a theatre. Stained glass, mosaic floors, and clocks the size of small cars hanging from the ceiling.

Inga pouring from a floral teapot at high tea in the QVB, scones with jam and cream on the table and the Great Australian Clock hanging behind — High tea in the gallery: scones, proper china, and a very large clock supervising.

A jerky education

Sydney's souvenir shops sell dried versions of most of the national fauna. We went in curious and came out with opinions.

A hand holding a red packet of Billabong Australian kangaroo jerky priced at 12.99 dollars in a shop — Kangaroo jerky at $12.99. Soft, says the packet.

A green packet of Australian crocodile jerky hanging on a shop shelf between kangaroo jerky and potato wedges — Crocodile jerky, hanging casually next to the crisps like that is normal.

A Tastes of Australia sampler pack held in hand with labelled strips of emu, crocodile and kangaroo jerky — The sampler: emu, crocodile and kangaroo, clearly labelled so you know exactly which one you are regretting.

Between all that we found time to do absolutely nothing by the quay, which Sydney is also very good at.

Inga and Dileep on a sofa by the Circular Quay waterfront with a laptop and glasses of rose wine, the Opera House across the harbour — One of us answered emails. The other supervised the rosé. The Opera House supervised us both.

From Sydney we flew south for the next leg: Melbourne, koalas and wine included.