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24 Hours in Sydney

If you agree with the city’s coolest locals, your perfect Saturday is right this way.

Travel
24 Hours in Sydney

We’re currently on an Australian high, guys… don’t judge us. Can you tell from our recent batch of fawning that we had a great time in New South Wales? (And now we’re just waiting for an excuse to go back—Bueller? Bueller?) But we were only there for a week and a half, so we can hardly call ourselves experts—even though we’ve tried our very best to pretend. Happily, though, we did spend a lot of our time down under (yeah, a lot, a lot) schmoozing the people who you might call experts—in that they’re cool, stylish, generally ‘in the know’. Oh, and they’re actually from New South Wales. So we got to asking: designers Kym Ellery and Dion Lee and blogger-slash-bikini advocate Natasha Oakley. If you’re heading to Sydney, or even if you’re from the city (we’re envious), this is the advice you should be following. Because we’re guessing their perfect day is your perfect day, too.

 


"When I wake up on a Saturday morning, I jump out of bed and sit outside in the sunshine on my deck facing the ocean and meditate.

After my meditation I run down the hill and jump into the ocean for a swim at Whale Beach. My partner Luke takes his board down and shows off for me in the surf doing air reverses and rios. If he's lucky he gets barrelled.

After this we head out to breakfast in Palm Beach or Avalon.

Our favourites haunts are Smalltown, Swell and The Boathouse depending on what the weather is doing. I usually order granola or bacon and eggs with my daily Vittoria soy latte, and Luke loves a BLT.

We often have friends come to our home for a lunch BBQ. If it's a hot day we might make a DIY slippery slide down the grass hill in our backyard. It goes really fast so someone usually has to stand at the bottom to catch the person sliding so they don't hit the fence or a tree.

If it isn't BBQ weather I love to go shopping. My favorite boutique in Sydney is called Parlour X. Eva Galambos, the owner, buys a great mixture of local Australian brands and international brands too.

Following my shopping excursion I love to go to an art gallery. My favorites include the MCA, The Brett Whitely Museum, White Rabbit Gallery and Roslyn Oxley 9 Gallery.

For dinner I love to head north again and dine in Avalon. I usually go for the steak and frites at the local French restaurant topped off with a bottle of red wine. It's always the perfect end to any day."

"My morning run is the Bronte to Bondi coastal walk.

Breakfast is at Ruby's Diner in Waverley where I have the kale breakfast salad and iced vanilla latte.

Breakfast is followed by shopping in Paddington—my favorite store is Parlour X.

[I love a] long lunch and rosé with girlfriends at Indigo in Double Bay or Icebergs in Bondi.

I'll have sunset drinks on The Island in Sydney Harbor.

[And I'd have] dinner at Fratelli Fresh in Potts Point."

"Breakfast is at Bread and Circus in Alexandria. It's my favourite breakfast: fresh juice and organic produce.

[I love shopping at...] Harrolds in City for an amazing edit of international mens collections. One Point Seven Four in Paddington has a great collection of sunglasses and optical eyewear. Title in Surry Hills is an audio visual mecca for cult film, music, books and records. The Cross is an amazing art and design bookstore hidden in Kings Cross.

I'll have lunch at Shuk, a Middle Eastern restaurant hidden in the backstreets of North Bondi.

[My favorite places to visit include] North Bondi to swim at the beach or jump off the rocks. [I love the] contemporary art in Paddington, depending what is on at Sherman Contemporary, Sarah Cottier and Jensen GalleryMankind in Surry Hills is great for massage and treatments.

I'll eat dinner at The Apollo in Potts Point. It's intimate, fun and delicious."

 

Dion Lee portrait courtesy Stephen Ward.
In collaboration with Destination NSW.

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