Last weekend I took a trip down to Sydney with my best friend (and talented photographer) Robert, and we had the best tour guide EVER!

This was a weekend full of firsts for me, first time road trip and first time visiting Sydney, and of course the first time meeting Annika from The Pineneedle Collective! I’ll save you the rest of my long-winded blog post and get straight down to it–Yes, she is exactly as awesome as you would expect.

Our first adventure (and one I was looking forwards to most) was at that fabled by-the-kilo op shop, where we both found some amazing treasures and walked away with bags packed. I watched with utter amusement as this girl piled up her bedsheets with dreams of sewing projects dancing through her head and promptly abandoned the whole collection!

That’s actually kind of how I shop on a daily basis–“I want that! Also this! OH MY GOD THIS IS SO CUTE! .. Ugh, I don’t actually need any of this stuff, do I?” She walked off with a very cool handbag and several gorgeous vintage pieces, and passed over a blue gingham round tablecloth to me (I am totally planning on making a circle skirt out of it somehow..). I feel like I was less lucky here, but I did pick up a few interesting bits and pieces, including a hideous Hawaiian shirt for Rob’s newfound Hawaiian Shirt Collection (sorry, Robert) and an old school uniform that I plan to refashion at some point.

But the trip to the local Glebe and Rozelle Markets were much more fruitful! They sold the most amazing stuff there.

From handmade shoes–

–To many stands of second-hand clothing and open suitcases filled with history.

Although I often can’t afford them, the handmade pieces are generally the most exciting pieces you can find around there, and it’s nice to think that you’re carrying a one-of-a-kind item.

We spent the whole day gushing over the handmade items and trying on vintage clothing. I walked away with a gorgeous Japanese vintage dress (thanks to Annika’s neat haggling tips!) and she bought some gorgeous little pendants with miniature flowers that somebody has actually gone to the effort of breeding super-tiny and encasing in resin.

And during our adventures, we went to some of the coolest places to eat.. We found this local cafe where we had amazing sandwiches and took time out for an Instagram break. Normally I have a huge problem with being able to eat anywhere because I have a palate half as evolved as a four year old’s but I actually found myself in the unusual position that I loved so many things on the menu that I couldn’t decide what to order! Would go there for a sandwich again, 10/10.

Jolly Cafe Sydney

All in all, I had an amazing time with Annika! I won’t share too much of the details in one post, but we also visited the HUGE local Daiso Japan for sewing supplies and sewed up a storm in her house on the Sunday. I can’t wait to show you the finished products and our few progress shots! You’ll be seeing a few more shots from our trip here and there, so I hope you don’t mind!

It’s really rare that someone wants to sew along with me up in Brisbane, so it was lovely just taking some time out of the schedule to chat fabrics and pattern-making. I’m hoping I will be able to visit her again one day–Or at least cajole her into visiting me!–but it’s definitely a trip I’ll remember forever.

As for Sydney in general? We got some cutesy tourist photos on the Monday morning before we left, and I am glad we took the time to, even though I was getting a bit grumpy from all the rude drivers around us and the general lack of parking. (I need a cardboard sign in my car for cases like Sydney, where I can wave it wildly at other drivers to inform them that “INDICATING ISN’T OPTIONAL”. Christ on a cracker!)

We passed over the Sydney Harbour Bridge twice and stood outside the Opera House–We’d completed the Sydney Tourist Checklist in a single morning, and then some.

If you’re planning on taking the trip down there, I would advise flying over driving; The amount of speed cameras that we passed from Queensland to Sydney was utterly unprecedented and every country town we were forced to pass through took the speed down to 50 KMH (gah!). You wouldn’t want to bring your car down here in general, I would say, because parking is quite difficult, drivers are quite scary, and the buses are a third of the price of public transport in Brisbane.

Definitely consider staying for at least a week to soak up all the sights–By the end of the trip I was wishing I could stay until the next weekend because there was so much left to do that we never got around to! I think I must have caught the travel bug..

8 Comments

  1. Yaaaaayy I’m glad you guys had a fun time. And those flower pendants!! I can’t believe they’re real flowers, they are so pretty. Also I can’t believe it’s not butter. (?)

    PS my favourite part of this whole post was the fact that you said “Christ on a cracker”. Excellent.

    • Demi

      We couldn’t believe that they weren’t real flowers either! Or butter for that matter.

      (Trust me, the driving warranted that kind of description)

    • Demi

      I think we went to Sephora briefly and I got a free makeup bag thingy at the door. It was pretty crowded in there, haha! Thanks for the shoutout, I’ve left a comment on your blog post :)

    • Demi

      It’s my favorite dress right now–we definitely had loads of fun, but we wish we could have stayed longer!

  2. Looks like you had a great time, love the photo of the shoes.

    Also love your stripey dress.

    • Demi

      Thank you! We had a fantastic time and we were lucky to have a photographer like Robert there :)

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