On my way from New Zealand to Asia, I decided to add a weekend stopover in Sydney. This is such a great destination, even if you only have a couple days. Actually, I would recommend hopping on the Airport Link Train to circular quay even if you have a 5 hour layover or longer! You can be at the park in front of the Sydney opera house in about 20 minutes, then grab the train back. You can actually see the opera house from the train. There are plenty of flights with 8-10 hour layovers in Sydney and with the city so easily accessible, so I highly recommend taking a short adventure into the city!
I saw an amazing amount of places in Sydney with just a couple night stop. Luckily, a symphony at the Sydney Opera House was on, so I jumped at the chance to see another show there. There are some good museums and a huge park right next to Sydney Opera House and Circular Quay. There are lots of ferry service to various parts of Sydney. I highly recommend going to the seaside area of Manly if you have the time. Basically ever ferry that goes west from Circular Quay, will go under the Sydney Harbour Bridge and many destinations east are more beachy destinations, such as Double Bay, Watsons Bay and Manly.
Just get into Sydney on the next long layover or stopover when traveling through the region. This was one of my top short adventures for the year! It's super easy to get into the city using the Airport Link Train. You can just tap any credit card for the fare, so you don't have to spend time getting a local transit card or paying for a ticket at machine or counter. It's only around 15 minutes into the city from Sydney airport!
