A few weeks ago now I received an invitation to attend an Instameet in Sydney to celebrate Qantas’ 95th birthday. A Qantas Instameet! I had no idea what that actually meant and had to immediately google instameet so I could get my head around what I would signing up for if I agreed to attend.
Armed with a definition I knew I wanted to attend. The Kid Bucket List Instagram is growing every day but with the likes of jarradseng on hand to give a few pointers, the experience would provide me with a new lens to see Sydney and perhaps improve my images.
My DSLR has been relegated to the cupboard since the kids were toddlers. I find it really difficult to carry it around whilst trying to herd the kids and predominately utilise my iPhone for all my images. It fits in my pocket after all. I’m not in any hurry to change this mode of image taking and decided to be authentic at the instameet and turn up with it in hand. I must admit that I felt a little weird on arrival when I noticed most of the other bloggers and instagramers had their canon and nikon’s out ready to capture their images.
I was very lucky to have secured a ticket on the Qantas ferry prior to the event which would take us to Manly so we could view some Sydney locations. Due to the weather, the destination changed on boarding and we found ourselves touring the harbour for the next 3-4 hours. Thinking about it, it was my first proper tour of the harbour. I’ve caught ferries but I have never had the luxury of a tour. Fancy that! If you are ever in Sydney DO IT!
The ferry trip took us out past the Opera House and Fort Denison, around to Point Piper and around Shark Island, back past Bradleys Head and Taronga Zoo before heading under the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Luna Park where we cruised down to Goat Island and took a detour into Darling Harbour where we turned around and went past Barangaroo and Dawes Point before circling the harbour for a second time. I couldn’t stop looking the entire time and can’t wait to revisit with the kids.
The ferry returned to Circular Quay a good 3-4 hours later. On docking we headed back to Hickson Road Reserve where the Rubens were performing. I had a quick bite from the Food Trucks on site before taking advantage of my time in The Rocks and heading out to take some more images.What a day.
A big thank you to Qantas for inviting me along to celebrate the day. I was under no obligation to write about my experience, but was encouraged to share images on Instagram (hence the title “Instameet”) throughout the day. I can’t wait to spot my next instameet – they’re so much fun!
