Not that this kind of stuff would probably be appealing to visitors from overseas, furr, but you missed out the Avondale Sunday Market (biggest in West Auckland), and the wild surf areas out west such as Piha, Whatipu, Huia and Muriwai for cool beaches (better than th’ North Shore by miles, IMHO).
The bus system isn’t too bad, except to some of the outlying parts of the region. Ponsonby’s a bit naff, though – okay if you like sipping coffee foam with the yuppie set. 
sure the surf beaches are great, but the OP did mention no car, and getting to piha via bus is a mightmare, so i was trying to think of things as centrally as possible, so the shore and mission bay are the best ‘central’ beaches.
oh and ponsonby is so not naff. but then im a bi girlie so gay bars and yummy gay waiters serving me my morning cuppa is right up my street 
Glad you mentioned Mission Bay in your second post there, furr – reckoned you missed out th’ old dear. She’s a crowded one for sunshine fans in the summer, but still cool.
And beg pardon for my opinion on Ponsonby. Your points there are fine. I’m just a border Westie meself, so I’m biased.
There’s also services like the Piha Surf Shuttle.
What exactly is Kings Cross? I get the feeling it’s an area of town with “seedy” stuff going on, but what sort of stuff? Is it just a not as nice area with some strip clubs, or is it “illegal brothel on every corner, crack dealers in between and mobsters wandering about, with a bit of gambling in the alleyways where you’ll get killed for looking at someone funny”?
Well, firstly, most of the brothels are likely to be legal since the decriminalization of prostitution in New South Wales. But you’ll often see quite a few streetwalkers in the Kings Cross area, especially below the Cross on William Street. Many of these are big tranny hookers.
The Cross is essentially a neighbourhood filled with strip joints, porn shops, all-night bars and clubs, fast-food restaurants, and the general bunch of seedy dives one expects in such places. A walk through the back alleys can sometimes turn up a few smack addicts shooting up, but i believe that even this sight is less common since Sydney opened its first legal injecting room for heroin users.
You’ll often see drunk or mentally troubled people walking along the sidewalk, but for the most part if you leave them alone they’ll leave you alone. Some biker gangs hang out in the area, and there is some organized crime located there, but these groups also tend not to hassle passing strangers.
It’s still worth being cautious when you’re out in the Cross, because there’s always a chance that something nasty might happen, However, nearly all the violence i’ve ever seen there has been caused by guys from the suburbs who flock to the city on weekends to get drunk and cause trouble.
And in case i’ve given the impression that the whole Cross is nothing but trashy crap, i should point out that it also has some excellent restaurants and nightclubs.
One more thing and i’ll shut up…
Rather serendipitously, today’s Sydney Morning Herald has an article on the City Council’s plan to clean up the Cross.
Oh, there are some veritable gems in that thread! Read the Treatise on the Australian Way of Life by Gaspode. Absabloodylutely BRILLIANT.
Nothing more to add. Except Sydney sucks, and you’d be far better off landing in Melbourne for a real holiday. Ask any Melburnian…they’ll tell you the same.
Nothing really to add to this, except that Melbourne gets a lot of bad press, but most of this is due to the fact that it’s full of Melburnians and, to be fair, that’s always going to put a pall over the place.
But I have to admit that, from my experiences down there, pretty much every problem that Melbourne has could be solved by nuking the place and concreting over the crater.
How can I describe Melbourne to Americans? Take the weather of a balmy Seattle January, the joie de vivre of a Philadelphia crackhouse, the intellectualism and progressive thinking of rural Arkansas and the metropolitan delights of Cleveland, and mix. Then add the fact that they think that “real men” play Aussie Rules, because they might get hurt if they had to play football.
That’s funny, although i must say i’ve always quite liked Melbourne.
Do you remember a few years ago when developer Bruno Grollo had plans to build the world’s tallest building in Melbourne?
There was a joke doing the rounds in Sydney at the time:
Q. What the best thing about Grollo Tower.
A. You’ll be able to see Sydney from the top.
That’s funny, although i must say i’ve always quite liked Melbourne.
Do you remember a few years ago when developer Bruno Grollo had plans to build the world’s tallest building in Melbourne?
There was a joke doing the rounds in Sydney at the time:
Q. What the best thing about Grollo Tower?
A. You’ll be able to see Sydney from the top.
mhendo’s right - I’m from Newcastle and have never been to Redfern or King’s Cross. Just passing on a general impression. Whenever I’m in Sydney (which is often - I rather like the place), I stay mostly around the CBD.
Melbourne’s a great city - it doesn’t have the immediate charms of Sydney, but the effort it goes to make up for that has resulted in a wonderful city. Can’t explain AFL though - that’s just weird.
If you’re after an NRL game, I recommend Newcastle Knights v Canterbury Bankstown (or whatever they’re calling themselves these days) Bulldogs. Should be a great game, in Sydney, and you’ll be able to get tickets at the gate.
No ideas on any American themed places… there’s a McDonalds around somewhere, but I don’t think that’s really what you’re after.