I don’t really care too much for it’s foreigness, I am happy just going there and knowing that I travelled a looong ditance to get there.
Thank for all the info, any more info would be taken as well.
I was in Sydney in 1984. Loved it.
If you get to go, make sure you take a weekend and go visit Hill End. Absolutely fascinating. It was the site of Australia’s gold rush back in the 1860s.
From the US, it definitely is that.
I’d say so, yes. I’ve been to Perth a few times, and loved the place each time.
It’sa beautiful, modern city, but not so big that you cannot get out of it in fairly short order. If you do get out of it, there are a number of other interesting areas to explore: head down the coast to the Margaret River wine country or out to Kalgoorlie, in the middle of WA, to see the gold mining industry (and quite possibly the biggest sky you’ve ever seen).
Inside Perth, there are any number of attractions to keep you occupied: rent a bike and tour King’s Park, take in the clubs and restaurants in Northbridge, watch a gold pour at the Perth Mint, people-watch in Hay or Murray Streets. A short train ride away in Fremantle, where you’ll find markets, an old jail, and one of the best brewpubs I’ve been in anywhere in the world.
Can you tell I like the place? Heck, Perth is the only city I’d travel halfway around the world to visit again! 
That’s reasonable, in a sort of general, touristy sort of way. Both are beautiful cities with great outdoors stuff, lovely scenery, a clean and safe downtown, and lots of good food and fun things to do.
When you spend some time in each place, though, and get away from the standard attractions, there really are some important differences. Sydney, as a huge, sprawling suburban mass, is in some ways more similar to LA than to SF once you move away from the water and downtown. San Francisco is much more compact. While both cities have pretty large Asian populations, the types of Asian communities seem quite different to me. Sydney has very few Latinos, and so misses out on the appeal of a place like SF’s Mission district, with it’s local colour and great food. I also prefer SF’s Chinatown to Sydney’s. But Sydney’s a great place for Thai food.
Someone either has a Brisbane-sized chip on his shoulder, or hasn’t been to Sydney since the 1970s.
Sydney is far from a dump or decaying. In fact, if i have a criticism of Sydney, it’s that the place is turning into gentrified, yuppie hell. The outrageously expensive real estate combined with a thriving economy (at least at the top end of the scale) means that suburbs and neighborhoods that used to be run-down and blighted have undergone massive renovation and an influx of high-income residents over the past decade or so.
Brisbane is indeed lovely, but if you’re after a proper big-city experience, you can probably allocate Brisbane an afternoon, or perhaps a full day, on your itinerary. It’s nice, and the Queensland beaches are lovely, but it’s kind of slow. A bit like Queenslanders. 
Melbourne is great. As someone raised in Sydney, i’m not meant to say nice things about Melbourne, but the fact is that i love it. It’s less brash and in your face than Sydney, and is widely acknowledged as the home of Australian high culture. The shopping is great, and many of the neighborhoods and suburbs are lovely.
Hill End is great. I went on a three-day school trip in grade 9 (one year before you were there), and i’ve been back since as an adult.
One clarification: it wasn’t the only site of the Australian gold rush. There was also a massive rush at Bendigo and Ballarat in Victoria that occurred pretty much simultaneously with the Hill End rush.
Peth is definitely worth a visits- as are all Australian capital cities. But asking what to see in Australia is like asking what to see in the USA- it is the same size if you exclude Alaska).
I’m from Perth originally. Its a beautiful city and worth visiting. The beaches are incredible. There is a holiday feel to Perth all year 'round - its warm to hot most of the year and the sun is up until late. If you live there, you will probably find yourself enjoying lots of barbecues and lazy afternoons in pub beer gardens between trips to the beach. You can watch the sun go down over the water while you are swimming in the ocean at 9.00pm.
I moved from Perth to Melbourne 5 years ago and don’t regret it. The main reasons I moved are that Perth’s summers are pretty relentlessly hot and there’s a (relative) lack of nightlife leading to boredom.
Melbourne is cooler temp-wise to Perth. Melbourne has a lot of nightlife - an inordinate number of bars, clubs, restaurants and cafes. There is an obsession with food in Melbourne, which is one of the things I love about it. There are so many places to go out for great meals and people do that a lot. Fashion is also a big deal here. A lot of folks here are really concerned with dressing up and looking cool. Melbourne is also the home of Australian Rules Football and most people are into that (to varying degrees). The beaches in Melbourne are a bit sucky, but you can find some good beaches if you drive out of town for a couple of hours or so. Melbourne has a reputation for bad weather - rain and cold.
I’m not a huge fan of Sydney- the Harbour area is very nice and historic, but the rest of it… well, it doesn’t seem any different from any other big city I’ve ever been in.
Melbourne is very nice- perhaps a little “Multicultural” for some people- and quite similar climate-wise to New Zealand.
Brisbane is an overgrown country town, with a CBD built c. 1976 and not improved upon since then. 
Tasmania is apparently just like New Zealand, but without the benefit of a passport stamp or the opportunity to acquire Duty-Free. I’ve yet to met a Tasmanian that was playing with a full deck, so to speak. They’re just… different to Mainlanders, for some reason.
Never been to WA, and not planning on it- the State has gun laws so strict they make North Korea’s laws look like Council Parking bylaws. Like Tasmanians, they often seem to see things differently to the rest of Australia. Fun Fact: WA tried to secede in the 1930s, and probably would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for those meddling kids.
The Northern Territory is supposed to be nice, provided you like alcohol, hot weather, and you’re not Aboriginal.
Canberra apparently has nothing of interest except the War Memorial Museum.
Adelaide is amazingly uneventful. You never, ever hear about ANYTHING happening in South Australia. I’m not sure what that says about the State as a whole, but even Norfolk Island manages to get more press coverage than SA.
You’ll pretty much have to go to Sydney since that’s where the major international airport its, Melbourne is well worth seeing for a few days, Queensland is sunny, tropical, and full of attractive women who don’t wear a lot, and Tasmania is worth seeing if you can’t be bothered flying to New Zealand.
Oh, and remember: Nobody here actually drinks Foster’s.
Now, now, that’s not entirely fair. They do come up with a serial killer every few years just to keep their name in the papers, bless their little cotton socks.
I went to Adelaide last year, and thought it was an attractive and incredibly dull city. Ask the locals what you should see while you’re there, and they go blank. “The chocolate factory?” some will eventually say. “Gleneg beach!” they all agree. These two things are apparently all Adelaide has to offer. If you’re a wine drinker, I can highly recommend other parts of South Australia as being well worth visiting as there was much to see and do and drink in the Barossa Valley, but I wasn’t charmed by Adelaide.
Thank you all for the information.
I was born in Australia, and have lived there most of my life – though my last 7 years have been in the US, and most of my first 10 years were in England.
Here’s where I respectfully disagree with earlier postings:
Well, Sydney’s suburbs vary a lot, from Palm Beach (very upmarket seaside suburb) to Mount Druitt (which is a bit of a dumping ground for welfare recipients). But in neither extreme would I think I was in the US.
Well, my generalization is that Midwesterners are polite, but Australians and NZers are friendly. But when you come to sports, apparently the Midwestern veneer of politeness disappears, but the ANZ friendliness just turns up the level of friendly insults.
I don’t know about that: one of the best holidays I’ve had was a fortnight driving around Tasmania – which is not at all like Queensland.
Well, there are two big reasons: (1) We want to see the rest of the world, and (2) Some of us (like my second son and me) find it hard to get decent jobs in Australia.
There are other old mining towns worth visiting, including Bendigo, Ballarat, Broken Hill and Kalgoorlie (Though I haven’t been to the last). I went to Broken Hill on my honeymoon, including Silverton. It was the only place in Australia to see hostile action in World War I – a bit of what would now be called terrorism, when a couple of camel drivers took some shots at a picnic train.
There are a few “Latinos” in Sydney, but they are not the same as Latinos in the US: the countries they are most likely ton come from are Chile and Spain. But there is a little Spanish quarter on Liverpool Street just west of George Street in Sydney. In addition, a lot of Sydney’s suburbs have been taken over by immigrants from East and Southeast Asia. Cabramatta is the most notorious, but try finding and “Australian” restaurant in the Ashfield shopping centre.
Ah, yes – but how many Melbourne teams were in the AFL Grand Final this year?
The answer: none!
That’s putting it mildly – but oddly enough, the same is true of Brisbane, from which you need to drive for at least an hour to find a beach. Even Adelaide is closer to a decent beach!
Well, I like Canberra, and find much more of interest than the AWM (though that is worth going to). The art gallery and the National Museum of Australia are at least as good as the AWM.
I spent 3 weeks in Australia in 1999. Greatly enjoyed it and am saving now for a return trip. I have most of my trip in words and photos here. I spent a few days in Sydney, Canberra, Hobart, Melbourne, and Alice Springs. It was a great trip, with friendly people all over. The biggest problem was I didn’t get to spend enough time in any of the places I went, including Canberra. Didn’t have time for Brisbane, the Gold Coast, or WA, but will be hitting them on the next trip.
I’m an American that lives in Australia, and I’ve been here for four years (almost), living in Sydney and visiting Melbourne often - my husband’s family is from there.
I like Sydney better, but I think that has to do with me living here and being able to find stuff. Plus, I’m into the history of Sydney, particularly the period between the wars, so its pretty cool. I live in Newtown - which I really enjoy as a funky, laid back neighborhood.
Melbourne is nice for shopping, generally more “cultural” all round.
Hated Brissie - but I wasn’t there long. First impressions might not be accurate.
I actually like the Hunter Valley and the Blue Mountians, and the wine in Mudgee.
Cheers,
G
Thank you so much for the info!
I’ve been to Australia seven times and just love it. I’ve been to most of the country (except the Top End). I kid the Australians I meet that I’ve seen more of their country than 90% of them.
The people are the most friendly I ever met. Most of them want you to have a great time while there and go out of their way to point out what they think you’ll enjoy. So where ever you visit, talk to the locals.
If you’re into wine, Australia has some of the best wine in the world. Most of their wineries don’t export so you can only get them in country. No tasting fees (as opposed to Napa and Sonoma Counties in California).
Regarding Sydney, a couple of things. I don’t enjoy vacating in large cities but while in Sydney definitely do the bridge climb (well worth the price of ~ $100). Kings Cross is worth a quick visit (the Red Light/Gay district). Trips to the Blue Mountains and Hunter Valley (the wine area) are nice. Also when you first get there take the coffee cruise on the harbor (leaves mid-mornings and takes a couple of hours, IIRC), this will help you get the layout of the area. A tour of the Opera House is also worth the price. A ferry ride to Manley for lunch is fun.
A word of advice; When you go, don’t try and see the whole country on one visit. As pointed out earlier, Australia is a huge country. If you try and do too much you’ll end up in airports and on planes for much of your trip. Pick two or three places (maximum) and enjoy them. Some people think they should see the entire country during their two weeks there and end up not enjoying themselves.
LL
An American in Oz;
MrSin did some turbine work in WA several years ago. I went over for a month to keep him company. We mainly stayed in Freemantle and then did a 10 night out back camping trip. Observations:
-
It’s a honking great distance from midwest america. 4 hrs to LA, 15-16 hrs to Sydney, then 5 more hours to Perth, then 1 hr to Freemantle.
-
The food is great
-
Everyone is friendly. Two examples: 1) We went to a lighthouse completely unprepared for the weather. The lighthouse keeper lent me her coat to tour around. 2) We ate out every night, and really like lamb chops. The owner of one of the places we frequented made a point of letting us know that he had chops available as we walked by in the afternoon and asked if we wanted him to save some for us.
-
The wine is great
-
All the UK/Euro girls touring around are beautiful (MrSin comment), especially the Scottish lasses.
-
OMFG it’s beautiful: the country, the ocean, the night sky, even the city.
-
It’s easy to think you’re in the US (I felt more at home here than in the UK) but you’re not!!! Don’t forget this. Oz is Oz and not US, I wanted to slap some of my fellow cits a couple of times for not getting this.
I left this out, posting in a hurry, but I must second sinjin in this regard.
Australia is a beautiful, beautiful place.
The quality of the light is different. I don’t know how to put it better than that. The sky is bluer, the sun is brighter, the night sky is darker and the stars shine brighter. (Scientists, does this have to do with the ozone depletion? Doesn’t matter, its gorgeous.)
The air - even in the city, if there are trees - smells of gum trees and eucalyptus. The older parts of Sydney (which I saw upthread described as ugly) are actually beautiful to me, particularly since I’ve taken an interest in the history of my neighborhood.
The ocean is magnificent. See here, this shot I took of Coogee on the cliff near the beach.
Yeah, I’m an American at heart and always will be, but when I see the breathtaking beauty of this place, I just love it. From Hyde Park in Sydney in the summer to the snow in the Blue Mountians in the winter, its just absolutely wonderful.
Cheers,
G
Naw. We just have less population, less light pollution, and a “different” (AKA better!) view of the Milky Way.
The things we’ll do to liven up our quiet, quiet lives. 
Sorta depends, with SA, how long you’re here for. I mean, it’s like what… 5 hours to get to Wilpena Pound. About the same in the completely opposite direction to get to Mt Gambier - not that I can think why anyone would go there, but it seems to attract a bit of tourist attention. Maybe overflow from the Coonawarra wine region tourists? The lake is pretty spectacular when it’s in Blue phase, but I wouldn’t drive *that *far for it. :dubious:
If you’re here for the wines, the Barossa (northish) McLaren Vale (southish) regions are both much closer than the Coonawarra and personally I think the Barossa is the best of the three. If you’re into wines, it’s the place to go.
Lots of people like Victor Harbour but every time I’ve been it stank like rotting seaweed, so I’m definitely not taken.
Adelaide, though… well, there’s not much to do, for sure, but there’s fantastic food and cafe culture. Other than that… hmm, let me think… okay, fairly close to Adelaide you have the following options (and probably heaps more I’m not aware of):
**1. **Overseas tourists *love *the Cleland Wildlife Park - you can see kangaroos and koalas and suchlike in a big walk-around park. The kangaroos and wallabies are often tame enough to eat from your hands. I took a friend from Singapore there once and it was a fantastic experience for both of us. (I’d expected to feel a little ‘eh, so what?’ over it - it’s not like I’ve never seen a kangaroo before - but it was excellent.)
**2. **There’s the Monarto zoo not far from Adelaide either. Apparently it’s like an African wildlife preserve, complete with giraffes, lions etc. I keep meaning to check it out.
**3. ** There’s also some butterfly house out the same way - which again, I haven’t seen yet. (I blame a lack of overseas visitors inspiring me to take them out to these places. 
)
4. The chocolate factory is way overrated. I’d go for Cadbury’s chocolate over Melbas - which’d be the one they were talking about - anytime*. However, the Angas Park fruit place in Angaston (Barossa region) would be a good alternative. Doesn’t show you how anything’s made, but their chocolate covered raspberries are yummy.
*
- Unfortunately, the Cadbury factory is near Hobart in Tasmania.*
4a: Speaking of the Barossa (I live and work in this region) your best bet is Angaston. The Roaring 40s has excellent food - the best pizza you’ll find anywhere IMO, and they also do a fantastic pasta with pesto, cream, smoky bacon, kalamata olives and avocado that’ll knock your socks off. Not nearly as expensive to eat at as the bigger towns there, either. If coffee is your thing, be sure to call in at Blond Coffee - they make espresso with local Jersey milk which is pasturised but not homogenised, so it’s super-creamy. They also do really nice cafe-food, using a lot of local produce. Oh, and there’s a cheesemaker right in the main street of Angaston too, who does a great range of really delish cheeses.
On Saturday mornings (try to get there about 9am ideally) there’s a Farmer’s Market just between Nuriootpa and Angaston where you’ll find not only plenty of fresh produce, but also local chocolatiers, pastry chefs, smallgoods manufacturers, fresh honey and all sorts of delectable treats. For $5 you can get breakfast (fresh roll with thick-cut bacon and farm-fresh eggs, and your choice of home-style relishes) and a cup of espresso or hot chocolate - which is the BEST way to really wake up on a weekend, I reckon.
5. There’s Kangaroo Island, which I hear is a nice day-trip on the ferry. Of course, I haven’t been there either. Er, well, not for a very long time - the ferry is new since the last time I went. Friends of mine who’ve taken it reckon it’s a brilliant day out though. (You can see fairy penguins there and also at Victor Harbour, if you’re lucky.)
Summary: Mainly Adelaide’s fairly uninteresting unless there’s a comedy festival or something on. I know I mentioned it already, but the food is fantastic - well priced and absolutely top-notch quality - and if you’re visiting Adelaide you’d be crazy not to eat out a lot.
It’s safe to say that Adelaide is *not *the place to come if you’re after excitement. I think if you were hoping to have a relaxing holiday, though, it’d work a treat. There’s sandy beaches, plenty of scenic drives once you’re outside the city, and it’s just a nice, laid-back sort of atmosphere.
Like I always say: it’s a great place to live, but I wouldn’t want to visit.
It wasn’t Melba’s :eek: It was Haigh’s. And it wasn’t too bad - the chocolate was very nice and the tour was well conducted. It was just a little sad that it apparently made up 50% of all there was to see in Adelaide (especially since Glenelg was one of the crappiest beaches I’ve ever seen).
But like you say, outside of Adelaide there were a lot of places worth visiting. Also had the best pizza of my life in Tanunda, though the name of the pizza place escapes me at present…