Things to do in or near Sydney, Australia (staying in Wollongong)

Cafe Society
41

We’ll check out Newtown.

Monday update: Late start because the power locally was out until 10:00 am. I was not going down 8 flights of stairs and THEN have my wife tell me we forgot something. Still rainy and windy. Back down to Circular Quay. the crews were dismantling the Chinese Zodiac animals. The giant tiger was gone from wharf 6 roof, the dragon was gone from front of the Museum of Contemporary Art, the dog was being dismantled from near the Opera house (I have pictures:D). The serpent is still going strong under the train station and the rabbits are still doing tai chi moves at the end of the quay. New cruise ship in town and what looked like a small (compared to the liner) freighter tied along side. A better perspective from the side showed it was a tanker (duh - did I expect an ocean liner to just pull up to the nearest BP station - the fueling station comes to the ship). We did the Opera house tour - excellent - then marched to the Sky tower - pretty good uphill - should have taken the short hop on the train from Circular Quay to Saint James station. We just had to get our steps for the day in. I DO NOT LIKE HEIGHTS. Especially when the tower is moving under my feet. Next checked out Hyde park (Archibald fountain, St Mary’s Cathedral, and the ANZAC memorial. Rain was revving up again and with the late start and 12,000 steps - we headed back to Wolli Creek. Dinner at a hole in the wall, Shanghai Fried Dumplings.

Tuesday - sunny (well an early shower) but much nicer. Back to the Quay and a see-the-harbor cruise. Another new cruise ship in harbor (Queen Elizabeth) - I guess a new ship each day? Great pictures throughout the harbor. Wandered around Watsons Bay for a bit - some good fish and chips (and calamari, scallops, oysters). Then over to Manly beach. Great location, wide pedestrian friendly walkways through the shops/restaurants/hotels. Surfing competition!!! Gratuitous blurb - “The Vissla Sydney Surf Pro is bringing top level, international surfing back to the iconic Manly Beach in 2018.” My wife, born and raised in Hawaii had never been to a surf competition and were are well past AARP age! She had an Australian Shiraz and I downed some draft White Rabbit Ale at a hotel bar overlooking the beach. Bartender was originally from Hawaii! Hit the spot for us; we are not connoisseurs. A good walk along the beach then back through town - have to get those steps in. Ferry back to Barangaroo harbor. Walked to the other side of Darling Harbour to get to the Hard Rock Cafe. I know, "What are you doing that for in Australia??!!) Daughter collects pins from around the world and we aide and abet her weird lusts. Wife also gets t-shirts for the grand-kids. Checked out the convention center across the street were she will be attending a Women’s Christian conference in a couple of weeks. 20,000 women and NOT ME. I’ll head to a local golf course so I can put another pin in my world golf map. Another march around Darling harbour to Town Hall Station then back home to Wolli Creek. The light rail is still under construction so it got our steps past 16,000 on the day. Had some delicious bowls at a quick food place called Hot and Fresh. Put your veggies, noodles, etc. in your bowl, pick your broth/soup and pay by the kilogram. It gets cooked and pick it up hot and steaming. Interesting.

Tomorrow is Wildlife zoo and Toronga zoo. At the Wildlife zoo, you can “interact” with the Koalas, but hugging is out. Wife has this desire so we go. I’m a great husband! Thursday is Blue Mountains. Friday is on-an-off-bus around town and out to Bondi beach. Saturday is whatever we haven’t seen then off to Melbourne for 4 days. Then to Brisbane and a week on the gold coast and back to Sydney for the Women’s conference.

42

How do you tell a native Melbournian? A native is carrying a jacket… The rule for Melbourne weather is that it will probably be the same today as it was yesterday. And this is the middle of summer, so the weather today and yesterday was hot and sunny. But any particular week, there is a good chance that the weather yesterday and today is “changeable”.

Walk out on Swanston street and have a look up and down the street. At one end is the WWI war memorial. At the other end is … a boring building. But when I was a lad, it was the Carlton United Brewery building with the big CUB sign that bracketed that end of the street. Notice that in the city, 50% of the pedestrians are of Chinese extraction: there has been a huge amount of migration in the last 50 years, + major international education industry (not all of Melbourne is like that: only the CBD and a few other suburbs). At university, I knew /one/ person of Chinese background, and he was from an old Melbourne family, not a recent migrant. Also, check out the crowds! In the mid 80’s, I looked up and down that street one Sunday afternoon, and saw /nobody/.

The brown tourist tram is what all the trams were like when I was young, except it’s one of the last, newest models. It will be crowded (I mentioned the city crowds), but the old Melbourne rule from when I was a boy was: no gentlemen will take a seat next to a lady unless it’s peak hour, and, no lady will take a seat next to a gentleman…

Trams /in the city/ are free. If you head up to the university, or all the way to outside the Melbourne Museum, or all the way to the “National” art museum, you are in a paid zone, and you will need a ticket first. YOU DON’T HAVE TO SCAN YOUR TICKET WHEN YOU GET OFF. You will see many people scanning tickets when they get off: that’s for two reasons: (1) It was the original rule (2) They save money if they are making only a single short journey (if you don’t scan off, the system assumes you are making a full length journey: if you make trips all day, you pay full price anyway, so it doesn’t matter).

43

Only true for trams, though. For trains and buses, you do scan on exit for short trips. But if it’s all-day travel, it’s not strictly necessary, but is recommended anyway.

44

Thanks for the info on the tickets. Looks like we will need a Myki card for Melbourne instead of our Opal card. We arrive there on the 4th for 4 days. Any local ideas on what to see that’s not rated but should been experienced when there?

Our Wednesday here in Sydney was an easy day - resting our feet a bit. Train to Circular Quay then over to Darling harbour. Went through Wildlife Sydney Zoo. Compact and the wife got to “encounter” the Koalas. No touching anymore but she was happy. Also happy that touching the crocodile was off limits too. We did get to handle a couple of snakes and a wombat. The porcupine was cute but also off limits. A lunch after then back over to Manly beach for more sightseeing. Crowds - seems everyone had at least part of Wednesday off?? Beaches and ferries were full. Some time wandering around then back to Sydney proper. Some Chinese takeout for dinner and early to bed. Early start to the Blue Mtns. tomorrow.

45

Great to hear that you are having such a good time.

This Saturday night is the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Highly recommended as a spectator event, always spectacular, great vibe. This is 40th year so being talked up as a biggie. It runs through part of the city - very safe, tens of thousands of people. I just had a quick look and there are good websites aimed at visitors to Sydney on best public transport etc.

Melbourne highlights - I’d suggest State Library, which has Ned Kelly’s armour, then the Old Melbourne Gaol, which is fantastically atmospheric. Melbournians chide Sydney about its convict origins, but they make more money out of their crims than we do. A visit to the MCG - Melbourne Cricket Ground - could be good if you like historic stadiums.

46

Endorse the suggestion of the Mardi Gras. Best show in Sydney, with daylight second but …
The “march” isn’t that long (1.7km = a bit over a mile), the road isn’t a particularly wide and it is absolutely packed, the suggestion is 200,000.
(When the Sydney Swans AFL play at the SCG they get crowds up to 40,00 and that brings that section of town to a standstill)
You can’t sit and watch from the street, you need to stand, preferably on something like a milk crate or higher just to get a good view.
And with the best efforts of our public transport sector, it’ll be an absolute horror to get there and a total nightmare to get back.
Best wishes if you give it a go but for several years now I now think it’s best watched on TV.
The best of Melbourne is of course the Hume Highway, followed by the Great Ocean Road.
But Acland Street St Kilda and Lygon St Carlton are great streetscapes and cafe scenes of which Sydney has naught but pale imitations.
Rippon Lea House in Elsternwick is a pleasant visit, the locals seem to swoon over Federation Square.
If you really want to see how Melbourne functions and hums you need to see a game of footy but the season proper is more than a month off.
If you have time then getting out on Port Phillip Bay say across to Portarlington, Point Lonsdale on the west side or Portsea on the east is a good trip.

47

What are your interests and where are you located? If you head out to the suburbs, you won’t be the first to photograph the Brighton beach boxes (brighton beach melbourne - Google Search). I don’t normally recommend bus tours, because you spend all your time on the bus, but if you take a car and head north for 8 hours, you’ll find that you’re 8 hours away from Melbourne. If you do another 8 hours, you’ll find that you are 16 hours away from Melbourne… It’s an experience that’s a bit different than traveling in Europe or Asia.

As far as I know, the only way to get into the Council Chambers in Melbourne now is to book a (free) 1 hour tour (which I reckon is 45 minutes too long), but it tells you something about Melbourne in the gold rush boom, and is a particularly interesting contrast with the Trades Hall Council chamber up near the 8 hour day memorial and the old city gaol (jail). If you go up to the Melbourne Museum (…they took all the trees and put them in a tree museum, And they charged all the people ten and a half to see 'em…), you can also see the outside of the Royal Exhibition Building (home of the Australian federation meetings). It’s fashion week, but I don’t know when or if it will have events. A block away is the scungy end of Brunswick Street Fitzroy (another world class coffee strip).

If you wind up at Fitzroy Street St Kilda (perhaps not as authentic as it used to be), you will also be at Luna Park, with one of the worlds older large roller coaster rides (it’s rough. it helps if you are small and fit). Mid-week, on a non-holiday, the wait shouldn’t be long – and you can check the queue before buying tickets. If you are there on a Sunday, you are in the right location for the Esplanade craft market.

If you wander past the War Memorial (and think about why Melbourne was hurt enough to build something like that), you are also adjacent to the Botanical Gardens, worth wandering through if you like parks. If you wander past the State Parliament (second home to the federal parliament), you are close to the treasury gardens, Fitzroy gardens, Captain Cooks cottage, Conservatory, and on you way to the MCG (I guess you would have to book a tour to get in there). The MCG is a bit changed since the Americans camped there in WWII, and Billy Graham spoke to meetings of 130,000-140,000 people in 1959: for safety reasons they’ve got rid of most of the standing-room, which makes it a bit smaller, even after they’ve added a lot of new seating.

48

Wow! Thanks for the suggestions. I believe we will skip the live LGBT parade and do the TV viewing thing. Saturday will have us check out the Rocks area for its history. Our first day in the rain was a little brief though we enjoyed the street market. Wife is US born Chinese so there will be a stop in Chinatown and the garden. I have to hunt down some Emu, Alligator, and some other kind of jerky for our Daughter-who-has-weird-tastes.

In Melbourne, we are using a friend’s condo near the Doubletree Inn downtown - Flinders Street area - sound about right?

My wife is a people person - local markets/artists and such. She will take up with anyone a bit unique. Just today in the Blue Mountains - she was exchanging email/facebook/and invites to our home if they are ever in Hawaii with a doctor couple from the US, two widowed Chinese sisters who split their time between Hong Kong and Montreal, and a local bartender with an odd backstory at the place we stopped for lunch.

Me - I’m a history buff. Why did they build this? Who was this guy/gal? Why was this street named this? The old jails and criminals are right up my alley.

49

I’m not an arts/people guy myself – all I can suggest is the St Kilda Esplanade on Sunday, perhaps the North Melbourne meat market and perhaps the Vic market.

But I like the buildings/ history myself. Would you like to walk around the city? Pick a time (business hours).

50

… oops, I’m not an arts/people guy, so I forgot that South Bank, along the other side of the river from where you are staying, will also probably have artsy/craftsy stuff and a lot of people on Sunday.

51

South Bank it is for Sunday. It turns out we are actually staying at the Doubletree. Friend will be at her condo nearby. Wife has HER plan for our stay. Don’t know my availability.

AND, I haven’t seen Mr. Mustard anywhere.

52

I kept an eye out for you as well :slight_smile:

Alas, I am home now. What an awesome [del]vacation[/del] holiday. The only negative was the brutal (as in lengthy) plane ride(s).

Thanks, everyone, for all the tips.
mmm

53

Wondering what you’ve found interesting / different about your visit to Melbourne compared to Sydney.

54

Melbourne. We stayed downtown in Melbourne at the Doubletree across from Flinders station - a bit “grittier” - less touristy (foreign). We were just off Federation square. People (fellow riders/shoppers/store folks) seemed a bit more accessible - Sydney was just a touch more off-handed. Melbourne is more compact than Sydney of course. The Docklands and South are exploding though.

Sunday evening after arrival - Walked the local area including alleys with clubs and restaurants. Prowled Chinatown section - oldest western continuous etc…

Monday - We did the usual river tour and the hop-on-hop-off bus sightseeing. Walked the botanical gardens some - huge and lovely. Saw much of the new development along the river and in South Melbourne. Some of the condo pricing was Hawaiian-esque. Got off the bus up in the Little Italy section, Lygon street. Had a mid-afternoon snack of scallops, meatballs, bruchetta and coffee. Hit the spot. Walked back to the downtown checking out the architecture and the old jail along the way. Also gellato.

Tuesday was a walk from downtown up to Queen Victoria Market (got to get our steps in!). Shopping galore and food market as well. Similar to Paddy’s market in Sydney. Afternoon was the NGV - National Gallery of Victoria. Local artists and the history of arts in Melbourne and surrounding area. Well spent.

Wednesday - ACMI was great. We stumbled in and a greeter, Paul, told us he was doing a free tour in a few minutes and to join him. Tour was advertised as 30 minutes. Paul did a continuous TWO hours :eek: :smiley: of history of moving pictures/celibrities, Austrailian/Melbourne arts evolution. The man is a national treasure. I’m sure he could do a week on the subject - college level coursework. Wiki blurb for explanation - The Australian Centre for the Moving Image is Australia’s national museum of film, video games, digital culture and art – situated at Federation Square, Melbourne

We ate steaks, sushi, chinese in abundance. Rode the free trams (packed with students) around the central district. Walked and checked out the history of the grand buildings/churches. Did the Southbank promenade in the evenings. Great atmosphere.

Off to Brisbane on Thursday.

55

Final post with the stays at Gold Coast/Surfer’s Paradise and the return to Sydney.

Melbourne to Brisbane on Virgin Air. Very efficient. We stayed at our friends house for one night in a suburb of Brisbane. We didn’t see any of the town. We drove to Gold Coast/Surfer’s Paradise the next day. I managed to keep the car in the correct lane and used the turn signals instead of the wiper control for turns. It’d been 34 years since driving on the left. Because of the thousands of tourists who visit and are more accustomed to driving on the right, there are copious reminders to “keep left”. The roundabouts help, also great markings in the intersections to keep you in your lane. Glad we had a car at GC/SP for the 5 days we were there as public transportation was mostly a linear streetcar parallel to the beach, main drag. We were in a timeshare just past the Novotel on Hanlan St., half block from the beach. We walked most of the downtown and got our feet wet on the beach. Huge, soft sand, lifeguards for miles in both directions. Ate Chinese, fish and chips, Japanese, and at Peter’s Fish Market. Had a good steak at Ribs and Rumps. Got to see the Sling Shot and Vomatron in actions. Amusement rides if your are interested in being scared witless.

We had a rain day so drove south just over the NSW border and back up on the Tweed Coast road/Marine parade/M1 and Gold Coast Hwy when we could get over to the beaches. Had an afternoon snack at Cabarita Beach Bar and Grill - good live music - wife bought a couple of his CDs. Nice relaxing in and out of showers.

Another day I was drugged and taken to a giant shopping mall by our friend from Brisbane and my wife. They got manicures/pedicures, visited a hundred shops, I was dying. I could have golfed:(

We took in the Australian Outback Spectacular. Show and dining experience with a Groupon:)

Another day was the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Wife fulfilled her secondary reason for coming and got to hold a Koala - photos and video. Description was soft and the girl had sharp grippy claws. The bear was right on cue for turning to face the camera. Probably got held a lot. The little guys get around too; not just hanging out in the tree limbs. The attendants were changing out the leaves in one of the houses. The bears got down and waited for the new branches. A couple circled around like puppies in anticipation. There were six in the enclosure and scampered up to the new food without fighting over a roost. Primary desire must have been: plenty of leaves in reach followed by good support from falling when they go into their digestive coma. Sanctuary was great. Free flight raptor shows, sheep herding and talk. Feeding goats and kangaroos (they were kind of pudgy from all the food from the hundreds of well-behaved school children that flow through each day. Birds/snakes/lizards/crocs/turtles. A must see.

Back to our friends house for a night then on to Sydney via Tiger Air for the final 3 days. Wife and friend’s Christian Women Conference at the ICC. We stayed at an Air B&B right there on Pyrmont Bay - really nice digs; a quick walk to the conference center for them and the ferries for me. Friday was off the the Rocks for the history walking tour, 1.5 hours but our guide did almost 2 hours. Tied in the creation of the colony with the American revolution, convict transport, Captain Bligh, rum, historical building and the persons who brought them alive. Very enjoyable - a must do.

Saturday was off to Taronga Zoo. A 15 minute walk to the bus stop on Clarence Street after Market. Express bus M30 to the front of the Zoo with minimal stops. Perfect day for me and 12,000 people with kids in strollers - it was all good. Start at the top for easier walking. The African areas are being consolidated and expanded. The giraffes and elephants were out and active though. Great reptile center. Pro tip - when the snake is not visible (hiding), always remark that, “he must have escaped out here!” Half the folks recoil while the others laugh - never fails. Tigers, birds, farm animal, reasonable food prices though picnics are encouraged. Seal and sea lion show not to be missed. Now at the bottom of the park, I took the gondola back to the top (magnet for the wife). Gondola back down for the views. Ferry across to Circular Quay; train up to Town Hall Station and the very impressive Queen Victoria building. My mission was to get some Crocodile, Emu, and Kangaroo jerky at the giant Woolworths. Back on the train to the quay then ferry back to Pyrmont Bay and our temp home. Public transport at its best:)

Sunday was shopping for souvenirs day. Hotter than blazes, unseasonable. Light rail up to Paddy’s Market and load up on t-shirts, beach towels, koala and roo backpacks for the kids and grand/great grand children. Other things too. Food market section is great as well. Had to buy a suitcase for all the goodies (had free bags on Hawaiian for the return trip). Have I mentioned that Sunday is 2.60 all day everywhere on the Opal Card (airport excepted). My card was down to .15 from $2.75 and the wife had less than $5.00. We dropped things off at the B&B and took the train all over to get some more pictures at places we just passed by. Late Sunday flight back to Honolulu (9.5 hours) and we arrived before we left - International Date Line and all that.

That’s the journal - it was a great time - Australians are fantastic - and we missed lots of stuff and places to go. Another time.

Hope you weren’t bored by the narrative.

56

Travel tips Australia:
Passport - you must have at least 6 months prior to expiration - that includes your time there and getting back. Some countries want a year (check ahead of time). You will not board if you don’t have the time.

$20 ETA Visa on-line required. We printed out and carried but it’s electronically linked to your passport. Never had to show.

You should also carry a scanned copy of your passport and drivers license for emergencies. I also keep an image of both on my phone.

If you have elderly/ill relatives or bad luck in general; think about travel insurance. We had a lot of money out in tickets and deposits. We are tougher than we look though.

Phone - you can get sims and cards in Australia. Our service (T-mobile) gave us free data anywhere, texts were free, calls were $.20/minute. Calls over internet (hangups, messenger, etc…) were free. Internet sites were plentiful and free throughout our travel.

I got an International Drivers permit through AAA. Wasn’t needed - just my current US license. Check with your auto insurance and credit cards to see what is covered when renting in Australia. We were covered and did not take the ($$) extra insurance at the counter. Note and take pictures of any damage before leaving the lot. Drive safe, speed cameras and all that. The rental car had a toll pass and tolls were added after to our credit card. Fill up before you bring it back, Budget gas price was triple the outside price. And you pump first, then go in and pay.

Credit cards. Check to see if you have foreign transaction fees. Ours did not. Cards are used almost everywhere. A handheld terminal seems to grow out of people hands. Visa is everywhere, MasterCard too, American Express was about 90% good (sometimes the shop/restaurant adds a charge fee to the total - got used to it). For most amounts, we had to sign a receipt because “foreign card.”

Souvenirs - Sydney has Paddy’s market, Melbourne has Queen Victoria market, Gold Coast had a number of stores “everything under $5”. Unless you have to have something at the attraction - the markets are a better deal - and you can bargain:D

Sydney has the Opal card for transport. Buy at the airport and put money on it. Some locations allow cash to top up your account, most locations - you use your credit card. Too easy. There is no need for a car. We used a taxi from the airport first night in Sydney. Used the train back to the airport for travel to Melbourne. Had a car service to/from the downtown hotel in Melbourne. Again no need for a car, largest street car network in the world, downtown area is free; otherwise Myki card for trams, buses, and trains. Brisbane/Gold Coast we had a rental car. Back in Sydney we used Uber to/from airport at our downtown location.

Discount airlines like Tiger Air and Jet Star have STRICT limits on baggage AND carry-ons. STRICT. They weigh the carry-on at the gate; be prepared.

We got discounted admissions/attractions using the iVenture card. Kiosks and sellers are all over. We bought the multi-city card with ten attractions on it. You might need to call for a reservation for some tours - the travel person will do the call. You get various numbers of attractions - not just ten. Show up, the attraction scans the card and you’re in. No long line for tickets. We used groupon as well for some reduced price events / diners. There are other attraction conglomeraters as well.

We stayed in Air B&Bs in Sydney (a different location each stay); regular hotel in Melbourne (Hilton points), and a time share (travel club) that we have at the Gold Coast. I made breakfast each day except at the hotel (free!!). There was always a Woolworth (think Walmart corner market but bigger deli/bakery), Coles, IGA (higher $) nearby. I’ve gotten in the habit of bringing baggies of salt/pepper packets in the luggage. I have no problem getting and leaving a decent non-stick pan if the provided is kind of junky. I’ll start bringing garlic/onion/other seasonings as well. Bakeries are everywhere and good for a snack. Restaurants are side-by-side in most down-towns. Food is not a problem.

Power - 220v at 50hz. You need an adapter for the plugs. Most/all of your wall warts/computers/phones are multi-voltage/frequency. You need an adapter for the wall. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MR9D7VJ/ref=asc_df_B01MR9D7VJ5416401/?tag=hyprod-20&creative=395033&creativeASIN=B01MR9D7VJ&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198063088238&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13711721140442955392&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032800&hvtargid=pla-318862113519 gets you 3 for $9.99. You’ll pay $15 to $25 for one at the airport. Buy ahead of time.

There are lots of backpacking/rafting adventures we didn’t attempt (older and wife has a bad neck disc).

Include a rest/easy day.

AND - have fun

57

I’m sure the other Australians lurking here are as pleased as I am that you both had what sounds like an excellent time. You did your homework, including the shout out on Cafe Society, and were willing to give things a go.

58

I regret that we were able so see just a tiny fraction of the country. I’ve been back over a month and I still think of my trip pretty much daily.

My perception: Australia is clean (except a surprising amount of graffiti), the locals are above-average nice (except for the one incident we ran into on the train), the mass transit is outstanding, and Sydney is a world class city.

I tell folks I could live in Australia. If it weren’t for the distance (family, ya know), I might consider it.

Og willing I’ll go back one day.
mmm