# What do we do in Australia? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 21, 2009, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-in-australia/486857 "2009-02-21T16:28:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-in-australia/486857/81 "2009-03-12T04:13:38Z")
> [@BigNik](#): > > I’m in a very similar situation - bought a slightly over five-metre-wide, two-storey terrace in Newtown. Completely unrenovated, floors rotting, roof undersized and the sower and dunny’s in a lean-to out the back (yes, external - it’s a mongrel when it rains, once winter arrives I’ll need to make a decision about whether I’m reinstituting the night-time gardey-loo system). > > That’s because they didn’t get around to putting the sewer through that part of Sydney until the 1970s. > > It’s also got a lot of fascinating 1880 building features such as no cavities in the (double brick) walls, so all the electrical cabling runs along the face of the walls. Or stairs that’d never be permitted under current building standards. > > Bought it because I wanted to live in Newtown, in a place with three reasonably-sized bedrooms and a small yard, but I couldn’t afford the $900,000 it’d cost to get one that’s better than student-grade. As a single income, though, my 10-year plan to renovate (what comes first - the indoor bathroom, the floor or the roof? Do I replace the '70s chipboard kitchen or wait until I can afford to rebuild the lean-to?) is actually a 30-year plan and involves paying off mucho mortgago first. Three guesses what suburb I live in. We’re neighbours. Hi neighbour! My house is upscale by your standards, hah! My electrical cables go through the space between the floors, so I have pull cord lights (which look so cool!) But the walls aren’t rendered downstairs, so it’s just paint over brick. It sounds as though you have my kitchen. I’ve taken to gluing bits back on and hoping for the best, since part of the plan is gutting everything from the original back door (currently the door into the kitchen) back and knocking down the bathroom/toilet lean to. The one thing I refused was the outside/separate toilet. I almost did, I loved that place, but as a rule, that was a deal breaker. Not that this is less wet or warmer. And **mhendo** is right about walking from the upstairs bedroom in front of the house, down the narrow stairs (narrow in width AND breadth, just for fun) and all the way back to the loo. On the other hand? Love the neighbourhood - Newtown has everything I want and then some. Love my house. Love my ceiling roses, my handmade bricks, my wide floorboards, my double-bricked summer coolness, my fireplaces. Love finding things from another age - coins, stamps, newspapers. Love the old trees, the tiny parks that surprise you here and there, even the granite curbs. Love my balcony on cool autumn mornings, and the lorikeets that live in my old bottlebrush tree. So it’s a good trade, I think. Sorry for the hijack. ---
**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-in-australia/486857/82 "2009-03-12T04:46:33Z")
> [@Gleena](#): > > Sorry for the hijack. On this board? They’ll live. > [@](#): > > Three guesses what suburb I live in. We’re neighbours. Hi neighbour! Considering the time I took looking, you probably grabbed somewhere that I tossed as being too expensive. You’re welcome! For reference, I ended up just across the road from the high school. The chipboard in the kitchens is rotten - I’ve got tenants in there at the moment and they took the doors off them. The ceilings were recovered - I’m assuming because of cracking - and the first floor’s wrought-iron balcony has been replaced by an aluminium fronting. I bought for somewhere to live in for the long term, and as a single guy I really only _need_ student-level stuff. What I’m worried about is the midnight toilet run down a steep set of poorly-lit stairs, grabbing the keys for the back-door deadlatch, unlocking the security grille, running outside to the bathroom and back, locking up on the way. That nightsoil pot off the first-floor balcony is looking more attractive… (And granite curbs? Aren’t they all sandstone around there?) We now return you to your regularly-scheduled whinge about the Boring Country. ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-in-australia/486857/83 "2009-03-12T05:12:12Z")
> [@BigNik](#): > > On this board? They’ll live. > > Considering the time I took looking, you probably grabbed somewhere that I tossed as being too expensive. You’re welcome! For reference, I ended up just across the road from the high school. > > The chipboard in the kitchens is rotten - I’ve got tenants in there at the moment and they took the doors off them. The ceilings were recovered - I’m assuming because of cracking - and the first floor’s wrought-iron balcony has been replaced by an aluminium fronting. > > I bought for somewhere to live in for the long term, and as a single guy I really only _need_ student-level stuff. What I’m worried about is the midnight toilet run down a steep set of poorly-lit stairs, grabbing the keys for the back-door deadlatch, unlocking the security grille, running outside to the bathroom and back, locking up on the way. > > That nightsoil pot off the first-floor balcony is looking more attractive… > > (And granite curbs? Aren’t they all sandstone around there?) > > We now return you to your regularly-scheduled whinge about the Boring Country. Heh, I’m behind the Union, also behind the HS. I looked for more than a year. Yours is in worse shape than mine - I probably did look at it at some stage. There are bluestone granite curbs in various places around Newtown (in front of my house, for example.) Not many still there, but a few. I found the town council meeting where they argued about expense vs durability and trialled a few. Look around, you’ll see them here and there, especially down the St Peters end, but not on King St. As far as the midnight run, that’s exactly WHY I decided no way, no how for an outdoor loo. Even the one I looked at was just outside the backdoor, not all the way down the bottom of the garden like most of them. Bad enough just to get to the back of the house - although I’m not at all sure my loo is totally indoor, does it count as indoor when you can sit and see large amounts of daylight through the cracks in the wall? I think your choice of the nightsoil pot might be better. I’ve considered it on a cold winter night, for sure. I’ve already stacked it once going down the stairs, it’s no fun, Newtown stairs will kill you. My kitchen chipboard is rotten, too. The cabinets aren’t the problem, it’s the drawers. I keep gluing them back together but they aren’t square anymore and I need them to live another five years or so. Boo! It’s a shame when people front the balconies. (I know you bought it that way.) It was popular post-war and it looks awful. The lace looks SO much better. The best thing has been replacing the upstairs doors. I got new doors, got a guy in to hang them cause I bought old ones at auction, and discovered that the doorways upstairs are…not rectangular. There was much planing. And swearing. And sanding. I’d painted them first but ended up having to paint them again. Sometimes I think the house is out to get me. First floor balcony? You have more than two floors? That’d be SO AWESOME. We should have a beer! Cheers, G ---
**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-in-australia/486857/84 "2009-03-12T05:29:23Z")
> [@Gleena](#): > > Heh, I’m behind the Union, also behind the HS. I looked for more than a year. On Union Street just past the Knight Street corner? I remember that one - too pricey for me, that far from the station. I don’t drive, so station adjacency was key. I’ve only got two storeys (at the moment - plans involve the potential for another), but I’m 194 cm and about 30 kg above fighting trim. A good-quality stack on those stairs is a question of “when” rather than “if”. A beer sounds good, though - I’m currently living in Stanmore (moving to Newtown around August), so my local’s the Oxford. To get things back on track, let’s suggest that as something the OP can do while he’s in town. Watching a game of League in the stage mirror while downing a beer at the Oxford Tavern. ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-in-australia/486857/85 "2009-03-12T10:08:50Z")
No, but I looked at that one. I’m just off Iredale Street, about a block from Union Street. When I say behind the Union, I mean almost literally. I’ve stacked it a few times, but really stacked it only once. First thing we did was get an electrician in to put some small but powerful spot lights on the stairs. I’ve never been to the nekkid lady bar, and I am a yank and therefore unable to tell who scored in either League or Union, and ask stupid questions about the need for two games in the same overall sport catagory. Maybe I’ll take his wife shopping instead. How about Thai Pathong for dinner and a really loud band at the Sando? ---
**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-in-australia/486857/86 "2009-03-12T23:52:24Z")
> [@Gleena](#): > > I’ve never been to the nekkid lady bar, and I am a yank and therefore unable to tell who scored in either League or Union, and ask stupid questions about the need for two games in the same overall sport catagory. Maybe I’ll take his wife shopping instead. Don’t sweat it - I’ll shout you and the young lady to a Bluebags game. Nevertheless, how about we take this to PM and leave the thread to see if **ArchiveGuy** ended up finding something to do or spent the entire trip watching pay-per-view porn in his hotel room? ---
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-in-australia/486857/87 "2009-03-13T00:28:20Z")
> [@Gleena](#): > > Three guesses what suburb I live in. We’re neighbours. Hi neighbour! Another neighbour here! Hi neighbours! Although I’m up the other end of King St, near Satellite Cafe. Two-story terrace with indoor bathroom here. Of course, I could never afford to own it. I just pay an extortionate amount of rent for the pleasure. And it is a pleasure - Newtown rocks. ---
**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-in-australia/486857/88 "2009-03-13T00:33:48Z")
> [@Monkey\_Chews](#): > > Another neighbour here! Hi neighbours! Although I’m up the other end of King St, near Satellite Cafe. NewtDope! Actually, you’re one of those North-enders. Think you’re so hoity-toity with your high property values and your lack of aircraft noise and your being around the corner from Clem’s… ---
**Author:** ![Mame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/858c86/32.png) [@Mame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mame)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-in-australia/486857/89 "2009-03-13T02:58:16Z")
An ex-Newtowner checking in. Used to be in Church Street, just down from the graveyard/park. Kept out of the discussion till you mentioned Clem’s! We used to describe it as PC KFC. ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-in-australia/486857/90 "2009-03-13T05:23:26Z")
Clems! Nom nom nom nom… I spend an inordinate amount of time in St Stephens cemetery, I like the place. Resolved: The OP should try Newtown. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-in-australia/486857/91 "2009-03-13T05:25:41Z")
> [@Gleena](#): > > I spend an inordinate amount of time in St Stephens cemetery, I like the place. For the record, you know that when they walled in a bit of the cemetary and moved the headstones inside, they left the bodies where they were? The entire Camperdown Rest Park is prime zombie-generating factory when the inevitable zombpocalypse comes. ---
**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-in-australia/486857/92 "2009-03-13T05:28:50Z")
Anyone care to put together an itinerary for a day in Newtown? 7:00-7:20 - Be ignored by waiters while trying to order breakfast in Cinque. 7:30 - Be appalled by quality of coffee at Cinque. 7:45-8:15 - Complain to all listening about how you’re never drinking at the Cooper’s Arms until they change the name back to the bloody Shakespeare, while trying to work out how what you’ve just been served at Cinque constitutes a “pesto omelette”… ---
**Author:** ![Mame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/858c86/32.png) [@Mame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mame)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-in-australia/486857/93 "2009-03-13T07:27:43Z")
> [@Gleena](#): > > Clems! Nom nom nom nom… > > I spend an inordinate amount of time in St Stephens cemetery, I like the place. > > Resolved: The OP should try Newtown. 😉 You know that the cemetary contains the gravestone of Eliza Donnithorne, who was reputed to be the inspiration for Miss Haversham in Charles Dickens Great Expectations? ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-in-australia/486857/94 "2009-03-13T07:54:14Z")
> [@Mame](#): > > You know that the cemetary contains the gravestone of Eliza Donnithorne, who was reputed to be the inspiration for Miss Haversham in Charles Dickens Great Expectations? Yes, that’s so cool!! And the wreck of the Dunbar bodies, and Bligh’s grandson, and heaps of other stuff. Plus a lot of plants that aren’t found anywhere else. It’s a Very Cool Place. **BigNik** HAH, Green eggs, sans ham! I’m not high class enough for Cinque’ anyway. I’m more Martinis, or Green Gourmet yum cha on a Saturday. Plus the coffee sucks! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-in-australia/486857/95 "2009-03-13T14:05:47Z")
Clem’s has cooked me more hot dinners than my own mother. St Stephen’s Cemetery is one of my favourite places on earth. I remember having my second ever pash there, with a queer goth boy on top of a tombstone. Ahhhh… Newtown. **BigNik** , have you had the pesto scrambled eggs with feta at Varga Bar? That is some good breakfast. Cinque has terrible coffee and worse service, but it’s worth it if you can grab the front window seat and watch King St parade itself before you. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-in-australia/486857/96 "2009-03-13T20:22:59Z")
> [@BigNik](#): > > Don’t sweat it - I’ll shout you and the young lady to a Bluebags game. > > Nevertheless, how about we take this to PM and leave the thread to see if **ArchiveGuy** ended up finding something to do or spent the entire trip watching pay-per-view porn in his hotel room? Actually, I won’t be going for another month or two, but my wife just got off the plane (after two weeks in Sydney) a couple of hours ago, so this weekend will be all about debriefing–though I’m not sure how much she was actually able to see because of her new job. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-in-australia/486857/97 "2009-03-13T22:32:54Z")
How hard is it to figure out how to do links in vBulletin? Why do so many people on the SDMB struggle with this basic concept? You highlight the word, you click the button, you paste the link, huzzah. By crikey! Figure it out!! ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-in-australia/486857/98 "2009-03-13T23:04:33Z")
> [@Gleena](#): > > I spend an inordinate amount of time in St Stephens cemetery, I like the place. Note to **Gleena** and other Newtownians: my choir will be performing at St Stephen’s in August. I’ll find out the details and post them. ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-in-australia/486857/99 "2009-03-13T23:34:49Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > Note to **Gleena** and other Newtownians: my choir will be performing at St Stephen’s in August. I’ll find out the details and post them. Yes please! Maybe Archive Guy will be here for it. I’ve always meant to catch your performace somewhere. **Monkey Chews** : A queer goth guy in Newtown? Lies! 😉 Ispend far too much time at Varga Bar, for coffee though, I’m not into their food. Another good window seat for people watching is El Basha, and the food is fabulous! Although the brekkie is GINOURMOUS. I have to split it with my husband. And El Basha has best coffee of any of them - nom nom nom. ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-in-australia/486857/100 "2009-03-13T23:44:46Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > Actually, I won’t be going for another month or two, but my wife just got off the plane (after two weeks in Sydney) a couple of hours ago, so this weekend will be all about debriefing–though I’m not sure how much she was actually able to see because of her new job. Ooo…let us know what her impressions are! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-in-australia/486857.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-do-in-australia/486857.md?page=6)