Margaret River is only about 4,000 kilometers from Sydney and Archive Guy specifically stated that they don’t like to drink.
Huh, we established the location of the Margaret River and he said he didn’t like the beach but he’d go once.
What’s your point?
[quote=“Kilvert_s_Pagan, post:9, topic:486857”]
there’s plenty of history in places like Port Arthur (where the worst of the worst of Oz’s convicts were sent).
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Port Arthur was just a start point. There were far worse places i.e. Norfolk Island out in the Pacific way off of NSW/Queensland.
There’s far more to Margaret River than wineries and the beach- although both are very well recommended.
The retreats and the wildlife are sensational.
The point is why go on an 8000 kilometer round trip for something that doesn’t interest you?
Forget Margaret River (which is on the other side of the country to where he’ll be) and look into the Hawkesbury River. A nice houseboat journey on the river can be magical.
However, you miss the point that Margaret River is far more than booze and beach.
And you suggest Port Arthur and Norfolk Island. I’d hate to be dragged by my balls to either from Sydney.
I suggested no such thing. If you care to read the Kilvert’s Pagan post you will find that we were invited to wade in and disabuse any misconceptions in that post. Port Arthur was not where the worst of the worst finished up.
I too would hate to be dragged by my balls to either from Sydney.
No–I looked ahead for the next 2 weeks of programming on our DVR, and nothing’s listed. Like I said, we’ve only known about this for a couple of days, so haven’t had a chance to buy a guidebook yet, and probably won’t before she has to fly out (in less than a week) and meet her new colleagues. I’ve got a little more time before I head out myself, but didn’t want to wait before getting some first impressions/suggestions here.
I appreciate your candor. I always suspected that you needed to have a lot more time on your hands to go farther afield and actually get anywhere (because of the size of the country/continent), and that is unlikely to be an option for us. And I certainly don’t begrudge a city if it’s not really up our particular alley much; but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try and ferret out something memorable or worthwhile. If I’m going to be bored, I’d rather discover this firsthand than just write off the possibility and stick around the pool. It helps immeasurably that this will largely be on someone else’s dime, and I remain optimistic, even if it’s in hoping for some smaller, modest little treasures I discover.
And maybe you’d (respectfully) like to fix your post so the link works so anyone has an idea what on earth you are talking about.
As I’ve said before, I like Sydney (and Melbourne, for that matter). Just don’t go expecting Lots Of Stuff To Be Happening the way it does in the US. I’m sure you’ll find some interesting treasures in your time here, but you need to remember that Australia is quite unlike the US and doesn’t operate 24/7 the way you may be used to.
I will suggest the Australian War Memorial in Canberra as a must-see; it’s a 3-4 hour drive west of Sydney and you really need two days to see everything in it. It’s world-class museum and very, very good IMHO. Parliament House is also there and it’s worth seeing just as a “So that’s what Australia’s Parliament looks like. Interesting” side-trip while you’re in Canberra.
The Powerhouse Museum in Sydney is also very good and has some good exhibits on Australian culture, too.
Oh, and as your wife and yourself will soon discover: Australia is pretty expensive by American standards. And Central Station in Sydney isn’t actually in the centre of town,; you want Town Hall Station for that. (I found that out the hard way the first time I went to Sydney! ;))
ArchiveGuy, I’m still not certain how long you are here for. However, you say that you like hiking etc- no shortage of that. As others have said, never mind any venomous creatures- the chances of anything coming from Mars is a million to one.
I don’t like beaches, cruises etc and never get bored. I doubt whether you will be (sorry ME) if you are able to get outside Sydney.
I was saying he was going to be bored shitless if he doesn’t get outside Sydney. I hate the beach and I manage to keep myself entertained as well- but there’s a lot of stuff that’s fine to do if you’re a local, but not terribly engaging if you’ve just flown 6,000 miles. Manly, for example. 
That makes two of us. I’m guessing a week, but that’s all up to the largesse of her employer…
Duly noted. Probably will wear extra thick socks just in case! 
But while the Beautiful Scenery thing is nice, just going for a long hike to get an appreciation for the local topography is usually rewarding, too.
Yeah, how mobile and flexible we are remains to be seen. Here’s hoping (and I’m sure our host will have some good suggestions, too).
It might be that I’m easily amused, or possibly that I get to travel so little that it’s always a novelty, but if you’re even the slightest bit interested in new things and people you shouldn’t have any difficulty at all having a good time in Sydney.
I was born and brought up in Melbourne, but I love Sydney with a yearning passion that can only be engendered in someone brought up on Batman’s grids who is suddenly exposed to little, not-straight!, streets which twist and turn and then expose Sydney Harbour to your enraptured view. But then, I love the place so much that I don’t even mind it when the trains are late, because I still get a bit giddy at watching the even-now, exotic names on the destination boards. 
So I’d suggest that rather than worrying about what you’re going to do, you just set out to have a look at what’s there. Australia, despite what might seem like superficial similarities, isn’t really like the US, so use your week to find out what the Sydney bit of Australia is like.
Do all the tourist things by all means. The Rocks is fun, as is the Zoo and the Galleries and the Opera House. I second visiting the Powerhouse Museum and the Sydney Acquarium, but beyond doing stuff, I think one of the joys of a new city is just wandering about and discovering it.
Take a walk in Darlinghurst, stop at the Tropicana Cafe in Darlinghurst Road (where they hold the Trop Fest film festival) for a caffeine hit and then meander into Kings Cross(it’s the red light district, but if you can ignore the trash it’s got some interesting architecture) and further to Elizabeth Bay which has some extraordinary houses. Or go the other direction and explore Oxford St and the architecture of Paddington.
Or catch a ferry to Balmain and explore some fabulous (darling) shopping and watch the ladies who lunch lunching. Or catch the train the Newtown, as someone has suggested and go for a wander. One end of Enmore Rd has, or used to have, a terrific second-hand bookshop and if you’re willing to turn off some side streets you’ll see some really pretty houses.
Have something to eat while you’re there, you’ll be hard-pressed not to find something you’ll like: http://www.newtownprecinct.com.au/cgi-bin/WebObjects/np.woa/wa/restaurants
Or go to Botany Bay and learn something about the history of white settlement (or invasion, depending on your point of view) of Australia.
See if you can find Wendy Whiteley’s “secret garden” on Sydney Harbour: Wendy Whiteley - Wikipedia
Out of Sydney the Blue Mountains are very beautiful and it’s an interesting train ride from Sydney, through Penrith and up into the mountains. The Hydro Majestic Hotel at Katoomba is worth a visit, it’s about 2 hours from Sydney by train and overlooks the Megalong Valley and some truly astounding scenery.
Or visit Norman Lindsay’s house at Faulconbridge. Beautiful scenery and lots of sturdy, naked ladies.
If you like hiking, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park is only about 25kms from the centre of Sydney and has some nice walks.
Unless you’re very determined, the chances of you encountering dangerous creatures are pretty slim, and even if you do encounter them, as long as you don’t interfere with them, you’ll be safe. It’s not as if the US doesn’t have poisonous snakes, venomous spiders, sharks or large, man-eating reptiles, and we don’t have large predators like cougars.
Even if all you did was find a good cafe (Sydney Cafes: Sydney's Best Cafes, Brunches & Coffee) in a different area each day and spend a few hours drinking good coffee and watching the world go by, I think you’d be hard-pressed to get bored.
Unless you’ve got no curiosity at all, and are completely unwilling to be interested in things, I can’t imagine you’ll find it hard to fill in a week in Sydney.
I’m with you, blackhobyah. I’ve only been overseas once (to Scotland, in 2002), and even just going to the supermarket was an exciting thing there. Things are the same but different, and goodness help me if that doesn’t just set my little monkey brain all aflutter. I’m not an outdoorsy person by nature, but given time in a new place with new scenery and I’ll venture outdoors far more than I would at home. Spending foreign currency made me giddy because it felt like I wasn’t paying real money for things, and looking through my change for coins and notes I hadn’t seen yet was like a little treasure hunt in my own hand. Listening to the radio in the car and hearing accents on everyone made me grin. Perhaps I’m far too easily amused, or perhaps I need to get out of Oz more, but being in a different country made me feel like a child again, getting a kick out of discovering little thrilling things amongst the everyday mundane things.
Jesus, people, ease up on the OP a bit.
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He readily admitted that his preconceptions about Australia were rooted in stereotypes and a certain amount of understandable ignorance. I hate to inform my fellow Aussies of this, but the fact is that Australia just doesn’t impinge on the US consciousness very much except as a guidebook stereotype of beaches and outback and poisonous creatures, with maybe a wide shot of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House thrown in for urban contrast. This is reinforced in my mind frequently when people in America hear my accent and ask questions about Australia (or about England, but the whole mistaken accent thing is another story) that demonstrate virtually no familiarity with it whatsoever.
And before getting on our high horses too much, it’s also worth remembering that many Australians are also pig-ignorant about the United States and its people. When i go home for a visit, i lose count of all the awful stereotyped views of Americans that i run across in Australia, often from people who are generally very well-educated and urbane. At least Americans have some sort of excuse for their ignorance about Australia—it is, after all, a distant country with an economy about the size of Florida’s, and without the sort of world political prominence held by countries like the UK, Germany, Russia, etc.
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As for the OP, i can fairly confidently predict that you will find both Sydney and Melbourne more interesting than San Diego. I’ve lived in SD for over 6 months now, and while i like it a lot, it just doesn’t have as much going on—especially in terms of the sort of city-oriented social and cultural stuff that you seem to like—as either Sydney or Melbourne. My wife is originally from San Francisco, and we go there regularly. She loves both Sydney and Melbourne, and we both agree that most San Franciscans would be very happy with the variety of museums, restaurants, galleries, shopping, public transit, etc. available in those cities.
I keep harping on Sydney and Melbourne because they’re the cities i know best. I haven’t been to Brisbane in over 15 years, and the last time i was there it seemed like little more than a big, sleepy country town, with little to recommend it except the weather and the beaches. I’ve heard, though, that it’s really expanded and is a much larger and more cosmopolitan place nowdays.
But it’s still full of Queenslanders.
The Great North Walk features all sorts of different walks. Some you hop off at a train station and a guide takes you somewhere and you go home via different public transport.
National Geographic recommend 3 Sydney walking tours including the [Bondi to Coogee Walk](Bondi to Coogee Walk) which everyone I know has done at least once.
The ferry to Watson’s Bay for fish and chips is a must. It’s just a commuter ferry. Then a walk around the area to check out The Gap and the nude beach.
A walk across the Harbour Bridge is fun and unlike the Bridge Climb, free.
The Olympic Park at Homebush has a wetlands boardwalk through mangroves with bird watching hides.
Hyde Park Barracks provides a glimpse of our convict past.
The Powerhouse Museum is great and has an annexe in western Sydney that has a huge collection of stuff not on display at the main place.
The Historic Houses Trust always have something interesting.
And http://www.sydney100.com/ these guys list 140 things to do.
Yeah, Bondi to Coogee is really nice.
If you’re in the mood for something a little more strenuous, and you have access to a backpack and a bedroll, you could walk the Royal National Park, from Bundeena to Otford. It’s a two-day, one night trip.
You take the train and ferry to Bundeena, then walk to Garie Beach and stay in the Youth Hostel cabin overnight. There’s bunks and cooking equipment. Then you continue south to Otford the next day, and catch the train back to the city (about a 90-minute trip).
Total walk is about 25km, or about 16 miles. It’s tough enough to really test the unfit, but not so tough that you need to be a seasoned hiker. The view and the wildlife are fantastic. When we went in July we saw birds galore, kangaroos, and migrating whales.
I live in Sydney city (have for about 10 years, and never had a car, always found walking and public transport to be sufficient) and I definitely don’t think that he’ll be bored shitless. There’s plenty of times that I’ve been walking through the city and wandered into things like the Italian street fair out on Stanley Street or the Night Noodle Markets in Hyde Park during Good Food Month. We recently had a night-time Chinese New Year parade throughout Chinatown and there are pretty good markets in Paddington, Glebe or Bondi every Saturday. Speaking of Bondi, you can do a walk from Bondi to Bronte, you don’t have to go swimming to enjoy the beach. The awesome Sculpture by the Sea takes place along the walk during September. Also, no snakes or spiders, but I did see whales just off the coast when I went to the last Sculpture by the Sea.
ArchiveGuy, if the wife enjoys vintage shopping, I suggest walking down Crown Street in Surry Hills or King Street in Newtown (start at the south end past Newtown train station.) Glebe Point Road in Glebe also has a lot of restaurants and shopping nooks, and is only about an half hour walk or 10 minute bus ride from the city centre. These are all places more often frequented by locals than tourists, I actually think that The Rocks is geared more towards tourists. But there’s a lot of “touristy” places in the city which have an interesting history - like the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, Town Hall and the QVB - and it’s easy enough to find tours.
The best thing is if you can find a local Sydneysider from your wife’s company who’s willing to act as a tour guide. Failing that, the Events page on the City of Sydney website would give you an idea of any events or festivals that’s happening when you visit.
sniff I’m going to be leaving Australia soon and living overseas for a year, and this actually made me a little misty-eyed.
ETA: Whoops, spent a long time writing up this post, and I think the Bondi to Bronte walk is the same as Bondi to Coogee as recommended by don’t ask/mhendo (only shorter? longer? One of the two. :P)