Travel: Australia - Sydney

[Jennifer]

snowman.697:

The public transport system is expensive compared to sg's and very confusing (sort by zones, and ticket validity period (in hrs/days) etc). Be prepared for really high prices. A 500ml bottle of soft drink costs aud4.00. I stayed at macleay service apartments. For some units there's an excellent view of the harbour and u can see the opera house. Internet is aud5.00/hr though.


You must visit manly beach. The sand is ridiculously white. A ferry ticket (iirc) costs around $5 (with sydney ferries). There's free wifi for a 30-minute session on the upper deck.

The royal botanical gardens resembles our own, with a hill in the middle. Visit during weekdays around noon (for a picnic and there's few ppl at that time). Admission is free.

Macleavy Service Apt is located 2 km east of Sydney CBD. We chose Meriton along Kent St becos it is near Darling Harbour (where the Sydney Aquarium/WildLife World are), within walking distance to Chinatown and the Town Hall Stn (mins journey to the Central Stn).

The most expensive train/bus tickets were the ones going to Blue Mountain. So if anyone is planning to go to Blue Mountain, must wake up early to catch the earlier train and then return via the later train to make the expensive transport fare more worthwhile.

I and #2 took the free shuttle bus 555 from Circular Quay back to Town Hall. Here is a link onthis shuttle bus http://www.babs.com.au/sydneycityedge/cbd_free_shuttle.htm

While I was on this bus, I noticed Sydney has many parks and pple relaxing in these parks, even on a weekday afternoon. Life seems good.

We went to the park next to the Opera Hse. Had wanted to take the mini train, but held back when we saw the prices. The ones at Darling Harbour were much cheaper- Adult $4.50, Child $3.50

At the serviced apt, we opt for 3 days internet. Think it is cheaper than hourly rate. Hubby works during hols too :roll: While the boys watched Cartoon Network and I did the laundry, he worked on the laptop

We did not go to Manly Beach. Were there many pple swimming? Or doing nude sunbathing? I am concerned since I have two young boys :oops:

[Jennifer]

foreverj:

tks! gives me a good idea hw to budget next time we head for sydney! airtic is one we can save on since we'll go during off-peak - dd not in pri sch yet

I did not spend much on buying things, just the necessary lunches (mainly sandwiches and burgers from small cafes), a few sweets/biscuits, breads & cakes, 2 cheap key chains (#2 wants to buy), 3 notepads (elder boy) and we walked most of the time.

[snowman.022851697]

-.- I didn’t had internet at all… used wifi on ferry. Not many ppl sunbathng but i went in the spring but u can find surfers and swimmers. Strong current though. Btw, the sun is ridiculously strong there. If you cycle, always wear a helmet.


Macleay is a good place to stay if not for the internet access and how the rooms feel cramped.

[dyh]

Jennifer:

dyh:

[quote=\"Jennifer\"]For the more adventureous traveller, can try out http://www.penrithwhitewater.com.au/html_05/home/index_real.htm


More on Penrith http://www.penrithaustralia.com.au/

Hi Jennifer, when did you get back to spore? my family just got back from there last night.

We took SQ242 on Thurs, reached Sg around 11.50pm.

U last nite got back-> 9 Dec. Same flight?[/quote] Oh, ours is the earlier flight (i think SQ231) which arrived at 9.30 pm.

[dyh]

Jennifer:

foreverj:

tks! gives me a good idea hw to budget next time we head for sydney! airtic is one we can save on since we'll go during off-peak - dd not in pri sch yet

I did not spend much on buying things, just the necessary lunches (mainly sandwiches and burgers from small cafes), a few sweets/biscuits, breads & cakes, 2 cheap key chains (#2 wants to buy), 3 notepads (elder boy) and we walked most of the time.

Food there very expensive. Eg: 1 plate of plain rice is A$3, here only $0.50 to $1? I think on average spent about A$150 per day for family for simple restaurant meals. Difficult to find Chinese restaurants, there are more Thai. When I came back to Spore, it seems the food here is ridiculously cheap. Spent the last few days appreciating the local food more than usual...:-)

[dyh]

snowman.697:

Stayed in sydney for 2 days in nov.


Basically it was still pretty cold there. 10-20 deg. The public transport system is expensive compared to sg's and very confusing (sort by zones, and ticket validity period (in hrs/days) etc). Be prepared for really high prices. A 500ml bottle of soft drink costs aud4.00. I stayed at macleay service apartments. For some units there's an excellent view of the harbour and u can see the opera house. Internet is aud5.00/hr though.

You must visit manly beach. The sand is ridiculously white. A ferry ticket (iirc) costs around $5 (with sydney ferries). There's free wifi for a 30-minute session on the upper deck.

The royal botanical gardens resembles our own, with a hill in the middle. Visit during weekdays around noon (for a picnic and there's few ppl at that time). Admission is free.

we stayed at Brighton Beach. our hotel just next to the beach. the sand there also pure white. Brought my boys to walk on the sand since we can't find this in Spore.

[snowman.022851697]

dyh:

Jennifer:

[quote=\"foreverj\"]tks! gives me a good idea hw to budget next time we head for sydney! airtic is one we can save on since we'll go during off-peak - dd not in pri sch yet

I did not spend much on buying things, just the necessary lunches (mainly sandwiches and burgers from small cafes), a few sweets/biscuits, breads & cakes, 2 cheap key chains (#2 wants to buy), 3 notepads (elder boy) and we walked most of the time.

Food there very expensive. Eg: 1 plate of plain rice is A$3, here only $0.50 to $1? I think on average spent about A$150 per day for family for simple restaurant meals. Difficult to find Chinese restaurants, there are more Thai. When I came back to Spore, it seems the food here is ridiculously cheap. Spent the last few days appreciating the local food more than usual...:-)[/quote]Yeah. Especially the water. My mum told me to go to the minimart round the corner to get some water, turned out it costs AUD3.50; even at 7-eleven SG it only costs around $1.70. When we went out for dinner we were surprised that 1 main course costs up to AUD20.00. Ended up eating instant noodles and supermarket stuff that we cooked x.x :stupid: :stupid: :stupid: :stupid:

>Actually, we drove from Sydney to Melbourne, so we ate quite a lot of Chinese food (drove around the cities/towns finding Chinese restaurants).

[Jennifer]

snowman.697:

Yeah. Especially the water.


>Actually, we drove from Sydney to Melbourne, so we ate quite a lot of Chinese food (drove around the cities/towns finding Chinese restaurants).

Didn't the svc apt provide an electric kettle for boiling water? I did that everyday, so we need not buy bottled water.

[snowman.022851697]

Jennifer:

snowman.697:

Yeah. Especially the water.


>Actually, we drove from Sydney to Melbourne, so we ate quite a lot of Chinese food (drove around the cities/towns finding Chinese restaurants).

Didn't the svc apt provide an electric kettle for boiling water? I did that everyday, so we need not buy bottled water.

Yeah, but we discovered it only after i went down.

[dyh]

snowman.697:

Jennifer:

[quote=\"snowman.697\"]Yeah. Especially the water.


>Actually, we drove from Sydney to Melbourne, so we ate quite a lot of Chinese food (drove around the cities/towns finding Chinese restaurants).

Didn't the svc apt provide an electric kettle for boiling water? I did that everyday, so we need not buy bottled water.

Yeah, but we discovered it only after i went down.[/quote]When we reached the hotel, we asked them whether can drink tap water or not, they said can. So we had been drinking tap water everyday there even tho we had a kettle. In fact, many Aussies just drink from the tap. In restaurant, you have to specify you want tap water if you need ice water, otherwise they think you want bottled water which is expensive. I know that in countries like NZ, Europe, USA, it is safe to drink tap water. But still you should ask them when you reach the country just to double-check.