Travel: Australia - Sydney

[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.

[Joheb]

I’m moving to Australia for this Christmas with my family members. It will be my first visit with my family across the country. I have insured the International Health Insurance for all of the family members to visit Australia. I want this visits to be safe and thanks for your post, it will definitely help me and my family during the visit.

[MixedHerbs]

Hi Jennifer,

Did you stay at Macleavy Service Apt? We are planning to go Sydney in June, and I am now looking at service apts within Sydney CBD.
thanks,
mixedherbs

[chixchix]

How is the weather in June ?

[snowman.022851697]

Chix: not sure. but probably in the 5-15 deg C range according to my geog knowledge and experience in December…

MixedHerbs: i stayed there. the rooms are simple but there’s a simple stove to cook, cutlery is provided. Service is also nice and there’s free newspaper in the lobby IIRC. Only thing is that if youre renting a car, the carpark is a bit problematic, and although the internet access is AUD5/hour or AUD15/ 24hours its actually one of the cheapest. at melbourne my internet rate was like AUD8/hour, at Phillip Island it was AUD0.30/min (AUD18.00/hour).

[Jennifer]

MixedHerbs:

Hi Jennifer,

Did you stay at Macleavy Service Apt? We are planning to go Sydney in June, and I am now looking at service apts within Sydney CBD.
thanks,
mixedherbs

We stayed in Meriton Serviced Apt @ Kent Street (2 bedrooms apt with full kitchen facilities, a dryer and a washer). Within walking to Darling Harbour- many eating restaurants (quite pricey), ferry taxi/ferry to Sydney Bridge area, Sydney Aquarium, Maritime Museum, IMAX Theatre (was showing a Harry Potter film then), The Sydney Pasar Malam (2nd floor with many factory outlets). Kent Street vincity also has many eating restaurants, shopping centre (Queen Victoria Bldg).