Cool stuff in Sydney?

Climbing the “coathanger” was a lot more fun when you could do it for free. Still, I have heard good reports about the climb. Katoomba in the Blue Mountains is worth a look.

Erick. I think you’re right. I couldn’t imagine the Esplanade throwing out an aborigine . . . but the Campari . . . What’s more Yothu Yindi have played at the Espy and I could imagine half their usual acts pulling out if they ever did anything so stupid. Do you think Paul Kelly would bother with them if they’d done that?

Cheers.

HG

… And if you want to go to Melbourne, no Problem. I bought a ticket for AU$140 over the net with virgin blue. You can get them cheaper, if you waith to 1 hr before departure or just go to the airport and wait for the next flight.

[quote=“Erick Morillo”]Actually guys I am not so sure it was the Espy that denied entry to the lead singer of Yothu Yindi. Although I am not 100% sure I think he was actually refused entry to a restaurant/bar a few doors up from the Prince of Wales. The same place is no longer there anymore but I think it was called something like Campari Bar. I actually used to work at an Italian restaurant near the Prince of Wales about 10 years ago. I think that the incident occured sometime around then possibly a little earlier.

Erick[/quote]

nah, it wasnt the espy. the espy would certainly know who the hell Mandaway Yunupingu is, given the number of times they played there. better get in quick tho - the espy is in a state of weirdness regarding its future. a great place to see some cool bands and have a beer. a must see/go place in melbourne.

as for sydney… it is such a tourist heaven in 2 weeks you should see most of the cool stuff.

i personally would avoid the saturday markets in paddington… they are over run by the rafia mafia and are a bland version of their former self. instead try the sunday markets at bondi or even the trippy hippy glebe markets.

the manly ferry with fish and chips and a walk round to shelley beach is a beautiful thing indeed. if i were to live in sydney again, manly would be the place.

you could always sneak in a game of cricket at the SCG as well :wink:

sydney is a beautiful place and VERY obvious why… Melbourne is a darn cool place as well. Either way - you’ll love it!! If you make it to Brisbane let me know as I here til June.

overall, it should be pretty hot so dont forget to ‘slip, slop, slap’.

The Sunday market at Bondi was somewhat small when I was there - not worth the trek out there in itself. If the weather is good and the sharks aren’t too close to the swimmers, you can combine swimming with shopping.

I re-iterate the Glebe markets and toss in Balmain for good measure. Balmain markets are in the grounds of an old church and only happen every Saturday - for obvious reasons. There’s aso another market up the road, more a flea market but always great stuff. To get there you take the ferry across to Balmain and either leg it up to Balmain proper or wait for the bus. A wise word to the impatient on a hot day. From grim experience I can tell you that the bus and legging it require exactly the same time. Balmain’s got lots of coffee shops and great houses. Besides that you get to meet my aunty and her floppy cotton hats.

Not heard of the Bondi markets. In any case people over the east side tend to be tight bastards so I can’t imagine they’re much chop.

HG

ok. i had a nice time everytime i went to the bondi markets, others didnt, c’est la vie. just trying to give alien some options. i personally used to walk round the bondi markets then head over to the RSL on the beach for a beer (or 6). nice way to spend a lazy sunday.

i am sure there are other ‘better’ markets in other peoples opinions.

Getting an ETA Electronic Travel Authority visa sure is easy online.
eta.immi.gov.au/index.html

Anyone have anything else to share with me before I leave? Outta here in two weeks. I hear there’s lots of fat naked people strutting on the beaches now. Yay. :wink:

I’m in Oz as I tap.

Hit Sydney on Sunday morning and caught my sister for a coffee in the Cross. I emerged at the Darlinghurst Road exit (the main drag) of the underground and straight into mad people yelling at strangers, 1,000 Harley’s about to do a toy run to the local hospital and the scraggy day time whores. The day was pleasantly warm but the stench of Saturday night’s vomit was heavy in the air till I got around to the leafy coffee shops one street back towards the city.

Headed over to Newtown and hung in the beer garden at the Courthouse. Not the best of pubs but a trusty old haunt. I defintiely should have gone with AWOL. The Bondi Icebergs and the ocean. The weather is superb and the food and drink options absolutely mind blowing.

Air tickets are as cheap over the counter at the airport as they are on the internet. I paid Aud$164 for Sydney-Canberra return.

Alien, any questions let me know.

Time for a puff a beer and a laze on the hammock under the plum tree.

Merry christmas all.

HG

It’s cold and rainy today (about 20 C) and it’s really expensive. Surprisingly so, considering.
It looks almost like the US, but the houses are diff. They’re these funny little cracker boxes with iron gratings on the front. Anyone know why they all look so much alike in so many areas of Sydney? When were they built?
The beaches are great (when the sun’s out and it’s not too cold and windy) The sand on Bondi Beach stung my skin, and I got sunburnt on the ferry to Manly (which is very touristy now, btw, and crowded).
Haven’t done much except pubbing and eating and walking, really.
Went to one movie and couldn’t believe it cost NT 375!!! Geez.
Good film though, “Love Actually”, and it was good to watch it with an English speaking audience as they laughed in the right places.

The food is good here (varied and international cuisines abound) and there are as many pubs (hotels) per capita as 7-11s in Taipei!
I’m sitting here in an internet cafe in King’s Cross and it’s pissing rain outside.
Going to a wildlife park Sunday, Featherdale, so I can hold koalas and feed kangaroos, and then on to Blue Mtns. Going to see jazz tonight as part of the Sydney festival thing.

Strange to be speaking English to people and reading big fat newspapers every day with Aussie news in them. I’ve seen some of the tv series “Kath and Kim” that my friends rented from DVD shop. Hilarious~will be bringing a few seasons back with me. It’s like an Aussie “Ab Fab” but more common characters.
I mean reeeeeeeeeeeeeallly common! :laughing:

Sydney-siders seem to be rather bog-standard all in all. Not too many weirdos, and haven’t met HGC’s Auntie Jane yet as Glebe may not happen. There’s this funny woman on Victoria St with pink pin curls, but that’s about it. Strangest people you see here are the heavy girls wearing hipsters with their big guts hanging over them and their ass cracks on display. But they’re not strange, just trying to be trendy. THat look just doesn’t cut it for many western chicks. I mean if you’re bigger than a size 2, just give it up, girls. Don’t embarrass yourselves…

Guess how much cigarettes cost here? You’d be shocked. I’ll guanxi the first non-Aussie who can guess in Taiwan dollars.

And, why oh why, is it so expensive everywhere? Even the suburbs? I just don’t get that at all. I mean, Sydney is no New York or Hong Kong or London, it’s more like a small town bilking the public with exorbitant prices. :expressionless:

However, those are my observations and it’s still nice here, and I don’t miss Taipei! :smiley:

For other thread:
Fox, you should fly to San Francisco on United from TPE if possible.
You could then take a red-eye (overnight flight of six hours) to NYC. Don’t go to LA, yuk, phooey, awful!
SF is chabuduo Sydney, but prettier and lots more weirdos than here. Don’t miss it if you go that far. But then there are loads of loonies in NYC, so whatever…
:mrgreen:

Ok, it’s stopped pissing, I’m off.
X

Not quite sure when they were built (I’m guessing late 1800s, early 1900s), but those are ‘terrace houses’ or terraces and are pretty much only found in the old, inner-city bits of Sydney - if you go out a bit the houses look the same as anywhere else. They’re very trendy with the younger, no-kids crowd.

NT$375… $A15 for a movie :shock: Really??? I would have expected $13.50, not that that’s much cheaper. It is pricey, but if you lived there, you’d probably buy the books of 10 for about NT$250/ticket which works out much better. I don’t think Sydney is all that expensive… although it is compared to Taipei! I found it about a third cheaper than NY and about half London. Don’t know what you’ve been doing though :slight_smile:

Kath and Kim are great… in a scary kind of way :slight_smile: The low-slung look for ahem heavier girls has been debated many times in the press, so it’s not just you. Better stop now… getting homesick…

Hope you’re having a great time!

Well I haven’t lived in Australia for over 4 years but can I guess that a pack of PJ fags :wink: would run at about $A12 a pack, or $NT310 these days.

hey all,

whats the lowdown on Brisbane then? Id like to visit my friend, but he will be working during the day, so i gotta figure out what to do there. plus, i dont speak any australian… oh wait. :laughing:

When I lived in Sydney (about 12 years ago) a lot of the suburban cinemas had half-price nights on Mondays and/or Tuesdays. Check the newspapers to see if that’s still available.

The city that most recently held the world’s largest sporting event, it has a population of over 4 million people and is the largest, wealthiest city in the country that has the world’s eleventh largest economy has just been described as a small town! :unamused: Alien, I’m sorry but your world-weary “nothing impresses me” attitude … could it be the current poor weather that’s the problem?

That’s the spirit. Now go and hug some koalas. Those of us still in Taipei are stuck in horrible pollution, a cold front coming … etc, etc. You know the rest.

I’ve only been in Taipei a couple of months and when I left they definitely had them - Tuesday for the big chains. It’s not exactly half price (although they call it that) but definitely cheaper, under NT$250. Also they have ‘mums and bubs’ sessions which are only NT$200 but only for one film at one session per week, and you do have to, um, share the cinema :slight_smile:

I’m afraid I know bugger all about Brisbane, Doug. It’s nice, it’s sunny, great weather, but it always struck me as not having much more to look at than a typical suburb in Sydney, even the CBD. I’m sure if there are any Queenslanders out there they will jump in and disagree :slight_smile: There’s a casino, the Conrad Treasury. There are also some theme parks - Movie World, Sea World, Dream World etc. but they may not be your ‘thing’.

Tight arse Tuesday used to be $6.50 a ticket.

Eek! In Sydney? How long ago was that? That’s like the price of a child’s ‘half-price’ ticket… or I’ve been going to the wrong cinemas :slight_smile:

Coool stuff in Sydney? Alien of course.

Your welcome, babe.

Chou

[quote]Eek! In Sydney? How long ago was that? That’s like the price of a child’s ‘half-price’ ticket… or I’ve been going to the wrong cinemas [/quote]That’s how it got its name.

Doug MacKenzie

I’m a Brisbane boy, and I’m here right now. PM me if you want any Bris related tips, advice, things to do etc.

Sure its a city with a small town vibe, very cruisy vibe, but it has had the largest population growth of any city in the country of late. Full of southerners taking advantage of the ‘sea change’ and cheap property.

Let me know when you are in town, would be nice to catch up for a beer and you can fill me in on Taiwan happenings!

Best Sydney beaches:
Maroubra
Coogee
Bronte
Bondi
Manly

in that order.
I like less crowded ones.
It’s cool how they all almost have the rock tide pools for swimming. The surf was pretty strong on Bronte and Bondi. “Bruisingly” strong.
Lots of stories to tell, but overall impression: Sydney is a very hip town with lots of young people (younger than this old battle ax!) and great food, nice beaches, friendly people, amazing wines and beers, and just the cultural scenario I was jonesing for.
Got to see loads of films (which were cheaper once I pulled out my grad student ID) at Verona and Palace theatres on Oxford Street. Wish we had art house theatres in Taipei…:frowning:
Oh, yeah, well more than ONE that has English subtitles!

Saw some good jazz at The Basement and met some interesting musicians.

I bought two series of “Kath and Kim” on DVD! And I’ve come back with a CNY tan! :smiley:

Next time I head to Oz, I hope to check out Melbourne and Adelaide as my friends told me South Oz has the most amazing foods and wines of all.
I only got to go to Canberra for a day and Featherdale, and spent entire time in Sydney, walking around, shopping, eating, drinking and swimming.

Next holiday: Cape Town, SA or maybe NZ. Will start a thread closer to the time.