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Stuff to do in Sydney


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Seems a bit of an enigma , as the web site says they exist on tips, yet we are constantlty being told that there is no tipping in Australia..... :confused:
You don't have to tip if you've already paid the stated price for the service (eg the restaurant's bill or the hotel's price).

 

But these people don't charge for the tour, asking instead for tips. So it doesn't look odd to me. It seems similar to buskers who leave out a hat for you to throw some money in if you've enjoyed the entertainment.

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I understand that Australia has very strict quarantine laws.

 

Are we allowed to bring food from the ship on shore to Australian ports of call?

 

What about porta of call in New Zealand?

 

 

NO!!! Neither in Australia or NZ.

 

 

Barry

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Is there a pass that includes travel & admission around Sydney that includes blue moutains ??

 

tnx Gary

 

You can buy a My Multi Day Pass that will cover Greater Sydney, including the Blue Mountains. This may not include the Explorer bus in the Blue Mountains, for that you may need the special Blue Mountains Explorer Pass. The find print is badly wrded (isn't it always!). It seems to exclude special bus services from the My Multi.

 

http://www.cityrail.info/tickets/which/

 

Colleen

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  • 1 month later...

Thanks for posting the walks around Sydney and the Google map link. It looks like these will give us a feel for the area as well as burning a few calories when we're there for 5 days pre-cruise in Dec. You mentioned the Lord Nelson Brewery...we actually considered staying in their B&B...friends meeting us in Sydney for the cruise cringed, but have never stayed there. What are your thoughts?

 

And to everyone who posted suggestions of things to do and see in Sydney...THANK YOU...all of your insight and suggestions are very much appreciated!!

~~Judy

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It would be a great idea except for two things. It's in an out-of-the-way location, and you probably have to drag your bags up a flight or two of stairs.

 

I did eat a lunch and a dinner there, though, and we got there by the heel-toe express, both times. Enjoyed both meals very much.

Edited by May B
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You mentioned the Lord Nelson Brewery...we actually considered staying in their B&B...friends meeting us in Sydney for the cruise cringed, but have never stayed there. What are your thoughts?

 

And to everyone who posted suggestions of things to do and see in Sydney...THANK YOU...all of your insight and suggestions are very much appreciated!!

~~Judy

 

 

 

We spent a week in Sydney last November following a cruise from Honolulu. My husband found the Lord Nelson Brewery on an internet site and suggested it. I took a look, and pointed out that it was above a pub. We stayed instead at the Sir Stamford at Circular Quay. I am sure we will return to Sydney again at some point in the future, and would stay at the Sir Stamford in a heartbeat.

 

We did have drinks at the Lord Nelson one night, and dinner there a second night. The food was delicious and my hubby loved the beer, but it is above a pub. And I didn't see any evidence of an elevator (although I didn't ask).

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My favourite is the ferry to Watsons Bay and lunch at either the Pub or Doyle's Restaurant next door (both owned by the same company).

Which one depends on your budget - both are great.

 

We just got back from Sydney. We took the Ferry out to Watson's Bay and ate at Doyle's. The waitress was awful and the fish and chips was priced at $40. I thought it would be something special - it was a lot of frozen premade french fries and 4 very small pieces of fish. Everything else people recommended to do was fun. The Royal Botanical Gardens are wonderful.

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Has anyone tried out the free walking tour of Sydney?

 

http://www.imfree.com.au/freetour.html

 

 

Seems a bit of an enigma , as the web site says they exist on tips,

yet we are constantlty being told

that there is no tipping in Australia..... :confused:

 

:

 

We did two of them -The Rocks and an overall walking tour of Sydney that met at Town Hall. Both were interesting. It is a lot of walking and you see things you may not find on your own. I recommend them although they can be crowded. The guides work on tips and they earn them.

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  • 2 years later...
Great thread, thanks! This allows me to update the list, compiled from CC'ers posts, of suggested tips for Sydney, especially a newcomer. Here is the current edition.

 

First, things that you can do even if you only have one day in Sydney:-

The Rocks – historical area, plus some tourist shopping. Circular Quay – for views. Sydney Opera House – do a tour; the backstage tour is the most interesting, but is much less frequent and much more expensive than the standard tourist run. Go to a concert or a show if you can. Botanic Gardens and the Domain (parks). Hyde Park, including the ANZAC memorial, fountains, and nearby buildings such as St Mary’s Cathedral, the New South Wales Art Gallery and Hyde Park Barracks. Darling Harbour – touristy things, including the casino at Star City if you're into that sort of thing. Sydney Aquarium (at Darling Harbour). Sydney Wildlife World (at Darling Harbour). Maritime Museum (at Darling Harbour). Powerhouse Museum (at Darling Harbour). The Australian Museum (in the City). Museum of Sydney (in the City). Museum of Contemporary Art (Circular Quay – the café is said to be pretty good). Bridgeclimb – 3½ hours, but worth it if the weather's good. Not energetic, nor difficult to anyone who has anything other than serious fears of heights. Best to book when you're there and you can gauge what the weather is likely to be. Most popular and expensive climbs are at twilight. Otherwise, a first timer should do a day climb to see where everything is, although night climbs are romantically spectacular. They have a new route which climbs the lower arch, but the standard route is still better for a newcomer. Or just walk across the Harbour Bridge if you don't want to climb it. You can go up the south-east pylon (the one nearest the Opera House and Circular Quay) for some views that are better than those from the roadway. Sydney Tower – the tall building thing, also a very ish revolving restaurant. Paddy's Markets. Chinatown. The Sydney Fish Market (an early start is needed to get the most out of this). Take a ferry to Manly. Manly – long beach on the ocean side, cafes etc. If you can get there, big park at North Head with good harbour and sea views, but is a long walk from Manly itself. Taronga Zoo – take the ferry from Circular Quay for this, too. Cruise on the harbour - lots of ways of doing this, standard tourist ones from Circular Quay; also a jetboat from there; but my favourite is on a genuine ex-Americas Cup yacht - a cruise ship is nothing like this! Watsons Bay – famous for Doyles, seafood restaurant, also good views. Also, go up to South Head (walking distance) from there, for views. Watsons Bay can be reached by ferry. Queen Victoria Building – possibly the most elegant shopping mall in the world. Bondi Beach – if you feel that you really have to do this. Quite close to Watsons Bay, can be done in a long walk (about 3½ miles), or by the Bondi Explorer Bus. Walk from Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach along the cliff tops. Also, between Watsons Bay and the City, there are Double Bay (elegant, expensive shops) and Rose Bay (pretty waterfront). Balmoral Beach, to which you can get by bus (including, if you like, lunch or dinner at the Bathers Pavilion, or just fish and chips, or something else - there is a number of eateries here). Other walks along the harbour foreshore, for example between Cremorne and Mosman. Blu Bar at the top of the Shangri-La Hotel for cocktails with a view. King's Cross at night (for the broad-minded).Featherdale Wildlife Park.

Also, Sydney is one of the great eating cities of the world, so there's no shortage of good and/or exotic food.

 

If you are staying longer in Sydney, the following day trips out of Sydney are also possible:-


  • Blue Mountains/Katoomba
  • Northern beaches (up to Palm Beach)
  • Hunter Valley wineries
  • Canberra

You might also want to have a look at the following threads:-

First Time in Australia & New ZealandPartial Day Tour in SydneyAustralia cruise in 4/14/08, tour suggestionsOnly 2 days in Sydney. Do the Blue Mtns?Sightseeing in Sydney

 

Whoa...Impressive and informative list.....THANK-YOU!

 

Rose

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I went to Sydney with my granddaughter to get on a cruise. We arrived July 6th and left July 9th. This is what we did. The ferry to Manley the first day. The hop on hop off bus and the Australian Museum the second day (and could have done more except for the phone problem), the Tower and the aquarium the third day.

 

Getting Over Jet Lag" Sydney Travelogue

 

6302937-Night_view_from_our_room_Sydney.jpg?version=2 Night view from our room

 

Neither my granddaughter's phone nor my phone work.

 

I went back in my emails and I was supposed to dial a number before I left the US and it wasn't the number that the Verizon rep gave me when I talked to them on Friday before I left. But I talked to the Concierge here in the hotel and he said Verizon says they have such great coverage in Australia, but they really don't, so maybe that's not what it is after all. He said he didn't know that much about AT&T. He gave me the locations where I could buy a local phone or a phone card. But I think I have gotten along without a cell phone for most of my life and I can do it again. I think though I will get something for my granddaughter because she's used to having a cell.

 

July 6, 2012

6302938-Aid_to_navigation_ATON_in_the_harbour_Sydney.jpg?version=2 Aid to navigation (ATON) in the harbour

 

When we disembarked, one of the flight attendants was wheeling my 'wheelchair' and then she handed over to another lady who was dressed just the same and gave me what looked like a scooter without a steering column. And I must say she had a terrible time with going around corners. She also had to have help going up the jetway.

 

I changed some more money and we went through customs and immigration. the wheelchair lady went in the express line each time. Getting our luggage the Luggie came out first and the lady started piling things on a cart. None of the rest of the luggage came for a long time, but eventually we got it all and it was all put into the taxi. The driver was Lebanese, and had lived in NC in the Greensboro area.

 

The fare to the hotel (which was the Intercontinental Hotel Sydney) was $54+ and included several tunnel and freeway tolls. I paid him in some of my newly acquired cash. I asked and apparently one does not tip except 10% in restaurants and there was no extra charge for the luggage.

 

The bellman took the luggage and took it to our room and we checked in. Our room was ready - we are on the 23rd floor and we have to use our room key to get the elevator to stop at our floor. We have an automatic window closing button by the bed. I got my granddaughter's plug to plug in and she recharged her electronic items. There was also a converter plug in the minibar.

 

The internet is $50 for three days, and is a LAN cable instead of wireless but works fine. My granddaughter put the scooter together like a champ, and we organized ourselves and went down to the Concierge desk. He recommended the Manley ferry and said that the round trip was $14 each. When we went out the entrance that they told us to go to, it turned out that there was a small step. When we lifted the scooter over it, the light started to blink, but we solved that by turning it off and turning it on again.

 

We scootered down to the docks and one of the people there directed us to the ticket office (we were at the ticket machines) and the ticket lady asked if I didn't have some kind of disability card or senior card. I said 'no I had only gotten here this morning'. She laughed and asked how old my granddaughter was and when told she was 12 said that she was a child and could ride for less.

 

Then we got ourselves into the right area to get on the ferry. The sun was shining but there was some wind and also rain sprinkles. The ferry proved to be easy to board but I couldn't get anywhere to see anything on it because except for the first deck there were stairs. We were hungry so my granddaughter got a sandwich and I got a donut from the concession stand and he said I could leave the scooter there.

 

So we went up forward. It was windy and rather chilly and I was sorry I had taken the lining out of my coat. We saw the Opera House and the bridge, and I took a lot of photos of lighthouses. As we went across where the harbor entrance was, the ferry ran into some rollers which bounced us around a little. I took a photo of my granddaughter from the ferry with the opera house.

 

On the way back to the hotel we saw an aboriginal playing a diggery do and a fire juggling man getting ready to mount his unicycle. I decided to go in the car entrance of the hotel as I can't do a step each time. We came back and plugged in the Luggie and then I found that the LAN cord wouldn't reach me on the bed. Eventually we rolled the bed nearest the door over to the other wall so the computer cords would reach and that meant that my granddaughter has the bed near the window and TV which works out better for her. (I'm not that interested in seeing TV shows)

 

End of the first day

6302939-View_from_the_window_of_our_hotel_room_Sydney.jpg?version=2 View from the window of our hotel room

 

The room has a closet with an iron and my granddaughter has hung her suit bag in the closet. There is a long window seat bench, and there are two shades that can be pulled down. I haven't tested the inside one to see what it does yet.

 

I could not figure out how to flush the toilet - my granddaughter had to show me. It is a silver thing sticking out of the wall and I wasn't pushing it hard enough - you really have to put some muscle in it. She came back and said the scale was way off as she weighed much more than it said, and we figured out that it was in kilos and not pounds, sonot really off at all.

 

There is a tub and shower of course, and a window from the bathroom to the bedroom, plus a drawer, which I have put my pill box into. There are bathrobes in the closet and a big minibar.

 

There are two double beds, a big TV and a long desk. There are so many light switches that it is hard to figure them out - some of them are for the plugs to be turned off.

 

It was cold - the thermostat was set at 20 deg C, so my granddaughter turned it up to 23 deg.

 

After we got back from the ferry ride, my granddaughter and I played a game on the TV, and then she fell asleep while I wrote my email. I asked the desk to give me a 6:00 wake up call so we could get something to eat, and they did. My granddaughter was hard to wake up. I think we will have to discuss how she wants me to do that. But we did get up and go down and went to the bar to get a snack. My granddaughter had chicken quesidillas and boardwalk fries and three glasses of water. I had cranberry juice and a club sandwich.

 

Then after we talked to the concierge and got pamphlets for tours and discussed the phone situation, we came back up and my granddaughter went back to bed which is where she still is. Just so you know - it was 3:16 in the morning when I wrote that.

 

July 7, 2012

6302942-Queen_Victoria_Sydney.jpg?version=2 Queen Victoria

 

Later, I woke up and took some photos out the window of Sydney at night (top photo). I realized that I had turned off all the outlets where things were charging, so I went around in the dark and turned them all on, wrote some emails and then went back to sleep. I let my granddaughter sleep until she woke up.

 

We both got showers and I called housekeeping to get my bed made up with the head at the foot so I could do the computer in bed with my feet up. My ankles have swelled from the plane trip, but not as much as they have done before and are getting better. I also ordered breakfast from room service but there is a $6 fee for that. We saved the toast and croissants and some of the fruit and the granola bars from the breakfast.

 

Since I had decided that I would just buy my granddaughter a phone, we got directions from the concierge and took the scooter out to go to the phone store. We went about 5 blocks to the phone store. Two steps up to that.

 

They said that both our phones were locked and suggested we go to the phone person to get them unlocked. So we scootered over there and he didn't open until 11:00 on Saturday. What to do? In the end, we rambled around the area and took photos until 11:00. Then the phone guy said he could not unlock my phone that it was the wrong frequency. He could unlock my granddaughter's but it would wipe everything off it, and she didn't want that. So we went back to the store and got a pre-paid phone with $30 worth of minutes on it. Then my granddaughter called her mom - her parents were taking a motorcycle trip and were with my husband Bob in Leonardtown and it was evening there

 

Going back to the hotel and the scooter had a hard time on the hills but we made it back to the hotel and came up and put the scooter on to charge. Then we ate the toast and croissants, and started out without the scooter to walk to the HOHO (hop on hop off bus). We stayed on the bottom because I wanted to switch to the Bondi tour bus in just 4 stops. We switched and went up top - it was pretty cold up there.

 

After about an hour up there we got to Bondi, and went back downstairs. We got off at the Australian Museum stop about 3:30.

 

We went into the museum - I had a coupon for 20% off out of a book I got at the airport. We got a wheelchair and my granddaughter pushed. We saw the native birds and some minerals and the Aboriginal art. After we shopped in the bookstore there we turned in the wheelchair and got back on the Sydney bus.

 

Here I made a BIG mistake. I got on the bus at the wrong stop. So instead of getting on at stop 5 which would have taken us around to the hotel at 11, we got on at 14 and had to go all the way around to stop 1 and then go to 11.

 

Oops.

 

It gets dark here about 5 and it was too dark to take many photos from the bus. I got the driver to let us off opposite stop 11 so the only place we haven't been is to stop 10 which of course is the Opera House. I was really tired and I think my granddaughter was too.

 

We turned in the umbrella that the concierge lent us, and hobbled up to the restaurant. I was too tired to eat anything much so I had a little steak. My granddaughter had the buffet. For a child's buffet it was $45.00

 

We were both in bed by 8:30.

 

I got up about 4 am to go to the bathroom and didn't push the silver thing in the wall hard enough. I picked up a glass to get a drink and realized that the toilet was stuck running and went to fix it and the glass slipped from my hand and hit the tile floor and shattered into multiple small shards.

 

I went carefully back to bed and called the Instant help and they sent someone up to clean it up.

 

July 8, 2012

We got up and decided not to have breakfast -my granddaughter ate some Pringles, and we both had some dark chocolate. We got organized and went down to the concierge desk and made a reservation for lunch at the Sydney Tower for 11:30, and also bought the cheaper on-line advance tickets for the Aquarium

 

We got into a cab to do a couple of last minute drive-by's. Went out to the Opera House which we missed yesterday and drove across the Sydney Bridge.

 

When we got to the other side, I could see the lighthouse and the lightship that I had missed because they have been moved to the Maritime Museum. The cab driver took photos of us with each of our cameras.

 

When I asked the cab driver about a dog statue he said, he never noticed it before. We got to the Sydney Tower about 11:10.

 

Lunch in Sydney Tower

6302949-Sydney_from_Sydney_tower_Sydney.jpg?version=2 Sydney from Sydney tower

 

My granddaughter is getting good about getting the scooter put up and taken down. We scootered into the tower and up to the fourth floor where the restaurant desk was. Unlike in Seattle and Toronto and Dallas, this tower does not allow you to the observation deck from the restaurant - you have to pay that separate.

 

We were too early, so we walked/scootered around and looked at the shops. We saw all kinds of miniskirts which my granddaughter and I agreed Barb (her mother/my daughter) would never wear. Then we went up to the restaurant and ate. It took 90 minutes for us to do a complete circuit. The weather was gorgeous and clear and sunny. I had fixed my camera as to the size photos it was taken and I was much happier with them. We saw the lightship and lighthouse from there too.

 

Aquarium

6302950-Aquarium_Sydney.jpg?version=2 Aquarium

 

Then we were to scooter to the aquarium. We went straight down Market Street to the harbor, but it was not clear how we could get down to the aquarium which was on another level altogether and it seemed nothing but freeways. I asked a group of guys and they were puzzled too and suggested that maybe the hotel there would have a lift down to that level. So we went to the hotel and asked. They said that we should go up on the bridge and then take a lift down. Two of them walked us all the way to the first lift. They went up with us and then walked us part way across the bridge and pointed to where the lift down was (lift = elevator).

 

The concierge said we should not get into the ticket line to buy tickets but that there would be a shorter line for those who had tickets already. The aquarium was a zoo (that is it was very crowded) - multiple children and strollers and families. But we had a good time and my granddaughter was glad she didn't have to push the wheelchair. They gave her a scavenger hunt to do but she didn't find everything and at one point she stopped for something, and I didn't and she didn't know I had gone on. A good lesson for me.

 

We ended up at the gift shop and they gave her the chocolate prize anyway even though she hadn't found the scroll.

 

My back was hurting me even sitting down and I was thinking we would get a cab back to the hotel.. But how? So we did the lifts in reverse and ended up on a one way street with fast traffic. We figured out that if the cab had the light on, it was free. We went up a block to a stoplight, and there was a cab in the middle of traffic stopped at a red light. My granddaughter refused to go out there, so I got off the scooter and walked out into the street and knocked on his window, and he maneuvered over to the curb. She had the scooter collapsed by then so we got in and went back to the hotel. and went up to our room. I was not really hungry, but my granddaughter wanted to eat so I ordered a hamburger for her and a sandwich for me and a banana and croissants for the morning. We also figured out how to make tea.

 

I went to sleep and woke up about midnight and went down and paid the rest of the bill (just the food things and the internet) in US dollars. The exchange rate right now is $100 US to $121 Australian.

 

My granddaughter was up when I got back - she said I was loud. But I asked her to turn off the TV and she didn't hear that, so I don't think I was that loud.

Edited by grandmaR
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  • 8 months later...
  • 2 months later...
Thanks for all the info from everyone.

Links and experiences has been very helpful. Just need to save up for airfare now.

Hoping for Oct/Nov '17

Will the weather be nice then??

 

 

The weather should be perfect around then. October the early mornings & evenings might be a bit cool (you might need a light covering if you're out) but generally the days will be warm without being too hot (around 20-25C or 70-75F), and the humidity should be pretty good.

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:D Don't have one yet. I just wanted to keep this thread on the first page until I had time to sit and read it all, which I have now done.

 

But I've got some ideas for our itinerary now, and I'm sure I'll be back to this thread after a little more research.

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Thanks for all the info from everyone.

Links and experiences has been very helpful. Just need to save up for airfare now.

Hoping for Oct/Nov '17

Will the weather be nice then??

 

 

Unless you're in NZ in which case it might be freezing. November last Dunedin 3degrees, but then you're from Scottland so that may sound warm:D:p;)

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May sound like an odd place to visit but it was really fascinating and situated in a gorgeous locale....great for photography.

 

Tells the story of the Australian Immigration (well, prison experience for some) and what people went through, where they stayed etc.) think Ellis Island or wherever you are from, likely has a story of people coming/going. So if you are a history buff and like stories, think of visiting this place. Easy to get to from the Quay.

 

So, so much to do, see and love in Sydney - Oz!!! :)

 

Host Bonjour :)

Colleen

HostBonjour@CruiseCritic.com

Edited by Host Bonjour
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