Don't miss attractions in Sydney?

[OzKiwiJJ]

Here's one of my Sydney secrets. I recommend it if you need to do some shopping and also want a cheap lunch somewhere with gorgeous views.

 

Take the train to Bondi Junction, from either Town Hall or Martin Place stations in the CBD, if you're coming from Circular Quay you'll need to go to Town Hall and change there. Find your way to the Bondi Junction Westfield shopping centre, which has department stores, supermarkets, liquor stores, electrical goods, bookstore, fashion stores from high-end to Target, and more.

 

For lunch, head up to level 5 and follow the signs to the Harbour Room food court. Look for a table in the furtherest corner, and you will have views right over Sydney Harbour, including the Opera House and Bridge. Most of the food outlets are very good quality (the fast food outlets like McDonalds are in a different food court on level 4). There is also seating outdoors but it's often too windy for comfort.

 

As an added bonus many of the pillars in the Harbour Room, including the one in the far corner, have power outlets so you can charge your phone, tablet, Kindle etc while you have lunch.

 

Now, don't all rush there, leave room for me! :D

Edited June 23, 2014 by OzKiwiJJ

[Globaliser]

Thanks, OzKiwiJJ. I'm not often in the eastern suburbs and I didn't know about this food court. Could be useful.

[OzKiwiJJ]

It's one of the best food courts in Sydney, certainly the one with the best view, IMHO. The food court in the Sydney CBD Westfield is very good too, in terms of food, but it doesn't have the views.

[shrimpboat123]

We’ll be arriving in Sydney on the Oosterdam on a Sunday in April next year. I’m trying to figure out our options for using the Ferry system to take in some of the sites around the harbour.

 

Unfortunately it looks like we’ll be arriving at the White Bay Cruise Terminal by 7AM.

 

I have a few questions that I’m hoping I can get some answers to.

 

1. Can you walk from the White Bay terminal to the Balmain East Ferry wharf? If you can, about how long is the walk?

 

2. How much does a taxi cost from from WBT to Circular Quay? About how long does the ride take?

 

3. Does HAL or the Port Authority run a free shuttle rom WBT to Circular Quay?

 

Unfortunately we depart at 4PM, so our time is short and we really need to manage our time wisely.

 

I’d like to get to the Taronga Zoo and Watsons Bay. Am I dreaming?

[GeeDunk]

Visited Sydney three years ago.

 

Going into Circular Quay, there was a glass enclosed elevator to the right; towards the restaurants.

Takes you up to the elevated road way.

 

Great place to take a panoramic pic of the Opera House, harbor and bridge

Edited July 24, 2014 by GeeDunk

[OzKiwiJJ]

Visited Sydney three years ago.

 

Going into Circular Quay, there was a glass enclosed elevator to the right; towards the restaurants.

Takes you up to the elevated road way.

 

Great place to take a panoramic pic of the Opera House, harbor and bridge

 

That walkway on the Cahill Expressway also links to the harbour bridge walkway so you can get great views of the harbour from all angles. There are some good cafes at the Kirribilli end of the harbour bridge, and you can always catch a train back if you don't feel like walking. Note: if you want to get back to Circular Quay you will have to change trains at Wynyard.

[MadWoofter]

Hopefully my responses below will help....

 

 

 

1. Can you walk from the White Bay terminal to the Balmain East Ferry wharf? If you can, about how long is the walk? You can, but it's not a very direct route - I did a quick search and got a number of responses - some saying it's over 2kms and others over 4kms, and it can take up to an hour. You'd probably very easily get lost too (it's not sign-posted) ! I'd recommend a taxi to circular quay.

 

2. How much does a taxi cost from from WBT to Circular Quay? About how long does the ride take? You'll definitely hit peak hour traffic in the morning. The taxi fare calculator site says $15-$21, and 8mins travel time. I reckon you could make this at least 20 mins and double the cost (as a worst case scenario)

 

 

3. Does HAL or the Port Authority run a free shuttle rom WBT to Circular Quay? Not to the quay, no. I think there is a shuttle bus to the airport, but I'm not sure if that's for P&O ships only or not.

 

 

I’d like to get to the Taronga Zoo and Watsons Bay. Am I dreaming?

Yes, sorry I don't think you can do both, unless you do a flying visit through the zoo. You can spend a whole day at the zoo and not see it all. I'd say one or the other.

 

The ferry trip to Watsons Bay is nice, but there's not a great deal to see or do there - you can get off, have a bit of a walk, maybe get some (over-rated & over-priced) fish & chips before getting the ferry back to the quay and having a walk around the quay and the rocks areas before catching a taxi back.

 

Have a fabulous time whatever you do :)

Edited July 24, 2014 by MadWoofter

[shrimpboat123]

Hopefully my responses below will help....

 

 

 

 

Have a fabulous time whatever you do :)

 

Thanks MadWoofter. Appreciate the input. I think we'll spend more time at the Zoo and afterward walk around the Quay area.

[shrimpboat123]

Looking for an opinion.

 

There seems to be two methods to get around Sydney Harbour. One is the Ferry System and the other is a private operator - Captain Cook Cruises.

 

The Captain Cook vessels appear to be closed in and I’m wondering what the visibility would be like while you are going from one stop to the next. Can you get outside into an open area for viewing while in transit? They also seem to be a lot faster than the ferries.

 

Are the ferries enclosed or are they more open? Do they operate at a slower speed?

 

Which one would you choose to see Sydney Harbour with?

[MrsWaldo]

The amount of exterior deck space depends on the ferry route.

The ones to manly are quite large and have a lower outer deck. Competition for outside space is always high on a nice day.

 

The fast ferries also have some outside space (depending also on the route).

 

If you have a my multi day pass there are unlimited slow ferry rides included. If time is at a premium then fast ferry is usually the best (but cheek the timetables)

[OzKiwiJJ]

The Captain Cook HoHo boats look like they have a small outside area at the stern.

 

Most of the regular ferries have some outside areas.

[aussielozzie18]

The ferries that operate to Balmain and Taronga Zoo have limited seating at the front and rear, you need to be one of the first on board to get these prime seats. The Manly ferries are bigger - they have limited outdoor seating on the front upstairs but more outdoor seating down both sides on the lower level.

 

Many of the larger Captain Cook vessels have large open top decks - these are used for morning and afternoon Coffee Cruise and I believe they also operate on the highlights cruise. Not sure what vessel they use for the HO HO cruise.

[TLCOhio]

We will be in Sydney for 3 days and would like some help in planning what we should do. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for any help. Steve

 

For Steve and others, here are just a few of tips, ideas, visual sample from what we loved in spectacular Sydney. As noted in the live/blog below, we got off of the Solstice in February. Things worked excellent for us and the six other couples in our travel group from Central Ohio. Check out these postings for more info/background on this nice ship, its entertainment, food options, these ports, etc.

 

Toured and did an opera performance at this famed icon. YES, super worth it to do this superstar in-depth. Did a walk-around tour from their City Hall that worked out very well.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Back from doing a 14-day Celebrity Solstice, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure on this ship and getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for much more information and lots of wonderful pictures on these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 68,334 views for this fun posting.

 

 

We got great views of the harbor and shoreline areas on a Captain Cook harbor tour. We also enjoyed seeing the Rocks historic area with a shopping/market day. This water cruising worked well for seeing the Opera House and Harbour Bridge from different angles, beach scene with its nice bathhouse building, seeing Luna Park on the other side of the Harbour Bridge, etc. It was a fun narration done on this ship, pointing out celebrity homes, learning historic details, etc.:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a view of me on the Sydney Harbour Bridge with a little night and light rain action. You can see the Opera House, Celebrity Solstice and Sydney skyline in the background. When doing this BridgeWalk tour, you really get a great "up-close and personal" appreciation for what it took in building this amazing bridge. Even for a "middle-age" guy like me, the climb up and down was not hard or challenging. And the reward with the views was totally excellent!!:

 

[Cqis]

Thanks to all that asked my questions. I don't have to ask them now, I just read the answers.I am sure that I can find my way from the hotel (Sofitel Wentworth). We will arrive in Sidney the day before our cruise on Holland American's Oosterdam.

THANKS CCer's

[GUT2407]

G'day Terry

 

I've liven in New South Wales all my life, I can't tell you how many times I've crossed the Bridge, but 100s if not 1000's, but every time I see a photo lke yours it still touches me.

 

Glad you seem to have enjoyed climbing the Coathanger.

[bronte2]

We’ll be arriving in Sydney on the Oosterdam on a Sunday in April next year. I’m trying to figure out our options for using the Ferry system to take in some of the sites around the harbour.

 

Unfortunately it looks like we’ll be arriving at the White Bay Cruise Terminal by 7AM.

 

I have a few questions that I’m hoping I can get some answers to.

 

1. Can you walk from the White Bay terminal to the Balmain East Ferry wharf? If you can, about how long is the walk?

 

2. How much does a taxi cost from from WBT to Circular Quay? About how long does the ride take?

 

3. Does HAL or the Port Authority run a free shuttle rom WBT to Circular Quay?

 

Unfortunately we depart at 4PM, so our time is short and we really need to manage our time wisely.

 

I’d like to get to the Taronga Zoo and Watsons Bay. Am I dreaming?

 

 

A taxi from Circular Quay to White Bay terminal will cost around $25 from memory and it's a fair distance as the road winds around. I can't remember exactly how long it took but it was probably 15 to 20 minutes. However we were boarding a small ship and there was no traffic so if you were leaving the ship at the same time as lots of other passengers then no doubt it would take longer.

Sorry I can't help with advice re a shuttle but hopefully HAL will put one on!

[sailaway5]

Thank you, all, for the great ideas on what to do in Sydney. Will be referring back to all of this as we plan our tours for when we are in Sydney April, 2016.

Edited November 25, 2014 by sailaway5

[Travel 25]

Terry, sorry I never thanked you for the great pictures. Does the Solstice dock across from the Opera House? Steve

 

 

For Steve and others, here are just a few of tips, ideas, visual sample from what we loved in spectacular Sydney. As noted in the live/blog below, we got off of the Solstice in February. Things worked excellent for us and the six other couples in our travel group from Central Ohio. Check out these postings for more info/background on this nice ship, its entertainment, food options, these ports, etc.

 

Toured and did an opera performance at this famed icon. YES, super worth it to do this superstar in-depth. Did a walk-around tour from their City Hall that worked out very well.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Back from doing a 14-day Celebrity Solstice, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure on this ship and getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for much more information and lots of wonderful pictures on these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 68,334 views for this fun posting.

 

 

We got great views of the harbor and shoreline areas on a Captain Cook harbor tour. We also enjoyed seeing the Rocks historic area with a shopping/market day. This water cruising worked well for seeing the Opera House and Harbour Bridge from different angles, beach scene with its nice bathhouse building, seeing Luna Park on the other side of the Harbour Bridge, etc. It was a fun narration done on this ship, pointing out celebrity homes, learning historic details, etc.:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a view of me on the Sydney Harbour Bridge with a little night and light rain action. You can see the Opera House, Celebrity Solstice and Sydney skyline in the background. When doing this BridgeWalk tour, you really get a great "up-close and personal" appreciation for what it took in building this amazing bridge. Even for a "middle-age" guy like me, the climb up and down was not hard or challenging. And the reward with the views was totally excellent!!:

 

Edited December 14, 2014 by Travel 25

[MrsWaldo]

Generally yes.

 

She can't fit under the bridge.

 

She has one docking this season at Athol Buoy which will be a tender

[jarand]

Definitely do *not* try to walk from White Bay to the ferry. Take a ship's shuttle or taxi.

[Travel 25]

Generally yes.

 

She can't fit under the bridge.

 

She has one docking this season at Athol Buoy which will be a tender

 

We will be staying at the Park Hyatt using our points, otherwise we would be staying somewhere else. It looks like Solstice docks very close to the Park Hyatt according to the picture? Steve

[Globaliser]

It looks like Solstice docks very close to the Park Hyatt according to the picture?

The Park Hyatt is very close to the Overseas Passenger Terminal. If Solstice docks at the OPT for the cruise that you're on, then it will be as close to the Park Hyatt as the OPT itself is.

[toucan49]

Outside the maritime museum is a replica of the Endeavour. There are people in each section of the ship who explain that section. Even though the maritime museum didn't excite me, visiting the Endeavour and hearing all the commentaries by the people was one of the highlights of my visit to Sydney.