Hey There,
As my trip in Australia is drawing to a close and my pockets are just about bone dry, I was hoping to find out some last minute sight seeing/tours/activities i may have surpassed in my travels.
I'm currently living and working just outside sydney and have seen/toured all the major attractions there (ie--> opera house, pylons point, tower, wildlife/aquarium, the rocks, darling harbour, kings cross, blue mtns, coogee, anz stadium, n sydney. jazz/aroma festival also brisbane and cairns too!)
Here are some things still on my to do list. I was hoping for some insight on what not to waste any time or money on, and what better idea any locals/other tourists can come up with
1. Sydney observatory
2. Show in the opera house- suggestions for what's great??
Sydney museum of art- or is another museum better?
3. manly/bondi beach
4. bridge climb- is it worth the money?
5. Taronga zoo- but i already did the wildlife reserve
I know theres so much more out there I'm not aware of. Please help me make the most of the end of my trip by pitching some real ideas to me, i'd greatly appreciate it. Just keep in mind I get a max of two days off work and cant afford to fly (so train/bus it is!) Also affordable outdoorsy activities are good along with live music. i'd like to see more natural beauty whilst in NSW.
Cheers in advance for any and all help!! =) Happy Travels Everyone
<3 Lauren
Reply to this Hello Lauren 😊
I moved this to the Oceania forum.
Mel
Reply to this hey lauren - I read through your blogs and saw a picture of you standing next to a picture of a view over Sydney, saying, if only you were in a plane, you could get a picture like that....
well you can - instead of doing the harbour bridge climb, why don't you take a helicopter ride over Sydney? It's the same if not less money than doing the bridge climb - I never did the bridge climb and it may be something you're really keen on, ie the actual climbing, hair-raising aspect - but one downside is that you're not allowed to take cameras up there. The helicopter ride I did do, and that was AMAZING - really. You get a 20-25 minute ride over the city, spend ages around the harbour area (and you're much higher than on the bridge of course!). I'm afraid I can't remember the company we took the ride with, but leaflets are around sydney everywhere or you can google. The heliport we went from was out by the domestic airport if that helps - the pilot was great, really informative and friendly and you can take as many pictures as you want and they'll even go round again so you can get better pictures if you missed something. It's really well, well worth it, it was the highlight of my time in Sydney. 😊
Reply to this I absolutely LOOOVE that idea Deb and it's probably something I never would have thought to consider if you hadn't mentioned it. So thanks a lot!! Now Im super excited to look into pricing and everything. I was so disappointed when they said I couldn't bring my camera up on the bridge but i'll show them!! (well if i go through with the helicopter thing!)
Reply to this So it's pretty obvious that Deb had a Killer Idea. . . .
Who can top it?? (I know you're out there!!)
More
comments and suggestions encouraged =) PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
Reply to this Hey! I've been in Australia for 6 months and keep ending up in Sydney - so I feel like I've almost done it all. Here's my advice:
- New South Whales Art Gallery by the Domain (South End of the Botanical Gardens) was great (and free!)
- Contemporary Art Gallery by Circular Quay was really boring when I went and only have one exhibit open (free though!)
- I was all excited for the Observatory (also free), but was pretty disappointed -plus it's sort of out of the way (I mean not that far from the Rocks, but still - for what it was)
- the walk from Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach was great - I did it when the weather was a bit warmer, but I think it'd still be good - don't be afraid to stray from the regular path to get some cool shots - try walking down on the rocks and stuff (and I do recommend from Coogee to Bondi because everyone else seems to walk the other way - there's buses at both beaches that go to downtown)
- Manly was ok - and the ferry's good, but I much prefer the beaches of Bondi, Coogee, and Bronte (and the others one you see on the walk in between)
- I also heard that there's a good walk from the other side of the bridge to Manly - takes a few hours, but is supposed to be good
Enjoy your last bit of time here! What were your favourite things to do btw? Just in case I've missed anything! Oh and have you been to Canberra? I'm trying to decide if it's worth a weekend visit (can't go during the week because I work and I only have 3 weeks left!).
Reply to this One Saturday, take a train to Newcastle. It is a great trip with beautiful views that you can't see from the road. Have a meal in Beaumont St., Hamilton, then go to the local pub where they have great bands at night. Won't cost you a fortune and will get you out of Sydney for the weekend.
John
Reply to this John thanks so much. sounds like a great idea! I've seriously got some decisions to make!! Plus I have friends in NC
Hey Jen, heres my list of greatness!!
1. As for my advice for the city one of the best weekends I had here so far was a package where I got to see the harbour by boat, get a tour of the opera house (thats where you purchase it), go to the lookout at pylons point on the harbour bridge, see the sunset from the sydney tower and go to the aquarium. all for 90 bucks which was soooo worth it!!
2. If you havent been to the blue mtns / jenolan caves check it out. the mtns are free and you can get there by train and the caves are cool if you wanna spend the extra money!
3. Today i heard about a place in mosman where you can see 180 degrees plus over everything. sounds worth having a look, i think its called george's heights
4. I went to brisbane and went over to moreton island on a camping trip which was good fun with good people, fraser is good too i heard
5. a bunch of people I know had the time of their lives on a mojo surf trip, so much so i almost wish i went
6. Also I love the nightlife in darling harbour
7. the wildlife reserve next to the aquarium was great and there's a petting zoo type reserve somewhere north of sydney thats supposedly very cool.
Hope that helps!
And as far as the canberra idea goes - i have some friends out there and they dont like it so much and say theres nothing to do.... might be worth spending your money elsewhere.....? plus is freezing there now!
Reply to this Oh dont know i forgot to mention cairns and the GBR - but it was amazing and the most gorgeous natural phenomenon i've ever seen. the people there have a welcoming way about them too!! very much a mixing pot of cultures and you will run into tons of other people traveling too
Reply to this that wildlife reserve you were talking about is Sydney Wildlife World - you can have
breakfast with the koalas there (crazy i know) and you can get right up close and pat a koala. i highly recommend it if anyone is town. ya and jenolan caves are pretty amazing too
Reply to this Hey Lauren,
If you are planning to go to sydney observatory to get a good view of sydney and plan to go on a bridge climb for some adrenalin rush and perhaps conquer your fear of heights..try going to Centrepoint tower instead, they have a sky walk tour, they also have a rotating restaurant which i love! so romantic, but gives you a good view of sydney in 360degrees..best time to go is the afternoon, sunset view is just breathtaking...seeing the city daytime and at night is just spectacular...there are also harley davidson tour that you can take at the Rocks during market days on Sundays, takes you around the city,, over Harbour Bridge towards manly or Bondi, that's worth a treat too! Cockle Bay at Darling HArbour has a lot of things to do and visit..you have the Sydney Aquarium, the Wildlife park, and there's a jet boat cruise or sailing around the harbour...Check this site for events
Events in Sydney or visit
GODO for things to do...both my fav sites when looking up on what to do in sydney. Hope this helps.
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