Sydney

[Awesom Andy]

When booking hotel, should I choose to pay in Sing dollar or AUD?

Paying in the local currency rather than SGD would almost always yield a better results. The credit card fees can be high, but not as high as the ridiculous fx rate used.

Blue mountain can cover in 1 day?

Yes if you only want to see the major attractions. No if you want to explore or go hiking.

 

[IronMan123]

Yes if you only want to see the major attractions. No if you want to explore or go hiking.

Thanks, anyway i will stay in Blue Mountains hostel for 2 nights.
Just not sure which telco prepaid sim card in Sydney is the best? Just need the data and the coverage should be including mountains.

 

[IronMan123]

I heard Oz racist. Is it true?

 

[Awesom Andy]

Thanks, anyway i will stay in Blue Mountains hostel for 2 nights.
Just not sure which telco prepaid sim card in Sydney is the best? Just need the data and the coverage should be including mountains.

In metropolitan Sydney, any telco is fine. In the blue mountains, Telstra and Optus is best, although Vodafone isn't bad there either (unlike other rural areas). Note that as soon as you walk into the valley, there will be no reception with any telco.

I heard Oz racist. Is it true?

I suppose so. But then, so is everywhere else in the world. You probably don't notice it in SG because you're a local.

 

[Shawny88]

Any recommendation which skydive company in Sydney is better?

 

[Shawny88]

Finally set my itinerary.

Day1:
Reach Sydney Airport 11.30am, Harbourside Shopping Centre to collect free Hello Sydney Card, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Darling Harbour, Chinatown

Day 2:
Taronga Zoo, dinner at Harbourside area to catch the fireworks

Day 3:
Sydney Tower Eye, Whale Cruise

Day 4:
Skydive, Bondi to Bronte Walk

Day 5: Birkenhead Point Outlet Centre Shopping

Day 6:
Blue Mountain - Scenic World, BM Explorer Bus, Jenolan Caves

Day 7:
Blue Mountain, three sisters and trekking (flight is at 8.45pm)


any suggestions to enhance the itinerary are welcome! Also, is it worth it to purchase the iVenture card flexi Pass (7 tickets) for the attractions that i will be visiting?

 

[IronMan123]

Finally set my itinerary.

Day1:
Reach Sydney Airport 11.30am, Harbourside Shopping Centre to collect free Hello Sydney Card, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Darling Harbour, Chinatown

Day 2:
Taronga Zoo, dinner at Harbourside area to catch the fireworks

Day 3:
Sydney Tower Eye, Whale Cruise

Day 4:
Skydive, Bondi to Bronte Walk

Day 5: Birkenhead Point Outlet Centre Shopping

Day 6:
Blue Mountain - Scenic World, BM Explorer Bus, Jenolan Caves

Day 7:
Blue Mountain, three sisters and trekking (flight is at 8.45pm)


any suggestions to enhance the itinerary are welcome! Also, is it worth it to purchase the iVenture card flexi Pass (7 tickets) for the attractions that i will be visiting?

Wow, my iterinery almost same but w/o skydive.

 

[Whirling_Dervish]

Sydneysider here!

For all those out there who would want some tips for your trip downunder, please feel free to ask!

For starters, one cant say that he/she have been to Sydney without exploring the City itself!

For those short on time, The Rocks, Opera House, Harbour Bridge, Manly Beach and China Town (Haymarket) are all the must-gos! If you have some spare time, I would say that a little know place that is absolutely beautiful is the Bondi Coastal Walk, which is a lovely coastal broadwalk spanning the coastline between the world-famous Bondi Beach and the other beaches along Sydney's Eastern Coast!

If you would like to venture out of Sydney, good bets would be on the Blue Mountains in the west, Hunter Valley in the north if you like wine and the South Coast/ Southern Highlands for a taste of country life. Places like Jervis Bay, Kiama and Bowral are really nice to go if you have a car

 

[Awesom Andy]

Sydneysider here!

Welcome! There are very few AU-based resident experts here (just beano and myself, as far as I'm aware), so any help/suggestions/comments are definitely welcome and appreciated.

 

[Whirling_Dervish]

Welcome! There are very few AU-based resident experts here (just beano and myself, as far as I'm aware), so any help/suggestions/comments are definitely welcome and appreciated.

Nice to meet you Andy! Where are beano and yourself from?

 

[Arcanell]

how's the weather there now? heading there in 5 days. need long john?

 

[Whirling_Dervish]

how's the weather there now? heading there in 5 days. need long john?

Currently its hovering around 18-20 degrees. Its been quite warm these few days, would not expect it to dip any lower. Long johns would be too excessive, just a warm jacket or a windbreaker will do. But the thing about Sydney's weather is that the wind chill can be quite a killer.

But if you are heading to the Blue Mountains, you might want to bring something warmer as it gets really cold down there. Heard that it is around 10 degrees this week.

 

[Arcanell]

Currently its hovering around 18-20 degrees. Its been quite warm these few days, would not expect it to dip any lower. Long johns would be too excessive, just a warm jacket or a windbreaker will do. But the thing about Sydney's weather is that the wind chill can be quite a killer.

But if you are heading to the Blue Mountains, you might want to bring something warmer as it gets really cold down there. Heard that it is around 10 degrees this week.

oh ok thanks.

 

[lololhaha]

nil............................

 

[Whirling_Dervish]

I will heading to Sydney for 7 full days tomorrow on a solo trip. I will spend the first 3 days going to blue mountains, skydiving and hunter valley. How should spend the last few days in the city from Saturday to Tues? Any tips to how to segregate parts of the city to go to on different days so that travelling time could be minimised, thanks!

Hey there

On saturday, you could explore The Rocks, the CBD, Chinatown, Haymarket, Paddy's market, Hyde Park, St Mary's Cathedral, Mrs Macquarie's Chair, QVB. I would recommend walking from Haymarket up north, stopping by Paddy's Market, Chinatown, the CBD, Hyde Park, St Mary's Cathedral, QVB, so that when you arrive at The Rocks, it would be night time and you can catch Vivid Sydney, which is a beautiful light show at The Rocks. You can also catch a good view of the bridge and opera house from Mrs Macquarie's Chair.

on sunday, perhaps you can have breakfast at the Grounds of Alexandria before checking out the sunday market at Bondi beach and Paddington before going for the Bondi Coastal walk. You can even play a spot of golf there too.

Gee, for the two other days, perhaps you can go food hunting? Alot of good food around, like Black Star Pastry, Devon Cafe, Bourke Street Bakery etc.

To be honest, I would spend my day out of Sydney in the countryside. Perhaps you can go to the South Coast, such as Kiama? They have a lovely coastal walk there and the blowhole too!

 

[IronMan123]

Traveling solo too and just wondering how much cash need to bring? 8D7N trips, hotel booked online. What AUD denomination commonly in use? Exchange rate 1 AUD = 1.04 SGD is a good rate? TIA.

 

[Whirling_Dervish]

Traveling solo too and just wondering how much cash need to bring? 8D7N trips, hotel booked online. What AUD denomination commonly in use? Exchange rate 1 AUD = 1.04 SGD is a good rate? TIA.

Well I cant really advise you because I dont know your spending habits. So maybe you can share more about what you want to buy/eat and I can advise accordingly. Usually we use 10,20 and 50s. 100s are too much and 5 are too little, 5 dollars can only get you a long black or flat white.

 

[Shawny88]

Gonna spend one and a half day at blue mountain. Any suggested itinerary? Thinking of getting the explorer bus to hop around for a day. And is Jenola cave worth to take a look? Thanks!

 

[beano]

Nice to meet you Andy! Where are beano and yourself from?

Now based in Melbourne, but frequent Syd quite a bit. Used to study in Brisbane and also lived in Perth for couple of years, so yeah, hit us up with questions..

 

[Awesom Andy]

To be honest, I would spend my day out of Sydney in the countryside. Perhaps you can go to the South Coast, such as Kiama? They have a lovely coastal walk there and the blowhole too!

I would suggest the same too. It's a nice area to go to if you have spare time. If you can drive for the day, you can make it a day trip going through the Stanwell Tops and Sea Cliff Bridge area before heading down to the Kiama area.

Gonna spend one and a half day at blue mountain. Any suggested itinerary? Thinking of getting the explorer bus to hop around for a day. And is Jenola cave worth to take a look? Thanks!

It depends on which attraction you are going to. Generally speaking, I don't recommend the explorer bus given the costs, and that quite a lot of places can be walked to. There are also normal local buses which you can take. Jenolan Caves is quite a bit further away. It's worth the trip if you like limestone caves, but there are also plenty of places with caves in south east asia so it's really up to you.

Now based in Melbourne, but frequent Syd quite a bit. Used to study in Brisbane and also lived in Perth for couple of years, so yeah, hit us up with questions..

I grew up in Sydney, spent some years in Singapore, but just moved to Melbourne a month ago.