Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

OK guys, I'm heading for the Sydney 'burbs in a few weeks time (Cronulla/Sans Souci area). It's my first time in Oz.

I'm not a young thing. I'm (early) retired. I like walking. I like nature. I like eating. I'll probably be walking about along the Cronulla promenade. I'll be seeing a few cousins down there who will be giving me The Sydney Tour (bridge, opera house blah blah blah).

So, what else would you recommend that I do not miss?

Will I be stumbling over koala bears? :fingerscrossed:

Will there be enormous, man-eating spiders? :scaredhair:

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

Yup, apparently spiders are in abundance this year!

Bondi to Bronte coastal walk sounds like it would fit the bill.

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

The Spit to Manly walk is supposed to be excellent. Never done it myself.

There seems to be another recommended walk near Cronulla (in the Royal National Park) here.

http://www.sydney.com/things-to-do/nature-and-parks/walks

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

That's great (well, apart from the spiders). Looks like it's good for walking.

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

I never saw a wild koala in or around Sydney. In fact I never saw a wild one at all in my five years in Australia. :(

I also only encountered a few spiders, we had a huntsman in the house once, I decided to ignore it but a few days later I found that one of the cats had dealt with it.

I am having a bit of a block on things to do in Sydney at the moment. The ferry is nice, maybe take one over to Manly if you have the time.

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

Spiders? I have heard they are around. Koalas..... well I've only ever seen them in the wild 3 hours north of Sydney at Port Stephens or Otway National Park in Victoria.

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

I saw a koala in the wild once - walking across the Hume Highway! Otherwise nah, go to a zoo

Spiders - yes, plenty, just don't stick your fingers down any home that may be occupied by a funnel Web.

Lash out and do the Bridge climb - dawn or dusk for max effect but daytime is OK.
Go on the ferry to somewhere
Take a day trip down to Canberra and walk up Mt Ainslie for the view

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

Just some ideas:


St Mary's Cathedral

and the neighbouring Archibald Fountain and the rest of Hyde Park.

Sydney Harbour Bridge Pylon Lookout

Hyde Park Barracks Museum

White Rabbit Gallery

Opera Bar at twilight

Royal Botanical Gardens and Government House

A Paddington Walking Tour

Travel the harbour by ferry and get off at random spots

Jewish Museum, Art Gallery of NSW and Museum of Contemporary Art

Darling Harbour

Cockatoo Island

The Lord Nelson pub and The Rocks

Taronga Zoo

Elizabeth Farm at Parramatta

Blue Mountains

Newtown

Olympic Pool at North Sydney, Icebergs Pool at Bondi, Maccallum Pool at Cremorne Point on Sydney Harbour

Queen Victoria Building

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

take a drive down south, through the national park, sea cliff bridge, some great beaches and you can even pop into the Nags Head, awesome pub, great landlord.:lol:

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

What a list :). I've been living in Sydney 5 years this time round and I reckon I've done about 5 of those things. Got a bit of catching up to do.

I always take tourists out to South Head for a walk around the head followed by a beer in Watsons Bay hotel then a meal on the sand at Doyles.

Here is another list I need to start working through. https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Attra...uth_Wales.html

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

Wow....thanks all. I need to have a good look through those links. Great stuff.

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

Things I have done and liked in Sydney:-

1. Taronga zoo
2. Opera House
3. Ferry to Manly and walked around
4. Royal Botanical Gardens
5. Flight back to Brisbane

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

Oh dear :lol: Well, I shall be out in the 'burbs mostly. Still haven't done much research so I guess I may be browsing these links while at the airport.

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

Things I have liked in Sydney:-

1. Meeting Dreamy (and Mr Dreamy)
2. Meeting Seasider (and Mr Seasider)
3. Meeting Moneypenny
4. The ferry ride to Manly with the above women
5. The departure lounge at Kingsford Smith

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

Do you guys find the ferry ride to Manly interesting? Just another painful way to get to Manly to visit people who lock themselves into the insular peninsular and never come out.

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

Yeh I'm hoping to see Seasider if I can figure out the trains :unsure: is money penny in Sydney ...I didn't know that.

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

Not so much. However the ferry ride I took with the girls was just very memorable.
No MP is on the Gold Coast but she came down to Sydney when I went over a few years ago. Then again the following year she surprised me when the ex took me to Sydney for my birthday.

Just to add... you're going to love Seasider. She's one of my favourite people.

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I think the poor woman who was sat next to us is still having nightmares about it :lol:

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It gave a different view of the Opera House, which was great for photos. It was short enough to not get bored.

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

[QUOTE=Beoz;11867136]The Spit to Manly walk is supposed to be excellent. Never done it myself.]

I've done this a couple of times - beautiful scenery.
The ferry back from Manly after dark is nice for good views of the city at night.

I also really like wandering around the Rocks area, though that could be because I've lived in Brisbane too long and so now find any history/old buildings interesting....

If you have time a trip out to the Blue Mountains would be good.

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Is there plenty of free wi-fi about Sydney?

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

:wub:

That was such a great weekend. Haven't laughed that much in a long long time.

Sorry BB, can't make it down to surprise you as well. Was tricky enough to surprise Dozza.:lol: We didn't even manage to get the ribbon tied around me:rofl: Have a great visit.

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

Not to my recollection. I was amazed whe I got to the UK as it is everywhere, I had no idea of the free wifi concept after five years in Sydney! But it could have changed in the last twelve months, so would need to caveat.

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

Yes plenty in Penang too. How strange.

But the trains would have wifi surely?

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

Why surely?

Anyway don't know. Never have been on a train in Sydney.

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Erh..is it not what one expects these days? But maybe Sydney is different . Well it will be interesting for sure

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

We've had free WiFi in lots of places in Brisbane for a long time (including trains) so would be surprised if the bigger Sydney didn't :confused: Now covers most of the CBD, inner city parks and tourist spots in Brisbane.

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

Wouldn't have a clue. The locals just use their phones. I guess you will need it because you will be on a foreign phone?

Try this googled site.

Where to find free Wifi in Sydney - Sydney Moving Guide

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Was in Sydney 2013 when I ran the Sydney Marathon. The day before we went to Taronga Zoo by boat from Sydney Harbour both were good. We ate pizza at, 'La Rosa' Italian café upstairs at a shopping mall in Sydney the night before the Sydney Marathon. It was a proper low lit Italian restaurant. No blokes in black pinstripe suits carrying violin cases but still !

My husband got his pizza for free as they said they burnt the first one they made. I don't know why they told him but hey !

When we went to Australia in 2002 for a holiday from Britain, we stayed at a hotel in Rushcutters Bay.

Don't be put off Kings Cross because of it's reputation as the city's red light district. In daytime it's ok. We had lunch there and sat next to a fountain outside the police station. I got a bacon sandwich from a café there early one morning during daylight hours.

You can walk on the pedestrian footway aka pavement across Sydney Harbour Bridge, for free. You don't have to walk over the arch. If you don't feel like walking back over the bridge, you can catch a train. We did.

The Sydney Opera house is ok for a photo but that's about it unless you are there to see a performance.

Walk around the harbour past the Opera House to Mrs Macquaries Chair just for a walk. Keep walking and you will see naval ships, at a navy base across the water. We turned around back towards the Opera House at that point !

We got a sunset harbour cruise by taking the last cruise around the harbour as the sun was setting.

We drove out to the Blue Mountains, about two hours drive away from Sydney. Very picturesque. The little town of Toowoomba is ok too.

We walked the 'thousand steps' down to the bottom of the valley at the, 'Blue Mountains'. It was beautiful. Where ever you are in the world when you walk down a flight of steps you are looking outwards, when you walk up steps, you are facing inwards. We got the funicular railway back to the visitors centre at the top.

Most people look at the funicular railway and assume the walk back to the top of the valley can't be that bad.....

We ate in the revolving restaurant in Sydney which was an experience. (I lost a wristwatch in the back of the cab from Rushcutters bay that I had purchased in Hong Kong three days before and it was still working ! Never saw that watch again !)

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Hey snapshot...just a trivial FYI, I think you meant Katoomba rather than Toowoomba.

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

:thumbsup: I was just wondering which town SS meant there.

snapShot, Toowoomba is about ten to eleven hours drive from Sydney.

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Yeah, you're right.

Katoomba it is. It was a few degrees cooler, so if you're going, take a jacket or jumper with you.

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:thumbsup:

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Yes, this is a must-do day trip from Sydney. I went by train to Katoomba and walked to the visitor centre. I took the stairs down into the valley but walked back up. The walk up is quite easy and well signposted.

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Yup, Coogee beach is my favourite :) Altho I'm not sure how to spell it :p

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Erh...yes...I use my phone to access wifi.

Actually I've been researching some eateries and see a couple of places with photos and the "wifi" sign up, so that looks good.

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I meant locals just use the mobile data 4G in Sydney so quicker than wifi.

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:thumbup:

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

Hey guys. Thanks for all your contributions to this topic. I had a good time. It was very interesting.

I was somewhat limited to where my relatives took me but did....

Central Sydney: Opera house, bridge, Darling harbour, Q Victoria building, buzzing about on the ferries.

Trip to Bundeena from Cronulla.

Loads and loads and loads of walks along the promenade from Cronulla to Wanda Beach, and t'other way beyond Shelly park.

Turned beetroot red in the first two days. (She who has been living in south east asia for 11 years :o ) Ah but of course there is no ozone.....actually that's quite scarey. Not something I think about too much in Malaysia.

We did a trip out to Featherdale Wildlife Park. That was really fab. Can recommend that, though the roads are bumper-to-bumper.

I also really liked Kurnell. What an interesting place. Some history. And that seems to be what is missing in Sydney..... history. Or did I not visit the right places?

Oh and I saw Mr and Mrs Seasider :thumbsup:

Re: Must-See things in Sydney (holiday)
 

Australia lacks history - well white man history. Its only been inhabited by white man for 227 years. You don't come here for white man history.

The Rocks does white man history. It seems you missed that on your list.

Kurnell is great for plane spotting and windsurfing. Oh yes its where Captain Cook landed ..... if history is your thing.