Sydney

Sydney - so much to see and do. Highlight is the people - very friendly. Must do's: Opera House, Harbour Bridge (Pylon Lookout not Climb vs !!), Darling Harbour, Aquarium (a definite), IMAX Cinema, Circular Quays, The Rocks, Mrs Macquire's Chair. Some great museums too - Museum of Contemporary Art is amazing, as is Art Gallery of NSW. Botanical Gardens is stunning especially with all the Flying Foxes. The AMP Tower has stunning views the beauty of the area's mind-boggling! Overall, this has to be one of the best cities in the world. I love it !!

Quick Tips:

When you arrive at the airport, look for a free book/booklet which is a general guidebook. It has some excellent vouchers in it, which get you reduced fee access to all the main tourist sites.

Best Way To Get Around:

Sydney is like a big town not a city...definitely best to walk as there's so much to see. Use the buses (nice and clean generally) if you're going to Bondi, but the city, King's Cross, the harbour and all the markets are well within walking distance. And it's often the walks that reveal so much more of the real Sydney! If you're heading over to Manly, it's definitely worth getting the ferry - it effectively gives a you free tour of the harbour - no point in paying for a separate tour !!!

Fantastic place!! How nice can staff be? And the organized nites are great. Wine and cheese nite (Fridays) are free and they just hand out free wine !! Wednesday nites are Quiz nites and again, yup you guessed it, free wine too! The rooms are fine with dorms being the bargain of the bunch. The hostel's right in the middle of the city, so you're in perfect walking distance to all the main sights of Sydney. TV rooms, free bed linen, smallish kitchens but well stocked with all crockery and cutlery. They'll take post/phone calls for you and there's an excellent community feeling to the place, with friends in every seat it seems! Also has the Backpacker Resource Centre on top floor - a resource for those looking for work; just tell Louise that Rob sent you!!! If u want cheap accommodation in the middle of one of the most vibrant cities in the world...this is it!

Fantastic food court where vendors battle for your business -- some real bargains to be had! Cuisines on offer include : Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese, Nepalese, Thai and Korean. If your looking to save money, how about $5.50 for Beef with Egg Fried Rice and soup or $6.80 for Beef in Black Bean Sauce with boiled rice and soup. And these are all in portions that would make Vanessa Feltz think dessert is unrequired!! Excellent!

Awe-inspiring location and contents! Overlooks Circular Quays with the world-famous Opera House.

The works inside are indeed contemporary, with some mind-boggling photography and paintings and audiovisual productions. Some of these pieces of art really do get you thinking. A group of us backpackers visited the place because it was free and came out rich, admittedly it was in culture rather than cash, but nevertheless a very worthwhile and rewarding experience.

This art gallery, focuses on more traditional than contemporary values although does a justifiably good effort on both. Some of the paintings here demand a few minutes of your time... especially my personal favourite of Milford Sound in New Zealand by Eugene von Guérard - wow!

This art gallery is definitely worth a visit on a spring morning followed by a picnic on The Domain (grassy park area) outside in the afternoon sunshine - just how perfect do you want life to be?

One of Sydney's best keep secrets. Everyone knows it there, but for some reason it never gets appreciated as one of the greatest attractions of the city. It is an amazing garden/park with Chinese, rainforest and native vegetation throughout and also large grassy areas. It has a revolutionary attitude with signs requesting visitors walk on grass and 'hug trees'. Some of the views across Farm Cove of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge are real postcard shots...got to be seen to be believed!!

Every weekday lunchtime the Gardens are full of 'office joggers', the suit wearers who change into their lycra outfits for their lunchtime exercise...quite an amazing, if somewhat amusing, sight of herds of them rushing round the gardens in half an hour!

One final surprise that the Gardens have is that of the native colony of fruit bats or flying foxes as they're sometimes known. Hundreds of these beautiful animals roost in the trees during the day -- a must-see!