Sydney General Tips by martin_nl

Fondest Memory: One of the best things I did in Sydney so far is feeding the birds in the Royal Botanic Gardens. I did this on two occassions and one was quite unexpected. The first time we saw all these cockatoos eating the grass. So when we approached them to make a picture they just didn't move or fly away. They didn't seem afraid at all of humans. When we got closer and closer they still didn't seem to mind us at all, we thought it would be cool if they would eat from our hands and as we tried to feed them some of the grass they just ate it from our hands. Be careful though, or they eat your fingers too, as we found out ;))

On the second occasion we were just walking around the park again and we saw this man feeding some of the Rainbow Lorikeets. There were about three of these birds, just sitting on his shoulders and head and fingers. He asked us if we wanted to feed them too and so we did. So cool to have a wild animal (even though it was just a bird) sitting on your finger and eating bread from your hands. That would never happen at home.

Leave a Comment

Favorite Thing: Sydney has one of the most beautiful skylines in the world. Sydney is the city The Matrix trilogy was filmed in. From the Manly ferry you have an amazing view of the skyline, especially just after sunset. Other good spots for a good view of the skyline are from the northern side of the Harbour Bridge, other side of the Pyrmont Bridge in Darling Harbour and from the rooftop of Harbour City Backpackers.


Leave a Comment

Favorite Thing: Sydney has some of the best beaches I have seen. Most well known are of course Bondi, Manly and Coogee, but others are great aswell. If you do the Bondi to Coogee scenic walk you will also pass beaches such as Bronte and Tamarama. If you do the Manly Scenic walk you will see many beaches along the way in Middle Harbour. North of Sydney are some of the best beached though like Palm Beach. Almost deserted so all for yourself. It is quite a trip to get here though, but it's worth the effort.

If you want to know more about both Scenic walks check out my off the beaten path tips.


Leave a Comment

Fondest Memory: I like meeting people from all over the world and also of course fellow VT'ers. While in Sydney I met up with 2 members, jinwenwang and dracko.

I met Roman (dracko) on a nice and sunny day. We decided to meet up in Darling Harbour. We had both been waiting at a different spot, so 30 minutes later we finally found eachother at different parts of the Pyrmont Bridge. We had some food and a chat in DH and then t was time to say bye bye already.

I met Jin Wen (jinwenwang) a few week before x-mas. I already knew Jin Wen from Holland. She studied in Maastricht for a year so I had met her there before. We went for a drink and ice cream in Darling Harbour and chatted some. She satyed at her sisters place, so after the drink we walked along Darling Harbour and back to that place.

Leave a Comment

Favorite Thing: I have had two different jobs in Sydney. First I worked for a company called Skilled in the hospitality industry. This is a job agent and they send me to work in the StarCity Casino in Darling Harbour quite a few times during the rugby world cup. It was great fun and there were loads of important people, like the bosses of Qantas and Heineken, two of the main sponsors of this big event.

After this I found a job in a discount shop called Bargain Buys on George Street, just opposite the Virgin Megastore. The work I had to do wasn't nice at all, but the people were fantastic, except for the boss. We went out for dinner together really often. On the pic you see us at a x-mas party for all the staff of the shop.


Leave a Comment

Favorite Thing: Sydney is built around a harbour so you are never far away from the water. When in Sydney there are many things you can do in the harbour. You can do numerous walks, rent a kayak near the Spit Bridge, take one of the ferry to the numerous destinations around the harbour or a tour. There are even sailing trips that you can book in the tourist info centre. On boxing day the amount of boats on the water in unbelievable. This is the day the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race starts.


Leave a Comment

Favorite Thing: Sydney is a great party place. There are so many nice areas where you can go out. My favourite places are O'Mally's, 3 Wise Monkeys and Scruffy Murphy's. Check out my nightlife tips for some more info. A schedule for if you don't know what to do:

Monday: Quiznight at William Hotel and crab racing at the Scubar
Tuesday: Tight Arse Tuesday at Scruffy Murphys
Wednesday: The Old Fitzroy in Woolloomooloo
Thursday: 3 Wise Monkeys
Friday: Manly Wharf Hotel
Saturday: Cargo Bar in Darling Harbour
Sunday: Beau at O'Mally's


Leave a Comment

Fondest Memory: Every year right before christmas, there is a big event in the Domain, called Carols in the Domain, a park right next to my hostel. And the fun we had there. I had never expected it to be so much fun. I mean singing along with x-mas songs together with 100000 people..... sounds quite boring to me. But in fact it was one of the best nights I had here in Sydney. From the hostel we had to walk up a hill and some steps to get to the Domain, but at the top, there was one big ocean of light! Everyone had little candles and a red cap around it provided by 7, the main sponsor and broadcasting channel. You should have seen our faces when we saw all this, we were amazed!! If you ever go to Australisa around x-mas time, make sure to check this event out!!!!!

Leave a Comment

Fondest Memory: This christmas in Sydney was going to be like no other I had ever celebrated before. Where at home usually the weather is sh!t, it rains, it's cold, but not freezing and the skies are always grey, this christmas was going to be the complete opposite. Blue skies, hot temperature, shorts & t-shirts and beaches!

The only thing the same are that shopping windows are all decorated with santa's and have fake snow. It'very strange to walk around the city when it's 35 degrees and see fake snow everywhere. Most aussies haven't even seen snow in all their lives!!

But the day was great and another similar thing was friends and a traditional Christmas roast. If you want to see some more pics I suggest you take a look at my Bondi Beach page, since that's where I celebrated x-mas 2003.

Leave a Comment

Fondest Memory: I arrived in Sydney at the end of October and a reason for staying for 2 months was becuase I really wanted to celebrate New Years Eve in Sydney! Many years in a row I had seen the Sydney fireworks on tv and since I was in Australia I had to make sure I got to see the fireworks with my own eyes and I did!

I can tell it's worth staying an extra few days in Sydney for, or even worth coming back for! It's like nothing I have ever seen before. And whereas in Europe NYE is usually freezing cold, it's not so in Sydney. We went to the Botanic Gardens, to Mrs. Maquaries Point from where we had a pretty good view of the harbour. The atmosphere was fantastic and maybe even better than the fireworks itself... We couldn't bring in any alcohol, but when you put your pre mixed drinks in a vanilla coke bottle no questions will be asked! We sat on a blanket all night having a laugh and before you know it the fireworks start and you're in the next year!!

Leave a Comment