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brendanwor posted:Sydney has some truly world class restaurants, just depends on how much you're willing to spend - any of these you should expect $100-$150 per head minimum. It should also be mentioned that you can get fantastic Italian food in Haberfield (where I live) and Leicchardt without spending that much money or having to book months in advance. They're not world class restaurants, but it's in a nice setting and the money spent is well worth it.
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Apr 2, 2010 09:40
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shep posted:What do you advise doing on NYE? It's our first one in Sydney and we didn't check anything in advance so didn't know about booking tickets to get places to see fireworks, that and the fact loads of the vantage points don't allow BYO has left us looking at going up to Birchgrove Park and hoping the view is decent enough. Good idea? Birchgrove does have a good view but from experience it is usually filled with drunken teenagers willing to pick fights. Then again, you'll probably find all public spaces are like that for NYE.
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Dec 30, 2012 12:33
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Gloomiebat posted:All the bar/cafe work I've looked at wants barista/wait-staff/bartending experience, of which I have none Ha yes, that's the bizarre thing with the job world. Every employer wants someone with two or three years experience minimum but it's impossible to get that experience because no one wants to hire someone who is completely new to the job.
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Jun 14, 2013 06:19
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Got a 45 minute trial shift at the Grasshopper tomorrow. Not expecting to get the job given my absolute lack of bar experience (I do have some experience making cocktails at home but nothing like what they do), but I'm not going to sit around these uni holidays doing nothing.
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Jun 25, 2013 08:40
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Gloomiebat posted:Ha I just got offered a trial shift or something on the 6th at a club (no interview or anything) what the hell is even going on. It's experience either way I guess?! I figure it is experience at least. Nothing to put on your resume if you don't get the job but at least next time you do get a trial shift you'll have a better idea of what to do.
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Jun 26, 2013 07:52
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Gloomiebat posted:I'm bricking it a bit because I don't have as much experience as I said I did but I guess it's one day of my life and at the very least I'll have some experience at the end of it. How did your trial go? Manager didn't turn up. The other bartenders were nice though and I think I established a fairly good rapport with them. They gave me a lot of good tips as well as suggesting ways of increasing my chance of getting the job. I also got a free beer at the end when it turned out their boss wasn't just late, he wasn't turning up at all. I'm to wait on a phone call from him tomorrow but I'll give him a call on Friday if he doesn't. Show some initiative or something, I guess.
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Jun 26, 2013 12:59
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Gloomiebat posted:That's a shame he didn't show but at least at the worst you got some experience and advice (and beer) which is better than nothing? Definitely give the guy a call on Friday, hopefully it was just a one-off and he's not incompetent or anything. My understanding is that the guy is the manager of a few bars, so yeah, I guess he's pretty busy and I can forgive him for that. The bartenders both said he's really nice though, which is a plus in my book if I do get the job.
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Jun 27, 2013 03:19
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So I decided to be the tourist today and catch the ferry to Manly among other exciting activities. During the last 10 minutes I went out and stood on one of four observation decks with a bunch of other people who were also standing. Soon enough a guy comes up and says to me, 'can you move out of the way so my wife and I don't have to stare at your back?' I point out to him that he and his wife could stand next to me and enjoy the view and that frankly it was my first time on a ferry in years and I was determined to enjoy it. He insists they have to be sitting down and then he goes off in a huff accusing me of being rude. He returned a couple of minutes later and accuses me of being English, using that tiresome 'when in Rome...' saying and explaining how Australia is an egalitarian society and I should understand that before I come here bringing my unjust class bound English ways. Sure, I have a bit of an English accent. God knows why but it's not something I put on because it's just embarrassing when I meet new people. I tell him I'm as Australian as he is but he claimed I couldn't be because I was 'clearly English with that accent'. (Tell that to my neighbours who speak with Italian accents but who have been here for 50 odd years. Any half-decent person would know they're as Australian as the Anglo/Irish person who was born here). I'm kind of conflicted though because it was a reasonable request, but he just asked it in a really rude manner initially and was even ruder afterwards when I again politely declined to move. I hope it's not indicative of how tourists are treated in this country. Or maybe I was being an rear end, I don't know. I don't think I was. Actually, at one point in the second incident I told him to 'shut the hell up and leave me alone' (my usually non-swearing brain rebelled against saying 'gently caress off') but otherwise I acted and spoke fairly decently compared to him. I'm also a pretty un-PC person (always joking, of course) and there's not much that riles me up otherwise, but it makes me really angry and upset when I hear other people seriously suggest that so and so can't be Australian because they speak with a foreign accent or look differently. Octy fucked around with this message at 08:09 on Jul 1, 2013 |
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Jul 1, 2013 08:07
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I see the occasional redback in the garden but I'm not bothered by them because they don't bother me. Huntsmen are around and much the same. You're certainly very unlikely to wake up with one in your bed.
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Jul 24, 2013 00:11
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BCR posted:I don't know, maybe its all in your anticipation. I mean huntsmen are literally big spiders that eat flies. That's it. Most of them are cowards. They're not going to go face hugger mode and drop down onto your face as you sleep. It's entirely possible they do. I'm a fairly heavy sleeper so I probably wouldn't have noticed.
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Jul 26, 2013 08:09
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There are ants that bite you as well, even in the city. That might be the case elsewhere in the world though.
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Jul 26, 2013 08:51
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That's a big list for Melbourne given the short numbers of days you're going to be there, besides the fact that you won't be able to do much on at least three of them (Boxing Day, NYE/NYD).
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Jul 30, 2013 04:40
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cajunspitfire posted:Second only to CBA What?! I opened up a Goal Saver account with them recently and, apart from the great interest rate, they also gave me $50.
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Sep 2, 2013 12:26
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CBA has no fees on its accounts if you're a student or something. I'm going to be a student for the rest of my life though so I'm not worried.
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Sep 3, 2013 10:21
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Finch! posted:I like ING direct - it's all online, no fees, and you can use any ATM if you withdraw $200 or more and ING refund the ATM operator charge. Their savings accounts provide a reasonable interest rate, too. Really? I used to use ING for my savings but their interest rate has been something like 3.25% for ages now. I think it goes up to 3.75% if you deposit $200 or more per month, but compare that to CBA's Goal Saver which gives you 4.50% bonus interest from depositing $200 or more and a base rate of 3.75%.
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Sep 3, 2013 11:56
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I was just taking those off the top of my head. Still, it's not hard to fail in depositing $200 a month so I see the bonus interest rate as being fairly standard. It's still higher than ING IIRC.
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Sep 4, 2013 04:39
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Looks like I may have a job as a cleaner for a couple who live in Darlington, so it's very conveniently close to uni. $50 for two hours a week which is not bad in supplementing my current income. The guy I met tonight for the interview and key handing over was I suppose in his early 30s, well educated, bit eccentric and very immaculate in his appearance, although I can't say the same for his home which is a complete pigsty. It's also big, one of those converted warehouses so I don't know how I'll do it all in two hours despite my cleaning experience in the family home. Oh, and he has a dog called Noodle. And a cat called Be Huffy.
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Sep 4, 2013 10:37
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Saint Fu posted:I'm in the planning stages of a road trip between Sydney and Melbourne. We're planning on taking the coast road south before cutting over to Canberra then going through Jindabyne, Omeo, then down to Wilson's Prom before heading to Melbourne. My question is whether a 2WD car will be fine for the mountains in late October. Can we expect clear roads or are they covered in show that late in the spring? Rest assured, it's been a terrible year for snow. We barely had any on the ski fields in New South Wales for July. In any case, I'm fairly sure that in regular years all of the snow will have melted by October. Worst comes to worst you can hire chains in Jindabyne or Cooma or somewhere like that.
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Sep 9, 2013 09:44
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If you find yourself in Western Australia, Broome is pretty nice. There's nothing there in the way of entertainment, but it does have several untouched, pristine beaches (and I say this as a non-beach person) which are really, really nice. You'd be unlucky to come across anyone else on them. Just watch out for crocodiles. Seriously. I think this is the season for them. Of course, you might also come up to Sydney if you haven't already been. I'd be happy to buy you a beer and I'm sure there's a few other goons available in Sydney who'd do the same.
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Sep 18, 2013 11:15
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Gloomiebat posted:Also my flight is at like 4pm and gets in at 5am which is basically the worst scheduling ever and also I land at Heathrow and live in Edinburgh and there really is nothing quite as irritating as getting off a 24-hour flight only to queue up and check in for a 45 minute one right after. OH WELP. I think you'll find it's common enough for flights from Australia. Every flight (including the one I'm leaving on tomorrow) I've been on for London has left in the afternoon and arrived before 6AM.
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Nov 24, 2013 08:46
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When I was in Broome in WA a few years ago it was 30+ degrees every day. In the middle of winter. You really learned to appreciate the cold land breeze in the morning when you were camping outside.
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Dec 9, 2013 07:54
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You should have taken the train! London-Edinburgh and vice versa is very scenic and relaxing and takes maybe three hours in total.
Octy fucked around with this message at 06:41 on Jan 10, 2014 |
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Jan 10, 2014 06:38
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Gloomiebat posted:I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic or not but it takes way longer than three hours (I went on one of the faster Virgin pendolino trains a few years ago and it was still 4 hours)! Anyway, I was met by my dad who'd driven all the way down as his flight down was cancelled as well so we had no choice but to take the car back up north. Would not recommend ever doing the Melbourne-Edinburgh scenic route to anyone, ever. You're right. I just remembered I actually went from Edinburgh to Oxford by train. That'd be a good hour less.
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Jan 12, 2014 06:19
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What's the public transport situation in Melbourne and where should I stay? I live in Sydney and I was looking at going down to Melbourne in November for a few days, maybe a week, when I finish my thesis. I have in fact been to Melbourne multiple times, going down every couple of years for Christmas, but it's probably been a good decade since I did touristy stuff and I wasn't driven around to visit different relatives before jetting back up to Sydney. Ideally, I'll go the Airbnb route and get a private room or an apartment close to the city centre (Carlton? Fitzroy?). But I remember so many times from my recent trip to Europe that I spent ages walking to and from the train station near my place. It all just looked so close on the map (and I was an idiot). So um, yeah, I'd appreciate any answers you can give for my broad vague questions. It's been ages since I did any travel planning and I still need to get back into the swing of things.
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Aug 3, 2014 07:13
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freebooter posted:You don't need to worry about trains so much because there are trams. If you're staying in the inner city (which you should) it's usually easier to just hop on the nearest tram rather than go to a train station. Also because the trams have an excellent app called tramtracker (download it) which uses real-time data to let you know when they're due, whereas the train service doesn't. Thanks, I'd forgotten about the trams! I think the last time I caught one was when I was 8. And I can just buy myki at a train station right? As the plan stands I'll take the Skybus from the airport to Southern Cross Station and get a tram from there off to a very nice apartment I've found in Brunswick St.
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Aug 6, 2014 23:20
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plasmoduck posted:There's a 7-11 right next to the skybus station at SC where you can buy a myki. You can check tram connections here. Somewhat late, but thanks to you too. At least Melbourne seems to have an actual public transport system which is always a relief. I am, incidentally, going up to the Gold Coast for a few nights at the end of this month. My friend and I are going to be staying in Surfers Paradise. Is there much to do or see besides the beach and those theme parks? Actually, which of the theme parks is the best? There seem to be a half dozen of them and the only similar thing I ever went to is Luna Park back in the day. We might not have time for it, but still good to keep in mind. I'm mostly just seeing this as a way to relax from uni and I'd be more than happy to never leave the hotel/beach. Also, there was a bit of talk earlier in this thread about racism in QLD. Is that true in the Gold Coast as much? I'm the whitest guy ever, but my friend is Sri Lankan and I wouldn't want her to feel uncomfortable at any point. Obviously we have plenty of racists down here too, but from the way some people talk, Queenslanders seem to want to bring back racial segregation or whatever.
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Aug 18, 2014 11:01
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Woah, massive megapost I wasn't expecting. I think Sea World is more my cup of tea. :P Rollercoasters and thrill rides like that terrify me. I'll definitely look up Burleigh Heads and perhaps Springbrook. A beach is a beach, but it does make a big difference when there's fewer people. Yeah, I'm hoping to avoid the drunken dickheads. My friend is much more into clubbing and late nights than I am. When I was younger and more energetic (I'm only 23, what am I saying?), I found those kinds of people tended only to come out when all the bars closed. At least it's not going to be during schoolies. God forbid those kids fresh out of school think we're 'toolies'.
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Aug 20, 2014 13:09
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Gold Coast was fun! Our only out-of-hotel expedition was to SeaWorld and Infinity Attraction. Most of the rest of our time was spent lounging by the hotel pool and drinking cocktails. We had a bit of a scary flight back, though. About 20 minutes in we hit some nasty turbulence and then the plane just suddenly dropped down for what felt like at least 10 seconds. The captain later told us it was a 'sudden rapid descent due to traffic'. I mean, my stepfather used to advise the federal minister for transport, and he read near-daily reports of that happening and it was usually because of a near-collision with another aircraft. Apparently happens a lot. So my nerves were pretty frayed. I think I got gipped on the taxi fare home too. I live in the Inner West and the guy wanted to take me through the cross-city tunnel rather than Sydenham. I was too tired and unnerved to argue. The fare read about $58 when I finally got home, but apparently the tunnel toll is $25 because my card statement reads $83.25. Sorry, just had to vent a little. Not the best way to end a holiday. Octy fucked around with this message at 09:30 on Sep 1, 2014 |
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Sep 1, 2014 09:28
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Fists Up posted:Dude. Contest that poo poo. Does the receipt have any info of the taxi or even company? I ended up not getting a receipt. My card statement shows 'Taxi Combined' followed by a short string of numbers (might be their phone) and 'Darlinghurst AU'. I've submitted a complaint, but having looked up reviews of Taxi Combined, I probably won't get it resolved. I've also submitted a complaint to Transport for NSW, but given I don't know the taxi registration or driver ID number I can't see this going too far. But Christ, even Sydney Airport estimates the average fare for getting to North Sydney to only be $55-65. Octy fucked around with this message at 23:21 on Sep 1, 2014 |
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Sep 1, 2014 23:08
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Mr Chips posted:Why? I've been to Broome a few times for work, and on weekends off did some exploring. The attraction of the place is a complete mystery to me - there are plenty of other coastal regions in Australia that are just as nice without being so hellishly hot or remote I really liked Broome the one time I went, but that may be because my grandparents had a house right on the beach (well, there was a lagoon to get past first which crocodiles apparently liked in summer) with a bit of land. It's a fair way from anything, though. Not exactly a day trip like the Blue Mountains is for Sydney. Also, I finally bought my plane tickets for Melbourne so it's almost all locked in. Early November for a week. Going to be good, I'm sure. EDIT - So my complaint has been registered with the taxi company re my excessive cab charge a few weeks ago. Looks like they're going to refund me about $45. Just goes to show you can get results if you make a fuss. Octy fucked around with this message at 05:22 on Sep 19, 2014 |
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Sep 16, 2014 09:25
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Just got back from a week in Melbourne. Lovely city, despite the expensiveness of the coffee (often almost $4 for a small flat white) and beer. I walked everywhere for the first few days, and then I relented and started catching public transport. All in all, I had a generally pleasant time (apart from one small occurrence which might be put up to drunken dickheads) and you should all go there now.
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Nov 8, 2014 07:39
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I don't know about someone as young as one, but Melbourne Museum has plenty of stuff aimed at adults and children. I enjoyed it when I was a little kid and I enjoyed it just last week. Plus, I think children get in free.
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Nov 8, 2014 22:18
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Sharks Below posted:I live in Rockhampton, on the southern ish end of the GBR, about 1100 km south of Cairns and flights for me to get to Cairns are like $300+ each way most of the time. Guess why? Because I have to fly to Brisbane first, then to Cairns. Australia is loving weird and bad like that. Curse you, regional town... It's terrifying to think that a place like Rocktampton, which is further north than I've ever been this side of the coast, is still further away from Cairns than Melbourne is from me in Sydney. It's a good 200km difference too. I guess maybe the route from Sydney to Melbourne is a little more circuitious but still.
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Jan 25, 2015 22:34
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I'll have to make a note of these places. I'm in desperate need of a relaxing beach based holiday but I doubt I'll have any time before the Easter Break.
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Feb 2, 2015 05:00
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I feel like you should skip out on Brisbane/QLD and just split your time between Sydney and Melbourne. There's plenty to see and do in both cities beside the obvious boring things (Harbour Bridge/Opera House come to mind...).
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Mar 17, 2015 11:25
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Kommando posted:Commonwealth bank has a slick phone app and you can pay by NFC with it. Yeah, the Commbank app has saved me on a few occasions, or at least in the sense that it makes it easier to transfer money from one account to another so that I can (very unwisely) spend more money on alcohol.
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Apr 13, 2015 08:30
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What's the deal with Wilcannia?
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Jun 11, 2015 12:13
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freebooter posted:Matter of opinion, but I don't think it's up for argument that Melbourne has the best public transport of any Australian city. (Not that Melburnians think that; they think they live in Mogadishu.) I spoke to some English people recently who reckon the public transport in Sydney is fantastic. I mostly agree with them, but we don't have trams anymore which puts us second to Melbourne.
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Aug 15, 2015 14:54
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Rougey posted:Remember that over new years eve you'll be very lucky to find accommodation within the CBD that wasn't booked some time last year, or even within about 10km. I doubt you can find accommodation in these areas and they're not very accessible from the city, but it's well worth checking out the beaches south of Bondi, e.g. Bronte, Clovelly, Gordon's Bay, etc. Clovelly is my favourite because even at the height of the tourist season in summer there's plenty of good spots to settle down. I'd consider moving to Clovelly if I could afford it. (Don't tell my Inner West comrades I said that.)
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Sep 2, 2015 11:12
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), these areas certainly aren't in the avoid category*. There are two main hubs that should fit your bill, Manly on the Northern Beaches and Bondi in the Eastern Suburbs - both have easy access to the city and plenty of local nightlife, probably more these days given the lockout laws.
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Sydney is definitely a horrible airport, but I wouldn't try to make a connection anywehre on anything less than a two hour gap.
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Dec 8, 2015 08:35
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