1) Remember to apply ETA (Electronic Travel Authority) for Singaporean and Malaysian. Go to http://ja-travel.com/visa/visa_aus.html as JA Travel has the cheapest ETA fee of SGD10, and you can almost get an approval within two days. Alternatively, you may apply via Australian Immigration website at AUD20 (about SGD24) http://www.immi.gov.au/visitors/tourist/visa-options.htm
2) Get an Optus prepaid card upon arrival at Sydney Airport. You get 500MB of data as low as AUD2 per day! I bought AUD4 for 1GB, total AUD20 for a week.
3) Most supermarkets close at 5pm or 6pm, better check out those near your hotels. We were lucky to have Woolsworth supermarket which opens daily till 12 midnight.
4) Sydney's GPS works sort of backwards, you have to key in postal code, street name, followed by unit no. The suburb is certainly important as there may be twenty addresses with the same unit, and street for different suburb areas.
5) Parking in Sydney city could easily burn a hole in your pocket, and you might end up paying AUD80 for parking all day. Check out discounted rates which I will update later on my post. I suggest you travel by train rather than renting a car unless if you have an elderly or child with you. There are tolls on almost every highway, so just inform the rental company that you would like to include tolls, insurance (leave everything to them for a hassle free trip).
6) Prepare a lot of loose coins in case you are going for street parking. Check out all street signs, and note that you do not park your car exceeding the space after any pole. There is no boxes or lines indicating how many lots, just park in parallel unless there is a sign that mentions 45 degrees parking, it's diagonal. Some examples of street signs:
- 2P ticket 8am to 5pm Mon to Fri means you are only allowed to park for two hours.
- 4P ticket 6pm to 10 pm Mon to Fri or 8am to 10pm Sat, Sun & PH means you are allowed to park for four hours.
- Any red coloured sign with loading zone, or no stopping / parking, just don't park.
If there is no mention of Sat or Sun on the sign, it is usually free of charge. If you are parking more than two or four hours, another ticket after restricted time is required to secure your lot. Night parking is usually much more cheaper, and anytime between 10pm to 8am next day is free of charge.
Proceed to purchase a ticket once you had parked. There is no instruction showing you how to buy a ticket. Just follow the rates stated on the machine eg. AUD2 for an hour, and you insert AUD2. Press the green or enter button for ticket. Place it in your car, there is a time indicated what time you have to move out.
~ Sydney Day One : Campsie~
Our main purpose is to visit Grandma in Sydney, so first day was more of catching up with relatives. Lunch was at a Vietnamese restaurant Ha Noi Quan - 98 Beamish Street, Campsie, Sydney, Australia 2194 - +61 2 9787 2707.
Basically, in "ang moh" countries, each serving is huge. I mean gigantic or whatever you could think of. Please order one bowl of noodles with one or two side dishes to share. Vermicelli with pork, and raw beef salads are a must try.
Accommodation in Sydney is rather expensive, and we have to stay near our Grandma. So I chose Sleep Express Motel http://www.sleepexpressmotel.com, I think it is about SGD96 per night. Surprisingly, the room itself is quite spacious.
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| I'm too short!! Cannot see the mirror.. |
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| Barbeque area |
~Sydney Day Two : Fish Market - Darling Harbour - Chinatown - Circular Quay~
As we are visiting Wildlife Sydney Zoo at Darling Harbour, we parked at Wilson Parking Darling Park. Address is 201 Sussex St Sydney NSW 2000 Australia with height restriction of 2.1m. For daily earlybird from Monday to Friday entry between 6:00am and 9:30am, exit between 3:00pm and 8:00pm is AUD27.00. Our parking after discount was AUD17 all day. Check out latest discounted rates at http://www.wildlifesydney.com.au/visitor-info/cheap-parking
We did a little bit of walking to Sydney Fish Market via Prymont Bridge of estimated 20 minutes.
You will certainly regret for missing Sydney Fish Market. The fresh oysters, sashimis, and seafood are absolutely delicious. We settled our breakfast at Fish Market Cafe.
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| Anzac Bridge |
Some pictures at Darling Harbour on Prymont Bridge before heading to Wildlife Sydney Zoo.
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| Maritime Museum |
Wildlife Sydney Zoo is a relatively tiny one for tourists with limited time. Do check out Taronga Zoo http://taronga.org.au/taronga-zoo for a more complete tour.
Do hop on to Darling Harbour's mini train tour at AUD5 per adult. Starting point is from underneath of Prymont Bridge (right in front of public toilets), along Cockle Bay Wharf, Darling Quarter, Chinese Garden of Friendship to opposite of Chinatown before going back to Prymont Bridge. You may board at anywhere along its route, and are allowed an unlimited ride. However, should you alight at anytime and wish to hop back onto the train, it will be another AUD5.
Please drop by Darling Quarter as its playground attracted both young and old. We enjoyed climbing to the top of ropes, and sliding down the giant slide. Baby had so much fun!
Our next stop is Chinatown for early dinner as we were famished from our earlier heavy breakfast. It is just a 6 minutes walk from Darling Quarter to Goulburn Street.
BBQ King at 18 Goulburn St, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia | +61 2 9267 2586 is a must try as they are famous for roasted pork. They have extremely large servings too, please do not order too much.
A 9 minutes walk brought us back to our car at 201 Sussex Street.
We then drove to The Rocks for some photo taking of the famous Sydney Opera House at Circular Quay. Not to forget Sydney Harbour Bridge on the opposite side as well.
Some desserts to end our day at Pancakes on the Rocks http://www.pancakesontherocks.com.au 4 Hickson Rd, The Rocks, Sydney | +61 2 9247 6371. It is quite a popular eatery as I heard queues during peak hours could be up to an hour. Fortunately, we only waited for like 10 minutes. Go for their smoothies, chocolate pancakes, and crepes. Buttermilk ones you may skip (pretty normal), and no milkshake (too sweet!).
~Sydney Day Three : Bondi Beach - Minto - Kingsgrove~
After too much of walking yesterday, we decided to take it easy and relax for today. We intended to surf or swim at Bondi Beach, but the sea was simply too cold for all of us. Please note of the atrocious parking fee of AUD7 an hour.
Lunch was at Hurricane's Grill https://bondibeach.hurricanesgrill.com.au 130 Roscoe Street, Bondi Beach, NSW 2026, Sydney Australia | +61 2 9130 7101. Seriously, only the prawn dish was delicious.
Dinner with relatives at Kefi Greek Tavern http://www.kefigreektavern.com.au 1/231 Kingsgrove Rd Kingsgrove, NSW 2208 | +61 2 9554 4442. I think we ordered for an entire village, and struggled to finish our foods. Do not miss their baked Kasseri Filo Pie with mozzarella cheese that melts in your mouth.
Basically, Blue Mountains are full of waterfalls, lookouts, and parks. You will see A to Z Falls almost everywhere you go. There is nothing much to see, just visit one of the falls will do.
Next stop is Echo Point to see the famous Three Sisters and Jamison Valley at 23-31 Echo Point Rd Katoomba NSW 2780 Australia http://www.bluemts.com.au/info/thingstodo/threesisters There are a lot of steps (muddy ones, sandy ones, full of pebbles ones) everywhere. There is a Giant Stairway of about a thousand stairs linked all the way down to Three Sisters.
Desserts at Blue Mountains Chocolate Company http://www.bluemountainschocolate.com.au 176 Lurline St, Katoomba | +61 2 4782 7071. Their cakes are heavenly!
Our initial plan was to have dinner at Pins on Lurline http://www.pinsonlurline.com.au 132 Lurline Street, Katoomba 2780 | +61 2 4782 2281 which was 1 minute drive from our hotel. You have to make reservation a day in advanced as they are forever fully booked. We tried Gustissimo Italian Restaurant instead http://www.gustissimo.com.au 10 Katoomba Street, Katoomba NSW 2780 | +61 2 4782 7007. Their thin crust pizza is awesome.
I am such a muddle head to have accidentally deleted photographs of my hotel stay at Echo Point Motor Inn http://echopointmotel.com 18 Echo Point Road, Katoomba NSW 2780 | +61 4782 2088. This is the only one left. Sigh!
~ Blue Mountains Day Five : Jenolan Caves - Scenic World ~
Our breakfasts was at Fresh Espresso Bar - 181 Katoomba Street, Katoomba NSW 2780 | +61 2 4782 3602. They do serve pretty decent all day breakfasts.
Jenolan Caves http://www.jenolancaves.org.au 4655 Jenolan Caves Road, Jenolan Caves NSW 2790 | +61 2 6359 3911 is an hour drive away from Katoomba town. As we were late for our Imperial Cave Tour (one of the easiest tours), we were arranged to join another popular one Lucas Cave Tour. Do try out River Tour or Diamond Tour as they seemed quite interesting. Please remember to bring a light jacket as the inside of cave is kind of cold, totally different from outside.
Scenic World http://www.scenicworld.com.au Corner Violet Street & Cliff Drive, Katoomba NSW 2780 | +61 2 4780 0200 is a must visit when you are around Blue Mountains. You can cover Walkway, Railway, Skyway, and Cableway in just one and a half hour depending how much time you spent on walkway.
We first started with Skyway from the main building to East Station. You may follow a trail to Echo Point. Total time to and fro was about 20 minutes.
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| Katoomba Falls |
Next, we took Cableway from main building to to Walkway which was about a 10 minutes ride.
There are three routes on Walkway, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, and 50 minutes. We chose the 30 minutes which cut through middle of forest passing by coal mining area in the the olden days.
The Railway was indeed frightening even when I chose the laid-back seat. I shut my eyes tight the entire journey back.
Dinner at Papadino's - 48 Katoomba St, Katoomba NSW 2780 | +61 2 4782 1696. Yes, pizzas again..there are nothing much to eat on Blue Mountains actually. The Aglio Olio pasta was unlike Singapore's style. They mixed plain spaghetti with half a bottle of olive oil..*faints*
~Sydney Day Six : Chinatown - Paddy's Market~
We finally had some Chinese dim sums after so many days of Western foods. Marigold https://www.marigold.com.au Level 4 & 5, Citymark Building, 683-689 George St, Sydney 2000 | +61 2 9281 3388 makes you feel like you have time travelled to Hong Kong with traditional push carts of dim sums around. Be there early as they have limited parking lots at AUD9 for two hours. Additional hour is another AUD9.
Some last minute shopping at Paddy's Market http://www.paddysmarkets.com.au right opposite of Marigold before heading back to Singapore.
