If you are arriving in Sydney by plane, you can use the airport shuttle bus services to Sydney Harbour YHA or catch the train to Circular Quay (change at Central Station).
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Sleeping with Sydney's famous
September 2009
Nod off under the arch of Sydney’s Harbour Bridge and wake with a view of the Opera House.
by Kat McKinnon
There are picture-perfect monuments that define a country: New York’s Statue of Liberty and Paris’s Eiffel Tower, but nothing says “cheese” quite like the pearly-white sails of Sydney’s Opera House. But what makes the Opera House so spectacular is not so much its curving sails, but its backdrop of Sydney Harbour. Face west and you have the Harbour Bridge; south, the city skyline; east, the Royal Botanic Gardens; and north, the dazzling blue dotted with ferries and refracted sunshine. Sydney Harbour is the city’s pulse, and it’s what makes Sydney one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
It is in this area, in the historic harbour foreshore suburb of The Rocks that there is a new YHA hostel, appropriately named Sydney Harbour YHA. This purpose built accommodation offers a choice of multishare and double/twin rooms, all with ensuite, and a rooftop terrace with views to kill for. All this from $42 a night – what more could you want.
A hop-skip-jump from the YHA is Sydney’s Opera House, and while you can just walk around it, bragging rights improve if you see a performance. It’s not all hoity toity classical ballet and big-bellied singers on-stage within the hull. You can buy tickets to Shakespeare’s The Taming Of The shrew, watch Aussie indie-rock band The Whitlams perform with the Sydney Symphony and see the contemporary and traditional indigenous dances by the Bangarra Dance Theatre. If you want to get deeper inside the grand lady’s skirt and discover her interesting past, you can join the Opera House’s Essential Tour. On Sunday afternoon the music moves outside; grab a bottle of champagne and enjoy the free jazz, sunshine and dazzling view from the Opera Bar.
If you have champagne tastes but a beer wallet that doesn’t allow for such extravagances, hugging the harbour foreshore is Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens and The Domain – 30 hectares of parkland which provides backpacker budgets with a penthouse view of the city skyline, Bridge and Opera House.
Wander through The Domain – past the glowing brides and sweating corporates, pounding the pavement in their lunchbreak – and you’ll come to the NSW Art Gallery. Every Wednesday evening the gallery hosts Art After Hours; an events program with free films, talks and musical performances. Click along to the band, grab a glass of wine and peruse the works of Brett Whiteley or discuss the virtues of this year’s controversial (because it’s always controversial) Archibald portrait winner.
If you prefer to be perplexed by your artistic installations, visit the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA). There will be those who just don’t get it – they will be sitting on the artworks and commenting on the edgy ‘Exit’ signs – but those who do will appreciate artists like Yayoi Kusama from Japan, Yinka Shonibare from the UK and the collection of 285 Aboriginal bark paintings, one of the most significant of its kind in the world.
Susannah Place Museum
While everyone’s artistic style differs, people become united in their opinion of climbing Sydney’s Harbour Bridge: the compulsory grey jumpsuits are dead ugly; the view, spectacular. With uncompromised 360-degree views, you can see some 90km to the Blue Mountains in the west and out to the Pacific Ocean’s horizon in the east. The view is incredible and BridgeClimb Sydney is worth every penny but, if your budget doesn’t allow it, you can climb the Harbour Bridge Pylon for five per cent of the cost. Inside the pylon are 200 steps and three levels of museum detailing the history of the Bridge – how it was built, how many workers died and how it was notoriously opened by a disgruntled Colonel, Francis de Groot, who slashed the ceremonial ribbon before the Premier could raise his scissors.
To hear stories of Sydney’s beginnings and early colonial days in The Rocks it serves you well to visit The Rocks Discovery Museum, housed in a restored 1850’s sandstone warehouse, and the Justice & Police Museum, which occupies the old police quarters and courthouse. Learn about the working class life at Susannah Place Museum, hear about loitering crims of Sydney’s colonial past on a Ghost Tour of The Rocks or learn it from the locals, with a beer in hand, on The Rocks Pub Tour.
If you prefer to drink at your own pace, drop into the pub-brewery The Lord Nelson for a lager and slice of homemade beer damper. Built of solid sandstone blocks in 1836, The Lord Nelson is Sydney’s oldest remaining hotel. But whether it’s Sydney’s oldest pub is a point of contention. Visit them all and make up your own mind. The site of the Fortune of War has had a licence since 1828, but the building has changed multiple times while The Hero of Waterloo, built in 1843, deserves inclusion for maintaining its age-old appearance and charm.
Discover this historic area on a walking tour
If you won’t be visiting the Australian vineyard regions, drop into the Wine Odyssey for The Aroma Room and Tasting Theatre where you’ll be introduced to Australia’s greatest wine regions, makers and grape varietals. Or grab a glass and head to the sampling room and let your tastebuds guide the tour.
If beer’s your preferred beverage, head to The Australian Hotel (next door to the YHA – how convenient!) for boutique Aussie brews – Blue Tongue from the Hunter Valley, Bee Sting from the Barossa and Razor Back from the Snowy Mountains, to name a few – and gourmet pizzas topped with kangaroo, emu or salt-water crocodile.
If you prefer to pat a kangaroo rather than ingest one, jump aboard a ferry and head to one of the zoos. Catch the ferry to Darling Harbour to get up close and personal with Aussie wildlife at Sydney Aquarium and next door, Sydney Wildlife World; Taronga Zoo for koala petting and to view the newly born Asian elephant, Luk Chai; and Manly beach for ice cream, surf and Oceanworld, an aquarium where you can dive with sharks.
Aroma Festival, The Rocks
For shopping, you can’t beat The Rocks markets to taste freshly-picked produce – strawberries, figs and papaya – as well as locally-produced treats like macadamia chocolates, ironbark honey, dried mango and mini pavlovas. If you have souvenirs to buy, you can also pick yourself up a didgeridoo, handmade jewellery and clothes and artist’s impressions of Sydney.
Visit Sydney and people will advise you to climb the Harbour Bridge, visit the Opera House and get out on the water. Stay at Sydney Harbour YHA and it’s all at your doorstep.
The Rocks Weekend Market: Locally made jewellery, clothes, photographs and artist impressions of Sydney. 10am–5pm Saturdays and Sundays
Markets by Moonlight / Christmas Markets:Locally made jewellery, clothes, carollers and a very unique Christmas tree. Fridays, 5.30pm-10pm from 6 November 2009 to 26 March 2010 (excluding Christmas Day and New Year's Day)
St George OpenAir Cinema:Catch premiere films and golden-classics at this giant outdoor screen on Sydney’s harbour foreshore. Program and dates for 2009-2010 season online.
Australia Day:Groove to blues, funk, jazz and soul at a free live music festival in The Rocks. January 26
Vivid Sydney:Sydney Harbour is illuminated by fire sculptures, light installations and floating lanterns. June 2009 (2010 dates yet to be released, but it should be the same month)
Crave Sydney: A month-long celebration of Sydney. Island hop Sydney Harbour; picnic on the Harbour Bridge and feast with the Sydney International Food Festival. October, 2009
The Australian Beer Festival: Taste more than 120 boutique Aussie beers, including Little Creatures, 4 Pines and Akuna. October 24-25, 2009
