The Adventure of a Lifetime!
Dates of Travel:
4 - 8 April: Melbourne
8 - 11 April: Sydney
11 - 17 April: Brisbane
17 - 22 April: Cairns
22 - 30 April: Gold Coast
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| Doing the Aussie East Coast! |
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Sydney
Opal Card
One of the first things you should do before you arrive in Sydney is plan your destinations! Where do you want to go? When do you want to go? Planning which day to go where is detrimental to saving on transportation! Once you have all those in mind, try to figure out how much Opal Credits you want to purchase and try to maximize each day. You need to have a plan in mind because as far as I am aware, Opal does not really do any refunds, and if they do, you need to fill up a tedious form and the remaining credits will be refunded back to an Australian bank account (which will be inapplicable for tourists). I have listed a few pros and cons found on TripAdvisor and it exactly reflects my same sentiments. I have highlighted several important ones if you're running short of time.
Advantages:
Disadvantage:
Maximizing and Using the Opal Card:
For me, I thought I will be fine just paying for single fares and using the paper tickets as I will be in Sydney for only 4 days. I got it only on the second half of my second day, which I really regretted immensely. As one of the advantages I listed above, the daily maximum cap using the Opal card is $15. On the second morning, I took a train and a bus to Bondi Beach and back which cost me roughly $12.20. After putting my stuff down in the hostel, I took a train for one stop into CBD for the free walking tour and that was $4. If I had gotten the Opal Card, I had hit my daily cap. The rest of the public transportation I took (including ferries, light rail, buses and trains) will be free for the day.
I was quite pissed at myself for not doing enough research then. After the walking tour (and recommended by the guide) I wanted to take the ferry to Manly Beach to watch the sunset over the habour and back and I still had to take the train back to my hostel. That was when I decided to purchase the Opal Card from any newsagent as the paper ticket to get on the ferry is $8.50, but if you use the Opal Card the fare will be $7.50. Two ways and I would have hit the daily cap, thus my train back home will be free. I still saved, but I could have saved more.
On the third day, which was a Sunday, I visited the Blue Mountains. If you use the Opal Card, one way fare is $8.60 from Central Station, round trip on the Blue Mountain Line will already hit your $15 daily max cap if you visit on a Monday-Saturday. But since I visited on a Sunday, my daily max cap is at $2.50 and so my round trip (which is 2 hours long each way) journey to visit Blue Mountains is just only $2.50! If I didn't purchase an Opal Card, I would have paid about $18+ for a paper ticket for both ways.
You can also use the trip planner to better calculate your fare on the NSW Transport website: http://tp.transportnsw.info/nsw
Getting into the City/Central Station
Getting into the city is easy! There are trains to bring you straight to Central Station in about 15-20 mins! From Central Station, you can just change about any trains to bring you to your destination. Because Central Station is very vast and they have about 25 platforms, connects to buses and light rail; it can be a little intimidating trying to navigate around this huge station! I had a local sim card with data access, so I just trusted my handy-dandy Google Maps to tell me which platform I needed to go and I didn't have to stand in front of the boards to figure out which platform to haul my ass onto. Of course, there are friendly staff available for you to ask questions.
When I arrived, my friend came to pick me up and we decided that it was still early (about 4pm), there will be no traffic and we decided to take a taxi to my hostel instead of the train as the 2 person fare on the train is roughly be the same price as the taxi fare. The taxi fare to my hostel in Central was about $33.
Bounce Sydney Hostel
Address: 28 Chalmers St, Surry Hills NSW 2010, Australia
Tel: +61 2 9281 2222
Website: http://www.bouncehostel.com.au/
I am not going to do a long review of the hostel I stayed in because I don't have much photos. However, I really DO recommend staying here! There's a good reason why I decided to stay in a hotel within walking proximity to Central Station. I knew I wanted to be located near the city and where I have easy access to the trains going to airport and Blue Mountains. Despite it being a little overpriced for my budget, I felt that every penny was well spent!
This was also my first solo trip and staying in a hostel full of random strangers, of course I was nervous. It's a good thing as they have all female dorms available! They also have a 24 hour front desk and a good system in terms of security and bedding allocation. Despite it having the same rules of first-in-first-choice-of-bed, it was well organized and they will give you a tag to clip it to your bedpost so you knew which beds were taken and which were available. Also, you're issued with a card which you need to use to access areas like stairwells, your dorm room and female toilets!
They also had lockers for all occupants, but you had to bring your own lock, which was fine as I had locks for my backpack. The lockers were huge and deep. I could fit my entire backpack lying down and even had space for a small travel bag. There was a shelf inside the locker so you could take some of your items out from your bag for easy access. The plus point was that there's power sockets inside the lockers! You could be charging your camera/phone/laptop and leave it charging while you went out!
Did I mention they had conditioning too?
Free Walking Tour
From the Town Hall we will explored Sydney’s beginnings and development from it’s early days as a convict colony right up to the major developments that have made Sydney the world city that it is today. The guide also covered things to see and do in Sydney especially those that are free. He even told us about the daily max cap on the Opal card and recommended us to take the ferry across to Manly Beach at sunset!
Even though it is a walking tour, it is easy to follow and the pace is very good. The guide is very entertaining and I enjoyed it so much that I told my boyfriend to join the tour when he arrived in Melbourne. We walked around the CBD area, to the Rum Hospital, cathedrals, parliment house, even to where the Hilton bombing and the Sydney Cafe Heist took place at Australia Square, very near to where the ANZAC memorial stood place.
Bondi Beach
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| opal card |
One of the first things you should do before you arrive in Sydney is plan your destinations! Where do you want to go? When do you want to go? Planning which day to go where is detrimental to saving on transportation! Once you have all those in mind, try to figure out how much Opal Credits you want to purchase and try to maximize each day. You need to have a plan in mind because as far as I am aware, Opal does not really do any refunds, and if they do, you need to fill up a tedious form and the remaining credits will be refunded back to an Australian bank account (which will be inapplicable for tourists). I have listed a few pros and cons found on TripAdvisor and it exactly reflects my same sentiments. I have highlighted several important ones if you're running short of time.
Advantages:
- Individual fares are less than paper tickets; off peak discounts apply for trains. Also many buses accept Opal card only when travelling at peak time.
- Maximum adult fare of $15 per day or $60 per week (Mon-Sun Opal travel week)
- Sunday maximum of $2.50 per person (no family requirement) for unlimited travel
- Can be used at airport; $12.60 gate fee deducted (this is not included in any of the caps) Child fares are half of the above except for airport gate fee which is $10.60 for children.
- Pay as you go system; for most users the maximum of $60 per week probably won't be reached, resulting in less overall cost.
- No need for any knowledge of the particular distance bands that make up the bus and train systems
- Avoids queues at ferries and train stations (ferries on weekends can have long queues)
- Weekly Travel Reward: After 8 journeys in one week (Mon - Sun travel week), the rest of your travel is free. (A journey consists of multiple trips taken within an hour of each other.) This may result in substantially less cost depending on usage pattern.
Disadvantage:
- Cards can only be topped up at news agencies/shops (and online) - Look for the 'Opal' flag outside the shop
- Card holder needs to keep an eye on balance and top-up when required Balance can only be incremented in $10 units - meaning it may be difficult to load the exact amount required
- Few facilities for top-ups at train stations (eftpos only top-up machines now available at some major stations). In 2016 year 350 top up machines will be added to rail stations and ferry wharves.
- Refunds on unused balances are only obtainable by cheque by post (and you need an Australian bank account)
- All children must have an Opal card - benefit of purchasing only one child fare no longer applies
- Weekly benefits only follow a Monday-Sunday travel week, meaning maximum fare for seven days encompassing a weekend could be somewhat higher than $60, for example if ferry or long distance train transport was used extensively. (In a contrived absolute worst case; $15 Thu-Sat, $2.50 Sun, $15 Mon-Wed, or $92.50 total.)
Maximizing and Using the Opal Card:
For me, I thought I will be fine just paying for single fares and using the paper tickets as I will be in Sydney for only 4 days. I got it only on the second half of my second day, which I really regretted immensely. As one of the advantages I listed above, the daily maximum cap using the Opal card is $15. On the second morning, I took a train and a bus to Bondi Beach and back which cost me roughly $12.20. After putting my stuff down in the hostel, I took a train for one stop into CBD for the free walking tour and that was $4. If I had gotten the Opal Card, I had hit my daily cap. The rest of the public transportation I took (including ferries, light rail, buses and trains) will be free for the day.
I was quite pissed at myself for not doing enough research then. After the walking tour (and recommended by the guide) I wanted to take the ferry to Manly Beach to watch the sunset over the habour and back and I still had to take the train back to my hostel. That was when I decided to purchase the Opal Card from any newsagent as the paper ticket to get on the ferry is $8.50, but if you use the Opal Card the fare will be $7.50. Two ways and I would have hit the daily cap, thus my train back home will be free. I still saved, but I could have saved more.
On the third day, which was a Sunday, I visited the Blue Mountains. If you use the Opal Card, one way fare is $8.60 from Central Station, round trip on the Blue Mountain Line will already hit your $15 daily max cap if you visit on a Monday-Saturday. But since I visited on a Sunday, my daily max cap is at $2.50 and so my round trip (which is 2 hours long each way) journey to visit Blue Mountains is just only $2.50! If I didn't purchase an Opal Card, I would have paid about $18+ for a paper ticket for both ways.
You can also use the trip planner to better calculate your fare on the NSW Transport website: http://tp.transportnsw.info/nsw
Getting into the City/Central Station
Getting into the city is easy! There are trains to bring you straight to Central Station in about 15-20 mins! From Central Station, you can just change about any trains to bring you to your destination. Because Central Station is very vast and they have about 25 platforms, connects to buses and light rail; it can be a little intimidating trying to navigate around this huge station! I had a local sim card with data access, so I just trusted my handy-dandy Google Maps to tell me which platform I needed to go and I didn't have to stand in front of the boards to figure out which platform to haul my ass onto. Of course, there are friendly staff available for you to ask questions.
When I arrived, my friend came to pick me up and we decided that it was still early (about 4pm), there will be no traffic and we decided to take a taxi to my hostel instead of the train as the 2 person fare on the train is roughly be the same price as the taxi fare. The taxi fare to my hostel in Central was about $33.
Bounce Sydney Hostel
Address: 28 Chalmers St, Surry Hills NSW 2010, Australia
Tel: +61 2 9281 2222
Website: http://www.bouncehostel.com.au/
I am not going to do a long review of the hostel I stayed in because I don't have much photos. However, I really DO recommend staying here! There's a good reason why I decided to stay in a hotel within walking proximity to Central Station. I knew I wanted to be located near the city and where I have easy access to the trains going to airport and Blue Mountains. Despite it being a little overpriced for my budget, I felt that every penny was well spent!
This was also my first solo trip and staying in a hostel full of random strangers, of course I was nervous. It's a good thing as they have all female dorms available! They also have a 24 hour front desk and a good system in terms of security and bedding allocation. Despite it having the same rules of first-in-first-choice-of-bed, it was well organized and they will give you a tag to clip it to your bedpost so you knew which beds were taken and which were available. Also, you're issued with a card which you need to use to access areas like stairwells, your dorm room and female toilets!
They also had lockers for all occupants, but you had to bring your own lock, which was fine as I had locks for my backpack. The lockers were huge and deep. I could fit my entire backpack lying down and even had space for a small travel bag. There was a shelf inside the locker so you could take some of your items out from your bag for easy access. The plus point was that there's power sockets inside the lockers! You could be charging your camera/phone/laptop and leave it charging while you went out!
Did I mention they had conditioning too?
Free Walking Tour
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| find the guide in the green shirt! |
Time: 10:30am and 2:30pm everyday
Duration: 2½-3 hours
Meeting Location: Town Hall Square. George St between Sydney Town Hall and St Andrew’s Cathedral.
Website: http://www.imfree.com.au/sydney/
Duration: 2½-3 hours
Meeting Location: Town Hall Square. George St between Sydney Town Hall and St Andrew’s Cathedral.
Website: http://www.imfree.com.au/sydney/
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| art installation |
The tour ended at Circular Quay where you can view the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge in the distance. The tour ended and the guide said that because the tour is free, the only way they get paid is through tips. No one is obliged to tip him and tips is any amount is welcome! I wanted to tip $10 but I only had a $20 note. It was worth it anyway because a normal city tour like the one I did would have cost me over $30 or more! Plus the guide was waaaaaaay knowledgeable as he was born and raised in Sydney.
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| Sydney Opera House |
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| beautiful beach |
Getting to Bondi Beach:
- From Central Station, take the T4 Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line train from Platform 24 towards Bondi Junction.
- Follow signs from the train station to the bus terminal.
- Purchase a pre-paid ticket from one of the newsagent there or from the ticketing machine if you do not have an Opal Card. It will cost about $2.10 if I recall correctly. You are not allowed to purchase a ticket from the driver. If you're at the beach already, just proceed to any convinience store or newsagent to purchase a one way ticket back to Bondi Junction. Take note that if you're using a pre-purchased ticket, it is not the same as the Opal Card. I did the silly mistake of trying to tap it, but closer to the driver, there's a machine where you have to insert your ticket in, the machine will eat it, read it and stamp on it and it will come back out. Remember to collect your ticket back!
- Take either 333 or 380 to Bondi Beach. The bus journey will take about 15 mins.
Bondi Beach is actually smaller than what I had expected. It is just a small crescent shape piece of beautiful sand. It is surrounded by cafes and eateries facing the beach and flanked by neighborhood suburbs on both sides. It was seriously one of the best days of my life visiting Bondi Beach. The weather was an awesome 20C and the sun was shining so brightly. There are lots of hot eye candy surfer dudes and babes to look out for and the view is spectacular.
I didn't spend too much time at Bondi Beach as I was rushing back to the city to join a free walking tour!
Ferry/Circular Quay
After the tour I was walking around Circular Quay having ice cream and admiring the harbour bridge and opera house. I just decided to heed the guide's advice, got an Opal card and jumped onto a ferry heading towards Manly Beach!
To find out more about the cost of the ferry or Opal Card, please scroll up.
Ferry/Circular Quay
After the tour I was walking around Circular Quay having ice cream and admiring the harbour bridge and opera house. I just decided to heed the guide's advice, got an Opal card and jumped onto a ferry heading towards Manly Beach!
To find out more about the cost of the ferry or Opal Card, please scroll up.
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| sky scrappers around Circular Quay |
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| sunset! |
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| opera house and harbour bridge! |
Darling Habour or Circular Quay/Sydney Habour?
If you're making the decision between visiting Circular Quay or Darling Habour and have only time for one, I suggest you visit Circular Quay/Sydney Habour instead. The vibe is much more happening as compared to Darling Habour. Darling Habour was rather dead when I visited on the Sunday evening that I was there. Nothing much to see or do there and even the shopping mall was so quiet. I had to take the light rail tram from Central Station and the stop looked like it was in the middle of some construction site behind the mall. The view is not that fantastic and there's no view of the Habour Bridge or the Opera House.
Blue Mountains
Getting to Blue Mountains:
- Get to Central Station
- Take the Blue Mountain Line on Platform 7
- Alight at Katoomba Station
- Journey takes 2 hours, so try to get on the carriage with a washroom
- To get the most out of a one-day trip to the Blue Mountains, catch one of the following trains, the earlier the better.
- Monday to Friday: 06:52, 07:23, 08:18, 09:18, 10:18, 11:18
- Saturday, Sunday & Public Holidays: 07:22, 08:18, 09:18, 09:48, 10:18, 11:18
- For the proper timings, please refer to the timetable here.
I arrived at Blue Mountains around 10am, had breakfast at a nearby cafe with scrumptious food of sauteed mushrooms, tomatoes, eggs, toast and a cup of coffee!
Blue Mountain Explorer Bus
I decided to purchase a Blue Mountain Explorer Bus ticket for the day as I wasn't sure on how to get around the Blue Mountains myself. The Explorer Bus goes to all the popular spots on Blue Mountains and the route is quite good! The ticket is a wristband and the booklet itself.
For more information on the Explorer Bus: http://www.explorerbus.com.au/
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| explorer bus ticket and booklet |
I bought the ticket online as I didn't want to carry too much cash to Australia. I just exchanged the online ticket at the Explorer Bus booth just outside Katoomba Station. Went opposite to the little cafe for breakfast and caught the 3rd bus for the day.
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| explorer bus |
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| Blue Mountain Explorer Bus Timetable |
Scenic World
One of the first stops I stopped at was at Scenic World! For a view you can't get anywhere else, take a trip on Scenic World's three exciting rides. Marvel at the birds-eye views of the 3 Sisters and Katoomba Falls on the Skyway and Cableway, then ride the world's steepest railway down into the rainforest in the floor of the Jamison Valley.
Bear in mind that all tour groups will head to Scenic World and the lines for the rides are excruciating long with noisy tourists from the Mainland. If you know what I mean. Got a headache after a while and although I wanted to go on the rides again for a second go, I didn't. I just made a beeline for the bus stop and didn't look back once I was done with all the rides. The rest of the Blue Mountains was alright, hardly any annoying, loud-mouthed tourists to give me another headache.
For more information and pricing enquirers, please visit the Scenic World Website: http://www.scenicworld.com.au/
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| Scenic Railway |
Scenic Railway
Take a seat on the Scenic Railway – the steepest railway in the world. While the Indiana Jones music plays, the train drops down smoothly through a natural tunnel in the rock and shoot out amid Jurassic Park-like rainforest to the bottom of the valley.
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| waiting in line for the Scenic Railway |
The steepest incline railway in the world takes you safely and comfortably down into the depths of the Jamison Valley in just over two minutes. Originally built to haul coal from mines at the base of the cliffs, the Scenic Railway was converted to carry tourists in 1945.
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| select your ride |
The new bright red Swiss train comes with seats that you tilt forwards or backwards for a more exciting or relaxing ride. When you get off, walk right and you'll find some interesting mine relics and historical displays about the coal mining days.
Scenic Skyway
The glass bottomed Skyway floats 270 metres above the floor of the Jamison Valley, offering amazing views of the Three Sisters, Mount Solitary and Katoomba Falls. Part of the cabin floor is made of electro-glass which becomes completely clear as you cross, giving a dizzying view of the rainforest right below your feet. If you don't feel that adventurous, seating and solid flooring is also available.
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| Scenic Skyway |
Scenic Walkway
Beginning at the bottom of the Scenic Railway, this 2.4km-long wooden boardwalk leads through beautiful Jurassic rainforest to the Valley station of the Cableway. You can spend anything from 10 minutes to an hour walking between the two.
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| Scenic Walkway |
Scenic Cableway
This fully enclosed and wheelchair-accessible cable car glides over forest, descending gently to the valley floor with yet more fantastic views of the Three Sisters, Orphan Rock and Katoomba Falls.
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| Scenic Cableway |
Scenic World to Echo Point Bushwalk
This easy bushwalk along the famous Prince Henry Cliff Walk is a great way for casual walkers to experience the beauty of the Blue Mountains bushland. Pretty much level from start to finish, it takes you to a series of great lookouts, ending at the legendary Three Sisters themselves.
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| amazing backdrop |
I did follow the trail for a short while to enjoy the view and the breeze, but I did not follow this trail to Echo Point as I wasn't really done with Scenic World yet.
Honeymoon Lookout
Hop off the Explorer Bus at Honeymoon Lookout, and after a short scamper down some steps you'll reach the Prince Henry Cliff Walk. Turn right on the track to head towards the Three Sisters. Along the way you can breathe in the view from a number of less-visited lookouts, and you'll easily have time to stop at all of them in the 1 hour we've allowed for the walk. The trail is roughly 1km long.
When you meet the track coming down from Echo Point, turn left and go down the first few steps of the Giant Stairway. Cross the ravine over cute little Honeymoon Bridge and you'll be standing right on the first of the Three Sisters.
Echo Point/Three Sisters Peak
As you emerge from the trees and walk out toward the edge of Echo Point, the Blue Mountains most epic view opens before you. Spend a few minutes soaking up the postcard view of the Three Sisters, Mount Solitary and the Jamison Valley – and see for yourself exactly how the Blue Mountains get their name.
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| amazing view |
This is another great (and easy) bushwalk, this time down alongside the bubbling stream that tumbles down the whitewater staircase of Leura Cascades. This is a Give yourself an hour to enjoy this beautiful and popular picnic spot.
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| Leura Cascades |
Leura Village
Before you jump on the train back to Sydney, treat yourself to the very Blue Mountains ritual of a Devonshire Tea in one of Leura’s great cafes. Suitably recharged with jam and cream, browse the many elegant shops for some unique locally-made gifts.
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| Leura Station |
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