I will be in Australia next week talking about Launching the Innovation Renaissance. Most of the time I am tied up speaking in Melbourne and then to PM&C, Treasury, and the Innovation departments in Canberra. I will, however, have a bit of free time in Sydney. Recommendations welcome.
The Great Stagnation countdown 10, 9, 8, ….
to Launching the Innovation Renaissance
I’m sure there is a eurogeddon mixed up somewhere.
Alex
Someone will probably offer, but you should ask to see Kangaroos in Canberra. There are usually quite large groups at various nature reserves abutting central Canberra (eg Red Hill). And it should only take 5 minutes. Its a cheap party trick that never fails to succeed with foreign visitors.
In Sydney its all about the harbour and the beaches. So catch the ferry to Manly (awesome low cost harbour cuise) and go for a swim at Manly beach (100m walk from the ferry stop). Bondi beach is also worth the trip but you don’t get the boat ride since you get there by car. Sydney CBD is a boring waste of time.
By chance, a friend of mine told me a few days ago that he was going to be in Sydney, and knowing I had lived there asked for recommendations for things to do. Here’s the list I sent him, with a few items of personal interest only removed:
1. Take the ferry to Manly. The ferry trip is great, as is Manly beach (my favourite beach in Sydney).
2. Go up to the Blue Mountains.
3. Walk from Circular Quay to the Opera House, then keep walking round to the next headland, Mrs. Macquaries point. It only takes 15 minutes, and is extremely scenic.
4. Eat kangaroo. It’s delicious.
5. Take the ferry to Parramatta, have lunch, and take the ferry back.
6. Go to Taronga Zoo.
7. For good east Asian food (which is probably the best food in Australia these days), the area around Liverpool Street in downtown Sydney is the place to be.
8. For a quieter beach, drive up to Palm Beach. It’s the most northern beach in Sydney. A beautiful spot.
9. Do the Harbour Bridge climb. I did it during the day, which was excellent, but I hear it’s even better at sunset.
Be careful on the ferry trip. I suppose the locals understand the routes/timetable, but when we did the harbor tour via ferry, we wound up making two complete circuits of the harbor due to a
misunderstanding of where the ferry was going to stop. Having said that, it shouldn’t be a problem if you plan to get on and off at Circular Quay. Our problem was trying to get back to the Aquarium/Zoo/Maritime Museum.
My favorite restaurant in Canberra is called Courgette!
People go crazy there in regards to a van that sells burgers called Broadburger
Brodburger is sadly no longer run out of that caravan. They were forced to move to a spot in the Glassworks just down the road from the original spot after a big kerfuffle. Still the best burgers in history though.
If you’re driving between Canberra and Sydney, there’s a good Indian restaurant in Tahmoor called Indy’s.
There was a place in Chinatown called Eating world. It is what it sounds like. like it. But there a many good suburban Tyler style Asian places too. Probably to similar to what he already knows.
Apart from that, I endorse what Alasrair’s list.
I highly recommend Gumshara Ramen in Eating World. They have the most amazing Tonkotsu
Depends on where you are staying, how much time you have and what you like, but Hyde Park, the Opera house, the aquarium and the botanical gardens are all walking distance if you are in CBD (downtown). Circular Quay is the hub for the ferries (many busses and most trains will also stop there), you can take a ferry to the Sydney zoo and as the above poster suggested, a ferry to Manly is a good idea, swim at the beach, or eat at one of the many restaurants. Note that the ferry docks on the harbour side, and you want to make the short walk to the ocean side where Manly beach is, more like an easy 5-10 minute walk rather than 100m, but it is pretty much straight ahead once you get off the ferry.
If you like hiking and have a few hours you can do one of the harbour walks, we did one that started downtown and went all they way up to Bondi, you get a good view of the harbour and a lot of the beaches.
If you have time to get out of the city, the Blue Mountains are also a possibility, I think you can even take a train there and back, but most people drive.
When I make it back to Sydney, I quite enjoy simply walking around The Rocks. Depending on the time of the day I often stop in for a beer at some of the (three, I think) pubs in the area that claim to be Australia’s oldest.
Just try staying away from Stingrays……
If you don’t have a lot of time but want to see some Australian wildlife, the Wild Life Sydney Zoo might be a better option than Taronga. It’s located in the CBD and is cheaper too — $25 tickets if you buy online vs. $44 for Taronga. Gets decent reviews from Tripadvisor as well.
Don’t forget to take a translation guide..
http://www.amazon.com/How-Understand-Australian-Slang-ebook/dp/B006I7XH7W/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1362504389&sr=8-2&keywords=strine
If eating Asian in Sydney (or Melbourne), it is probably best to go Malaysian as it tends to be scarce in the US and you can get good Malaysian food here.
Alex, unless you are a vegetarian, Billy Kwong in Sydney’s Surry Hills comes highly recommended by the Sydney Morning Herald:
If you had one night in Sydney and you really wanted to go somewhere that would give you a taste of this land, this people, this nation, you’d go here.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/advance-australian-fare-20130204-2dtlt.html#ixzz2MhUNc6Pk
Paddy’s Market just off Chinatown fun place to get odd items cheap. At opposite end of Chinatown are two good Xinjiang restaurants. Have never seen any in the US nor even in major Chinese cities. Good and very Central Asian.
I am sure you have, but if somehow you have not, do have some kangaroo while down under there, mate. Lean and tasty.
If you choose Malaysian, try Malay Chinese Restaurant on Hunter Street (between Pitt and Castlereagh Streets) NB lunch only. Some good Malaysian stalls in Eating World, as well (food court down by Darling Harbour-and the Gumshara Ramen stall there (noted above) is v good. If you get someone else to pay, try Longrain (Thai Australian) for dinner (on Commonwealth Street in Surry Hills).
…and if you do go to Malay Chinese, do so on Tues, Fri or Saturday…..and have the Har Mee special
http://www.smh.com.au/news/good-living/har-mee-prawn-noodle-soup/2008/05/22/1211182962336.html
You must try Spice I Am in Surry Hills – the best Thai food outside Thailand. Reasonably priced, with a lovely, neighbourhood-restaurant vibe. But the food is just phenomenal. Leave your number and get a beer at the pub across the road while you wait (usually no longer than 30 minutes). This really is a MUST. The green papaya salad will blow your mind. You should also try and get to Bourke Street Bakery, also in Surry Hills, for a premium version of an aussie meat pie. These are both short walks from the CBD. For finer dining while in Sydney, Rockpool Grill in the city serves better steak than anything I’ve yet tried in the US, including a couple of good places in Chicago, and this is still one of my favorite restaurant experiences in Australia. The grainfed Ranger’s Valley Rib is superb. The wine list is also very impressive. Quay at the Rocks is one of the finest restaurants in the world, but you likely won’t be able to secure a reservation this late.
In Canberra, Ottoman in Barton (a 5 minute walk from Treasury and PM&C) is a Canberra institution, serving lovely Mediterranean cuisine, or Lantern Rooms in Campbell for modern asian cuisine. Silo is a great spot for a light lunch in Kingston, just a short drive form the parliamentary triangle. @Andrew, the territory government came to an agreement with Brodburger, such that they recently moved into permanent premises just down the street. Still terrific burgers, though. For fine dining in Canberra, I prefer Aubergine in Griffith to Courgette.
I’ll second the Ferry to Manly. That’s a solid day. The walk from Bondi to Coogee (it is a long way, but worth it) or from Bondi to Bronte (shorter but not quite as scenic) is great as well. It can be really busy, even on weekdays, but past Bronte it gets a lot quieter. Bridgebclimb (over the sydney harbour bridge) is also pretty cool – one of the few mass tourist things that really is good. The awesome wire and pulley system they use kept me curious.
For food, assuming you don’t want fancy high end dining, it is all Asian/Oriental. Our Chinese restaurants are just OK – although Billy Kwongs is awesome – and Japanese (especially Sushi) is EVERYWHERE, but the three cuisines Sydney does best at the lower price range are Thai, Vietnamese and Indonesian. Thai is ubiquitous – you can’t walk 500 metres without seeing a Thai restaurant and/or a cafe – Indonesian is relatively new and mostly centered around the university suburbs (UNSW in Kensington/Kingsford) and Vietnamese is centered around the former refugee community, with Cabramatta in the west the heartland, although Marrickville closer to the city is another hotspot for Vietnamese cuisine, although all three can be had pretty much anywhere,
My favourite non-pricey restaurant is Padi, an Indonesian restaurant run by Chinese Indonesians right near Central station. It seats about 20, is (for Sydney) quite cheap (I convinced them to raise their prices at one point … long story), it is never full, and while the Indo staple of fried chicken is excellent, the black ox tail soup and Nasi Goreng are the highlights. Both are a notch above anything else I’ve had, and I LOVE black ox tail soup with a passion, and the one dish I recommend trying is (i forget the Indonesian name) the one with lettuce, cucumber, peanut sauce, pineapple and strawberries. Sounds wrong, really works.
https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=utf-8&daddr=76+Devonshire+St,+Surry+Hills+NSW+2010,+Australia&panel=1&f=d&fb=1&dirflg=d&geocode=0,-33.886020,151.207713&cid=0,0,15357969182488389185&hq=padi+surry+hills
So glad you’re coming to Australia. I used to live in Sydney but now live in Canberra. Here are my recommendations in no particular order:
Sydney
- Sydney Botanic Garden, Mrs Macquaries Chair
- The Rocks, pylon lookout
- Watsons Bay
- Coogee to Bondi walk
- Cremore Point is another good walk
- Cockatoo Island, a bit offbeat but great
- Darling Harbour at night on a weekday is good and not too crowded
- Glebe is another nice neighbourhood
- Eating wise, Chinatown is a good place. Highly recommend Gumshara in Eating World as others have. Uighur cuisine near Chinatown too as others have said before.
Canberra
- Food is definitely inferior to Sydney
- Aubergine in Griffith is nice, Ottoman Cuisine too and VERY close to PMC
I agree with all of the Manly votes, and would also recommend at least popping into the Bavarian Bier cafe that overlooks the wharf (it’s got a giant bear carving out front). Though, obviously, the oceanside beach is why people go there.
The botanical gardens and Hyde park are nice places to stop, and the art museum in the gardens is not exceptional, but has some good pieces. Most of CBD is not that interesting. However, you can get really good coffee from Pie Face and the pies are good too.
I know this is a Sydney bleg, but if you have a few hours in Melbourne, the buildings in the CBD are much more interesting and also Federation square is also worth the trip.
Yes, Pie Face does make great coffee.
Take the ferry from Circular Quay to Taronga Zoo. Take the cable car to the top of the zoo. Stroll down, enjoying the beasties and, above all, the magnificent views of the harbour.
Melbourne is the eating capita of the world – Movida, Cumulus Inc, etc etc but – that said – in Sydney
Malaya (King St Wharf – water views and malaysian food); Sailor’s Thai (the rocks) still great – went there just last Saturday night with some folks from Indiana – they raved; Spice Temple (sensational) (under Rockpool Grill); Sean’s Panaroma (Bondi Beach); and Movida (from Melbourne to Surry Hills) – good luck. Spice I am (cheap) and Longrain (exe) both great but no bookings as far as I know.
I endorse all the other reccomendations but I’d also add the ferry to Watson’s Bay. It’s a bit shorter than the ferry to Manly and you still get a great view of all the sights of the harbour. When you get to Watson’s Bay you have a choice of fish and chips at the Watson’s Bay Hotel or fish at Doyles at Watsons. Both of them overlook the harbour. Refreshed you should then do the 40 min walk around the Gap. Fabulous views of the harbour entrance, the harbor itself, looking back towards the CBD and the Pacific Ocean. Particularly spectactular when the sun is going down.
If you are stuck for dinner around Cirqular Quay (which isn’t the best location for good cheap food), I’d reccomend either Sailor’s Thai Canteen in the Rocks or Young Alfred at Customs House. Both good food and reasonable value.
Gerald’s Bar
http://geraldsbar.com.au
Gerald cooks what he feels like cooking and that’s you get. Also, all bottles can be by the glass, but there are only three open at a time, so if you want to open a new bottle you have to finish one of the open three. This is for the entire restaurant. It was a fantastic dining experience.
Lentil as Anything
http://lentilasanything.com
Non-profit restaurant runs entirely on donations and diners pay what they feel. Go early because they often run out of food and that’s all there is.
Both of these restaurants have only a handful of tables and are entirely unique experiences.
Also, get beets on your hamburger! They put beets on hamburgers standard for any good burger and it is delicious. I brought this back from Australia and absolutely prefer beets on all my burgers now.
If you are in Melbourne over the weekend you may like to consider attending a game of Australian Rules football. Unfortunately the regular season does not start until later in the month, but right now they are holding a pre-season tournament. Depending on the results this weekend, two of the biggest clubs in the competition, Carlton and Collingwood, who are historic and fierce rivals, could play-off in the final of this pre-season competition in Melbourne on Friday March 15th or Saturday March 16th.
At night check out Kings Cross aka the red-light district.
Could be more Tyler’s sort of place, but Ben Shewry’s Attica (http://attica.com.au) in suburban Melbourne is bloody amazing. Voted 63rd best restaurant in ze world. Perth prices. One of their dishes is a single potato.
Portsea is very nice, and you should still be able to swim. It used to be the most expensive real estate in Australia. About an hour and a half drive. You can go to one of the Red Hill wineries for lunch. If too far, Rickets Point is probably the nicest closest beach to the centre of the city.
See if someone can take you to the Melbourne Club (beautiful colonial building and huge garden in the centre of the city) or the Savage Club. Members only but just try to find an old retired executive or judge at your talk. Although the mere mention of them may cause people to bristle.
You should try to get on to ABC radio when you are here – e.g. Jon Faine. I think he would be interested to hear your ideas on IP law, and on online education too.
Very good cheap Chinese dumplings in the city – Shanghai Street in LIttle Bourke St.
Urbanspoon is the most reliable guide for good cheap food in Melbourne.
He’s not going to get a booking at Attica now!!
If it’s warm in Melbourne you should try and grab a bite at one of the city’s many excellent rooftop bars/restaurants. There is one (Supper Club) across the road from the Treasury, but many others.
You should also have as many espressos as possible, as there are very few places in DC where they worth drinking and quite a few in Melbourne, you can email me for a list if you wish.
Its sad that you don’t have more time in Canberra as it would be great to see you give a guest lecture at the ANU.
Agree
Tyler, you should extend and ,ake the trip to Perth – visit the iron ore mines and the operations centres for Rio and BHP or FMG. See how Western Australia operates a State the size of Europe with hundreds of billions of exports and capital projects and only a population of roughly 2.5 million people. Also, seeing as you will be with PM&C, meet the WA State and Federal politicians to get an understanding of the differences here between East and West.
Taronga zoo is well worth the trip and the cost of admission. I’d also advise visiting Mamak (a Malaysian restaurant specializing in roti) and/or Il Baretto, which is a small Italian joint in Surry Hills. They do an amazing pappardelle with duck ragu. Both places are strictly BYOB and first come, first served.
As a fellow Canadian, but based in Australia since graduating 30 years ago in music from UofT, I’d love to invite you to visit us as Musica Viva where we are undertaking some exciting things in online music education. We currently reach 300,000 kids each year with our live music education program in schools, and are about to expand this enormously with our online work. John Daly of the Grattan Institute put me on to you (we both sit on the Advisory Board of the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne). We’re right near Central Station in Sydney, and would welcome a visit!
Not much to do in Canberra says this recent BBC article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21715754 Canberra: Deathly dull at 100? “Canberra: Why wait for death?” was Bill Bryson’s blistering judgement in his 2000 travelogue Down Under. “Pyongyang without the dystopia,” was the verdict of the Economist in 2009.
This may be the most beautiful beach in the world
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bondi_Beach,_New_South_Wales
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