prepare for the heatwave that always occur january and february. 40c is normal for few days in a month

Since you will be concentrated either Sydney/Canberra, I merged your topic here.

Marriage proposal ideas in Sydney, suggestions anyone?

The only time i went to sydney botanical garden, near the opera house, i saw ppl having their wedding reception there. It's beauiful... But proposal kinda different from reception... But dpnt know what you think.

Any location that has significant to your relationship? Not necessary have to be somewhere exotic or extravagant.
If you have the moolah, you can try proposing on the Sydney harbour bridge or try renting a yacht like what my friend did in pangkor.

hmmm
i google and the sydney harbour bridge seems like an awesome location

any other suggestions?

Anyone done the Sydney - Melbourne drive (coastal route)? I'm doing about 12 days in total, thinking a few days Sydney, maybe 3 days drive down to Melbourne, then the rest in Melbourne before flying back.

Thing is the Internetz seems to say the drive is nice, must do, etc but I have conflicting info from friends n family some saying it's good others saying it sucks and is boring and there's nothing to do and see ... ?

driving would take u 1 day worth of ur time. From my personal opinions, better fly and U will have more time to spend in both cities.

I was thinking of taking a 3 day road trip actually to see the sights. me and my waifu kind of sort of quite enjoy road trips but only scared that the trip itself isn't as good as advertised lol. total 12 day trip, do I really need that much time to cover sydney + melb?

my experience of travelling in australia is... many things CAN be overrated.

sometimes i think even the famous great ocean road is rather overrated.

i did a small triangle from
Canberra - Sydney - wollongong - batemans bay - canberra. furthest south i went was batemans bay.

FRANKLY, i forgot what the place looks like. and that was back in 2010. the only thing i do remember is kiama blowhole. the blowhole is not as exaggerated as google shows, but still quite decent. and the town, which was quite decent, nice to hang around...

IMO, you only need 1-2 days at sydney. Main attraction is opera house and harbour bridge. skip blue mountains, super overrated.

then few days on the road trip, depends how fast you drive, how long you stay at one place. (if you really want the coastal drive from sydney to melbourne)

Not sure how's gippsland is, never been there, maybe you want to spend sometime there.

then melbourne, main attraction is penguin parade at phillip island and great ocean road. each will take a day. due to travelling time.

Melbourne city is a nice city though seriously nothing too special. Unless you are a sports fan (cricket, tennis, F1). even if you do city tour, 1 day is more than enough.

to answer your question... 12 days MAY be a bit long... but i wouldn't cut it to less than 10 days. too tiring then.

Adele,

You are not alone.. I'm also feeling the same.. nothing extra ordinary about Sydney.. Probably due to similarity wth ex-colonial power.. many things seems to be very british stylo & familiar to Msia...even the culture of leaving leftover on the tables after eating still there! You do not find this kind of culture in Japan, Korea or even Taiwan..

interm of sceneries surrounding Sydney, surprisingly the best under-rated and less visited by foreign toursits is actually Sydney Habour head...

I'm sure not many ppl visit this superb view and yet so close to the City





This post has been edited by stimix: Sep 3 2014, 10:27 PM

Hmmm so what I can take away from your post is that the Sydney - Melbourne coastal trip is probably overrated, but I might as well do it since 12 days for sydney/melb alone would be too long ... ?

Ya, probably overrated but it’s still good, just not as great as one might think. I’ve done only a small fraction of it, so can’t comment too much. You might want to get some info from lonely planet so at least you don’t miss out the ‘good’ stuff along the coastal road. You can pace yourself, allow good rest, spend some relaxing time on beaches or maybe allocate more time in Melbourne. Can do some touristy stuff in Melbourne CBD, Brighton Beach, some galleries/museum, church/library/QV market, chocolate shopping, chocolate drinking, etc… free bus/tram will bring you around.

Another ‘tourist’ attraction one might want to look at is Byron Bay but that place is too far north from Sydney. I’ve not been there myself but some Hong Kong-ian backpacker told me he likes it there and it’s beautiful. I think backpackers tend not to overrate places. But when I checked on Google, I was like, meh. And too big of a detour.

If you don’t mind backpackers, might I recommend YHA Sydney (aka The Rocks). It’s further from CBD but has a direct view on the bridge and opera house. You can choose some twin room with ensuite bathroom; it’s still as decent as any hotel. This is like high-end backpackers with a good price tag on it.

PS: since going to Switzerland was sort of out of reach for me, I decided to at least have a cake at Lindt Café in Sydney (they have it in Melbourne too but less convenient, I think).

PPS: i guess i answered more than i need to but really want to share.

Hi, I will be going to Sydney in Dec.

Is it possible to visit all these places in 4 days?

• Sydney Harbour
• Opera House
• The Rocks
• Sydney Royal Botanic Garden
• Sydney Fish Market
• Cockle Bay Wharf
• Darling Harbour
• Blue mountain (1 day trip)
• Paddington Market
• Bondi Beach
• Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk
• Chinatown
• George Street
• King Cross Road
• Townhall/ Queen Victoria Building
• St. Mary Cathedral
• Hyde Park
• Manly beach

Please advice me on how many days I need to visit all these places and any more interesting places we must visit while staying in Sydney?

You can do this in one day
7am - Sydney Fish Market
Hyde Park & St Mary Cathedral are located side by side
Sydney Opera House & Botanical Garden are nearby
Sydney Harbour Bridge
King Cross
George Street - Queen Victoria Building


Darling Harbour & Cockle Bay Wharf near to each other, you can go at night. Must try Hurricane Grills at Darling Harbour, must go early.

You missed out

Chinatown
Paddy's Market
Haymarket
(All nearby, can go using lightrail)

Sydney Aquarium
Star City casino

Can try Sydney Harbour Cruise if you are interested

Alright! Thanks for the suggestion. Means I can visit all these in 1 day. The 2nd day will be blue mountain. 3rd and 4th day will be free. Is it worth to visit Canberra in 1 day?

my answer to canberra, no, not really. you can skip it. unless you are a big fan of Parliament and museums, then no. Unless it's a special occasion (like anzac day, 25th april) then maybe there's a reason to be there.

actually i have been telling many people to skip blue mountain. super overrated.

if you haven't been to europe yet... may i suggest have a try at lindt cafe? there are a few at sydney.

then you can spend some time at bondi beach, and do the walk thing (which i have no idea they have such a thing).

also, i don't see the point of chinatown.

ok will try out lindt cafe:) Any other places which i can visit for 1 day tour? Since i'll be free on 3rd n 4th day.

Bondi?

Aside from that, I have no idea. I’m not a big fan of Sydney and NSW. You might want to check if there’s any special event going around Sydney/Canberra which might be worth a visit. Like a big event, not a small-ish.

I always recommend Mardi Gras in Sydney for those who can make it, March every year.

Anzac day may be great for Canberra although waking up at 4-5am in April is beyond horrible. Which is why I didn’t manage to do it. Too much effort for one-morning action.

You may want to flip through other’s suggestion in the Sydney thread. Which you should have posted there in the first place.