Snowflakes in Sydney, STAT!
January 22, 2024 10:49 PM   Subscribe

I'm hopping on a last minute work trip to Sydney and will have 10 days in country (working 5). I've never been to Australia, and have less than 72 hours to plan how I'll maximize my free time. Help! Snowflakes inside.

I'm fairly well travelled and have no general hang-ups (no food allergies or accessibility concerns), but this is both a particularly tight turnaround and a particularly exciting destination. Help me maximize it!

I'm arriving in Sydney this Saturday morning from the US, work Mon-Fri in Sydney, then have the weekend+Monday to do my own thing before flying out Tuesday. I don't know where in Sydney I'm staying, and may not until the last moment. I'm planning to Uber/Taxi around to my work commitments, and hopefully take public transit on my own dime, but could rent a car on the weekend if it's important.

I wasn't planning on this trip and haven't saved with this in mind, but would spend $1k, begrudgingly up to ~$2k in total. Work will cover lodging and a food per diem for all but the last 3 days.

I am equally at home with (somewhat) grimey hostels and cheap eats as I am with a nice meal, am and willing to scrimp in one area to splurge on another if it makes for a better experience.

After a couple of hours of frantic googling (and recent Ask threads), my loose plan is:
Weekend 1: Explore Sydney, fueled by many flat whites.
* Catch a ferry from Circular Quay to Manly
* Harbour bridge / opera house
* Bondi->Coogee walk, Bronte pools
* Eat plenty of malay/thai/filipino/gelato/etc.
* Read at the beach
* Taronga Zoo?
* Buy good sunscreen

Weekend 2: ? Great Barrier Reef ?
This is really where I'm stuck - do I book a $$$ flight to Cairns, then a day tour for snorkeling and a helicopter ride, or a seaplane+snorkel? Then fly back to Sydney, before hopping back on the flight home? Rent a car and drive out to the Blue Mountains to Mayfield Garden and to see the stars at Hargraves Lookout? Grab a hotel room with an ocean view and post up all weekend? Hold a MF meetup?

I would ideally have some relaxation time, but realistically this may be one of my only chances to see the sights, and that feels worth prioritizing.

Open to any and all suggestions, but especially looking for restaurants, itinerary adds, GBR tour advice, inter-country and city travel tips, accommodations, and last-minute watchouts. Thank you!
posted by matrixclown to Travel & Transportation around Sydney, Australia (11 answers total)
 
Best answer: I'm a total fan of Featherdale wildlife park, where you can feed the free roaming wallabies and the birds will (a) stare at you (frogmouths) and (b) steal your chips (ibises, though that's true everywhere). I'd give it half a day; it's out of town on the train.

And if you're into light hiking, the Blue mountains are a nice place; there's an easy day loop down the cliff (with a ride back up on the funicular, and I recommend not missing the last one because the stairs are hard work). I stayed at Katoomba, which is conveniently accessible by train. I'll leave someone else to say if you can do it in a day; I stayed over both times I went.

The park on the peninsula behind the opera house has good views and very tame cockatoos, if you happen to encounter a flock. It's a good place to spend a couple of hours.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 11:04 PM on January 22, 2024 [2 favorites]


Best answer: I know your second weekend is more than a week out, but before you book any flights to north Queensland, consider that the BoM have just issued another cyclone warning. If it doesn’t turn into anything major, it’ll just be very wet and very humid. If it turns into something, you may be flying into a disaster zone.

I’ll leave the Sydney tips to the locals, but if you feel a strong urge to leave Sydney but not go too far, perhaps consider checking out the national institutions in Canberra?
posted by d-no at 11:44 PM on January 22, 2024 [3 favorites]


Best answer: In Sydney, you've got to visit Josh Niland's restaurant, Saint Peter. Take any reservation, any cancellation you can get.

It's one of my worldwide top-10 restaurants.
posted by yellowcandy at 9:13 AM on January 23, 2024


Best answer: Sydney? Cockatoo Island!

There are formal tours I guess, but just wandering around is great. It's on at least one ferry line.
posted by inexorably_forward at 11:58 AM on January 23, 2024


Best answer: Most North Americans are surprised by how well you can get around Sydney by public transport. Unless you’ve got a specific work need for a hire car (i.e. your site is out in the suburbs somewhere) you can do almost all of what you want in Sydney, Blue Mountains included on buses and trains, cheaply. The ferries are worth catching in their own right.

Cairns and the GBR by contrast will blow your budget out very fast, and it’s a long way for a weekend trip (and yes, there’s a cyclone incoming). Alternatively consider a beach weekend closer to Sydney: they’re less well known as international ‘sights’ but the national parks on the NSW coast are a lot more accessible from Sydney for weekend, have absolutely stunning beaches and walks.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 1:34 PM on January 23, 2024 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Nthing that the GBR is too far and too speedy for your trip. You have to drive from Cairns to Port Douglas to get a boat to the GBR, and with the cyclone things are going to get pretty difficult. It is also the height of summer, so imagine going to the tip of Florida in July and you’ve got an idea for how that will work out. Also, do not forget that you will be jet lagged as heck the first weekend. I think the Blue Mountains are a better idea. And Scenic World is actually a pretty great thing to do there!

Also, if you like wineries there’s a very good wine region nearby.
posted by rednikki at 6:05 PM on January 23, 2024


Best answer: Agree with d-no about avoiding Cairns right now. Even if it’s not a disaster area it won’t be good conditions for snorkelling/diving.

Your Sydney itinerary looks quite good.

For the second weekend you could hire a car and drive up the coast through Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay then fly back to Sydney from Ballina or Tweed Heads.
posted by Flecks of light at 6:09 PM on January 23, 2024


Best answer: Several years ago I had a similar short visit to Sydney. On the weekend consider the short flight to Hobart, Tasmania. It's a short beautiful drive to the nearby national parks. I went to Freycinet National Park and hiked from deserted, white sand beach to deserted, white sand beach. The 2 1/2 days in Tasmania was the highlight of my trip to Australia.
posted by gingerjules at 7:03 PM on January 23, 2024


Best answer: Be aware that if you're arriving this Saturday 27th Jan, that this is the middle of the Australia Day (26th Jan) public holiday long weekend, which may mean fewer places will be open than normal, and cafes and restaurants may have surcharges. It shouldn't affect your Weekend 1 plan too much, but might add 10%-20% cost to the meals and flat whites.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 7:04 PM on January 23, 2024


Best answer: Saturday night fireworks at Darling Harbour in the city at 9pm.

It's stinger season in Queensland - so I would give it a miss what with cyclone potential as you need full body protection in the ocean.

Consider going south of Sydney - Hyams Beach, Jervis Bay then to Canberra through the Rutherglen to Cobram along the Murray River and then up through regional NSW to Parkes.

I live in Hobart, so a weekend here is either cultural (Mona, TMAG, Salamanca Markets, etc.) or active - Freycinet, Mount Field, Bruny Island or the Pipeline Track ... And the BEST coffee if they use the local milk.
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 10:51 PM on January 23, 2024


Response by poster: Thanks all! I'm booked for Saint Peter and sound set for weekend one. My second weekend may turn into a working weekend in Brisbane - that makes the decision to avoid Cairns even easier. If any latecomers have Brisbane recommendations I'm all ears!
posted by matrixclown at 11:12 PM on January 23, 2024 [2 favorites]


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