Crossedover Posted September 18, 2013 Report Share Posted September 18, 2013 The night before...We are all packed... Half our luggage packed in each of our 2 suitcases in case one gets lost... All essentials in our hand luggage .... A long flight lies ahead.Advise from seasoned travelers (not I)Moisturise, moisturise, moisturiseDrink lotsPut nasal bactroban up your nose (meant to help prevent you picking up bugs)Change into a track suit on the aero plane and take socks cos the cabin gets coldTake a pen on board with you to fill out formsWill try and get some sleep! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Posted September 18, 2013 Report Share Posted September 18, 2013 have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreaL Posted September 19, 2013 Report Share Posted September 19, 2013 Yes, the main thing is..........have fun........and don't forget to tell us what hubby thinks, I'm so excited for you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heymanse Posted September 19, 2013 Report Share Posted September 19, 2013 I am so excited for you too - can't wait to hear your hubby's reaction to Australia. I wish I had time to meet up with you but things are a bit hectic at the moment as we are getting ready for a quick unplanned holiday to Brisbane and will be leaving Sydney in the very early hours of Sunday morning. If anyone can give your hubby a new insight to Australia, then my husband is the person for it as he wanted to get on the first plane back to South Africa after only 3 days in Sydney. Needless to say, he is more than happy to be here and cannot see himself ever returning to South Africa.Have a safe trip! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossedover Posted September 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2013 Thanks guys,It's the crazy morning of our departure... This time tomorrow we would have arrived in Sydney. With our petty amount of money after converting a stack of Rands... Fortunately I have been considering it 10:1 so I have not been to worried about it! Now the challenge is not to convert!!!! But I have accepted, by my inexperienced calculations, that everything is 3 x the price. It's gonna be a long 24 hours....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heymanse Posted September 19, 2013 Report Share Posted September 19, 2013 I am so excited for you guys! BTW - I've sent you a PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCabes Posted September 19, 2013 Report Share Posted September 19, 2013 Have fun!!! Can't wait to hear more - so exciting Fingers crossed your hubby loves it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darbia Posted September 19, 2013 Report Share Posted September 19, 2013 Enjoy! Let us know how it goes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bams Posted September 19, 2013 Report Share Posted September 19, 2013 Enjoy your trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eonl Posted September 19, 2013 Report Share Posted September 19, 2013 enjoy your Flight, have a blast!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossedover Posted September 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2013 Sitting in the lounge at Duban international waiting for our delayed domestic flight.... I am calm, despite the tight layover in JHB.Great first hint... Apply for a Diners club card, even if you never use it for anything but to get into the airport lounges. My husband is sitting with a cream soda and I a pack of nik naks.... I think we subconsciously realize we are leaving SA. Fortunately they did not weigh our hand luggage .... Only allowed 7 kgs! We wrapped our bags in lovely blue cling wrap... Somebody clever is smiling that's for sure... R60 per bag. But drinking my second 'free' coke lite, I don't feel so hard done by.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B007 Posted September 19, 2013 Report Share Posted September 19, 2013 Have fun and enjoy. Please keep us posted cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossedover Posted September 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2013 Finally here, lovely to see the south western tip of Oz after more than 10 hours of sea!!!! The flight in cattle class is far from glam but we made it. Customs was a breeze - we bought loads of chocolate, risks, nuts, red bulls and chilly sauce and they were not worried. The guy just suggested we give Oz chilly sauce a bash Stopped at Vodafone and got sim's for our iPads ($30 each) bought a cheap local phone ($50 incl $20 airtime). Easily found a taxi and paid $41 to get to Surry Hills. We are staying at an Air B'nB place which looks lovely. About to have a shower and then off to explore. Operating on about 3 maybe 4 hours sleep... Also quite a shock to arrive here at 6 am SA time and its 2pm here.... At least I get to go to sleep early after I was up all night? My husband however slept well - bugger!Too early to report on anything but the efficiency of everything.... The airport and the surrounding area look old and perhaps sad and neglected but we are here to give it a chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heymanse Posted September 20, 2013 Report Share Posted September 20, 2013 Hi and welcome to Australia!! I was checking your flight online and following it on Flight Radar Pro - you came in a bit early but cheez - really glad I was not on that flight with the winds we've got going on today - must have been a bit of jumpy approach on landing? Enjoy your stay - a bit of rain is on the way tonight but it should be getting a bit hotter in the coming days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossedover Posted September 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2013 This evening we walked all around Surry Hills... Quite deceiving from the road side.... A small narrow road front houses a rabbit warren of trendy homes... Hotel room style but double story . Quite scary when the most dilapidated tiny 2 bedroom (London skinny tall homes) home would go for $1 million.... I would not say thank you for it! But I believe it is the trendy suburb to overhaul... Every road corner is a gorgeous trend cafe style restaurant... But 3 pizza's, 2 beers and 2 cokes cost us $100. Then we had the most delicious ice cream from "m's" $6 for 2 scoops.Lovely to see the streets busy with people walking everywhere... Out on a Friday night... Florida road style for Durban folk. Looking forward to a busy day tomorrow... Well it's 10pm here so I am going to try and get 8 hours sleep, even if my body thinks its 2 pm! Can only home. Night from the other side. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossedover Posted September 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2013 Well we have waked the surrounding areas flat! I don't remember when I last walked so much! It was a beautiful day which made our walk down to the quay side even more pleasurable. We waked our around the Opera House and Sydney bridge and got an opportunity to get taste of touristy Sydney. The walk ways are lovely, the public pool over looking the harbour. The Lindt and Apple shop are a nice to see.... went into the shopping centre 'Bondi Junction' which has every shop under the sun in it... But we focused on the groceries stores just to get a feel of things, things are pricy but I do feel that we will survive/adapt when considering the variety of stuff. Checked on the bedding prices and as per this forum I do think it's worth bringing bedding. So tired I am actually falling asleep writing this, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Posted September 21, 2013 Report Share Posted September 21, 2013 Hi there, just been following your posts. Have a fabulous time and hope the tiredness subsides. Does take the body a while to adjust.Happy exploring!Jx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossedover Posted September 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2013 Amazingly we have slept well both nights. Today I have felt absolutely fine. Infact it's 9:40pm and neither of us are too tired. I am surprised by that 'cos again we have walked very far!! My body is shouting!! Today we went through China Town and down to Darling harbor. I must say for me the waterfront is always magical. W came across an amazing kiddies play area. They have guilty a lovely park with lots of water edu-tainment for the kids. I really do think this place gets parks right ! They really do want it io be easy to have kids. We then hoped to hit the beaches to have a look but since it was such a glorious day thebeaches were packed. We drove past Bondi onto Parsley bay down to a beautiful little beach clalled Vauclause beach in Neilsen Park... What a delightful place and a lovely place to have lunch or to have a picnic. A hidden little gem. Sydney sure does have some beautiful spots, could not help feel it was like Cape Town. We did some more shop exploring and it is very reassuring to see that you can get black cat (not all the varieties) you can get tennis biscuits ($3,50) and Marie's ... Condensed milk... Philadelphia cheese.... Top deck .... In the main stream stores! Looking around I certainly feel less sentimental about all my stuff at home.... They have everything we need here. I have no doubt we would miss stuff but there are lots of new goodies here .I have no doubt that my husband is enjoying it but I am not yet convinced that he is sold. He is still not saying much. He is driving me mad!!!! We are going to do more suburban things over the next 3 days... So hopefully that will give us a more real feeling...We bought ingredients for a lovely chicken, asparagus, broccoli and pesto pasta... Enough for 5 adults... It cost $35 to make.Buddy bottles of coke ... $3 to $4.... Coffee $3.50 to $5.... Muffins.... $5.50 to $6.50 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rozellem Posted September 22, 2013 Report Share Posted September 22, 2013 I still wanted to say how lucky you are to stay in Surry Hills and point you to a few places, but sounds like you got there (the water park at Darlingh and Neilsen Park). Enjoy your trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heymanse Posted September 22, 2013 Report Share Posted September 22, 2013 So glad you are enjoying the trip so far and the weather is playing along nicely. Only tip I will give when you want to have a look at rhe suburbs, give the suburbs south of the Parramatta river a miss and explore those on the north and northwest of the river. The only exception would be Dover Heights north of Bondi where a lot of South Africans live (it is a very expensive suburb though). Definitely explore the northern beaches and the Hills area (Castle Hill, Kellyville, Bella Vista). http://www.sydney-australia.biz/beaches/sydney-northern-beaches.phphttp://www.discovernswaustralia.com/destination_sydney_hills.asp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordy Posted September 22, 2013 Report Share Posted September 22, 2013 $100 for pizza? $3-4 for buddies coke? No thanks! Been here 5 years and havent bought a 500ml coke yet. I refuse to pay that price for coke when a 2 lt costs under $3.Enjot the exploration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossedover Posted September 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2013 We have not seen $100 pizzas.... If there are some we would go hungry Today we took the ferry to Manly, more beautiful beaches, lovely clear water.... My kids really would love it. Ferry cost about $14 for a return ticket.... But 2 pieces of toast from the cute restaurant/cafe on the beach was $8.... I guess it's "location, location, location". We had to find the cheapest thing on the menu to sit for a while and take in the splendor. 2 scoops of Ben n Jerry's cost us $6.50. So today I skipped dinner....My husband went to watch a movie....$19. I bought a pair of slip slops... Impanema ( same ones that are at woollies) for $26.... Another reason to skip dinner BUT when you are earning $ things all become relative i am sure! The prices just interest me from a traveling point of view and from landing but pre earning perspective.A few months back we applied for Common Weath Back accounts online and when we went into them today they were most helpful but because we had applied 2 months ago our bank cards had been sent back... If you plan to do a similar thing only do it 2 weeks before.... They do advise you to activate your account with $600, we only transferred $400. The lady said the bank charges were $ 4 per month and most transactions were free. She gave us Internet banking access and said she would post our cards to our Perth stop. All in all an easy thing to set up.Tonight I caught a train back to Central station and then walked to my B'nB... I got slightly lost so my walk ended up being close to half an hour, alone at 7 pm.... The area is residential, commercial, wholesale and restaurants.... Not the nicest of walks but I did not feel too alarmed. Not a walk I would have attempted at home.... Maybe it was with a false sense of security but I was not too worried.... Our lovely air B'nB lady is letting us use her car tomorrow to go north and explore some suburbs.... Finally down to some business!Till tomorrow.... Sleep tight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chzaau Posted September 23, 2013 Report Share Posted September 23, 2013 I notice that you opening Bank account etc, do you have a visa to live in Australia as yet ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmin Posted September 23, 2013 Report Share Posted September 23, 2013 $19 for a movie.... What the ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heymanse Posted September 23, 2013 Report Share Posted September 23, 2013 $19 for a movie.... What the ?Movies tickets are quite expensive here. But if you have a Telstra account (mobile, landline or broadband) you can buy tickets for $10. No catch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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