LSD trip in March: Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane

[Guest]

Hi guys,

I am planning a trip for my husband and me next year in March (looking at 3 weeks). We are 28 and 32, love the outdoors, different cultures, exercising, etc.

Although Sydney looks most likely for relocation, as we have family there, I think checking out other cities is a good idea. How long would you think is appropriate in each place (I think maybe 10 for Sydney and 5 for the others?)

I know this question is how long is a piece of string, but what do you recommend seeing in each place to get the best cross-section of each?

E.g. what to avoid (any rip-offs?), best tourist attractions (would like to see these too, even if they aren't places locals go to all the time), natural scenery we can reach that is close/within each city, and especially any places we can reach using public transport and walking?

Probably a weird question but if we walk around peering at houses/apartments from the outside, is anyone going to ask us what we're doing?!

Thanks

[AFreshStart]

Probably a weird question but if we walk around peering at houses/apartments from the outside, is anyone going to ask us what we're doing?!

This is going to depend on the owners/occupiers and how they view their right to privacy, pretty much a universal thing. For the most part you could, in theory, gaze into peoples home because most don't have walls we've become accustomed to in South Africa, but it would still be considered trespassing and people might take offense and find it a bit creepy.

Maybe a safer place to start would be to look at some of the Australia lifestyle and home decor magazines like Real Living, Inside Out and Belle. They have free content on their websites and you can subscribe to their magazines via ZINIO, which is what I did in the months before our move to familiarize myself with brands & suppliers (I'm an interior stylist by trade). This helped us hit the ground running and allowed me to design our own apartment before we even arrived and budget for the furnishing accordingly as we brought very little with us.

In Sydney, take a look at the various suburbs to get a feel for things, a great resource is http://www.homely.com.au/, it allows you to look up suburbs, see how they are ranked by user reviews and they list what's good, bad and demographics. It isn't the be all, but it gives a quick snapshot of things. Weirdly I never looked at the suburb review of where we bought because we'd been here for a few months before buying and I had a feel for things, but reading the reviews of where we bought and previous rented I'd agree with them, along a few others I'm familiar with.

For young professionals working in the City, I'd looking into the following suburbs as they have good transport links, great parks & established cafe/dining culture:

Inner City: Chippendale, Surry Hills & Redfern

Green Square: Alexandria, Zetland & Waterloo

Inner West: Newtown, Leichhardt & Rozelle

Understand that Sydney is HUGE, it's divided into local municipalities known as LGA's (Local Government Areas) and there are 40 of them (though not for long if the NSW government creates their proposed amalgamated 'super council'.). When you drill down there are over 667 'official' suburbs as of April this year, but more suburbs are springing up as they subdivide older ones. The area we live in is known as Green Square, which will have 2 new suburbs grow out of existing suburbs over the next 5-8 years and have over 50,000 people living in it by 2030.

Highlights in the city of course are the iconic landmarks like the Sydney Opera House, Harbour and Anzac Bridges. While not free a visit up the Sydney Tower Eye offers breathtaking panoramic views of Sydney.

Visit the botanical gardens, walk around Darling Harbour and the CBD along George St up to Circular Quay, or down into Haymarket which is excellent value for money, offering fantastic Asian food. For a crazy experience visit Paddy's Market.

Visit the local parks, a few our favourites include Sydney and Victoria Parks. Rent a bicycle and cycle through Moore and Centennial Parks. Take a swim in the heated pool in Prince Alfred Park right near Central Station and unwind with a drink at the bar.

Hit the beaches, Bondi is iconic, but hit some of the smaller ones, Redleaf Pool is a personal favourite.

Take a drive over to the Eastern Suburbs and see how the 1% live it up. Paddle around in Nielsen Park, take a stroll along the cliffs at Parsley Bay and watch the sunset over Watson's Bay while dining out on Doyle's famous fish & chips.

Hope that helps!

Cheers

Matt

[rozellem]

I am huge property watcher. No harm done if you are being respectful and keep moving along at a non creepy pace. Its a bit different without fences, so you have to remember to physically stay on the "pavement" bit of someones property. Otherwise you are definitely trespassing. You can see a whole lot on a site like domain.com.au too.

[Guest]

Thank you both!

Haha, yes: I certainly meant just standing on the pavement across the street, having a look. I asked because in Cape Town, I think someone might phone neighbourhood watch or at least ask you what you are doing or how they can help you (not in a positive way .

Would you recommend a MyMulti ticket? If I understand the pricing correctly, it looks like $65 per week per adult, and I thought this could help us getting into the CBD from Avalon. We could rent a car but I think this would be more of a nuisance as we'd have nowhere feasible to park it without paying: perhaps more suited to Brisbane...

[AFreshStart]

No, the best bet is an Opal Card, it's a prepaid credit card that you top up that allows you to use buses, trains and ferries.

You tap on at the start of your journey and off when you depart and it calculates the costs for the distance you travel. It's up to 30% cheaper in off peak times. Also if you take 8 journeys a week the rest are FREE. On Sunday's the cap is $2.50, you can ride anywhere, even a long out of town trip to the Blue Mountains and it won't cost more than $2.50 for the day.

The caveat is that you'll need you family to sign you up for the cards and have them posted to them. You then need to register and activate them, but they really are the easiest and cheapest way to travel in Sydney.

Then there is a company called Go Get, though not sure what the policy is for foreign drivers, but you register on-line and become a member and all over the city they have cars parked on the street, you just book one and pick-up and drop off when you are done, perfect if you want to just hire a car for a few hours or the day.

Cheers

Matt

[elleneo]

I would rather go to a few "open for inspection" for rent and for sale. Check realestate.com.au.

I would also stick to the free/sightseeing tourist things because soon you will be living here and it will be much more affordable to pay dollar with dollar earnings than paying in rands to see things in a country that will soon be home if you get my meaning?

An LSD trip is to try understand what living here is like, if you spend your time "holidaying " I fear you don't get the correct impression.

[Sassyninja]

Also planning a trip in March. Let me know when you have figured it all out.

[Guest]

@Sassyninja, you will be sad to know that I have regressed, haha!

I thought definitely Sydney as a major focus (8 to 10 days) with Melbourne and Brisbane, but following the Melbourne weather discussions in other threads, along with Brisbane's humidity, I'm now not sure how to split our time now.

Instinctively I think of putting all our eggs in one basket in Sydney, but what if we can't find jobs there for whatever reason and end up elsewhere? That's my only worry, as it's then adding just another unknown to the equation, and I'd feel better if we at least toured some other cities, apart from Sydney.

We recently had the good fortune of meeting up (in Cape Town) with a nomadic traveller friend of mine (whose brother and parents are now on track to becoming Aus citizens), and he has travelled extensively globally and throughout Australia: East and West coast, through some of the outback, etc. He said without a doubt go for Sydney, especially comparing what he knows about our life in Cape Town. That gave me a bit more confidence.

We are now thinking of April instead of March. We missed the Qantas sale lately but I don't think it will affect our airfare much.

[HansaPlease]

The weather won't be particularly extreme in Melbourne or Brisbane in April. Melbourne will be fairly mild and Brisbane may still be warm but not as bad as the height of summer. Autumn is actually a great season in Melbourne.

[RedPanda]

Since it's an LSD trip, I think that's exactly what you should do: Look, See, Decide. You can't decide anything if you just Look-See one city. Ten days are probably enough to see the first things that you want to see about the city you like the most, Sydney. You will have plenty of time to further research it and get to know it before you move and once you are there. But I really think that you should look at Brisbane and Melbourne as well, I always feel one should know what you are saying 'no thank you' to, even if it just confirms that you do indeed not want those options. Sometimes things surprise you, sometimes they just confirm what you think already, but if you took a look then you know. And that information can help you later on if you think you should consider moving city.

That's what I think anyway. Happy hunting!

[monsta]

@AfreshStart. Is registering your opal card a requirement? You can buy one at the corner shop and top it up with cash or credit card.

You only register it if you want to setup an account and enable auto top ups.

[AFreshStart]

Monsta,

Yes, if you want auto top up and if you order on-line, they are sent to your address and need to be activated on-line before use. It also allows you to secure the card and 'lock it', if lost or misplaced. I did this so that I had them ready and waiting for me on my arrival, haven't bought one from the local. You could do that, but there is so much else to do when you arrive do you want to be looking for a local, with your bags and everything else? To each his own I guess.

I guess for an LSD it's not essential, but quite like having both Opal and my E-Tag set to auto top up so you're not stuck without cash.

Cheers

Matt

[Guest]

Hello again guys,

Just looking at Sydney suburbs again (I gave up for a month after fatigue set in).

I did see the thread about Sydney suburbs recently but I am interested in what your opinions are of these ones below. By the way Matt, you will find it amusing I think that I have given up already on the 45-minute commute in and out of the city. It seems that most of the IT jobs are in town, and the 90-minute + per day will kill, from Northern Beaches, etc.

• Newtown
• Surry Hills
• Glebe
• Pyrmont
• Balmain
• Leichhardt
• Rozelle

I like the look of these areas a lot, especially Leichhardt, but I know for 2 bedrooms and a tiny square of garden, you are looking at $1.25-mil +.

One thing I am now also beginning to wrap my head around is free and low-priced stuff, as after buying a place, it's all very well being in a restaurant and shopping district, but if you don't have the means to engage with those things, access to parks, etc. may become more important...

[AFreshStart]

KristenT,

Ha Ha, to each his/her own, just not something I'd want to do!

I like all the listed suburbs pretty much covered them in my first post above. If we could have bought in Surry Hills we would have, but it's just insane, so while most of our lives are there, friends, kids schools and community, we now live 2 suburbs over in Waterloo where we've bought an apartment. It's actually the annual Surry Hills Markets tomorrow, hoping the rain holds out!

All of those listed have great parks and green spaces, Newtown is quite gentrified, think Woodstock on steroids, loads of hip eateries, bars, coffee shops, Mom & Pops vendors.

All are very much in demand, your list is probably in the order for the Inner West as well, Balmain is tops, followed by Leichhardt, great green spaces, older properties and thriving cafe culture. Rozelle is changing, lots of shops closing down, can't afford the rents and a little less vibrant, but still lovely.

Glebe is pretty as heck, it the kind of place I'd move when the kids were older, not as child friendly as the other Inner West spots.

Cheers

Matt

[Stace]

KirstenT,

Those are the exact places we have honed in on!

I really like Balmain & Glebe the best, as we want to be really close to the water. Both seem to tick all the boxes for us, and hubby could cycle to work from both.

Matt,

Thanks for the tip for the Opal card, I too would def prefer an auto top up, from what I've been told about it, I didn't know that was an option.

[Sassyninja]

Just had a look at Balmain and Glebe properties out of interest. OUCH!

Glebe looks divine though but wouldnt work for our family because of the property sizes and OUCHness .

[Stace]

I know what you mean Sassyninja Its is pretty crazy haha.

We would love to get a little 3 bedroom house with outdoor area........eeeek

[Sassyninja]

Hows it going Stace? Any learnings/advice?

[Stace]

Sassy ninja, 

 

We are soooo in love with Sydney, what a place! Think it really helps thay we arrived at this time of year. Weather and so much going on! We are still looking for a place!! We are currently staying with friends of ours on the northern beaches in Dee Why. We had such a long list of boxes to tick when we first started seriously looking a few weeks ago, but realistically we see that we can't get everything we want, at least not to begin with. So we have widened our search areas, added loads more locations,  far and near to the city. We have a month to find something before our sweet pugs arrive, so getting a bit anxious but I have faith the perfevt thug will pop up. January will be a good month!! How are you guys?

[Sassyninja]

Sorry just saw this now, still planning our activation trip for March - will be moving sooner than we thought afterwards *me thinks*. This rand is making us anxious! 

We'll be staying in Birchgrove when we in Sydney for 2-3 nights. 

 

Have you found a place to live yet?  

[rozellem]

Birchgrove is basically Balmain, freaking awesome. I'm just back from dinner there, lying in bed thinking of how to sell the kids and move there....

There is too many places to recommend, but go to Ballast Point Park (mind your spelling) and also take the kids down to the great Mort Bay park/playground next to the Balmain ferry. 

Edited February 6, 2016 by rozellem

[Sweepea]

@Stace please share with us where you ended up and why. property prices, transport, space etc?

@Sassyninjalook forward to your updates when you land too to guide the rest of us folk.

@KirstenTnot sure how active you are on here but would love to know the same as Stace ie where you ended up and why. property prices, transport, space etc?

 

 

thank you all!

[Stace]

As of 2 weeks ago, we moved into our own lovely rented apartment on the northern beaches in Balgowlah. After living with friends for 2.5 months, its like we are on holiday. Man are we happy!!! It's just over a 2km walk to Manly beach, so Nick has been surfing loads. I never went to the beach this much when living in Durbs haha. We just bought such cool bikes (vintage beach cruiser style of course!).

 

Balgowlah is literally the perfect spot for us. We are so close to the beach, it's a 25min commute to the city on the bus, we have ample choice of which express bus to choose in the morning and evening as our route is the first stop along the northern express sort of route. We have the best Woolies and other stores close by, lovely restaurants and smaller parks. Beautiful Manly Dam. Can you tell we are in love with the place??

 

But on the flip side....We are still waiting for our groupage container, so living like campers  

 

Today is NO MORE SLEEPS to fetch our beautiful fur babies. Fetching them from Melbourne new quarantine station in a couple hours. 

 

Happy to help wherever I can

Xx