Eastbay1K

I am surprised that the meat pies are "Aussie Meat Pies" as opposed to just a Meat Pie ...

QF WP

Similar to my recollection as well - but I was almost taken out by the tram. Had no idea about hook turns and vowed NEVER to drive in the CBD again...

See you on either Friday night (after dinner, back at the hotel) or Saturday AM.

tom911

Heading back down into Sydney from the Blue Mountains. My train car is packed with noisy kids from the Blue Mountains Grammar School who are heading
home to stations down the line. I have my collection of 50 "best of classic rock" from Amazon Prime turned up and have pretty much tuned them out. Listening to All Good People by Yes right now.

Think I got some great photos and hope to get them up late tonight.

Four armed police officers just came through my car inspecting tickets. I'm used to ticket inspectors around the world, but police officers?

tom911

That's where you make a right hand turn from the left lane? Another reason for me not to drive again in Melbourne.

tom911

MONDAY

Checked out of the Grand Hyatt at 9am and took the free inner-city tram service along Collins Street cross-town to the Southern Cross Station which houses both rail and bus services. Used the return portion of the Skybus ticket I bought when I arrived at the Melbourne Airport for the trip back out.

View from my room Monday morning:



Southern Cross Station:



departing trains:



After check-in, made my way to the Qantas domestic lounge and also visited the Qantas business lounge which is a separate location inside (have to admit I didn't know that until I walked past the door about 30 mins before I planned to leave). Food was the same (had a shredded carrot and beet salad that was quite good and some brownies). There were rolls out if you wanted to make a sandwich with assorted cold cuts on offer. The bar did not open until noon so no beer or wine.

12:30 flight to Sydney left the gate 10 minutes late and we landed at 1:50. After waiting for my bag, made my way to Central Station via the airport train service ($A17.40/$US12.63 one way), about a 15 minute trip. Walked to my hotel, a Mercure, right across from Central Station, and was given a 9th floor room facing George Street and the train station.



arrival at Central Station:



my hotel:





View down to George Street from my room, with train station on right:



Met frequent flyer Jamier45 who is here from the UK for drinks at the hotel bar at 3. We hung out while talking miles and points before heading down to the Cheers sports bar via Chinatown for dinner at 6. We were joined by penegal from Melbourne who is working in Sydney this week. I know him from prior FT/AFF events here in Australia and shared an apartment with him when our group was out at the insanely-expensive Ayers Rock for the night. We ordered very different items (chicken tikka masala, chicken parmigiana, burger) all priced at around $A16/$US11.50, so very reasonable for dinner. Sorry, no meal photos.



I headed back to my hotel at 8:30 and called it a night.

Photo link will be in the next post.

tom911

TUESDAY

Walked over to the Central Railway station next door, against the flow of commuters coming through a pedestrian tunnel trying to exit the station. Stopped at a convenience store inside the station and purchased an Opal transit card. With this card, which is actually free, I put $A80/$US58 on it for travel needs the next week, including airport trains.



Caught the 9:18 off peak service to Katoomba, a journey of 2 hours, for $A5.80/$US4.15, an excellent value for such a long trip. If I had gone out before 9 I would have been in the peak period which raises the fare to $A8.30/$US6, which still isn’t too bad. Picked up a sparkling orange mango water and a muffin from a station vendor and was all set to go.





On arrival in Katoomba, walked down the main street which has small shops, cafes and some restaurants, as well as some outdoor/mountaineering shops. I have actually stayed up here before in backpacking days at the YHA. No time this trip to add on a day or two, but would like to get back here. Elevation here is 3,337 feet.







About a 45 min walk to the Three Sisters rock formation which has a stairway adjoining it to trails on the valley floor below, as well as a paved trail along the rim and viewing platforms along the way.

About a third of the way I stopped at the RSL (Returned Service League, an organization supporting active duty and retired military and their families) for lunch. They’ve remodeled their dining room since my last visit and now cater to large groups, including busloads of Chinese tourists coming in and having a set menu. Only saw one couple at another table for two that wasn’t part of these tour groups. Very different than my prior visits, but I can see them needing to generate revenue and finding an opportunity here.



My lunch was the roast of the day and they had lamb available. It came with roasted potatoes, pumpkin, broccoli and, of course, several slices of lamb. At $A16/$US12, a bargain. I can only get meals like this in Ireland and Australia. Didn’t look too impressive on the cellphone but that meal looks really good on the larger chromebook.



...and if you wanted something on tap at the bar:



Some memorabilia inside the RSL:





On arrival at Three Sisters I was met with gusty winds and it was pretty cold in the shade. There were multiple fires on the valley floor below that were set in days past as controlled burns and had not burned themselves out yet. It was not a good day to climb down to the valley floor.

Approaching the area where tour buses drop:



And the masses:



I think these are the two best photos I was able to take of Three Sisters, and they were taken just as I left about 2:15 when there was more sun. I'll make these a little larger than the others.





Aside from the Three Sisters rock formation, there are green forests for miles and exposed rock along the top of the canyons, and lots of smoke on one side of the forest floor. About half my photos came from a paved rim trail that had very light foot traffic as you needed the extra time to go that way.









Really hard to sort out which photos to feature, so I hope you have the time to check my website and look at the others. You can right-click through them when there.

Caught the 3:14 train back into Sydney and was at my hotel for a break at 5:30.

Back out at 7 and got a train from Central down to Circular Quay. As I expect to be back here on Monday for Vivid Sydney (photos from 2014 for those that want a sneak peak of what's to come), only took a handful of photos.

ferry docks and CBD:



Opera House:



Harbour Bridge (they were testing different light colors while I was there):



Walked back to my hotel, about 2 miles I'd guess, and just had a quick burger along the way. After lunch today, no appetite for a big meal.

Light rail construction underway on George Street:



Town Hall:



Stopped at Woolworth's for some red soft licorice (the kind in the brown bags that costs only $US1.80 here while it's $5 at home), then back to the hotel arriving around 10.

Photos for the last two days (150 of them - a lot from the Blue Mountains) start here:
https://tom911.smugmug.com/Travel-Au...ney-Australia/

tom911

There's so many different kinds of meat pies here that it really leaves it open as to what kind Costco has on offer. Is there a default Aussie meat pie type when you only have one on offer?

I passed a shop called Pie Face last night in Sydney on George Street and they had a variety in their glass case, though probably not as many as they would have had earlier in the day. Look at their pie menu:
http://pieface.com.au/OurMenu/5/Premium-Pies-and-Quiche

paulkaz

Hi glad you re enjoying your trip here in Sydney. For authentic but generic pie s there s a harry's cafe de wheels shop in the capital centre about 700 m down george st from your hotel where the light rail tracks cross the street. Bangkok restaurant in the capital centre and chat thai in campell st on the other side of the centre both are cheap and excellent,the former with thai punk rock on w end nights. Any of the asian food courts in dixon street provide cheap authentic food. The cafes and restaurants in holt st off devonshire ( and further east ) are all excellent 15 minutes from your hotel. Vivid will be excellent this year. Enjoy

tom911

Definitely no shortage of meal options here. Was over in Manly Beach for lunch yesterday and had dinner with friends last night (Indian butter chicken for me). Off to Surfers Paradise today. Working on yesterday's segment right now.

tom911

WEDNESDAY

RestlessinRNO came in on the Thai overnight flight from Bangkok and met me at the Mercure at 8:30am. Chatted in the lobby for a while before the short walk down to his hotel near Darling Harbour. He was able to check in and secure a nice suite upgrade. The flight attendants from the incoming AA LAX flight were also checking in there. Dropped him off and headed into Darling Harbour on my own for 2.5 hours.

First stop was breakfast. The hotel wanted $A27/$US19 for a full buffet breakfast and that was a little more than I wanted in terms of food, so hotcakes and orange juice at McDonald’s worked out well as a backup options (something over $A7/$US5).



Passed a police station with a Toyota Camry police car out front. Haven’t seen anything like this in the Bay Area where most PDs now favor a Ford SUV that the CHP moved over to. Not sure those Camrys would be great for high speed freeway pursuits, but that may not be an issue in the center of Sydney.



Continued into the harbour area which is occupied by tourist attractions (aquarium, maritime museum, wildlife park), cruise boats, hotels, and plenty of constructions (both Melbourne and Sydney have significant building construction underway). Had got warm enough to take off the polar fleece (forecast high was 20C/68F). Bright blue skies all around.





Building on the left is a convention center and the low-rise building on the right is a shopping mall.



Lunch time:







Pedestrian bridge across the harbour:



Walked through a small mall with a food court occupied with construction workers in their yellow and orange shirts. Looks like the place to head for lunch versus some of the more expensive cafe options along the harbour.

Do the U.S. McDonald’s even have burgers like this? I did not stop to have one but the sign at their storefront jumped right out.



Boats leaving the harbour:



And a final harbour photo before I head out:





--continued--

tom911

Back at noon to meet RestlessinRNO and we walked down George Street to Circular Quay. Caught the 1pm ferry to Manly Beach ($A7.15 one way with an Opal Card, about $US5.15), a journey of 35 minutes.

Photos as we departed Circular Quay:











Manly Beach is full of surf shops and cafes. Looked at some lunch options along the waterfront that were a little pricey, but once we turned a corner to a side street prices dropped significantly. I had fish and chips for $A13/$US8.50.











Lunch stop:





Not very many surfers out today and the waves may be to blame for that. Didn’t look like very good surfing conditions, no matter where you were along the beach.



















Let's go through the trash and feed the seagulls:



Headed back on the ferry to Circular Quay on the 3:45 ferry, and from there back to my
hotel via train for a break. Ferry coming into Manly Beach and inside the ferry terminal:





Caught up with some friends for dinner. I had a Indian butter chicken which was very good. Couldn’t believe the restaurant was out of my first choice, chicken parmigiana.



Was back at my hotel around 9pm for the night.

Photos for this segment start here:
https://tom911.smugmug.com/Travel-Au...alia/i-HKmnjK7

tom911

Enjoying my small corner of the Qantas domestic lounge in T3 as I await the arrival of other FTers heading to Gold Coast Airport (OOL).

tom911

Thursday

Checked out the Mercure in Sydney at 10am. Dark clouds this morning and a chance of rain forecast. View from my hotel before leaving:



Only three stops from Central Station to the Sydney airport domestic terminal. Checked in with a kiosk and printed my own bag tag. Walked over to an automated bag tag reader/belt and it would not recognize the bar code on the tag. Moved it around until it finally got in the perfect position to be scanned automatically and my bag went on its way. Clearly I’m not cut out for this kind of work.

Was in the Qantas domestic lounge at 11 and they had just pulled the breakfast items. Ended up with a ham and cheese sandwich with tomatoes that I put together myself.

Around noon U.S. and Australian flyers I recognize starting arriving, some locally and others connecting from Melbourne, and Qantas staff were circulating the lounge serving glasses of champagne, something I suspect we’ll never see at a U.S. carrier’s lounge. They even came back for second servings (one was enough for me--it’s only 12 noon). Wine and beer were also available starting at noon.

Departed on-time at 1:55 for our flight to the Gold Coast Airport in Coolangatta, a journey of about 80 minutes. I watched an hour episode of Wolf Hall on the tablet along the way (included with Amazon Prime).





One of our Australian members had arranged a van service for 7 of us at $A11/$US8 a head. It was about a 20 minute trip and the driver told us we went through 51 traffic lights along the way (no freeway here).

I was originally booked in a twin room, but when I checked in on-line at the Gold Coast Airport had been moved to a deluxe king on the 8th floor which I accepted.



my balcony:



and the view from there:





zoomed in:



A bunch of us met in the Hilton Executive Lounge at 6pm. They serve appetizers as well as beer, wine and champagne. My Hilton Diamond status gives me the access along with one guest which I was able to bring in. Spent the next 5 hours socializing, catching up on airlines, hotels and everything travel. No shortage of topics and great to get an Australian perspective on world events, too.



At 10 I went out for a walk along the beach boardwalk. Still pretty warm outside (a high of 27C/81F was forecast). Was only out for about 30 mins and it started raining as I walked through the club and bar area on the way back.













FRIDAY MORNING

Breakfast in the Executive Lounge:





Just before sunrise:



and with the sun up around 8:30:



Photos for this segment start here:
https://tom911.smugmug.com/Travel-Au...diseGold-Coas/

QF WP

Love your TR's tom911 and look forward to seeing you during the weekend.

If you are back in SYD with a free lunch or dinner, check out Sailors Thai (a restaurant down in The Rocks district just past Circular Quay and the Holiday Inn Old Sydney on George Street). The owner is an AFF/FT'er Homer. If he's around, I can organise a catch up as he hates talking flying

tom911

I am back in Sydney on Monday for Vivid Sydney. Might be able to do lunch as I leave OOL at 9am and I'm staying off Circular Quay for the last night. Will follow up with you this weekend.