Brisbane to Surfers Paradise: Quick Note

Brisbane is a beautiful city. The heart of the city is definitely the river that winds through it. This city has a beautiful combination of high rises mixed with parks and gardens surrounded by foothills. Its much cleaner than Sydney (which reminds me of New York City) and definitely seems like a much more livable city.

I flew into Brisbane airport and hopped on a train (AU$14) that took me to central station. From here, there are plenty of hostels and hotels you can goto.

I would hop on the city tour bus. For AU$25 you can ride a city bus that takes you to all the major attractions and allows you to ride on City Cat, which is the city's ferry service. Taking a ride on the city ferry service is a great way to see the city skyline. The bus takes you up this mountain that overlooks the city. You can hop on and off the bus and there is another bus every 45 minutes. It's a great way to do a narrated tour of the city.

The main part of downtown must be the Queen Street Mall. There are plenty of shops, restaurants, information booths, and its great to hang out here just to people watch. In particular, there is this discount souvenir shop that sells a variety of Australian items. It is on the corner of Queen and Albert. I purchased several boomerangs, leather wallets (between AU$7-$10), and this kangaroo leather cowboy hat that you will see me wearing now.

I spent a couple days here, and then took the Gold Coast train and transferred to a bus that took me to Surfer's Paradise where I am now.

Sydney, Australia: Tips, Mistakes, and First Impressions

My first impressions of Sydney is that it is a mix of European and Asian culture. From just walking around, the population seems to be a mixture of Europeans (mainly British), Asians, and Polynesians. There seem to be very few Blacks or Hispanics here. I have not seen a Mexican restaurant yet. In fact, there seems to be very few Americans here. So far I've only met one other American from New York. Most people here speak English with an Australian or British accent.

Weather

In May, the weather has generally been warm and comfortable during the day. At night it does get chilly. Bring a light to medium jacket, long sleeve shirts and jeans, should be sufficient.

People

They seem to drink and smoke a lot more heavily than Americans. Smoking is definitely much more common here.

People here are no where near as fat as Americans. I don't know why Americans are so fat! They seem to live pretty much the same way we live. It is not genetics (some say Asians don't get fat) because there are plenty of Europeans here as well. I'm sitting in a cafe on a busy street in downtown Sydney at the moment, watching plenty of people walk by and I don't see anyone that is severely obese.

Units of Measure

For us Americans, here are some useful conversion factors

$1 Australian Dollar = 77-82 US cents. These are the actual conversion rates I was able to get at the time of my visit. 

1 kilometer = 0.62 miles

1 US Gallon = 3.79 liters

1 square meter = 10.76 square feet

100 grams = 3.53 ounces

Getting Here

Getting here was quite simple. Because of the recession there are plenty of cheap airfare around. I booked my ticket online at Qantas for US$918 round trip from Austin thru Los Angeles. You also need to get an electronic visa for AU$20 which is good for 3 months. The flight is 15 hours from Los Angels to Sydney.

Money

I suggest either converting some cash before you come here or opening an Australian bank account and depositing money before you come. Converting money at the airport is very expensive. The least expensive place I found to convert money is at a bank. The cost of things in Sydney is about as expensive (perhaps a little bit less) as Austin, Dallas, or Houston. My Citibank credit card charges a 3% surcharge on everything.

There is a 10% sales tax, but prices in Australia are generally all inclusive of taxes, fees, and tips. Unlike the states, tipping is not expected.

At the Airport/Transportation

Once you arrive and go through customs (pretty painless), the first thing I suggest to get is a 7 day metro pass for around AU$42. I did not do this and ended up paying more. This allows unlimited travel on Sydney's bus, subway, and ferry service. Take a train to Central Station, which is in the heart of downtown Sydney. The public transportation system in Sydney is excellent. Between public transportation and taxis, you should not need to rent a car if you stay within the city.

They drive on the left side of the road in Australia, so be careful at street crossings. Always make sure to look both ways before you cross the street and you'll be fine.

Where To Stay

There are plenty of hostels to stay in. I'm staying in Maze Hostels (417 Pitt Street) for AU$28 for a double room (but so far I don't have a roommate). Book 3 nights and they give you the 4th night free, so I'm paying AU$84 for 4 nights. They are basically like college dorms and can sometimes be just as nasty. Shop around for a clean one. You get a room and there are pubic showers and toilets. By no means are they luxurious accommodations, but they one I'm staying is in an old building and in fair condition. It is located on Pitt Street and is in a convenient location.

Communications

I got a basic prepaid Nokia cell phone from Optus for AU$50. I also got AU$30 worth of credits, which seems to give me plenty of minutes of talk time. Incoming calls are free. So get a cell phone for AU$80

Power

Make sure your power adapters and electronics can handle 220 volts. If they can, all you need is a AU$15 adapter to make the plugs work. Most modern electronics can handle the higher voltage, but check the label to make sure you don't fry anything.

Food

There seems to be a wide variety of restaurants and pubs here. There are lots of Asian and European restaurants, cafes, bars, pubs, and fast food. For fast food, it seems McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Hungry Jacks (Burger King).

Favorite Places to Eat:

• Breakfast. At various cafes, for AU$10-$12 you can get a "big breakfast". It includes bacon, eggs, sausage, mushrooms, and toast.
• Lunch or Dinner: I like going to bars or pubs. For AU$10-12 you can get a 250 gram steak with mash potatoes or fries.
• If you are in a hurry, there is fast food which is just like the states.

Things to See and Do

• "The Rocks" / Circular Quay - Come see this iconic landmark. Also see the famous bay bridge.
• Darling Harbor - This is my favorite place in central Sydney. It's a bit touristy, but it's a beautiful harbor with lots of shopping, restaurants, bars, gardens, sculptures, and pedestrian bridges.
• Kings Cross - The seedy part of Sydney with lots of strip clubs, bars, and prostitutes.
• Queen Victoria Building - A stunning building built in the style of Victoria architecture. It is a high end shopping mall, but its worth walk through it to see the architecture.
• Manly Beach - It's a beautiful beach with a stunning view of the Pacific Ocean. Take the 20 minute ferry ride from Circular Quay. Use the 7 day metro pass I told you to get the first day.
• George/Pitt Street Area- These seem to be the main streets in downtown Sydney with just about all the shops you need. There are grocery stores (Woolworth), clothing, bars, restaurants, convenience stores, electronics, internet cafes, travel agents, banks, etc.

Next stop, I'm going to try to book a flight to Brisbane and see the Gold Coast!

2009 Ford F150...

My 2001 Nissan Pathfinder finally came to an end just short of 100K miles. No, it was not because there was anything wrong with it. It got caught in the hailstorm last February and I decided not to fix it and sell it instead. Now I got a 2009 Ford F-150 Lariat. This baby is HUGE both inside and out! It certainly makes parking a pain sometimes. But I love the ride and after driving one for 1,300 miles over the past month. I certainly understand why Americans want big, gas guzzling trucks and SUV's. There's plenty interior room for us oversized (obese?) Americans. I can sit upright and not have my head bump up against the roof of the car. There's plenty of head, shoulder, and leg room no matter where you sit.

Even the rear seats have plenty of room for NBA size basketball players. The rear seats fold up and the floor is flat giving a large enough cargo area to store a 50" plasma TV inside! You also get a 5.5 foot long truck bed for carrying all kinds of cargo. The versatility of a pickup truck is unmatched. It can carry 5 large people comfortably with luggage, haul cargo with ease and speed, or tow something (trailer, boat, etc). It may not be the most efficient vehicle to do your daily commute with (but it can do that too with comfort), but if you do activities with your vehicle like camping, boating, cycling, moving, off road (get the 4x4), road trips, tailgate parties, or anything outdoors, nothing beats the versatility of a full size truck like the Ford F-150.

Visibility of the road is excellent as well. You sit a good foot or more off the ground than a regular car giving you a great view of the road ahead and around you. The ride is surprisingly quiet and smooth, especially for a truck. The 5.4L engine with 6 speed transmission effortlessly propels the truck down the road at highway speeds while keeping the tach under 2K.

This is the Super Crew Lariat version which includes power leather seats that are both heated and cooled, Microsoft Synch with voice activation for hooking up your MP3 and bluetooth phone, automatic temperature control, and nice wood trim. You can get all the amenities you would find in a luxury car. Plus, with the economy in the tank, the largest discounts are on full size pickup trucks. The sticker on the Lariat was around $40K. I picked it up for around $32K after all dealer and Ford incentives.

How bad is the gas milage? It's bad, but it's probably not as bad as you think for a 6,000+ lbs. truck. The 5.4L engine with 4x2 is EPA rate 14/20. I'm getting around 15 mpg driving around downtown Austin and 18-20 mpg with mixed city/highway driving. Remarkably, it's getting practically the same milage as my much smaller Nissan Pathfinder (although that was a 4x4). The truck also has a large 32 gallon tank, so you can easily drive over 400 miles between fill ups. This is also much further than my Pathfinder, which I often had to fill up every 280-300 miles.