Australia: Brisbane - Sydney - Canberra - Melbourne - Adelaide Dec 2025

[TameDriver]

On 4/4/2025 at 12:30 PM, therock said:

Yeah if I’m in the same city for a week I’ll consider a service apartment or Air 

then buy fresh groceries 

Just sharing……..
Last month was the coolest March weather I’ve had experienced in Sydney compared to past few years. Probably due to Cyclone Alfred in Queensland that brought occasional light drizzle to Sydney. 

Had a very comfortable stay in Meriton Suites Campbell St, in Sydney Chinatown for a week. 
Enjoyed several meals at Mother Chu Taiwanese food in Dixon St, and Haymarket was just 5 min walk away.

World Square was just behind the hotel where there are lots of dining choices & a Cole’s supermarket as well.
Got tired of eating out after a few days & bought vege & meat back to apartment to make use of the fully equipped kitchen.

The new electrical tram lines ran beside the hotel & there’s a tram that I boarded to Circular Quay to stroll around The Rocks. I used Youtrip card to tap on the platform before & after the ride. 
 I took a bus to the Australian Museum & walked back to hotel thru Hyde Park.  
 

Hope my sharing helps a bit for those who might be planning to travel there. 
 

 

 

[TameDriver]

 

There’s a new, modern & vibrant makan spot called Darling Square, just a short walk from where I stayed. Not far from Haymarket.

There’s a Jap Omakase outlet in Darling Sq that’s frequently fully booked; and with biz so good, they opened another one a few doors away;  so will need to make advance booking if interested. 

And no shortage of Korean food outlets nowadays; they seemed to sprout everywhere, especially post COVID. 
 

 

 

[Tohto]

On 4/4/2025 at 7:20 PM, therock said:

+100 but these days with my baby it’s more stressful 😂 

Then more reason to leave at 10am and go relax 😁

[Gizmore]

On 4/4/2025 at 8:21 PM, TameDriver said:

Just sharing……..
Last month was the coolest March weather I’ve had experienced in Sydney compared to past few years. Probably due to Cyclone Alfred in Queensland that brought occasional light drizzle to Sydney. 

Had a very comfortable stay in Meriton Suites Campbell St, in Sydney Chinatown for a week. 
Enjoyed several meals at Mother Chu Taiwanese food in Dixon St, and Haymarket was just 5 min walk away.

World Square was just behind the hotel where there are lots of dining choices & a Cole’s supermarket as well.
Got tired of eating out after a few days & bought vege & meat back to apartment to make use of the fully equipped kitchen.

The new electrical tram lines ran beside the hotel & there’s a tram that I boarded to Circular Quay to stroll around The Rocks. I used Youtrip card to tap on the platform before & after the ride. 
 I took a bus to the Australian Museum & walked back to hotel thru Hyde Park.  
 

Hope my sharing helps a bit for those who might be planning to travel there. 
 

 

 

Meriton Suite is good. Always stay (Meriton North Ryde) there when I need to be in around Macquarie Park area. 

[inlinesix]

On 4/4/2025 at 6:37 PM, Volvobrick said:

I am impressed if it is the same wife! 😅

He said wife doesn’t travel to the same country more than once

[Heartlander]

On 4/4/2025 at 4:40 PM, teomingern said:

Oh no... I only leave early on driving days... I prefer to start early for sightseeing... then come back early to rest... like 4-5 pm back in hotel and rest and sleep early... heh heh... can spend the evening mucking around the hotel or around the town area nearby...

If you prefer to drive long distance, I would advice you not to consider cooking to save money. You should be tired when reach destination, so cooking most likely to be done by your wife. This is assuming she can cook reasonably well. Else you will need another holiday after this trip to recover. And if to cook, you will also need to plan what to cook and plan for grocery trips before destination each day. And you need to select your accommodation carefully to ensure you have full kitchen facility and pray hard that all that you need are working. I had experienced that in recent trip and the simple solution is to go out eat since will take time to repair. Also I encountered a few places with gas-powered ovens that need to google how to use. The first time i saw that I thought the oven was faulty since no button to power up and no light indicator to show it is turned on already. Really need to be positive and to deal with un-expected.

But if you have young kids and you never cook often, then better put in budget to eat out instead. Very tiring to have to wash up the utensils after eating also as it is mandatory to clean up after use, else additional cleaning fees might be imposed. It is ok to cook occasionally but likely to rob the joy of holiday if need to do that everyday haha.

[Tohto]

On 4/4/2025 at 9:34 PM, inlinesix said:

He said wife doesn’t travel to the same country more than once

Now I understand the main reason 😂😂😂

[Tohto]

On 4/4/2025 at 10:21 PM, Heartlander said:

If you prefer to drive long distance, I would advice you not to consider cooking to save money. You should be tired when reach destination, so cooking most likely to be done by your wife. This is assuming she can cook reasonably well. Else you will need another holiday after this trip to recover. And if to cook, you will also need to plan what to cook and plan for grocery trips before destination each day. And you need to select your accommodation carefully to ensure you have full kitchen facility and pray hard that all that you need are working. I had experienced that in recent trip and the simple solution is to go out eat since will take time to repair. Also I encountered a few places with gas-powered ovens that need to google how to use. The first time i saw that I thought the oven was faulty since no button to power up and no light indicator to show it is turned on already. Really need to be positive and to deal with un-expected.

But if you have young kids and you never cook often, then better put in budget to eat out instead. Very tiring to have to wash up the utensils after eating also as it is mandatory to clean up after use, else additional cleaning fees might be imposed. It is ok to cook occasionally but likely to rob the joy of holiday if need to do that everyday haha.

He already mentioned wife don't like to cook when travel and he mostly book hotel. Wife don't like Airbnb. 

Lucky my holiday I plan and wife will just follow, no noise make and always happy.  Follow by her friends asking for my itinerary. 

Edited April 4 by Tohto

[Tohto]

Deleted. Double post.

 

 

Edited April 4 by Tohto

[Tohto]

Edited April 4 by Tohto

[Atonchia]

On 4/4/2025 at 10:50 PM, Tohto said:

So good rates now....

Last time when I pay for my Uni fees was close to SGD 1.2 to 1 AUD.....😅

[Tohto]

On 4/5/2025 at 12:16 AM, Atonchia said:

So good rates now....

Last time when I pay for my Uni fees was close to SGD 1.2 to 1 AUD.....😅

Now I actually wish aud stronger, as my girl is working there. 

[Atonchia]

As long as the inflation rates there stay stable, will not affect too much as Oz land is mainly resource rich and export market. Even if she ask for big ticket spending.... It's better exchange rates from SG to Oz...

Just don't expect her to earn AUD and spend SGD when back here. 😅

[therock]

On 4/4/2025 at 9:46 PM, Atonchia said:

So good rates now....

Last time when I pay for my Uni fees was close to SGD 1.2 to 1 AUD.....😅

Yeah when I did my second masters it was 1.26 😅 

 

[teomingern]

On 4/4/2025 at 10:21 PM, Heartlander said:

If you prefer to drive long distance, I would advice you not to consider cooking to save money. You should be tired when reach destination, so cooking most likely to be done by your wife. This is assuming she can cook reasonably well. Else you will need another holiday after this trip to recover. And if to cook, you will also need to plan what to cook and plan for grocery trips before destination each day. And you need to select your accommodation carefully to ensure you have full kitchen facility and pray hard that all that you need are working. I had experienced that in recent trip and the simple solution is to go out eat since will take time to repair. Also I encountered a few places with gas-powered ovens that need to google how to use. The first time i saw that I thought the oven was faulty since no button to power up and no light indicator to show it is turned on already. Really need to be positive and to deal with un-expected.

But if you have young kids and you never cook often, then better put in budget to eat out instead. Very tiring to have to wash up the utensils after eating also as it is mandatory to clean up after use, else additional cleaning fees might be imposed. It is ok to cook occasionally but likely to rob the joy of holiday if need to do that everyday haha.

Ha ha... really no intention to cook actually... mostly last resort if we're sick of the food... and even then may be just simple instant noodles just for that meal... when we were in Japan for a month, we were really quite sick of the food at the end but also still eat out.... anyway budget is there lar... just have to do prior research where to eat...

Having said that, my wife cooks every day and is an excellent cook and I rather eat her food than anything else but we're on holiday, so I don't want her to cook... it's her break as well...

Edited April 5 by teomingern

[teomingern]

On 4/4/2025 at 5:51 PM, therock said:

Yes hotels have parking but it can be full so beware 

street parking is not safe

remove all valuables or risk break ins 

Usually we take everything out... that's our SOP having travelled all over... car is empty... and anyway won't park on the street... all our hotels/apartments are in the CBD, so it will have to be paid parking... some of our accommodation have parking agreements with neighbouring paid car parks and also overflow car parks... so kind of settled for this...

[teomingern]

On 4/4/2025 at 7:21 PM, therock said:

To each his own la

bro Teo likes his style so best fit 👍 

Yeah... it's relaxing for me... my type is the more pre-planned precise operation type... heh heh...

[teomingern]

On 4/4/2025 at 8:21 PM, TameDriver said:

Just sharing……..
Last month was the coolest March weather I’ve had experienced in Sydney compared to past few years. Probably due to Cyclone Alfred in Queensland that brought occasional light drizzle to Sydney. 

Had a very comfortable stay in Meriton Suites Campbell St, in Sydney Chinatown for a week. 
Enjoyed several meals at Mother Chu Taiwanese food in Dixon St, and Haymarket was just 5 min walk away.

World Square was just behind the hotel where there are lots of dining choices & a Cole’s supermarket as well.
Got tired of eating out after a few days & bought vege & meat back to apartment to make use of the fully equipped kitchen.

The new electrical tram lines ran beside the hotel & there’s a tram that I boarded to Circular Quay to stroll around The Rocks. I used Youtrip card to tap on the platform before & after the ride. 
 I took a bus to the Australian Museum & walked back to hotel thru Hyde Park.  
 

Hope my sharing helps a bit for those who might be planning to travel there. 
 

 

 

Nice! I stayed at Haymarket the last time I was in Sydney... kind of the cheapest place in the inner Sydney CBD to stay in...