BWB Sydney - The Sojourn of SJohn

[delete this account pls]

So, as some of you may already be aware, SJohn will be in Sydney around the second week in December. While it's still a ways away I thought I'd start the thread now because;

a) This is SJohn's last taste of freedom before he heads back to Afghanistan so the pressure is on to make it a good one! And;

b ) People can post suggestions and ideas for what SJohn can go do, see, eat, and where he can (cheaply) stay, and so on, outside of any actual meet we organise. Because apparently there's more to do in Sydney than just get drunk (hahahahaha, I almost managed to type that with a straight face)

I'll be there of course, probably for the whole weekend, and I hope some of you mythical Australian boarders will come out too and this disprove my theory that you are all spambots.

[The Winged Shadow]

I should be there. It'd be good to meet you both.

If today's weather is any indication, it's gonna be stinkin hot. So anything indoors (with air-con!) or near the beach or water bodies should be relaxing. Maybe do the speedboat ride (if you don't mind getting wet!), or ferry ride at night (the damn sun will be out for ages though!). Sydney is truly breathtaking at night from the ferry.

Then there is IMAX if SJohn is interested in watching crap stuff on really big screen :P. Not to mention Sydney Observatory, Museums and Galleries. There are also a few beaches nearby.

I suck at good food venues, so the only thing I can recommend is the Brazilian BBQ place around Kings Cross (Churrasco). There was also that place at Manly that we were planning to go for our last meet but didn't (anyone remember the name?). That could be an option.

You can go to Ocean world and play with the sharks. Go to Sydney Aquarium and/or the Taronga Zoo. Then there is the heli tour, but I think its usually booked out by now.

Outside of Sydney, there are several wild life parks and rainforests, Blue Mountains, numerous Cave tours etc to see.

For drinking, Opera bar has a very nice view, but over-priced drinks (its very nice though!). There are several bars at the Rocks (Lowenbrau, Argyle etc) and throughout the city. If you want to venture out of the city slightly, the inner-west has some nice pubs as well.

So yeah, plenty to do.

[Neal]

I'm always up for a meet up :) Just depends on work and flights etc... Put me down as a maybe/hopefully.

If today's weather is any indication, it's gonna be stinkin hot. So anything indoors (with air-con!) or near the beach or water bodies should be relaxing. Maybe do the speedboat ride (if you don't mind getting wet!), or ferry ride at night (the damn sun will be out for ages though!). Sydney is truly breathtaking at night from the ferry.

Then there is IMAX if SJohn is interested in watching crap stuff on really big screen :P. Not to mention Sydney Observatory, Museums and Galleries. There are also a few beaches nearby.

I suck at good food venues, so the only thing I can recommend is the Brazilian BBQ place around Kings Cross (Churrasco). There was also that place at Manly that we were planning to go for our last meet but didn't (anyone remember the name?). That could be an option.

You can go to Ocean world and play with the sharks. Go to Sydney Aquarium and/or the Taronga Zoo. Then there is the heli tour, but I think its usually booked out by now.

Outside of Sydney, there are several wild life parks and rainforests, Blue Mountains, numerous Cave tours etc to see.

I have no idea what you're talking about, I've never done anything in sydney but drink.

[Stubby]

So, as some of you may already be aware, SJohn will be in Sydney around the second week in December. While it's still a ways away I thought I'd start the thread now because;

a) This is SJohn's last taste of freedom before he heads back to Afghanistan so the pressure is on to make it a good one! And;

b ) People can post suggestions and ideas for what SJohn can go do, see, eat, and where he can (cheaply) stay, and so on, outside of any actual meet we organise. Because apparently there's more to do in Sydney than just get drunk (hahahahaha, I almost managed to type that with a straight face)

I'll be there of course, probably for the whole weekend, and I hope some of you mythical Australian boarders will come out too and this disprove my theory that you are all spambots.

Not making any promises or anything, but when exactly will the Otter of Wanderlust be present?

[delete this account pls]

I believe he arrives in Sydney sometime around the 6th or 7th of Dec and will be in town until the 12th, or thereabouts. I dont think exact dates are locked down yet, except that he will be there for that weekend.

[BeeTrix]

TWS has done a good job of covering a range of activities. The only items I can think to add at the moment are:

The Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb http://www.bridgeclimb.com/

and Sydney Harbour Hop-on Hop-off Cruise http://www.partner.v...57-3378EXPLORER

b ) People can post suggestions and ideas for what SJohn can go do, see, eat, and where he can (cheaply) stay

I know of some spare couches / bedrooms which he can crash for free if he is thus inclined. All within close proximity to the city as well - Balmain / inner west etc.

There was also that place at Manly that we were planning to go for our last meet but didn't (anyone remember the name?).

Twas Hemmingway's http://www.hemingway...au/Site/_.html. It is a yummy place, but small, so maybe not suitable if there are a lot of people.

[arantius]

I am so glad Movember will be over by the time this meet rolls around. I didn't even attend the last November meet, but even the photos gave me the heebie-jeebies :{

[Stubby]

I believe he arrives in Sydney sometime around the 6th or 7th of Dec and will be in town until the 12th, or thereabouts. I dont think exact dates are locked down yet, except that he will be there for that weekend.

[Plotting]

[arantius]

I'm so excited that the Stubbies might be headed East :thumbsup: Let me know if you and laoise need somewhere to stay, though my place is by no means close to Sydney :( you're always welcome :)

[Stubby]

Just to clarify, we are coming to Sydney in December.

However, it is for a specific family function and we are not paying - so we probably have to do it when they want to.

We are endeavouring to get them to move the show a week forward so we don't miss S John, but we will be there regardless.

[S John]

Oh man! What a jerk I am to let this thread sit for a whole week without acknowledgement!

My apologies. As I believe most of you are aware I am travelling around right now and while I have popped onto the board a couple times I did not think to go into the BwB section even though I knew Brady would eventually create a thread for my visit. I'm in the middle of a massive layover in Jakarta right now (7 freakin' hours) and so, have finally found my way here.

Besides that - I actually have something to add. I finally have some concrete travel dates for all of us to marinate on. Brady had the correct week but the days are shifted just a bit. I'm arriving in Australia on December 5th but I will be starting in Cairns. My original plan was to get there, do a day of scuba diving, and then the following day (the 7th) fly down to Sydney. Well... having just completed my basic dive certification in Thailand I have learned that you really should give yourself a full 24 hours after a dive before flying to make sure you don't get decompression sickness. So I've had to give myself an extra day in Cairns because, well, I don't really want to get the bends. Of course I'm sure it'll be just terrible, having an extra day to lounge on the beach all day. :laugh:

Anyway, due diligence against decompression sickness means that I'll be arriving in Sydney on the 8th of December, which is a Thursday. I'll be leaving Sydney for Dubai on the evening of the 13th. A solid 5 days including a weekend should give plenty of opportunity to get together with anyone who wants to.

As far as accommodations go, I've been talking to Brady on Facebook about that and nothing is really set in stone there. I'm hoping that starting next week I'll have about a week of downtime in Bali where I'll lay around all day most days, and perhaps, between bouts of lying around, try to squeeze in time to work out some of the details for the rest of my trip - including ensuring that I don't end up sleeping on the streets somewhere.

I'll be sure to check in here a bit more often from this point on. Hope everyone can make it.

Edit - BeeTrix, I was gonna PM you about that (the couch-crashing) but it seems I can't send PM's. If you have facebook perhaps you could stalk Horza or Brady or Pax who are mutual friends of mine and add me. Suffice to say that I think I should be set for the first few days, but it may be a great benefit to me after the weekend. Either way, the offer is certainly appreciated.

Edit #2 - Stubby I just left Koh Samui, Thailand after 9 days there on the island. I had a great time (and so did my friends). The reason I looked into going there in the first place was because of your recommendation from a couple years ago (via your brother, iirc). So, thanks for that.

[Stubby]

Edit #2 - Stubby I just left Koh Samui, Thailand after 9 days there on the island. I had a great time (and so did my friends). The reason I looked into going there in the first place was because of your recommendation from a couple years ago (via your brother, iirc). So, thanks for that.

Glad you liked it mate!

Also, your schedule is making it increasingly likely that we will get there during your time. :)

[stormborne]

niloy said it best..to expand

- take a walk over the harbour bridge into milsons point, grab some lunch and sit under the bridge, look across to the opera house = magic. could also go to luna park and ride the ferris wheel of death

- take a kyak tour of sydney harbour

- spend the night camping on cockatoo island

- taronga zoo is awesome (plus, we just have 3 little tiger cubs born), but roar and snore at taronga zoo is even better, if you can splurge

- take the ferry across to manly and spend the day at the beach - if you want something quieter and less wavy, shelly beach is a 5 minute walk away and just gorgeous. plenty of good pubs and fooderies at manly (hemmingways, the skiff club, the steyne has really cleaned itself up, miss marleys tequila bar and plenty more) and the whole place is pretty chilled, you dont need to get dressed up to get in

- do a day learn to surf at one of the beaches

- do the bondi to bronte walk

- rope some people into hiring a boat and take it out down around mooney mooney/bobbin head for some fishing. there lots of inlets around there where you can just weigh anchor and jump in and swim

- ditto observatory - the night show is great

- ditto hop on and off bus - try it early in the day

- do a historic rocks walking tour

- do a cooking class at the fish markets

- there are numerous food tours taking you into sydneys multicultural suburbs

- lots of good pub crawl circuits - whether the rocks, surry hills/potts point/the cross, newtown/petersham

or when all else fails, grab your book and find a tree in the botannic gardens and while your day away :)

[Stubby]

We are coming into Sydney on Thursday 8.12.11.

We would propose a BwB show on the Friday night (09.12.11), as we have other commitments for the remainder of our stay.

Hope that suits everyone else!

[stormborne]

done some re-arranging and i will be there

any thoughts on where to go or what you guys would like to do (if anything) apart from eat and drink?

[Stubby]

done some re-arranging and i will be there

any thoughts on where to go or what you guys would like to do (if anything) apart from eat and drink?

As it's S John's trip I guess what he would prefer is the main requirement.

We'll happily fit in for whatever as we just want to meet the Otter and the other noobs that weren't at worldcon and hang out with mates.

[Neal]

We are coming into Sydney on Thursday 8.12.11.

We would propose a BwB show on the Friday night (09.12.11), as we have other commitments for the remainder of our stay.

Hope that suits everyone else!

Good stuff stubs, will be good to see you guys again.

I just booked flights (yay for points), I get into sydney about 7pm friday night and leave sunday morning so I'll be up for shenanigans :cheers:

[sh_wulff]

will make an appearance too

!

[stormborne]

not too sure whether anyone else is an ouffer fiend, but i think

moonwalking -http://www.udu.com.au/new/directory/experiences/moonwalks.html

could possibly be another very cool thing to do in sydney! i certainly plan on doing it :)

[S John]

Excellent. Glad to hear that the Aussies will perhaps be out in force. Just checking in to say that after a week in the jungle, I still live, and am very much looking forward to my visit. In case you are wondering I have slightly less than 2 weeks left in Indonesia. I will then spend a bit of time in New Zealand, where I will do my level best to not fornicate with sheep as is apparently the local custom. (I threw that one in just for you guys, Aussies, you've gotta know your audience).

Sheep avoidance aside, I think that New Zealand will be a much better bet for me communication-wise. Internet in Indonesia has proven to be a bit of a chore in the places where I've chosen to base myself. So my limited internet time is dedicated to making sure I still have a job and keeping in touch with family. I think you can expect to hear from me a bit more regularly when I arrive in Kiwi-land around the 24th of November.

As an aside, are any of you aware of Visa requirements in Australia for Americans? I'll look it up myself when I get the chance, but the last thing I need is to show up there without some important document that I should have arranged for ahead of time. No rush or anything, just asking in case someone knows off the top of your head. If you all need a visa to visit the United States (which I'm unsure of) then I will likely need one to visit.