Airfares from the States are pretty cheap for August to Sydney, so I thought I'd spend a week, maybe a week and a half in Aussie land before going to HK.  Never been there before, so I was thinking of going to two places, Sydney and some other place, probably Melbourne, but could be talked into going to NZ instead of Melbourne.   Can you guys make some suggestions for me?  Places to go/see, places to eat.  My guess is 4 or 5 days in each location.

some parameters:
- traveling with 2 families with kids, none of us have ever been there
- prefer not to rent a car - would depend on public transportation and taxis.  Would rather not deal with driving on the other side of the road. (But with 6 people, might be more cost effective to rent a car)
- no inkling for doing any sporting or water activities such as snorkeling or stuff like that.  But going on a boat cruise is ok
- ok with hitting just the "must see" places, no need to go very far from the city centers.
- I'm always interested in looking at historical landmarks, especially with Chinese locations
- preference is to stay in a location close to the homeboys (i.e. Chinese areas) - but if public transportation is efficient, staying in a cheaper area is ok.  Trying to budget $125AUD/day for a 4 star (my guess is Sydney is pretty expensive, and Melbourne is slightly cheaper as far as hotel rates goes).  I've heard that Melbourne has multiple areas where the Chinese tend to live.

bro ... suggest you ask this on a travel/vacation forum ... I'm sure you'll get better answers there

surely there must be a few Aussies on this site who can give their opinion.

Sydney is Australia's best known city but Melbourne is really it's cultural capital. Big city famous for it's diversity and boasting a great "China Town". Around an hour or so out of Melbourne is the town of Ballarat, famous for it's Gold Rush history which had a strong Chinese influence.

Make sure you check out Australian Football when in Melbourne. Totally unique!

Sydney has lots to offer, Harbour Bridge, Opera House, Harbour etc.

Brisbane and the Gold Coast would be another excellent choice, Great Barrier Reef, surf beaches, entertainment and perfect weather.

If you like wine, go to Adelaide's Barossa Valley.

Above options much better than New Zealand!

As you mention air fares are pretty cheap keep in mind that Australia is pretty costly.a cup of Starbucks coffee over there is a good gauge to what it would cost in general.I don't think Sydney or Melbourne was listed ax one of the most expensive cities on the other post here but probably is up there

Stuff Melbourne. It is categorically the most culturally devoid boring up its own arse place in the world. Yes... in the world.

Sydney is cool. If you are going to hire a car, pick it up in Sydney, and scoot up the coast to Manley. Very nice there. My favourite place in Australia though is Tasmania, especially Hobart. Word of advice though if you do go, don't take the ferry. Fly. Same price financially, but I'd pay 1000 aussie to not sit for 12 hours in a shit boat on one of the most renown bad water patches on earth.

Can't say "stay away from Melbourne" strongly enough. Might as well go to Canberra if you like being bored.

Mind you, I did have the best "ball sucking" i've ever had there in one of their legal brothels. It really was very very good.

[ Last edited by  akka at 26-7-2010 22:20 ]

I love Melbourne for all it's cultural diversity but I guess that's why some Bros like Fils, some like Thai, some like PRC and some like Mongolians... each to his own. I'd go to Melbourne before Sydney but that's just me.

Bro, based on what you have outlined Sydney is the most likely place to visit although you will find it very difficult to get any reasonable accommodation for $125/day (although sometimes you can get last minute bargains).

Sydney has a large Chinese population in places - but it depends upon whether you mean Mandarin, Cantonese or other Chinese dialects.  There is a large Asian population overall but tend to stick to particular areas.

Sydney is the most historic Australian city in terms of architecture etc and is based around a massive harbour waterfront.  If you wanted more 'cultural' exposure such as live theatre, restaurants, art galleries etc then Melbourne would be a better choice.  I am not aware of significant Chinese populations in Melbourne (at least in the city area) but I am sure there are areas.  Greek, Italian and European tend to be the main cultures in central areas like Richmond and Carlton although Collingwood has/had significant Asian population.

Bro - we are only 200 years old, so when you say cultural, we have really only been accepting Asian immigration for around 100 years, so i will let you decide. Its always been WASP (Whiste Anglo Saxon Prodistant) before this really.

Each Capital city generally has a little china town with hotels on the fringes of these areas, but don;t expect anything like NYC or other major centres.

But seriously i your going to Oz for a real Oz expereince, sure Sydney, melbourne and Brisbane are decent cities (Brisbane is quite boring actually) but get out into the bush/ country like Katherine in the NT or even Cairns (yes this is real touristy).

Don't just go to the zoo to see a kangaroo, you can actually see these on golf courses a lot of the time.

If you don't it would be like me going to the states and going to Santa Monica, Orlando and Manhattan and saying ive seen the real America. Oz is not a city place, its beuaty is in the country

Besides the sex and punting thing, food comes in a close second when we travel to our chosen destination. You should try or buy their Macadamia Nuts, best in the world. When my Aussie friends, I always ask them to buy me a few Kilos of assorted flavours. Sorry for talking about food all the time!

thanks for all the input guys....Sydney and Melbourne is where I'm heading.  Any suggestions for a nice hotel in Melbourne in the city center for say under $160/night AUD?  Looks like Melbourne is just as expensive as Sydney?

are you chinese? star city is the only stop you need my friend!

alright...i'm being stereotypical

public transport is pretty shit...i mean very shit! i rather be stuck in traffic in my car for over 1hr than take a 30min train ride.

i've was born and raised in sydney so here a some  places:

in the cbd you have all the typical landmarks such as Harbour Bridge which you can climb. there is the Opera House. if you really want to know how sydney all started you can take a historical tour around The Rocks. For some scenery, take a stroll through The Botanical Gardens. Main shopping departments stores are David Jones and Myers. Both very close to each other. If you like fish, take a walk through Sydney Aquarium and then walk along Darling Harbour. If you don't like fish you can still take a walk through Darling Harbour. For the beaches, Bondi Beach or Manly is very popular but there are others too. I suggest going to Cicular Quay and take a ferry ride across the harbour and stop at Manly. Walk along the Corso and go right to the end near the beach and get some fish and chips for lunch. The family should enjoy that. The red light district is Kings Cross but its not what it used to be. Still there a street walkers around and plenty strip joints.

out of the CBD, you can goto the Royal National Park. This is where you need to hire a car. You can take a walk through the bush and cool down by the beach and have a picnic. You can visit Olympic Park but pretty ordinary when nothing is on. theres not much to do outside the cbd unless you like eating

for some good asian meals you can head out to the subrubs of Ashfield, Newtown, Chatswood.

hopefully i've given you some useful suggestions to try. all suggestions are family friendly except maybe Kings X

i've been to melbourne and its a fantastic city. i would drop sydney in a heartbeat. i only go down there for the F1 so i've always stuck around the CBD. even though i haven't seen much except for the 12 Apostles and driving around Great Ocean Road so i can't give much info.

I've been to Brisbane but i rather stick with Gold Coast. Has much of a fun atmosphere and there are theme parks to take the kids. If you get multple passes they come a bit cheaper.

IF you really love nature, either Darwin or Cairns is your best bet. In Cairns you can see a small part of the Great Barrier Reef. In Darwin you can visit Kakadu national park, cruise though Katherine Gorge etc. If you goto Darwin, you must try fishing.

Long trip from anywhere.  Also isn't it a haul to go even from sydney to Melbourne.  So Australia is so big getting to different parts is a trip on and of itself

I was born and raised in Melbourne.  I think one 'must do' thing would be the twelve apostles - there are a couple of tour operators in the CBD (on Swanston St.) who do coach tours there.  There are also winery tours, food tours, factory outlet tours, food indulgence tours and a whole heap of others.

If you're staying in / near the CBD, Chinatown (Little Bourke St.) offers some good dining options, it's no where near as big as Chinatown NY though.  There's a free city circle (around the CBD) tram which operates everyday and provides narrations on the landmarks - you can hop on and off at any time.

The suburbs where Chinese are include Box Hill, Doncaster, Glen Waverley, Mt. Waverley, Preston.  There are also pockets of Vietnamese communities in Springvale, Richmond, Footscray.  Cantonese and Mandarin are spoken in these areas as well.  Unfortunately, some of these places are alittle far from the CBD, although the train system does service these areas, they're not as frequent / reliable as trains in the US, which can mean long travel times.  Taxis can be expensive.  Perhaps consider renting a people mover for a few days?

I won't go into a discussion on which is the better City between Sydney and Melbourne - both have their good points.  You'll find there is a slightly different 'feel' to each of these cities.  Hope you enjoy your stay.

[ Last edited by  Tripp at 29-7-2010 03:12 ]

anyone have any opinions on SIM cards and prepaid internet/broadband in Australia?  The friggin' hotel in Sydney charges $25 AUD/day for broadband which is ridiculous.  Sitting with my laptop in the lobby is even more expensive.  Is there a place at the Sydney airport like a 7-11 that has prepaid SIM cards for sale?