Budget City
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday September 25, 1999
Tony Kleu finds a family can spend a weekend in Sydney without breaking the bank - and still have fun.
SOME people are congenitally predisposed to despising anything cheap and economical. Others have an aversion to meeting people or acknowledging people they do not know. They need read no further, for there are two things you can expect if you stay at a youth hostel: cheap accommodation, and LOTS of new faces. There are other benefits, depending on your worldview: they tend to be handy for exploring worthwhile places, the staff are always founts of knowledge about money-saving entertainment/tourism options, and you know you don't have to pack a tie.
We chose to stay at Sydney Central YHA en famille in acknowledgment of those readers who wouldn't even dream of staying at B&Bs that might charge $300 or more a night a couple. Many would baulk at spending that much on an entire weekend's accommodation, food and entertainment - if they had $300 to spare. We set out for the city early on Saturday morning with precisely that amount. Free parking had been arranged and, having dumped the car, we ignored it until Sunday afternoon.
Sydney Central YHA, carved out of the old Dakin House, opened two years ago amid much fanfare about the new face of the YHA (the former Youth Hostels Association is now known just by the initials, in recognition of a changing market and mission). If you hostelled as a student, perhaps a generation ago, you'll appreciate how much things have changed.
First, the range of accommodation runs from double rooms, twin rooms and four-bed rooms to eight-bed dormitories. Prices range from $10 to $24 for members; non-members pay a little extra, and you can hire linen and towels for a song. So you have to make your own bed (doonas and pillows provided)...but we've all done that before.
There are two kitchens in which guests can prepare food, a cafeteria open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, a rooftop swimming pool and barbecue area, a large-screen video room, two other TV lounges, a games room with two pool tables, a large lounge that always seemed to be full of sleeping travellers, and a real - but very cheap - pub underneath the building. Internet access is available at a modest charge, with the first few minutes free to encourage travellers to call home. Membership costs $47, the annual fee is $18. Children pay $14.50 (or nothing if a parent is a member).
Check-in, as at most YHAs, is at noon, so we stored our bags in the capacious 24-hour storage locker ($3), raided the information desk for tips on what to do, and set out. First stop, Woolies, to buy a few packed lunches for one adult and two kids ($13.40), then to Manly by train and ferry (an entertainment in itself for country kids) $18.20. As the ferry detoured to avoid Olympic yachting trials we cruised past the magnificently restored gentleman's racing yacht Cambria (built in 1928) and then became accidental spectators to the thrills and spills of yacht racing.
Manly Oceanworld ($26) took up a couple of hours before we strolled along the beach (too chilly for swimming), enjoyed our budget lunch (pasta and salads) and then headed back across the harbour to Darling Park, where there's always free entertainment. An Asian festival was in full swing - music, cheap snacks, free balloons and hordes of people having fun.
Mum joined us at 5pm and we strolled through Chinatown to the George Street cinemas ($29). By 8.45 we were ready for a burger dinner each ($22) and headed for the YHA, on the corner of Rawson Place, at the Central Station end of Pitt Street. En route, if you choose to walk down George Street, you may see a slice of city sleaze in the raw. Much like many a country town, really, if a tad more in your face.
If we hadn't been exhausted after a full day's sightseeing we might have had a swim or watched a video, but everyone was happy to trot off to the shared male or female bathrooms (the cubicles give complete privacy) then tumble into bed. The rooms are sparsely furnished. Very sparsely. But they are designed for travellers with little luggage and serve their purpose. Ours was clean with ample floor space to have an impromptu four-hand card game, though there are so many comfortable public areas, the need may never arise. The beds are of the steel-framed bunk variety. In a snobby country guesthouse they might be relegated to the unseen chookshed, but the modest mattresses were perfectly adequate and the snorers had an excellent, undisturbed night's sleep.
Breakfast in the optimistically named Central Gourmet Cafe was the archetypal youth hostel experience. A bevy of animated Noumeans spoke French at one end, fragments of German, Polish and Italian wafted across from other tables, and a Yorkshireman droned about his never-
ending travels. At $5.50 each for fruit juice, a bowl of fruit salad, a heaped plate of scrambled eggs (not a highlight when cooked in bulk), good bacon, hash browns and toast, and as much Andronicus coffee, butter and jam as you need, breakfast was another bargain. I've had worse for five or six times as much.
The bags went back into the locker and, because there were four of us, we indulged in a taxi to The Rocks ($7.40), where we soaked up the history of Sydney for nothing, and enjoyed the bustle of the markets without spending more than a few dollars for drinks. A couple of gifts that would have been bought anyway during the week were purchased, and we enjoyed the dash and flair of a spray-can artist (why can't they ALL use paper) and plenty of street theatre. A leisurely stroll along the waterfront gets you to the Botanic Gardens, where we might have picnicked had we not decided to indulge at Doyles - although the Art Gallery was a sore temptation. Another taxi, to Broadway ($4.20), a stroll to the fish markets, and we were there.
The hustle and bustle is astonishing. If you had any doubts that Sydney is seafood heaven, that is the place to go. Doyles at the Markets may lack the flair of Watsons Bay, but it is every bit as good and far more fun for an indulgent but modest family lunch ($48.60) as you fend off gulls.
We staggered out at 2pm, with enough money left for a taxi back into town, or to Paddington, or to ... Hey, it's a big city, even if your pockets aren't all that deep.
Visitors' book
The Place: Sydney Central YHA, Cnr Rawson Place and Pitt Street, Sydney 2000; phone (02) 9281 9111, e-mail sydcentral@yhansw.org.au
Prices: Hostels charge from $10 (child rate) to $35 a head, according to standard. Non-members pay a premium (which converts to membership after nine nights). For two adults and two children, with linen and towels provided, we paid $86 for a Saturday night stay. In some hostels double rooms are available with ensuites. In a few hostels, members' bookings take absolute priority.
How to get there: Take the train to Sydney Central railway station and walk across the road. Limited parking is available.
Rooms this weekend? No. Accommodation during school holidays is always at a premium, so book well ahead.
Wheelchair access: Yes.
Children: Of course.
Smoking/non-smoking: No.
Pluses: Cheap, friendly, great meeting place, informative.
Minuses: No TV is fair enough, but why no radio in rooms? Rating: 16 at that price.
19-20 Outstanding. Can we move in?
17-18 Great.
15-16 Very good. We'd do it again.
13-14 Good. Comfortable, well-run.
10-12 Adequate.
1-9 Stay at home.
Also in the area
The Observatory Hotel
Where: 89-113 Kent Street, The Rocks, Sydney, NSW 2000; phone (02) 9256 2222, fax (02) 9256 2233, e-mail: observatory@mail.com
Type: Hotel.
Tariff: From $365 for a deluxe room, breakfast for two, and use of health and leisure club.
Exactly what you'd expect from the crowd that runs the Venice-Simplon Orient Express. This may be Sydney's poshest hotel, with its inviting lounges and bars, excellent restaurant and superbly appointed rooms. The atmosphere is one of subdued opulence, and you do get value for money.
Rating: 18 (reviewed July '98).
Balmain B&B
Where: 27 Lawson Street, Balmain, NSW 2041; phone (02) 9810 4108, 0419 800 485, fax (02) 9810 3228, e-mail balmainb&b.com.au
Type: Bed and Breakfast.
Tariff: Single, $100 and double $130.
This redesigned century-old terrace has been opened out to create a Japanese feel, right down to the small pond in the courtyard. The rooms, with underfloor heating, are small and functional but also rather pretty, allowing for both light and privacy. Surroundings are old industrial Balmain and too-smart-by-half new homes. In that context, this is something of an oasis.
Rating: 14 (reviewed March '98).
Old Sydney ParkRoyal
Where: 55 George Street, The Rocks, Sydney, NSW 2000; phone (02) 9252 0524,fax (02) 9251 2093.
Type: Hotel.
Tariff: $225 a night, room only. Weekend rates $199 a night room only, $235 including breakfast, plus tax.
Cosy and unassuming, the Old Sydney ParkRoyal is smack in the middle of The Rocks. The rooms are on the small side, unpretentiously decorated with dark quilts, pale desks and bar fridges, but the views are excellent. The foyer is friendly and relaxed, and the rooftop heated pool looks over the Opera House and the bridge.
Rating: 15 (reviewed August '99).
© 1999 Sydney Morning Herald