We've been visiting the Flying Squadron for a few years since the in-laws moved to Kirribilli and…read moreit is great. Well, it was great, then it took a slide for a while, and now it's great once again! This is not a fancy place, it's for the poorer older Kirribilli folk (the moneyed go to yacht club up the road) who just like to hang about. It gets quite a lot of pre-theatre traffic as well, so expect to wait for a table on show nights. I'd recommend that you come for the trivia, but that'd mean there'd be yet another team that would beat us. They're pretty competitive... ;-p

The Flying Squadron is a membership club located at the end of Careening Cove, Milsons Point and…read morenext to Milsons Park. It's a casual and laid back atmosphere is the perfect place to socialise to have lunch or dinner in the restaurant or have a few beverages at the balcony bar on a nice summers evening. The drinks are reasonable and some Sundays there is live entertainment. The Squadron was founded in 1891 by Mark Foy and was one of Sydney's first skiff sailing clubs. During Summer the club runs skiff sailing lessons in the weekends. Meat Raffles and Trivia nights are run every Thursdays and a Spectator Ferry leaves and returns to the club from 2pm every Saturdays. With so much going on in this little social club you should discover yourself what it has to offer.

What a great spot in Sydney. You can take a nice, short ferry ride from Circular Quay to get there…read more There's something for everyone, including the kids. Unlike the US, the food prices here, while a bit higher than areas outside, are not the high gouging prices you see in the US. You can buy an unlimited ride pass (which is a bit pricey), or you can buy single rides for certain rides. Most rides require a pass which is a downside if you want to try certain rides. We rode the ferris wheel which was a lot of fun and gave us some great sites of Sydney Harbour. We loved that the lines aren't long at all, certainly not by US theme park standards. If you have time, swing by to try a ride or two or three and some theme park food.

From 1924 onwards, the future site of Luna Park Sydney was used extensively by the Dorman Long firm…read moreto fabricate and assemble steel components for the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which officially opened in 1932. Once the bridge was completed, North Sydney Council opened up applications for tenders to develop the site. Consequently, the owners of Luna Park Glenelg won the tender for the North Sydney site and began a 20-year lease on September 11, 1935, forming Luna Park (NSW) Ltd. The rides from Glenelg were dismantled and transported to Sydney over a three-month period. Construction of the park employed almost 1,000 engineers, structural workers, fitters, and artists. Less than one month later, it opened. The park's signature entrance face, designed by Rupert Browne, was placed between two Art Deco-style towers with spires imitating New York's Chrysler Building. The Big Dipper roller coaster was an instantly popular attraction. After a successful opening season, the park closed down for the winter months so that rides and attractions could be overhauled and repainted, and new ones could be added. In 1936, the North Sydney Olympic Pool was also opened on an adjacent site. During WWII, as non-essential uses of electricity were curtailed in wartime, the park's neon lights were disconnected and many ride facades were dimmed. The park's external lights were also 'browned out' in case of a Japanese sneak attack on Sydney. In the 1950s and 1960s, the park changed hands and also management style, not allowing for the routine maintenance the park needed in the off season. As a result, it almost became a site for several high rises but was rejected by the then Governor. Instead, in the 1970s, the park went through transformations and renovations, trying to find its "identity" among the ever-changing taste of its customers. Unfortunately, this led to drastic measures in the 1980s of tearing down the old park and rebuilding it, after which there were several disputes over its name and elements of the park that were saved and put into storage. It wasn't until the 1990s that a historic trust was established to finally bring the park back to life, though still riddled with lawsuits, it had a hard time staying open. As of today, it is open with new rides to enjoy! Our Experience: The park is still struggling, though continues to operate year-round with it being reduced to a limited experience in the winter, which means just three rides are open and a couple of food stands and games. At night, it takes on a more eerie feeling - the lights are on but everything is closed, yet you can still walk through it.

So, pretty much any creative repurposing of an old wrought-iron, tin-roofed train station is gonna…read moreget 5 stars from me. They're just so damn cool, and anything you put in them - art galleries, farmers markets, banging parties - is cool by association. Went to a mad sick MINI warehouse banger here last night, if you've got the cash to splash the venue can't be beat. And if that repurposing revives tired old Redfern, with its old streets and checkered past? So much the better. Cue hipsters running in and lousing the place up. I can't paint, but if I could, I'd have a show here, and I'd invite everyone and their mums.

I attended the White Ribbon Gala event at Carriageworks…read more Venue was amazing. Still has that rail yard feel but with a modern refurbished look to it. The main event room was very spacious. Felt like a big nightclub with a circular bar in the middle. Drinks were great but the canapés were appalling. Some canapés you would've thought would be hot were served cold. Wtf indeed! For those thinking of booking Carriageworks as a party venue, be careful with the catering or you will end up with a drunken bunch of unhappy guests!

I am so glad to have caught a show inside the opera house! The acoustics were amazing…read more I watched the Sydney symphony orchestra perform Beethoven's Symphony No 5. It was so good! To enter, start from the left bottom of the stairs and follow the crowd. (Don't go up the stairs expecting to be seated, like I did.) Then you go through security with bag check. Once inside, backpacks must be deposited at the coat check. This is where the toilets and concessions are. Then you get your tickets scanned, one ticket per person. Then you should head to whichever door is written on your ticket. They start exactly on time, so be prepared to arrive early. I feel like this is a must-do whilst in Sydney. I highly recommend!

I would say this is the most recognized opera house in the world... easily. It is gorgeous,…read moreespecially when there are special occasions where it may be lit up in colorful displays. What really surprised me was that the exterior consists of small tiles... who knew. One drawback is that it is not easily accessible. Loads of stairs to climb and the distance from any transportation option to the entrance is huge. Once inside you will still be walking quite a distance and many many stairs. You will not be able to enter here without staff assistance if you are not walking perfectly well. The inside is as gorgeous as the outside, there are several bars and restaurants inside and out and serivce is great. I came here for my very first opera and even so I could only afford the 'cheap' seats, I must say that my view of the stage was great and the sound quality was excellent. A great help were the small screens on which the translation of the opera followed along. Sort of like closed captioning for the happenings on stage. Helped me tremendously as I tried to follow along, but do not understand a lick of Italian. What else can be said that hasn't been said a million times? Oh yeah, don't forget to visit Benny the seal who hangs out on some stairs in back of the building facing the water of course.

With the cost of everything going up, it's nice that Sydney still has entertainment and educational…read morevenues that are free. One fantastic attraction is the Powerhouse Museum in the Ultimo district in Sydney's CBD. With nostalgic, scientific, artistic, & hands-on exhibits, you can easily spend 2-3 hours here. There's areas for kids as well.

Was lucky enough to bag a couple of tickets through a Yelp giveaway to the MAASive Lates: Circus…read moreFollies event earlier this year. Was a fab evening of circus performances on the big top stage and fun activities - dress up in circus costumes, ride on the carousel, have a go at hula hooping, plate spinning, etc. Inbetween the main performances there was a band playing and we enjoyed drinks from the bar and free popcorn and candy floss, whilst a magician entertained the crowd. We also spent time having a look at the circus exhibits. The night culminated with an exciting fire juggling display outside the front entrance. Really enjoyed the event and think it's a great idea for museums to hold special after hours events that tie in with their temporary exhibitions and bring them to life. Most of the rest of the museum wasn't accessible during the event but I'd seen enough to inspire another visit to check out the museum itself when I returned to Sydney later. As its name suggests, the museum is housed in an old power station building which is a large and spacious venue. The exhibits cover subjects like transport, steam engines, electricity, computers, modelmaking, etc. I was excited to have a poke around the life-sized space shuttle model in the space section, disappointingly part of it was taped off as out of order. Unfortunately, we came across other interactive exhibits elsewhere in the museum that weren't working either. I'd have rated it four stars if it wasn't for this as it's quite an interesting place.

Aussie Music Festival! This was such an amazing time! Heaps…read moreof fun! The Newtown area took over one of their local parks, set up music stages and food trucks and rocked out! I absolutely had a great time! For a mere 5 bucks, you get a full day of entertainment and fun in the sun! There were a huge sampling of food trucks, beer booths, and beverage carts. They sold stuff that was much fancier than the regular fair fare. There were merchant booths selling everything from raunchy patches to Nepalese jewelry to boomerangs. They had lots of political activist groups educating the public on the dangers of fracking, the police, groups advocating for looser pub laws, and field hockey! You can even take classes on mulching and recycling! Restrooms were plentiful and clean. Drinking water was supplied for free as well. There was plenty of security and things felt safe. They sold plenty of beer- all locally made in the 'hood! There was a bag check at the gates, but they hardly did a good job of checking. After the festival was over, the party spills out on to the streets where the fun continues! If you're around for this festival, I highly recommend it.

Newtown Festival always seems to fall on the most humid day of November, year after year. Thus, a…read moreday at the festival involves a tonne of cold drinks, plenty of sunscreen (thankfully available from one stall every 50 metres), plenty of sunburn (no matter how you've tried to combat it) and oftena mild case of sunstroke. Plus, you may end up getting rained on at some point. But more often than not, it's worth it. Basically, Newtown festival is a giant market that takes up Newtown's iconic Camperdown Memorial Rest Park. At least 280 stalls stand shoulder to shoulder, selling and promoting everything from food and drinks (both alcoholic and non - I advise sticking to the non alcoholic early in the day to avoid the evil repercussions of the alcohol-heat combo) to skin cancer awareness stands (apt), hula hoop workshops, political activists, face painting, hula hooping, musical instruments, henna tattoos and plumbing services, as well as martial arts demonstrations, live theatre and street art, a writers' area and a huge kids contingent. Weaving your way through all these stalls will take hours - it's a slow and concerted effort making your way down the rows of stalls, each foot being placed carefully so as to not tread on someone elses as the entire population of the markets move as one like a slow motion school of fish. But once you've made your way to the end, you're rewarded with an open green in which to sit and listen to the line-up of local live bands on one of three stages and from experience, these bands are usually pretty good. The festival is free and it's a great way to sample what Newtown stands for whilst supporting the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre. Sunday 13th November 9:30am - 5:30pm

I took the evening tour as a solo traveler and it did not disappoint. I had grown use to my norther…read morehemisphere skies but was delighted to view life from the southern side. The tour was small and personal giving everyone a chance to look through the vintage telescopes. Located high above the city, it made for a beautiful evening of sightseeing.

Visiting the Sydney Observatory for the World Record Stargazing event was an unexpected surprise…read more Located in an out-of-the-way part of Sydney (due to the hill and the Harbour Bridge approach), I'd never been there before. The buildings are impressive, mainly built between 1857 and 1859 from beautiful Sydney sandstone. I also found it was free to enter the grounds and view the exhibits inside (I went back later to see the buildings during daylight). At the moment there is a wonderful exhibits of astronomical photography on. It does however cost for a tour during the day or evening ($10 for adults during the day, $18 in the evening), which includes entry to the planetarium and viewing through the telescopes - best done during the evening of course. The highlight for me was viewing the rings of Saturn through a telescope for the first time, plus taking part in my first world record!

Chicken & Sons in Chatswood is currently on hiatus so they've moved their services over to The…read moreGlasgow Arms Hotel in Ultimo, which is pretty awesome because that means it's closer to the CBD. There's a special going on right now called the Powerhouse Burger for $20, aptly named due to size and proximity to the Powerhouse museum. If you're hungry, get ready to chow down. This burger is pretty big, I mean just look at it. The beef was a great juicy medium rare. The toppings with Adam's special sauce was on point, and I really dug the burnt onion, but the bacon was slightly on the salty side. The milk bun was the biggest let down for this, as it was unusually dry and fell apart about halfway through. By the time I finished the burger I didn't really have a bun. Granted, it's a lot to hold for a bun, but one with a softer texture and taste would put this burger up there. Otherwise, great all around burger.

By the time I reached this pub I had ended visiting so many different places across Sydney that it…read morewas starting to get to that point where it was difficult to really see how one place stood out from the others, or more likely that I had visited so many really cool places, that the ordinary places were becoming pretty much boring. That was the case with this pub - it was boring. Okay, the staff were really nice, and there was a decent beer garden down the side, but beyond that there wasn't anything that really stood out about the place. As such I'd unlikely be paying it a visit again.