Not as pretty as the Botanic Gardens in the city or at Mount Tomah but a lot more space to spread…read moreout, go for walks or ride your bike among the native plants & trees including several separate gardens & some fun mountain bike tracks that are graded green, blue & black depending on your skill level. Several BBQ & picnic areas which you can rock up & use or book if your having an event or if you prefer someone else to do the work the restaurant is quite reasonable for a coffee & snack or meal & drink & much cheaper than the ones in either of the other Botanic Gardens.

These gardens are a wonderful asset to the area. To make entrance free was a great decisions and…read moremeans I am now visiting regularly for work meetings at the cafe or enjoying the beautiful environment and wildlife. Great for inspiration for art. Also a winner for people visiting for overseas. So glad the stolen generation garden has been included. Have used the garden for a number of Aboriginal events.

I love this stadium. People complain about how small it is and how you have to schlep all the way…read moreto Homebush, but my answer to that is simple - stay home! Tell me how much you enjoy it on your 32inch disappointment! Getting to Olympic Park - if you don't take public transport you are an idiot. Good God, it's one of the only places that is designed to get you in and out as quick as possible (apart from your first girlfriend). The ground itself has the feel of a local ground with the facilities of a giant stadium. So close you can here the players fart! Enjoy whatever you are watching, it's a great family friendly place to go.

What a fantastic stadium!! It literally is spotless- super clean and comfortable. The oval is…read morereally great to walk around and check out the shops and food vendors. The choices of food vendors was enviable compared to what we typically have at ball games in the US (although they are getting much better). I wish we had options of kebab, shewarma, Asian food and lots of other great stuff!! The seats were solid and it seemed like no matter where you sat, you would have a decent view. Bathrooms were incredibly clean for a stadium (maybe this is common on the land of Oz?). I hope US sports team owners will visit stadiums in Australia if this is a similar experience I would have elsewhere. Top notch!

The Museum is 'old school'. What it isn't is an exhibition curated to within an inch of its life…read more Rather it is a display of once common items put together in a fairly raw way and yet in sync with the time period to which the objects belong. I am always looking for places that will interest my 86 year old father who is at the beginning of his Alzheimers journey. With no expectations this hit the spot. It is a small space, easy to look through, street parking, volunteers very happy to share stories and info and a good variety of items of which a number for both my father and myself were - "OMG I had one of those!" I would imagine that the museum would also be of interest to the quite young particularly if taken along with a grandparent who could also chime "OMG" etc. It is open only Wed and Saturdays so set one aside for a small pop out adventure.

There's this little RSL club near the train station. It has a fully stocked bar, a games room…read more(read: Pokies), pool/billiard tables, sitting area, auditorium/hall and a Chinese eatery (Wok Way) that serves Chinese and Western cuisine! Friendly staff and club members can be in instant prize draws most days. Love it!

OKTOBERFEST!!! Pork Knuckle, Bratwurst, pickled herring,…read moresteins and BEIR! During the humble year Concordia Club is a quiet croquet club catering to the tastes of the German expat community in and around Tempe. You can drop in on a Lazy Sunday afternoon for some deep fried Camembert, a schnitzel and a pint. However. For 2 weeks in September this place goes off. Concordia Club plays host to one of the best Oktoberfest celebrations in Sydney. Croquet Lawns disappear under a huge beer tent. Extra bars are set up. Bretzen go in the oven and thousands of pigs are sacrificed for the important tradition of eating crispy pork knuckle whilst downing as much German Beir as possible. Fantastisch!!

Pork knuckle...!!…read more P..o..r..k.. K..n..u..c..k..l..e..!!!! Not yet understanding my meaning yet? Kannst du Deutsch sprechren? No?? Even if you can't speak German, this totally awesome roast pork knuckle, served with a heap of German side dishes, speaks plenty. Served piping hot with a knife thrust through the crisp, glistening crackling, wafting up with a bit of Bavarian brilliance, this is a meal! You could say that I enjoyed it.... though... it would be more correct to suggest that I devoured it...! :-) I love food like this. Simple flavours done really well. Oh... did I mention beer? Perhaps having Warsteiner, DAB and Erdinger on tap might spark some interest? Let me just suggest from the offset that you take a train here (Tempe station is across the road), and *cough* properly research the available beer, you will not regret it... :-) P.S. Yes... this place does look like a RSL.... but the food and beer is awesome... so seriously... who cares.... :-)

My daughter had a wonderful day during the school holidays learning about stop animation. Very good…read morestudio spaces and facilities. Thank you

Art school in Leichardt is great for children, adults or even corporate bonding events such as…read morethemed christmas parties, or workshops to facilitate creative learning and teamwork. Courses are run throughout the school term as well as weekend workshops. They offers courses in different medium from oils to water-colours, and frequently run art competitions. The teachers are very experienced and thoughtful, so if you're indecisive on what to do, or how to do it, just ask. This makes for a very casual and relaxed atmosphere. There is a kitchen where you can prepare your own lunch during your lessons. They also run exhibitions there, so if you are an artist wanting space for an exhibition you can talk to Art Est for prices and deals. See their website for details on their classes for the upcoming term, and to see whether they have any exhibitions that could inspire your creativity.

Picture it. I'm on a tour of an historical home - Australia's OLDEST surviving homestead no less -…read moreand there's a kid putting his little sticky fingers all over every object he sees. It brings a tear to my history-lovin' eye. Because, for me, history has never just been words printed in a dusty old book by an equally dusty member of the academic elite. History SHOULD BE a multisensory experience for everyone of all ages. At good ol' Lizzie Farm...that's possible. For this, comrades, is a "museum without barriers." The house itself is, of course, the real Mccoy but everything in it is replica whilst remaining true to the period. So there is no stern lady pulling a cat's bum expression when you have a tinkle of the ol' ivories in the living room, throw on a lady's bonnet in the foyer, scale one of those insanely high beds they used to sleep on, pick up the chamber pot beneath, sit in the living room and read a newspaper from back in the day, or examine Elizabeth Macarthur's personal letters in her darling little letter-writing room. It is so well done, a few times I forgot everything was replica and stopped myself mid-touch only to remember that this action was both acceptable and actively encouraged by the guides! From the main area of the house you move into the sandstone courtyard area and look upon the female convicts' quarters. To the right is a beautiful big tree in the main courtyard area (could it be more serene here???? ) and to the left you can head off to the colonial kitchen with its entrance step worn down by countless shoes over the centuries and where you'll find a peep hole into the cellar beneath! (They think it was possibly for spying on the cons in case they were slacking off but also was good for ventilation). I want this kitchen. Heck! I want this house. They don't make 'em like they used' t' could! In that charming kitchen, the guide informed us, the wee'uns can make scones as part of the "Colonial Kids" program they also offer at the site. For the same program, the cellar below is closed off and darkened and is thereby transformed into the hull of a prison ship. The guide demonstrated this for us briefly and you could really appreciate how it would help children to imagine what it was like to be a convict being transported across the seas for the difficult months-long voyage. Even if you have been here before, go again! Not only is it a beautiful place to wile away a few hours,* it is also a place that changes over time as new historical research uncovers more information about the ways the original inhabitants used these rooms. Chances are, then, that the room you viewed once may now tell a different story to the one you heard previously. Our guide informed us that tours for large groups can also be tailored; e.g. if a girls' school visits they might like a feminist history angle so the tour will focus on Elizabeth Macarthur. You also have multiple options regarding how you interact with the site. There are guided tours, which are extremely engaging and informative and you are free to spend as much time as you like roaming around the site inspecting the rooms and objects at the conclusion of the guided tour. Or, if you've taken the tour before, you can opt for a self-guided tour from the get-go. The interactivity of the site is heightened by the optional iPad experience. Borrow one from the visitors' centre and click on a room in the house as you stand or sit in it and watch a short video clip with supplementary information about the room's history. They've thought of everything! The guided tour of Lizzie Farm is only 1 hour long approximately, but I bet you'll find it hard to pry yourself away from here after just one hour! I recommend you do this tour then walk (or drive) around the corner to John Macarthur's "Hambledon Cottage." Just don't think you can put your sticky fingers on the stuff at Hambledon Cottage...(it ain't replica) or there shall be cat's bum expressions aplenty. * Review originally written and posted 2 March 2013.

As I came up the hill through the little reserve, I started thinking strategically. If I was a…read morecolonial capitalist I'd pick that spot to make visible my wealth too. Defensible. Elizabeth Farm is the Macarthur's (wool industry guru) bungalow built in 1793, a stop on the Harris Farm Heritage Walk. Already stymied by calendrical difficulties at Hambledon Cottage, I found the situation worse here. Cue self-induced thwack to the head mark two. Ouch. It's only open Friday to Sunday, except January and school holidays when it's open all day. Still, got a good peek round the outside, including what must be one of the first long veradahs in Australian architecture (borrowed from India, I know). The grounds and green and lush and there were quite a few gardeners around keeping everything so. Had a giggle at the 'Eliz Farm' wheelie bin out the front too. Maybe it was the repeated blows to the head. Will update anon.

The Athletic Centre has just finished a state of the art track replacment based on the best…read moreEuropean tracks in the World. This is the best facility of its kind in Australia