[Guest post] Tips for Future Visitors to Sydney, NSW

Another guest post from a Tennesse Dad in Oz!

-Christine

After spending the better part of two weeks in Sydney, here are a few tips offered for the benefit of future visitors.

First, it is highly recommended that you find and lay hands on copies of the two documents immediately below, and keep them with you at all times when venturing outside your immediate premises.

It is also recommended that you spend any spare time you have perusing and studying the map on the left. It contains ferry routes, train station locations, and major bus routes. Both documents have street maps of the central business district (CBD) as well. An Iphone-type device properly loaded with the correct app will probably work too, but paper devices are not subject to system failures and dead batteries. They will also work 100% of the time in the event of GPS satellite failures.

Secondly, since Australia is in the southern hemisphere, several things work opposite to what you might be used to. For instance, you’ve probably heard that flushed toilets will swirl in the opposite direction to what you may have observed in the northern hemisphere. I have no doubt this is true; however, every conventional toilet I have encountered flushes in a straight line without swirling at all. This is probably by design to help keep tourists from getting confused about where they are. If you encounter any swirling flushes, feedback would be appreciated to confirm or refute the theory.

More importantly, if you are used to using the sun as a means to obtain bearings for purposes of
navigation, remember that it will be to your north and shadows will be cast to the south. I unwittingly forgot this simple fact one day, and Nicki and I walked in the wrong direction in the CBD for a couple of blocks before realizing my error. Note: The sun will still track from east to west during the day, and will be unaffected by being downunder.

Owing to Australia’s past linkage with the UK, vehicles are driven in the left lane, not the right. Most visitors are aware of this, but there are some subtleties associated with this that visitors may not be aware of. For instance, as a rule, pedestrians are expected to walk on the left side of sidewalks, escalators, and stairs. If you find yourself being confronted with an oncoming tourist who insists in staying in your “lane”, he has probably not been in country very long and picked up on pedestrian etiquette. In such instances, the best practice is to offer grace, just shift to the right, and keep moving.

In addition and more importantly, before stepping off the curb to cross a street, always look first to the right, not the left. I know this is obvious, but it will not be instinctive, trust me. The authorities have thoughtfully painted this reminder in the street in the CBD in several locations. This is no doubt due to having to scrape up many tourists at those sites.

And finally, if you find yourself riding in a motor car and enter a very busy roundabout, it is normal to feel like you are about to be involved in a smash-up at any instant. I am not sure how long it takes to get over this feeling, but I can tell you it is longer than two weeks.

Have fun and no worries!