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Archive for April, 2010

Buying a car in Sydney

28 Apr

Eventhough public transport is the cheapest and the best option to travel around in Sydney, car is also another option to travel and also is affordable.

Here are some tips before you buy a car in Sydney:

  1. Know your own budget
    It’s quite popular to drive small car in big cities such as Sydney. So you can put that in mind to have small car to drive such as Toyota Yaris, Honda Jazz, Hyundai Getz or any other car make and year.
  2. Consider other costs
    On the top of the cost of the car you bought from seller, you need to be aware of other costs such as stamp duty, registration, transfer fee and insurance.
  3. Should I buy the car from private seller / dealer or at an auction?
    They are pretty much the same, beside the price might be slightly cheaper if you buy the car from private seller or at an auction. However they all have the same principle which you need to know someone who knows a little bit about machine or knows more about car than you do. It might comes in handy also if you have someone with you during the inspection, to help you to look for any defects on the car and stuff.

    Here are some website that can help you to find a car online in Sydney:
    (http://www.drive.com.au, http://www.carsales.com.au)

    If you want to buy a car from auction, the most famous auction place in Sydney is Pickles (http://www.pickles.com.au) that sells any cars (government, private or auction).

    If you want to buy a car from dealer, Parramatta Road is the famous street for car dealer that lies approximately 20 kms. So make sure that you have someone to help you to drive around to look for better deal.

  4. Check the ownership of the car
    Before you bought a car, you need to make sure that there is no debt / finance left from the previous owner by check the status of the car thru REVS which stands for Register of Encumbered Vehicles in New South Wales / Sydney – http://www.revs.nsw.gov.au
    Make sure you have 3 information that you must get those from the previous owner to check the status via REVS. They are Registration Number (if vehicle is registered), VIN (or chassis number) and Engine number
  5. Test drive
    Don’t forget to take test drive on the car beforehand. If you bring someone who knows machine/car more than you, ask him/her to feel the car when you do test drive.
  6. Transfer the registration
    If everything is alright and you ready to pay it. Make sure that you and the seller altogether transfer the registration of the car to the new owner which is YOU. Make sure that seller gives you the pink slip and completed the disposal notice, then take both of them to RTA office nearby. Instruction on how to do this can be found on the back / reverse of the registration papers.

 
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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Transportation

 

Sydney airport

21 Apr

If you want to see the schedule of your friend’s arrival or check the airline status (on schedule / landed / gate open etc…), you can check them on Sydney airport website.

URL: http://www.sydneyairport.com.au

Ph: +61 2 9667 9111

It covers:

  • International Arrivals
  • International Departures
  • Domestic Arrivals
  • Domestic Departures
  • Flight Information
  • Parking
  • Terminal Information
  • To and From the Airport

 
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Posted in Arrival in Sydney, Departure to Sydney

 

My Zone – Easier, simpler fares | From 18 April 2010

20 Apr

The NSW Government is reforming fares to make travelling easier and simpler for commuters.

URL: http://www.myzone.nsw.gov.au

Delivering for commuters

As public transport services continue to improve, the NSW Government is delivering a fairer, simpler and easier fare structure. This will make travel on public transport more attractive, particularly for long distance and multi-modal commuters.

New MyZone fares

Commuters want a simpler and easier way to travel. The NSW Government’s new fare structure will use existing ticketing equipment to create a simplre and easier fare structure.

The new structure, called MyZone, will streamline ticket products for government and private bus users, and the most commuters will pay around $57 per week, regardless of where or how often they travel on the network.

Private bus passengers will have multi trip tickets, valid for ten trips with no expiry date, for the first time. These new tickets will be valid on both government and private buses. Three new MyMulti passes will provide unlimited travel on buses an ferries, plus travel in three train zones.

MyTrain

Distance band:

  • Up to 10 km (Single: $3.2, Weekly: $25)
  • 10+ to 20 km (Single: $4, Weekly: $31)
  • 20+ to 35 km (Single: $4.6, Weekly: $37)
  • 35+ to 65 km (Single: 6, Weekly: $47)
  • 65 km+ (Single: $7.8, Weekly: $56)

MyBus (private and government buses)

Section travelled:

  • 1-2 (Single: $2, TravelTen: $16)
  • 3-5 (Single: $3.3, TravelTen: $26.4)
  • 6-16+ (Single: 4.3, TravelTen: 34.4)

MyFerry

Distance per single trip:

  • Up to 9 km (Single: $5.3, TravelTen: $42.2)
  • 9 km+ (Single: $6.6, TravelTen: $52.8)

MyMulti

  • MyMulti 1 (Weekly: $41, Day Pass: N/A)
  • MyMulti 2 (Weekly: $48, Day Pass: N/A)
  • MyMulti 3 (Weekly: $57, Day Pass: $20)

 
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Posted in Transportation

 

Sydney activities – Bushwalking

20 Apr

Here are the areas you can spend your day bushwalking in Sydney. Please be careful when you do bushwalking, make sure you bring compass, light colour jacket (easier to be seen from far in case you get lost), water, chocolate bar / food, lotion, bugs repeller and torch.

Berowra Valley

  • Berowra to Cowan via Berowra Waters (Time: 6 hrs, Length 12.2 km, Climb: 797 m, Style: one way)
    The view is excellent when you bushwalk explores the ridges and valleys around Berowra Waters and Berowra River area. Especially at Naa Badu Lookout which as a beatiful scenery. You can spend your lunch time around Berowra Waters, in the middle of the walk and if you didn’t bring your lunch, you can grab a bite to eat by taking free car-ferry across the river.
  • Berowra to Hornsby (Time: 9 hrs, Length: 19.7 km, Climb: 1,129 km, Style: one way)
    This route is one of the longer formal walks in Berowra Valley Regional Park and this walk mostly follows Berowra Creek along the Great North Walk. You can find an excellent view of the creek around places like Crosslands and Fishponds. Make sure to pace yourself and take regular breaks. Crosslands and Tunks Ridge Reserve are popular rest places.
  • Berowra Waters to Cowan Station (Time: 3 hrs 30 mins, Length: 6.7 km, Climb: 573 m, Style: one way)
    The hilly walk has many great views which are great excuses to take rest stops. Take your time to enjoy the views and rock formations along the way as the track leads a nearly direct route o Cowan Station.

Sydney Harbour

  • Taronga Zoo to Balmoral Beach (Time: 3 hrs, Length: 6.8 km, Climb: 328 m, Style: one way)
    This walk explores a great section of Sydney Harbour. The walk starts with view of the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and the views continue to get better as you explore bushland and the bays along the way. The walk also explores a historic section of the Harbour, including the fortifications at Bradley’s Head and Chowder Bay.

Botany Bay

  • Maroubra to La Perouse (Time: 5 hrs, Length 12.9 km, Climb: 409 m, Style: one way)
    Following the coastline of Botany Bay’s north side, you can have a spectacular view across the South Pacific ocean. It will take you through bushland, past beaches and around 2 golf courses. This track explores all the environments that the north side of Botany Bay has to offer.

Other than those places, Sydney offers a lot of places to have bushwalking such as Blue Mountains, Lane Cove, Norah Head, Ku-Ring-Gai Chase, and Georges River NP or perhaps Manly Dam.

 
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Posted in Tips & Tricks, What's on Sydney

 

Australian Working Holiday visa

06 Apr

Australian Working Holiday visa is one of the ways to move to Sydney temporarily. This visa scheme gives visa holder the right to work in Australia for up to 24 months. If you’re not sure about moving to Sydney, this visa scheme is one option you might consider of as it would be a great opportunity to spend a lot of time in Australia/Sydney, make lots of local friends or even work in some great industries you would never have imagined into at home.

The agreement is generally reciprocal and always seems to be expanding, so if your country isn’t listed, there is always a chance that a deal might be struck in the future and you will eligible for the visa. Please check with your local Australian Embassy or High Commission to see if your country has been added.

However to get a Working Holiday Visa for Australia is quick, easy and straightforward as long as you are holding passport from any of the following countries listed on below:

  • United Kingdom
  • Canada
  • Chile
  • The Netherlands
  • Japan
  • Ireland
  • South Korea
  • Malta
  • Germany
  • Denmark
  • Sweden
  • Norway
  • Hong Kong
  • Finland
  • Cyprus
  • France
  • Italy
  • Belgium
  • Estonia
  • Taiwan

Requirement:

  • You must be between 18 and 30 years old
  • You must have a valid passport with at least 1 year left until it’s expired
  • You must have sufficient fund to support yourself when you arrived in Australia
  • You must not have any serious criminal convinctions
  • You must not have any serious medical issues

Restrictions:

  • You may not apply for the first Working Holiday visa from within Australia
  • Work undertaken must be incidental to your travels (meaning you shouldn’t go there to work full time and start a career)
  • You may not work for the same employer for longer than six months

You can get this visa without any help from the agencies. It’s also possible to renew/extend the 12 month visa to 24 months by applying for a second Working Holiday visa. To be eligible for this , you must have worked in regional Australia in one of the following industries:

  • Plant / animal cultivation
  • Fishing
  • Tree farming
  • Mining and construction work

Good luck! :)

 
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Posted in Departure to Sydney, Immigration, Tips & Tricks

 

Sydney Activities

03 Apr

Living in Sydney could be really exciting things as there heaps of activities you could do. You can just spend the weekend away in a mountain which offers an excited bushwalking activities as well as many other things.

I will post an article about where you can go on separate article for each activity listed on below.

Here is the list of the activities you would want to do in Sydney on your leasure time:

  • Bushwalking
  • Canyoning
  • Cycling
  • Diving
  • Snorkelling
  • In-line skating
  • Sailing
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Surfing
  • Swimming
  • Whale & Dolphin watching
  • Horse riding
  • White-water rafting
  • Kayaking
  • Canoeing

 
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Posted in Arrival in Sydney, Tips & Tricks, What's on Sydney

 

Sydney Prices Guide

02 Apr

Here is the prices guide list of Sydney living cost (prices as per 2009-2010):

  • Accomodation: AUD 20 (hostel – average dorm bed) – AUD 190 (4 star hotel – standard room)
  • Transportation: AUD 1.9 (bus single – short distance) – AUD 58 (weekly ticket for bus/ferry/train)
  • Entertainment: AUD 3 (DVD rental), AUD 8 – AUD 15 (Cinema ticket)
  • Groceries: AUD 1.52 (Milk), AUD 6 (Ice Cream – Cadbury), AUD 2.5 (Large Eggs x 12), AUD 4.98 (Red Onion – 1 kg), AUD 7.49 (Whole chicken), AUD 23 (Sirloin Steak), AUD 4.02 (Orange Juice), AUD 2 (Soap), AUD 4.36 (Shower Gel), AUD 17 (Sunscreen – Nivea), AUD 7.48 (Shampoo), AUD 4.35 (Deodorant – Dove, 50ml), AUD 2.71 (Toothpaste – Colgate), AUD 3.26 (Toothbrush – Colgate)
  • Snack: AUD 1.9 (Water – Evian, 500ml), AUD 1.2 (Coke can)
  • Liquor: AUD 40.32 (Bundaberg Rum – 700ml), AUD 50.13 (Jack Daniels Whiskey), AUD 40.32 (Malibu)
  • Tobacco Products: AUD 12.59 (Marlboro 25 pack), AUD 11.17 (Cigar)
  • Fast Food: AUD 4 – AUD 15 (MacDonalds/Burger Kings/KFC - average meal/drink)

 
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Posted in Accomodation, Arrival in Sydney, Tips & Tricks