Sydney Archives - Traveling U

Unconventional Accommodations: Vacation Rentals

Marissa’s Birthday celebration in our Melbourne Rental home.

Our beautiful beach rental in Torquay, Australia. We really wanted to stay longer…

The world of Vacation Rentals has drastically changed. When we can’t find a home or hospitality exchange or if we are staying for an extended period of time we have found vacation rentals are the best option. We recently had the opportunity to stay in Australia for three months moving from Melbourne to Sydney to Brisbane and the places we rented were both affordable and incredible. Once again you get the true feeling of being part of another community and culture. We had people over weekly for dinner and to learn about where we should go in the surrounding area. Vacation rentals have all the benefits of home exchanges but with a cost. Usually the cost is as much as half that of a hotel and so the savings here also help the bottom line of the travel budget. Plus you get more room, a kitchen and great neighbors.

These are a few photos of our fun chic rental apartment in Sydney, Australia.

In Australia, we rented two and three bedroom apartments for around $120 per night. If you were to get a similar size hotel room it would cost well over $300 per night.

www.airbnb.comhas drastically changed the vacation rental industry. In the past the big boys were www.vrbo.comand we still check out their options but have found Airbnb to have an incredible selection and an easy interface to find what you want where you want it. It is also easy to pay and if you are on business, easy to expense. Other sites you pay for in cash and receipts are not quite up to travel expense report standards. Keep in mind that on many home exchange sites they will offer vacation rentals too. These are often at very low cash, paid at the time of rentals. It is always good to look there first and then venture into other sites. Rental sites often cater to special accommodation options like cabin rentals or boat rentals – so do your homework and search for the one that best fits your needs.

Here is our adorable neighbor Taj admiring his artwork that adorned our apartment we rented from his parents, a lively ‘Beach Shack’ in Brisbane.

The view from our window…. wow!

Alps+friends+of+nature+house+switzerland+2

This is the beautiful Swiss Chalet that the Kluth’s rented for us while in the Swiss Alps, complete with cowbells ringing in the morning to wake you up, fresh crisp air, intoxicating green everywhere you look and fabulous prices for a night stay. They are called the ‘Friends of Nature’ houses. At the time we went, it was $10-20 Euros a night… WOW!

Ultimately the way we travel is simple and flexible. Have your top ten destinations that you want to go. When you find airfare that is cheap for any of them, that’s the one you take. Then find the accommodations that fit your needs best. When you are rigid in your travel plans, you usually spend much more because you don’t look at any other options. We hope you discover the world as we have and you find incredible ways to travel your way both inexpensively and free.

We wish they would rent these out… we would be first in line!

Free?

We love the FREE Walking Tours that are offered in Melbourne and Sydney. In the 3 hours that you tour those cities you come away with a rich understanding of it’s upbringings, secrets, history and interesting stories. If you think the wild west only takes place in America, you are sadly mistaken. You may want to read up on Ned Kelly (or watch the movie but be forewarned there is lots of wild west shooting).

Selfie sticks can be a lifesaver…. and sometimes they are just too much fun.

There is a very interesting story behind this pig and because of it people rub it in two prominent places for good luck. Marissa only would touch one spot, smart girl!

The Martin’s found their ‘Australian’ Place.

Debbie and Keaton were in search of ‘Bugs’ for dinner. They are quite famous in Sydney and not at all what you think. We know what you are thinking because we thought the same thing. What kind of ‘Bug’ would they eat in Australia. We’ve been to countries where ‘bugs’ were definitely on the menu and you wanted nothing to do with them. We were glad to find out that ‘Bugs’ here in Australia mean small lobster type creatures which are very tasty. The ones in Sydney are called Moreton Bay Bugs.

We ended our day enjoying the time with the missionaries, Summer and Cherry.

And Australia makes three!

Our great friends from Chicago came to visit. We started our vacations together in China when they joined a tour we were hosting. The next year we met in Island Park, Idaho for some great snowmobiling with a few families. Now they came to visit us in Australia. We can now say we have vacationed on 3 continents together. We couldn’t wait to see what the next week together would hold.

Keaton and Debbie had arrived early that morning… how do they look so awake and rested after such a long flight? They do have their own secret for that but we will let them share it:) We knew that they needed to stay awake as long as they could and then they would acclimate better to the new time. With that said we planned moving activities, so why not walk to downtown Sydney with the outdoor market, street performers, and lots of fresh air.

Dale and Debbie to see if they could take on a new look…. they opted to not keep these for good. Thank goodness!

This contortionist was not only nibble but she was hilarious. We stood for over 15 min. watching her on the pier by the Sydney Opera House in the distance.

We ended our long day by taking them for a traditional New Zealand meal. The local LDS ward in Sydney was having a family dinner with the big NZ meal cooked underground as it is traditonally done.

This delicious traditional New Zealand meal is called the ‘Hangi’ which means Earth Oven. Historically the Maori’s used this method of cooking meat and vegetables in the ground which gives it a smokey taste. We were lucky enough to experience the full meal cooked just as it was traditionally done. Everything had a wonderfully smokey taste. As they say, “Kaore te kumara e korero motona ake reka”.

Travel Saving Tips:

1- We planned the day of activities with our friends that would not cost anything (while trying to keep them awake and moving all day because they had just flown in that morning – the best way to beat jet lag is to get on the same sleeping schedule of the country you are in). We walked around downtown to some outdoor markets, watched the entertainment on the pier by the Sydney Opera House, & a ‘Hangi’ dinner at our local church. FREE.

2- Keaton is quite the sailor (Yep, at 16) and because ‘Sailing on Sydney Harbor’ was on his bucket list we were able to join. Debbie looked for different offers on various sites such as Groupon, etc… to find the best price to hire out a boat. You can also just google discounts and see what comes up.

Can you feel the breeze off the water?

The Martin’s were off early in the morning for Keaton to do a little scuba diving off of Shelly Beach. While they enjoyed the morning in the sun, we decided we wanted to attend church but Michelle didn’t feel too great as she had just finished with a cold a few days before which now was aggravating her asthma and sinuses. After church we did a little Clinic shopping but could not find anything open so we opted for a few things from the pharmacy and a long nap.

Sunday evening’s weather was so perfect for our ‘Once in a lifetime boating in Sydney Harbor’ experience. The Martin’s treated us to this as Keaton is a sailor and it was on his bucket list to command a boat here… we had a great captain that let him do just that (while keeping good taps on everything). Keaton did a such phenomenal job that Marissa (and I) who both get deathly seasick unless we have our trusted friends (Dramamine or Bonine) LOVED every minute of it. Marissa was a bit timid about the idea at first but afterwards we are pretty sure she would go for a few more hours, if she could!

Look at that… Keaton at the wheel with the Sydney Opera House and Bridge in the background! Beautiful!

Debbie relaxing while taking in the view.

Marissa having her Titanic moment.

Dale was happy to learn a few tricks about sailing while Keaton was still at the helm.

The City was starting to come alive just behind us, everything a glow.

Keaton finally took just a few minutes to sit and enjoy some dinner served by some culinary wizards, Michelle and Costco (mostly the latter)!

Apparently Marissa didn’t think Dale was carrying enough.

A beautiful night with incredible memories!

Sydney has lots of …..

….Beaches!

We now get to find out what life will be like living 15 min. from the beach. Marissa is not sure she is up for this challenge BUT she is willing to take this challenge on!

Now that it is a week after our arrival and we have both had a ‘bit’ too much sun, we are taking a break from the beach for a few sad days. We wanted to spend almost everyday down here exploring as much as we could. Though some days were just finding that happy place by taking a short nap with some music on while listening to the waves hit the shore.

Dale found this wonderful ‘Beach Bath’. We all went for a ‘dip’ (a bit more Aussiness jumping out) one afternoon. Dale checked out the snorkeling in this area of Coogee Beach while Marissa and I slowly reveled in the extremely cold water before finally just taking the plunge. Because the tide was coming in rather quickly it kept pushing us farther and farther so we finally hopped out once we were able to finally stop laughing…. we just got the giggles and couldn’t stop.

The laughing just intensified when we returned to our apartment and found that the key for our place had fallen out of Dale’s pocket on the beach – somewhere. It was now dark and Dale had to climb to get to our 2nd story window. Marissa and I were holding our breath as he climbed so we forgot to get a photo. You will just have to use your imagination (Yep, it was as ‘Spidermanish’ as you can get, without the suit).

Beautiful Coogee Beach.

The view of the Women’s Beach Baths which is insanely gorgeous and serene, we just needed to be strategic on which direction we aimed our camera since many women like to enjoy the freedom of not having males there…almost anything goes.

We finally took Marissa to see the infamous ‘Sydney’. We wandered through all the historical streets close to the wharf, amongst all the architectural beauties that bless this gleaming city. We found a little seaside outdoor market at the “The Rocks”.

Dale has always felt unstoppable, so why not try the hottest chili “Carolina Reeper Pepper” sauce? 100 times hotter then a jalapeño, supposedly the hottest pepper, even more then the Ghost Pepper. After Marissa and I stopped laughing we could finally be of assistance: running for a drink, grabbing some bread to help ease the heat, and of course, taking a video:)! Which he has banned us from posting. Heartbroken.

Marissa receives credit for this pano of one of the world’s most famous icons and cities. She is taking orders!

Travel Saving Tips:

1- All of our beach experiences so far have been Free including all the beach baths EXCEPT the Women’s Beach Baths… it is an outrageous 20 cents – what a deal!

2- We didn’t have to pay for anything on our fun filled day in Sydney except our bus fare to get there (and lunch-see #3). It is much easier to do this then fight traffic, find a parking place and pay the exorbitant amount of $ it costs to park downtown.

3- For lunch we did decide to eat in Sydney. As you walk through town notice which restaurants offer daily specials. Last time we were here we happened upon this classically old European style building by the wharf which offers a few $10 meals, so we ordered two and shared. They were big enough that two was plenty for the three of us.

We spent the morning out for a walk and look what we found….

We spent the morning out for a walk and we found the cutest little girl out feeding the birds with her Dad.

A perfect morning…. just out feeding the birds.

Through the recommendation of someone we met at the Wildlife Park we joined a Free Walking Tour of Sydney….. did we just say FREE? Yes, we did! This is our most favorite way to vacation. This is a 3 hour walking tour, so not for ‘Tired Feet’.

Our walking group by ‘Free Tour’ (imfree.com.au)

There is a story behind why she is rubbing the nose…. that might be a story for later!

(possibly fertility… but maybe you needed to rub another area for that one:)

And who does this look like…. Queen “WHO”?

This is their ‘Bird Cage Walkway’ representing
the many different birds found in Australia.

We learned a lot about
Sydney’s culture and history
along with the experience
of meeting others in our
group from many faraway
places.

Here is the talking dog head of one of their adoring Queens.
It actually talks… a little disconcerting but entertaining!

Aborigine playing his ‘Didgeridoo’

After the walking tour, we did even more walking around the city where we ran across an Aborigine who WOW’d us with his musical abilities on his Didgeridoo. Just making a digeridoo is a talent all it’s own!

We couldn’t leave Sydney without a night shot of this amazing icon.

Amongst some the tasty tidbits we learned about Sydney, we understand that the man responsible for designing the Sydney Opera House was not invited to the premiere (we are sure there is much more to that story).

Did we mention all the walking that day? Why not a bit more walking that evening just to get the evening shots of Sydney. Though it was worth the extra blisters, heat, and long day we were ready to do a little less the next day…thankfully we were flying to Melbourne, so sit back and relax.

New Year’s the Aussie way.

Aussies take New Years to a whole new level… it is serious business here. You must book reservations months in advance at very expensive prices for dinner and watching –

to complete parties otherwise everything else shuts down. We opted to hike to a great spot and watch but after hours of walking we were told that they had sold tickets for a “watching” spot at the top of the park.

IMG_3712+(1)

Aussies celebrating for 2015

Because Dale’s exciting date (Moi) was having a migrane coming on, I knew I needed to find dinner and some tylenol quick before it turned into a storm of a headache. Because everything was closed down but a local fruit stand I asked there for tylenol to buy but they didn’t sell it so she kindly gave me some of hers. During the couple minutes I was in there getting that, the only other small cafe closed…. headaches and needing food make you bold….I saw someone and tapped on the glass, he nodded at me and opened up. They were very kind as they prepared a little something for us. The kindness of strangers makes life a little sweeter!

We found ourselves a great little spot on the corner and watched 2015 being ushered in grand style from in Sydney. They were simply incredible!

Travel saving insights:

1- Don’t pay big prices for all activities….. fireworks can be seen from many places (and tickets for sydneys started at $35 for a faraway crowded seat at a park – dinner at a downtown restuarant with a view could be anywhere from $300 and up).

2- Don’t be afraid to ask – even if they look closed.

3- Don’t be afraid to ask – even if they don’t sell it.

4- Always look for an alternative idea to activities you would like to attend.

Tag: Sydney