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Active Travel / Sydney Travel / Bridges / → All Tags

Sydney Harbour's Express BridgeClimb is Made for Travelers with Little Time

One of the most sought-after tourist experiences in Sydney, and one that almost every visitor seems to do while in town, is climbing the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge with BridgeClimb. But it’s not just international travelers that come to admire the breathtaking views from the top of the “Coat Hanger’s” arch. Thirty-five percent of the over 2.5 million climbers who've scaled the structure since BridgeClimb began in 1998 have been Australians. Yeah, they seem pretty proud of it.

However, during a recent visit to Sydney, we were hesitant about booking a climb ourselves since the two traditional experiences—the classic Bridge Climb and the engineering fantasist’s Exploration Climb—last a whopping 3.5 hours. That’s a pretty daunting prospect for the small of bladder and the short of time. So imagine our excitement when we learned that the newest climbing experience at BridgeClimb, the Express Climb, takes only two hours.

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Airport Lounges / Photo Gallery / Qantas / First Class Travel / SYD / Sydney Travel / Airports / → All Tags

Inside the Qantas First Lounge at Sydney Airport

As we continue our Airport Lounges Series, we bring you an inside look at Qantas’s much ballyhooed First Class Lounge at the Sydney Airport.

Not only is the luxury oasis a sprawling complex of comfort with two deluxe snack bars, a restaurant helmed by one of Australia’s most famous chefs, and a spa with complimentary treatments designed to ease the stress of long-haul air travel, but the place is also just plain cool to hang out in thanks to its design by Australia’s golden boy designer, Marc Newson, who’s also responsible for the streamlined look of Qantas’ new A380’s.

On our way back from Sydney to Los Angeles last week, we got the chance to go inside the First Lounge and take a look around. Then we made ourselves comfortable, tried out a spa treatment, ordered practically everything on the restaurant menu, tasted all the Australian wines, and played around on the lounge’s free wifi. Yeah, we were a little early. So what? We did it all for you, and we’ve even got a photo gallery to prove it, as well as a video walk-through.

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Jaunted in Sydney / → All Tags

The Lost Jaunted Sydney Videos

Last week, Jaunted Embed markj went on the VAustralia inaugural and then spent a couple days in Sydney waiting to return stateside.

Much like the rest of the world, Australia is feeling this global recession. Let's face it, most folks see Australia as a far away expensive land, so dream trips to Oz are easily dashed during tough times on the grounds of "it is just too far and too expensive."

However, there is no doubt one of the positive bi-products of this "recession which will lift by the end of the year" is that traveling to Australia has never been more comfortable and less expensive for Americans. Fact: Now that VAustralia is flying from LAX to SYD (and Melbourne later this year), Qantas has found itself in a fare war that have lowered USA - AU flights to an astounding $299 or so each way. These prices may even head lower when Delta starts service on these routes in July, so watch your favorite travel sites.

Still not convinced? The Aussie Dollar is at right around .60 cents to ours, and there are rumors that Aussie officials are kicking around the idea of actually paying for your flight. Ok, enough with the hard sell, just take a look at what we learned in Sydney Australia 2.0

· Jaunted has Twitter followers in Bondi Junction, follow @carlyeinfeld.

· Our new travel Twitter friend, @lilyroseallen does a bang up job posting "Killer Hotel Views".

· Flip Mino HD will change the way you feel about lugging around a video camera on vacation

After the jump, enjoy the entire video reel from Sydney. No dramas, mate.

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Jaunted in Sydney / Seaplane Tours / Air Tours / Attractions / → All Tags

Seaplanes Over Sydney

We just rode shotgun in a most excellent seaplane tour over Sydney. Before we took off, Pilot Andy let it be known that in his opinion there were few things better than riding in a seaplane, and he was right on. Take off, which you can watch in the above video was smooth and once airborne we put on our headsets and listened to Andy school us on a bit of aviation history as we cruised 1,000 feet above Sydney Harbour.

The quick tour takes you Southeast down the dramatic coastline a bit to Bondi Beach. At Bondi the plane circles back and affords you views of the Northern Beaches and, of course, the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. After you pass Circular Quay you begin a quick decent, smoothly splashing down into Rose Bay.

The tour will run you $225 AU and you can get to Rose Bay easily by taking one of the Sydney ferries at Circular Quay (the green & white ones).

If you want to check out the Inner Harbour view video, it is after the jump. If you want to catch up on all our Jaunted in Sydney videos, you can watch them here.

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Jaunted in Sydney / Animals / Sydney Botanical Gardens / → All Tags

Do Not Touch The Giant Fox Bats (Um, Ok)

Walking through the Sydney Botanical Gardens after a quick lunch today we heard what sounded like Tucan birds screaming from the trees. With Australia being the land of crazy animals, we figured we weren't hearing your garden variety squawking crow, so we glanced up at the nearest tree and there they were -- tens of giant fox bats, probably over 100 in all.

In perfect Aussie fashion there was a sign under these trees that says:

DO NOT TOUCH THE FLYING FOXES
For many years Grey-headed Flying-foxes have been seasonal visitors to the Royal Botanic Gardens. At night these large bats feed on the flowers and fruits of many native plants and they are important in pollinating flowers and dispersing seeds of these species.

However, as you can see by looking around the Palm Grove, the bats that have set up camp in the Gardens are damaging the trees they roost in. For this reason, the Royal Botanical Gardens has been given a license to use non-harmful methods to discourage the bats from roosting here.

As far as the bat-touching goes, duly noted but we aren't keen to touch some bats. We wouldn't touch a normal bat, let alone a dinosaur flying fox bat. Would you?

Related Stories:
· Jaunted in Sydney [Jaunted]
· Royal Botanical Gardens [Official Site]

New South Wales Field Trip / Art Galleries / Museums / → All Tags

Cat Skeletons And Funky Art

Our very own Aussie, Amanda Kendle, just returned from a trip to New South Wales, where the summer fun is in full swing.

Since Sydney is the biggest city Down Under, it's no surprise that it's a damn good place to get cultural. Yet after half a dozen visits, our latest trip was the first time we ended up in a couple of museums.

We started out at the Australian Museum up near Hyde Park, which sounded like it should sum up the whole country in one small-ish building. It didn't, as it's instead one of those natural history places full of stuffed animals that we used to love as kids. The exhibits are modern and there are tons of those weird Aussie animals, plus a cute display of typical living room skeletons--including this cat skeleton which impressed us no end.

At the other end of town, in the Rocks area, we checked out the Museum of Contemporary Art in a gorgeous old building recently saved from demolition. There are five floors of galleries including some video installations and a floor of their newest acquisitions. Development plans mean the MCA will get a new wing and huge renos by 2011. Yay for more funky culture, we say.

Related Stories:
· Museum of Contemporary Art [Official Site]
· Australian Museum [Official Site]
· New South Wales Field Trip [Jaunted]
· Sydney Travel coverage [Jaunted]

New South Wales Field Trip / Australia Travel / Gardens / → All Tags

Hunter Valley Gardens Break Up Vineyard Monotony

Our very own Aussie, Amanda Kendle, just returned from a trip to New South Wales, where the summer fun is in full swing.

The Hunter Valley is famous for having more than 100 wineries to visit, but curiously the most successful tourist attraction there isn't a vineyard: It's a grape-free garden.

Aptly named the Hunter Valley Gardens, this place is owned by the same people who once owned the Nutrimetics skin products empire, so you know they've got money to plant. Located in the middle of all the vineyards, HVG markets itself as "the easy escape." (When we got lost trying to find a path back to the entrance, we found that kind of ironic.)

But we only got lost because the place is so huge and so distracting. From the Chinese garden through to the relive-your-childhood storybook garden, and then up the hill to a chapel where weddings are regularly held, even a nature-hater would find something to like here.

HVG runs regular thematic events like Christmas night lights and Easter specials, so time your visit right for a little something extra. Entry is A$20 ($14), and we suggest stopping by before you visit too many wineries--or you might get even more lost than we did.

Related Stories:
· Hunter Valley Gardens [Official Site]
· Clubbing for Seafood [Jaunted]
· New South Wales Travel coverage [Jaunted]