Jaunted

Jaunted Field Trips

The Rocks Market in Sydney

April 13, 2007 at 12:49 PM | 0 Comments

A while back on our Australian Field Trip, we hit up the Rocks Market held on Saturday and Sunday mornings right next to the Old Holiday Inn Sydney in the Rocks district.

Here you can walk up and down the block which is tented and find all sorts of charming little knick knacks such as jewelry, books, kiddie toys, artwork and clothing.

Our purchase was from Bristol and Brooks which makes handcrafted photo albums with a cutout design on the front. You can choose from 10 different designs in different background colors and these are mostly Australian, like Kangaroos, Koalas, the Harbor Bridge, and the Sydney Opera House. Also included is the 'magic dots' which help stick your photos to the page.

It's a tad touristy but at least it's not some mass-produced boomerang with the Australian flag printed on it. Although, they sell those at the Rocks Market too.

Picture of our photo album purchase after the jump.

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Restaurants

Sailor's Thai

March 2, 2007 at 12:04 PM | 1 Comment

Right now, we are jonesing for Thai food but the thing is no other Thai food will do but Sailor's Thai. This restaurant is located off George Street, near Circular Quay and was recommended to us by the guide book we bought for our trip to Sydney--Access Sydney from HarperCollins, which was excellent.

There are two dining areas--a more formal area and the canteen, where a long communal table can seat 50. What you're looking at in the picture above is a mix of crispy Siamese watercress salad with chicken and chile-lime dresssing, steamed vegetables, rice and Thai beef in a peanut curry sauce. Scrumpdillyumptious! Which is what we say when we really love something.

The atmosphere is fun--communal tables are great for meeting people--and the place is clean with a killer view of the harbour. Another good thing about this restaurant is the wine. Glasses were at reasonable prices, starting at $7 a glass compared to other places in town which were $12 or more.

We loved this place so much that after leaving Sydney for three days, we returned for one final night before heading back to the States. Guess where we chose to eat our last meal? Sailor's Thai.

Insider's Tip: If you can, try to snag one of the two tables on the balcony. They seat four a piece and look directly out at the water. That is, unless a cruise ship is docked.

Related Stories:
· Sailor's Thai reviews [CitySearch]
· Honeymooners Down Under [HotelChatter]

Zoos

Taronga Zoo Excursion

March 1, 2007 at 1:04 PM | 0 Comments

The Taronga Zoo in Sydney is worth checking out when in town. It's easy to get to--just hop a ferry from Circular Quay which then drops you off at the zoo's very own jetty in the Sydney Harbour.

Once you get off the ferry (about a 30-40 minute ride), you take a gondola, or Zoo Sky Safari, up to the top of the zoo's mountain and proceed to walk back down, stopping at different animal habitats along the way.

Perhaps a clever marketing scheme, as you exit the Zoo Sky Safari the first thing you see is the Animal Encounters Experience with koala bears, where an attendant will allow you an up-close look at the animals (no touching though) and then snap a professional picture of you and the koalas.

We bought this hook, line and sinker and posed with two sleepy koala bears in the background. Here's a picture of one of them.

More on the zoo including a Chimpanzees Gone Wild video after the jump.

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Qantas

Qantas Snack Pack Attack

February 28, 2007 at 1:15 PM | 1 Comment

We recently flew the LAX to Sydney route on Qantas for the first time. Actually, it was the first time we had ever flown non-stop for longer than nine hours. And after hearing that Qantas was having some trouble with its in-flight entertainment system, we were worried about how we would pass the time.

But luckily for us, the movie system worked and we proceeded to watch The Illusionist, The Black Dahlia, Flags of Our Fathers and everyone's favorite Aussie movie, Muriel's Wedding. Ok, maybe that's just our favorite movie. (On the return from Sydney we watched Volver, The Queen, Babel, and Love, Actually, thus allowing us to be sufficiently prepared for the Oscars.)

More after the jump...

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