Sydney Affairs

What is it that makes Sydney so Sydney? Is it the world renowned Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House surrounded by a startlingly blue harbour? Is it the vibrant feeling of positivity and energy? Is it the many beaches, the natural beauty or the mafical little places around every corner? Or is it the huge array of delicision dining options?

An ordinary day at the Sydney Central Business District (CBD). I took this photo while walking to Sydney’s Darling Harbour. Most Buildings here consists of apartments and offices. The greatest challenge in this area is to find a parking space. Like most cities, Sydney has one of the most expensive parking fees ranging from about $8.00 to $15.00 an hour! It’s really better to go to the CBD by train or bus.

Like any other new immigrant to this beautiful city of Sydney, Australia, our goal is to own a home. If we really decide to stay here permanently, one of the toughest challenge is to hunt for a house that is affordable. However, March figures shows that Sydney’s median house price is $595,745 according to the Australian Property Monitors. It’s a figure that break the hearts of first home buyers! It was reported that it is almost double what it was a decade ago. So who’s driving the house prices?

A recent news on the television reveals that foreign investors are under scrutiny. The federal government has admitted its new crackdown on foreign investors is an acknowledgment that Australian first-home buyers are being priced out of the market. There have been anecdotal claims of foreign investors – especially wealthy Chinese families – ‘stockpiling’ Australian houses and leaving them idle, and of outbidding young people at auctions.

So what’s the government doing? The Associated Press reported that “the federal government on Friday announced a tightening of foreign investment rules in an attempt to reduce pressure on housing availability. It means temporary residents wanting to buy in Australia will need to be screened and approved beforehand. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says changes to foreign investment laws will make it easier for Australians to get into the real estate market.” The tightening of foreign investment rules require temporary residents to be screened and get permission from the Foreign Investment Review Board to buy a property, sell their property when they leave Australia and build on vacant land within 24 months or sell.

At the moment, it’s really a challenge to just hunt for a house to buy. There’s a big shortage of housing in Sydney. The same challenge if you are looking for a place to rent. Rent is not cheap and on the average it is about $450 a week.

A news article in The Sydney Morning Herald Sydney reported that “Sydney is by far the cheapest Australian city to buy petrol, with pump prices dropping by 4.2 cents per litre in the past week. The national average for unleaded petrol eased 0.8 cents per litre to 128 cents, the Australian Institute of Petroleum said in its latest weekly report released on Monday.  The metropolitan average fell 1.2 cents per litre to 127.3 cents, led by the sharp fall in Sydney, while the regional average eased 0.2 cents per litre to 129.3 cents.”

My experience so far is that the above prices are generally petrol pump prices in major petrol stations like Shell, Caltex, BP, or Mobil. Petrol prices from independent retailers that are normally located in most Sydney suburbs is cheaper by few cents.

While some major groceries like Coles and Woolworths offers petrol discount vouchers, I do not find it useful because their participating petrol stations are limited. One funny experience I had was with my Woolworth Everyday Reward Card which offers 5 cents off petrol. I went to a Caltex station to avail such discount and confidently,  I hand in my everyday reward card to the attendant at the payment counter. I must mention that the Caltex logo appears on the reward card. But to my surprise, the attendant tactfully adviced that only Caltex operated by Woolworth honor such card! Their Caltex station is not one of them. How will I know? There’s no way I can tell. Whew! I was misled by the logo to be honest. So, I just smiled and walked away as if nothing had happened.

Driving to Jenolan Caves in one sunny day was an exhilarating experience for me and my family. Approximately 177 kilometers away from the City, Jenolan offers an entirely different wonder of God’s creation. As soon as we reach Jenolan, we were welcomed by an amazing Grand Arch which serves as the common entrance to the different caves.

Jenolan Caves are without question, Australia’s most impressive limestone caves. The caves were discovered in 1838 by a convict bushranger. There are nine show caves open to the public with spectacular lighting, underground rivers, and cave formations that will surely amaze anyone.

 

Our tour guide who took us through one of the the caves demonstrated a crystal clear limestone rock using a torch. 

 

Can you see the stage performers? a theater formation inside Jenolan

Fine dripping stalactites

Well-built walkways and ladders made it easier for us to view most parts of the cave

It take hundreds of years for spectacular formation such as this.

An angel’s wing? probably…figure it out.

Giant needles?

Friendly colorful birds playing with my son

How to get to Jenolan Caves

There is no public transport to Jenolan Caves, but it is a pleasant drive. There is plenty of free parking at Jenolan.

Driving

From Sydney, take the M4 Motorway travelling west through the Blue Mountains, Katoomba and Mt. Victoria on the Great Western Highway. Shortly after Victoria Pass, the Jenolan Caves turnoff is found just past the village of Hartley. Turning left, this road passes through Hampton and finally Jenolan Caves.

The trip offers spectacular scenery on a sealed road that can be completed comfortably in 2½ hours from Parramatta. If you have time, explore the Blue Mountains along the way.

If you are visiting Jenolan from the direction of Sydney, Katoomba and Lithgow, the last secti
on of the road into the Jenolan Valley is one way from 11.45am to 1.15pm everyday. This allows coaches to enter Jenolan safely on the narrow road. Visitors can still leave Jenolan during these times – via the Oberon Road which is now fully sealed. (Source: http://www.jenolancaves.org.au/)

The controversial MyZone of the NSW Government will be tested today. It introduces a new fare structures on trains, ferries, and public and private buses for travelers in and around greater Sydney, the Central Coast, the Hunter and the Illawarra.

Nine out of 10 fares are the same or cheaper under the new MyZone, although some ferry trips will cost more.  You can view the fare comparison at the MyZone website.  Are you saving some bucks or did it cost more out of your pocket? 

One of basic features of MyZone is that the number of Sydney travel zones has been reduced from 20 to just five. Commuters have the option of buying MyBus, MyTrain and MyFerry tickets, or a MyMulti ticket which lets them to travel on all three modes of transport.