Frommer's Australia from $50 a Day 13th Edition - To Parent Directory

FAST FACTS: SYDNEY 105
top floor of the International Terminal at Sydney International Airport
(& 02/9667 9583). For stuff left behind on buses or ferries, call & 02/9245
5777. Each taxi company has its own lost property office.
Luggage Storage You can leave your bags at the International Terminal
at the airport. A locker here costs A$5 (US$3.25) per day, or you can put
them in the storage room for A$7 (US$4.55) per day per piece. The room
is open from 4:30am to the last flight of the day. Call & 02/9667 9848 for
information. Otherwise, leave luggage at the cloakroom at Central Station,
near the front of the main building (& 02/9219 4395). Storage at the
rail station costs A$4.50 (US$2.90) per article per day. The Travelers Contact
Point, 7th floor, 428 George St., above the Dymocks bookstore (& 02/
9221 8744), stores luggage for A$15 (US$9.75) per piece per month. It also
operates a poste restante service, has Internet access, a travel agency, a
jobs board, and ships items to the U.K. and Ireland.
Newspapers The Sydney Morning Herald is considered one of the world’s
best newspapers—by its management at least—and is available throughout
metropolitan Sydney. The equally prestigious Australian is available
nationwide. The metropolitan Daily Telegraph is a more casual read and
has a couple of editions a day. The International Herald Tribune, USA
Today, the British Guardian Weekly, and other U.K. newspapers can be
found at Circular Quay newspaper stands and most newsagents.
Pharmacies Most suburbs have pharmacies that are open late. For afterhours
referral, contact the Emergency Prescription Service (& 02/9235
0333).
Police In an emergency dial & 000. Make non-emergency police inquiries
through the Sydney Police Centre (& 02/9281 0000).
Post Office The General Post Office (G.P.O.) is at 130 Pitt St., not far from
Martin Place (& 13 13 18 in Australia). It’s open Monday through Friday
from 8:30am to 5:30pm and Saturday from 10am to 2pm. Letters can be
sent c/o Poste Restante, G.P.O., Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia (& 02/9244
3733), and collected at 310 George St., on the 3rd floor of the Hunter Connection
shopping center. It’s open Monday through Friday from 8:15am to
5:30pm. For directions to the nearest post office, call & 1800/043 300.
Restrooms These can be found on the second floor of the Queen Victoria
Building (QVB), most department stores, at Central Station and Circular
Quay, near the escalators by the Sydney Aquarium, and in the Harbourside
Festival Marketplace in Darling Harbour.
Safety Sydney is an extremely safe city, but as anywhere else, it’s good to
keep your wits about you and your wallet hidden. If you wear a moneybelt,
keep it under your shirt. Be wary in Kings Cross and Redfern at all
hours and around Central Station and the cinema strip on George Street
near Town Hall station in the evening—the latter is a hangout for local
gangs, though they’re usually busy holding each other up for their sneakers.
Other places of concern are the back lanes of Darlinghurst, around the
naval base at Woolloomooloo, and along the Bondi restaurant strip when
the drunks spill out after midnight. Several people have reported thieves
at the airport. If traveling by train at night, travel in the carriages next to
the guard’s van, marked with a blue light on the outside.