Andrew - Liz F's C.R.A.F.T syndrome stands for "Can't Remember a F...... Thing" - I've got it too.

When you stay here Andrew, remind us to tell you of our first guests from Albuquerque(SP?) - if can remember it!

Well, Liz, that was a long time ago now, but the thread is still on Fodor's (under "Russell -- NOT happy!", and, to jog your memory, here is your reply in full (cut and paste):

Author: liz
Date: 09/20/2002, 04:46 pm
Message: Further to my last post and because I am just so MEGA Pis... off with the type of post we had from John who had the gaul to make personal jibes at Alan for his "tendency to omit features in his recommendations" and " he cannot be relied on as a travel consultant".
John of course has *extensively travelled around Oceania* and my bet is that everywhere he has been he has been marked as an Ugly American. The same goes for Deb who insists that she should have been INFORMED that the hotel did or did not have whatever the little precious Deb wanted. Who the bloody hell do you think you are John & Deb, Alan and most of the people who write here on this forum are not paid travel consultants. If someone asks for recommendations and they don't like the hotel or whatever you have to remember that you have to ultimately be responsible for your own decisions but NO in this case lets shoot the messenger, Alan, because it was all his fault that he spent time in trying to help Deb or anyone else. Time that I am sure he could have spent doing something for himself and not an unknown face and for which he gets absolutely NOTHING in return. It's all Alan's fault Deb didn't like the hotel. Please answer this one question - why in hell's name then did Deb continue to stay there?
So far and for the best part this Australian board has not had the ill will and name calling that we see so much on the USA and Europe boards because we, in Australia, don't tend to be inclined that way but after the behaviour of John and Deb then I for one will NOT recommend anything to anyone if this is what we can expect in the future YOU CAN ALL GET YOUR OWN INFORMATION YOURSELVES AND MAKE YOUR OWN DECISIONS then if you don't like them you can only blame yourself and John and Deb can just get *stuffed*.


Three cheers for Liz, the consummate stirrer! (definition of "consummate stirrer": one who keeps clear soup from sticking to the bottom of the pot.)

GOLLY, GOSH ALAN!
Those clever Frenchman must have known that and that is why they named the soup consomme! Sorry about the lack of fiddly bits.

We will be spending a total of about 7 nights in Sydney. Can you suggest some average priced restaurants around the Menzies Hotel. Taking transportation would be okay but not too far. Nothing fancy, just good wholesome food for lunch or dinner. Typical Australian fare would be interesting since I don't know what typical Australian fare would be. We don't/can't drink wine, beer, etc., so that doesn't need to be considered. Also open to other suggestions such as Italian, Japanese, Chinese.

For that matter, if you have suggestions for Cairns/Pt. Douglas or Hobart, that would be appreciated.

I'm still working on your many suggestions and compiling my little notebook.

Micho

I'm not sure there is such a thing as typical Australian food - we eat everything! (well - I personally refuse to eat brussels sprouts - but that's only common sense!)

However, a year or so back, I had a great meal of kangaroo, at a restaurant overlooking the water at Darling Harbour, called "I'm Angus". The friend I was there with, returned recently, and said it was still just as good. Lunch on a sunny day, overlooking the water, some good food....pretty cool.

I'm not a big fan of Darling Harbour, which I think is a real tourist trap - but this was great.

To the south and west of your hotel a few areas spring to mind, although only one within walking distance:
* Chinatown, about a mile south. Bright and bustly, plenty of choice. You can take a bus down George Street or a train one stop to Town Hall station then walk;
* King Street, Newtown, a mile or two further on, a long strip of eating places covering many ethnic persuasions - best to take a cab; also nearby Glebe;
* Leichhardt, a bit further west, predominantly Italian restaurants but a bit far for regular visits.

Other readers may be able to suggest places on the east side.

Margo's right - it's hard to pin down what "Australian fare" consists of these days. A few years ago someone said only half jokingly that the most popular Australian dish would be either spaghetti bolognese or sweet-and-sour pork.

The most common "Australian" restaurant cooking style is "mod Oz", which I guess could be summed up as an east-west fusion style with an emphasis on southeast Asian flavours. Although much of it is very good I'm not sure that it fits the image conjured up by the phrase "good, wholesome food" - I think a good, unpretentious Italian family restaurant would come closest to that.

Hi Michi - Red Ochre in Cairns specialises in Aussie bush tucker - kangaroo, emu, red claw, bush spices etc. For a plain old-fashioned Aussie meal - ie roast, steak, fish, a pub is good value. There's a plethora of Japanese restaurants in Cairns - the best is Yamagen but it's pricy. The best Italian in Cairns is Ciao Italia which is in the Pier marketplace, Cafe China does as good a yum cha (dim sum)which is as good as anywhere and better than most - as well as a full Chinese restaurant it has a noodle bar where you can get the best seafood laksa for about AUD$8.00. There's excellent local fish and seafood- barramundi, coral trout, Mahi mahi, bugs (like a small lobster), mudcrab and huge selection of tropical fruits. In both Cairns and Port Douglas, there's a lot of Mod-Oz around - sometimes referred to as "confusion" food, rather than "fusion". Port Douglas considers itself more up-market than Cairns and prices itself accordingly. However, the chilli mud crab at Sassi's in PD is to die for!

3 Cheers for the thread that never dies.
AndrewDavid

There is, of course, Edna's Table, I think in Clarence Street, which specialises in native Australian food.

It's one of those special occasion restaurants - the food is brilliant, but it IS expensive. The service, under Jennice Kersh, is outstanding.

I don't know anything at all about wholesome food, I'm afraid

Wholesome food was probably not the right adjective. Known for good food would be better.

I'm listening.

Where the early British colonists saw very little around them to eat the indigenous people saw lots, and later labelled their traditional foods "bush tucker". I did read that an early French expedition to Tasmania showed more interest in the local cuisine (as you'd expect). Ironically, two ships commanded by the Compte de la Perouse arrived in Botany Bay a mere six days after Capt Arthur Phillip's First Fleet. As Bill Bryson rather cruelly puts it, if he'd been a bit faster he could have saved Australia from two centuries of English cooking. He's commemorated by the Sydney suburb named after him.

One of the fascinating chapters in Australian history is the near-starvation of the settlers in the first couple of years after landing at Port Jackson in 1788. How could that be when they were camped beside a harbour teeming with fish? One explanation I heard was that seafood was considered very much lower-class fare in 18th-century England - but then, most of the settlers were lower class.

There seem to have been some parallels with the experience of the "Mayflower" colonists in Massachusetts 168 years before. Both groups seem to have been very ill-prepared for the challenges they faced.

Another tangent.

The time has come to thank you all for your lively responses this one on exploring Sydney, hats, fruit, whiling away the time on planes, itinerary, the rabbit fence and so forth. And others such as how to tip (or how not to tip) or how to catch a spider.

The suggestions from this thread are now neatly packaged and highlighted for consultation for four (out of seven) free days in Sydney. St. Bede's is a priority, as well as my son's challenge for me to do the bridge climb. We will meet my email Australian friend (penpal?) in Sydney on April 3 for dinner (an exciting prospect). It was she who pointed me in the direction of fodors.com for our trip to China for which I shall be eternally grateful.

A week from today we'll be winging our way to Australia. Our itinerary is: Sydney, Tasmania (four day tour + free days), Cairns and Pt. Douglas for almost four weeks.

AndrewDavid, what do you look like so I might recognize you in Sydney?

Bon Voyage, Michi!

Dear Michi, This probably missed you unles you are checking in on the road. I've been away for a week in CA.
If you see someone 5-7 , 135#, brown hair , green eyes, looking for johnj at the airport early AM on the 13th, you'll have found me. We'll be in Sydney 13-17 April and then in Blue mts. 17 and 18.
How will we recognize you except as a well known Fodors troublemaker?
Who will keep this thread alive while we are on the road?
have a great trip.
AndrewDavid

Dear Friends

Yes we are in Sydney and enjoying every minute that we can stay awake. We are up every morning around 3:00 am and having some trouble adjusting to time but doing well nonetheless. Thanks for your good wishes and glad to hear from Andrew David (or is that David Andrew?). Had a friend named Grant George and always felt he should be George Grant. I brought along this thread and it's being well used.

Enjoying and getting to know Sydney. We took a walking tour around the Rock areas and one excellent 1/2 day trip around Sydney. We are at the Menzies on Carrington and find it a good location.

One of the first things we did was find the escalator to the underground shopping area and grocery store for some essentials.

We went to St. Bede's for Palm Sunday mass. The priest was new, in fact his first mass. Fr. Fitzgerald long gone. Warm welcome by Sisters and parishioners and met a nice couple.

Had to give up the Riverboat Postman in favour of a day tour to Blue Mountains. Since arthritis has been acting up somewhat, opted for the 4WD, Blue Mountain Explorer taking us via Bell's Line of Road to Mt. Wilson (I think Alan will approve). This is an escape to the wilderness - or so it says and is more of an adventure tour and not to the usual places. Lunch at the Mt. Wilson's Posthouse, prehistoric forest, independent hike downhill (I hope) and so on.

But I'll still climb the bridge at dusk on april 19.

Had dinner with my email penpal from Canberra who came to Sydney to visit family and me. I felt I was with an old friend. A nice bonus.

All for now. Tomorrow we leave for Tasmania, Cairns & Pt. Douglas. This thread is travelling with us. We return for four nights on April 19.

Thank you all for your good wishes and David Andrew or Andrew David, I shall look for you wherever we go in Australia. I hope you have a good time in Australia.

Michi, it is wonderful to hear from you and to know that you're now in our part of the world. Glad to hear about the Mt Wilson diversion -- please let us all know what you think of this, as you are going at a VERY good time of year (in about three weeks it will be at its absolute best).

I guess this thread will soon hit 100, and you'll get a telegram from the boss of Fodor's!

Michi, Glad you are there and enjoying yourself. We take sleeping pills on the plane and then for 2 days later which sets us on track. Perhaps you can get something from a friendly pharmacist.

"Long live the thread"

Andrew david

Hi Michi,

It's wonderful to hear from you. So glad you're having a good time.

Your thread has become a legend.

Hope you continue to have a marvellous time in Oz.

Oops! This thread has now "sunk" all the way down to Number 25... can't let that happen, when it's so close to the big century!

As I write this, michi is queuing up at the airport for the next leg of her journey, to Tasmania. Michi, if you have time to open this thread while on your travels (and Tasmania is such a leisurely place, I reckon you'd have timne to READ the whole thing again!) please let us know some of the highlights of your trip. Hope you weren't disappointed by the "smallness" of St Bede's... I did warn you, I think, that it was no Notre Dame or Sacre Coeur, but this is REAL Sydney, un-gussied-up, and I'll bet you are one of the few tourists to actually visit it (except for one or two who lost all their money at the Casino opposite and are praying for divine inspiration to get back home!)

Wish you were in Sydney for the Easter weekend.... on the Monday I am doing my annual Spit Bridge to Manly walk, my favourite of all the walks in Sydney. I'm taking about thirty children who deserve a break from their studies as they are all seeking scholarships which are being offered in the next month or two. It would have been nice if you'd been able to join us. Hey, AndrewDavid, margo, Neil, etc! How about you? I'll be easy to recognise with 30 Asian eleven-year-olds surrounding me! What a surprise if, as we started our walk, someone came up to me and said the magic word: Fodors!

Alan, Does this mean you are a school master, do you run an orphanage or do you just have a large family. Unfortunately on Easter Sunday here, which isn't Easter Sunday there is it(?) , we will be getting on a small plane for the first leg of our flight down under.

If all goes according to plan we will be taking johnj up for his first breakfast with the kangeroos on 17 April and having a cocktail w/ Margo a night or 2 before.

Michi , our schedule
13-17 April Sydney
17-18 Blue Mtns.
19-23 Tasmania
24-27 Whitsundays
28-May 4 whitsundays- Cape Trib w/ a few overnights w/ Pat Woodford in Cairns
May 5-9 Darwin, Kakadu and Arnhemland
10-13 Red center and 13-14 Sydney and home
Do we overlap anywhere?

Glad you are having a great time.

happy trails,
AndrewDavid