Having trouble posting this so am breaking it down into 3 parts. <BR>My mom and I took advantage of the United $ <BR>1599 deal which included r/t airfare from LA to Australia, airfare from Sydney to Cairns, airfare Cairns to Melbourne and hotels. We took the basic package since I'm more interested in spending my money on doing things than a hotel room. <BR>Hotel: Park Regis - a very basic hotel but good location. About an easy 15 minute walk to Circular Quay, a block from the Queen Victoria Building. Staff was very pleasant. <BR>I had gotten the 3 day Sydney Pass which was good for any 3 out of 5 days plus the airport bus to/from the airport (which doesn't have to been one of those 5 days). This was a great deal. We used it for a morning cruise, an afternoon cruise, the Sydney Explorer Bus, and the Sydney Bondi Bus as well as local ferries. The afternoon cruise covers the same sights as the morning cruise so you could save time but just doing the afternoon cruise (which is longer). We should have taken the Explorer Bus first since it gave us an overview of the city and explained some of the things we had seen but didn't know what we were looking at. <BR>I really enjoyed the Bondi bus. It makes two photos stops inaddition to the stops where you get on/off. We walked from the Bondi beach stop to the next stop Bronte Beach. This is a beautiful coastal walk which took about 40 minutes (my mom is 70) but could be done in 30 minutes. It would be easier if you walked from Bronte back to Bondi (make sure you note the bus stop) since all the steps were at Bondi so you'd go down steps instead of up. We got back on the bus at Bronte then rode around again to The Gap where we walked back to Watsons Bay. This coastal walk takes you pass where Sydney Harbour enters the Tasman sea. Then took a ferry (covered by the pass) from Watson Bay back to Circular Quay. <BR>Took a day tour to the Blue Mountains. Highly recommend. The tour we took ended at the Olympic Park and took us back to Sydney via a boat. Since it was dark this gave us an opportunity to see the Bridge and the Opera House at night from the water. That's why we didn't take the evening cruise offered by the pass.