Down Under Has a High Spot in Sydney

Well, mates, in the new year we’ll be hearing plenty about Australia, the host of the next Summer Olympics, to be held Sept. 16 to 30. The venue is Sydney, Australia’s premier city (and capital of New South Wales state).

Sydney boasts a spectacular harbor-side setting; one of the world’s most recognizable landmarks, the Opera House; a melange of architecture, from charming English colonial to cutting-edge contemporary; great museums (more than a few at nominal or no cost); and an exciting, multicultural performance, dining and night-life scene.

The city is within easy touring distance of the wildlife-rich Blue Mountains and the gorgeous, rolling Hunter Valley wine country (day excursions by bus start at $32 and rental cars at $29 daily).

The locals, too (called “Sydneysiders”), help make a visit a pleasure; they’re an appealing mix of urbane and friendly, and a fair dinkum bit more laid-back than so many stressed-out city slickers here in the States.

Sydney has a lot to offer the budget traveler, as Australia may well be the world capital of shoestring travel (it’s positively teeming with hostels and backpackers), and the Aussie dollar is still on the wobbly side compared with ours. Tipping is not expected, and many restaurants are “BYO,” letting you avoid larcenous wine markups by toting your own.

Besides fast food, your best bets for budget dining begin with pub grub and its relatives. Try, for example, the Courthouse Hotel at Oxford and Bourke streets in the Darlinghurst neighborhood southeast of downtown, where big plates of lamb or fish, plus various sides, will set you back less than $7. On the edge of Chinatown, at 565 George St., the RSL (Australia’s veterans’ organization) has classy surroundings and filling multi-course meals available to all comers, starting at less than $5.

The other main option is ethnic, especially Asian. Chinatown’s Dixon House and Harbour Plaza food courts can stuff you silly with Pan-Asian delicacies for as little as $4. Or, on shady Victoria Street in the Potts Point area, elegant Out of India (No. 178) serves a wonderful all-you-can-eat dinner buffet for about $6.50 a head.

Potts Point and adjacent King’s Cross (about 20 minutes’ walk southeast of downtown, and an easy subway ride) are the top neighborhoods for budget lodgings, especially Victoria Street. At No. 162, the Original Backpackers (telephone 011-61-2-9356-3232, fax 011-61-2-9368-1435) is a well-kept Victorian mansion with hostel beds at $12 a person per night, but it also offers nice, private doubles for $33. On a placid nearby lane, the Bernly (tel. 011-61-2-9358-3122, fax 011-61-2-9356-4405) has tasteful modern rooms for $63 nightly or $329 weekly ($43/$208 without private bath and air conditioning).

Over in Darlinghurst, the aforementioned Courthouse Hotel offers similar lodgings for $43 a night or $218 a week. Nearer to Chinatown, the rooms at the George Pri vate Hotel (tel./fax 011-61-2-9211- 1800) are spare but immaculate, and just $35 ($49 if you want a television and private bathroom).

Australia, and particularly Sydney, is easily navigable for the independent tourist. Just book a flight out of Los Angeles with Qantas, Air New Zealand or United; the price will be in the neighborhood of $1,000 round trip this fall and winter, closer to $800 during our summer.

Those who prefer the package route also have quite a few options. Perhaps the premier operator of tour packages, both escorted and unescorted, is Inta-Aussie/ South Pacific, (800) 894-7722, https://www.inta-aussie.com. Among many others are Discover Wholesale Travel, (800) 576-7770; Austravel, (800) 633-3404; and Newman’s South Pacific Vacations, (800) 421-3326.

For more information, a good place to start is the Australian Tourism Commission, reachable in California at (800) 369-6863, fax (661) 775-4448, Internet https:// www.australia.com.

Web resources abound for Australia, by the way, among them a good site for Sydney/New South Wales at https://www.tourism.nsw .gov.au.

Other helpful Web sites include https://www.tntmag.com.au, the online version of an extremely useful, backpacker-oriented free magazine called TNT (available in numerous venues throughout Australia); another is https://www .aussiebackpack.com.au.