quiet small hostel in Sydney - mission impossible?

planning a trip to Australia (Sydney-Adelaide-Sydney, taking about
three months) departing late November. First stop is Sydney to get
over the jet lag and buy a car. We've been there a couple of times
before but not for a couple of years, and are looking for a small and
most importantly QUIET hostel/backpackers. Done a lot of BBH hostels
in New Zealand and have found similar idyllic places in Oz. Clearly
it won't be as cheap or as quiet, but we don't want to end up in the
all-night backpacker party places; we're in our 40s!!

any ideas? have found some possibles on the web and Rough Guide but
nothing like recommendations!

many thanks
Helen

please reply to group, e-mail address given doesn't work (or insert my
middle initial 's' so that it does)

On Fri, 26 Oct 2007 11:52:59 -0700,
wrote in . com
:

planning a trip to Australia (Sydney-Adelaide-Sydney, taking about
three months) departing late November. First stop is Sydney to get
over the jet lag and buy a car. We've been there a couple of times
before but not for a couple of years, and are looking for a small and
most importantly QUIET hostel/backpackers. Done a lot of BBH hostels
in New Zealand and have found similar idyllic places in Oz. Clearly
it won't be as cheap or as quiet, but we don't want to end up in the
all-night backpacker party places; we're in our 40s!!

any ideas? have found some possibles on the web and Rough Guide but
nothing like recommendations!

many thanks
Helen

please reply to group, e-mail address given doesn't work (or insert my
middle initial 's' so that it does)

Hi, Helen,

Can you be a bit more specific? Are you talking about the "City
of Sydney", which is the downtown area, or "Greater Sydney"
which comprises all the suburbs, which extend for many
kilometers?

If "Greater Sydney", how far from "Sydney City"?

Travelers, especially from the USA, tend to disregard
suburb names. They might hop into a taxi, and
ask, for example, to be taken to "83 George St."

The wise cab driver will ask "which suburb" for there
many "George Streets" in Greater Sydney!

For the 3 km [1.86 mile] square which includes
"Sydney City" see:
http://www.arta.com.au/nswmaps/sydney/sydkey17.html

Sydney Airport is just below centre of this map segment. Sydney
City near upper right corner.

Each of the names in blue on this map segment is a separate
suburb, postcodes in red.

Sydney adjoins East Sydney. Kings Cross is only a few blocks
from the East Sydney, but both have different postcodes and
are separate suburbs.

If click on "Sydney" on this map, you will get a zoom in to:

http://www.arta.com.au/nswmaps/sydney/g15.html

Or you can start with the this address and zoom out.

------------------------
Actually, even ran across a better site to find accommodation,
and
not only from Sydney City. See:

http://www.street-directory.com.au/sd_new/mapsearch.cgi

1/ Select state, city, suburb , council,location in space
provided.
This should give you
Current location:
Australia NSW Greater Sydney Sydney Sydney

2/ select what you are looking for, which is accommodation
3/ specify distance from center point, marked with a star.

I specified " Hotels, Motels & Accommodation" "within 1 km"
and got 137 results, ranged by distance.

The first 10 ranged from 0.02 km to 0.27 km. If advance through
the numbers you will find accommodation further out.

..02 km = 20 metres=~ 22 yards away, so not much of a walk to
#1 on the map.:-)

..27 km= 270 metres = ~ 295 yards

This should be enough to get you started.

A very useful location, this site. With it, and computers, and
the web had been available when I first came to Sydney decades
ago!

Hope it will be useful to you and other travelers.

For those unfamiliar with metrics, see length
conversion site at
http://www.onlineconversion.com/length_common.htm

For general conversions, see
http://www.onlineconversion.com/

This one even includes clothing sizes in different countries,
subheads include shoe sizes, ring sizes, etc.

Australian sizes do differ from US sizes, incidentally,
so may be handy in shopping. Although to play it
safe, try it on.

Suppose I could crosspost to misc.immigration.australia+nz, but
so few posts on the two groups that, IMHO, both tourists
and immigrants should be reading both anyway.:-)

Cheers,
Kangaroo16

On 27 Oct, 02:31, kangaroo16 wrote:
On Fri, 26 Oct 2007 11:52:59 -0700,
wrote in . com
:



planning a trip to Australia (Sydney-Adelaide-Sydney, taking about
three months) departing late November. First stop is Sydney to get
over the jet lag and buy a car. We've been there a couple of times
before but not for a couple of years, and are looking for a small and
most importantly QUIET hostel/backpackers. Done a lot of BBH hostels
in New Zealand and have found similar idyllic places in Oz. Clearly
it won't be as cheap or as quiet, but we don't want to end up in the
all-night backpacker party places; we're in our 40s!!

any ideas? have found some possibles on the web and Rough Guide but
nothing like recommendations!

many thanks
Helen

please reply to group, e-mail address given doesn't work (or insert my
middle initial 's' so that it does)

Hi, Helen,

Can you be a bit more specific? Are you talking about the "City
of Sydney", which is the downtown area, or "Greater Sydney"
which comprises all the suburbs, which extend for many
kilometers?

If "Greater Sydney", how far from "Sydney City"?

Travelers, especially from the USA, tend to disregard
suburb names. They might hop into a taxi, and
ask, for example, to be taken to "83 George St."

The wise cab driver will ask "which suburb" for there
many "George Streets" in Greater Sydney!

For the 3 km [1.86 mile] square which includes
"Sydney City" see:http://www.arta.com.au/nswmaps/sydney/sydkey17.html

Sydney Airport is just below centre of this map segment. Sydney
City near upper right corner.

Each of the names in blue on this map segment is a separate
suburb, postcodes in red.

Sydney adjoins East Sydney. Kings Cross is only a few blocks
from the East Sydney, but both have different postcodes and
are separate suburbs.

If click on "Sydney" on this map, you will get a zoom in to:

http://www.arta.com.au/nswmaps/sydney/g15.html

Or you can start with the this address and zoom out.

------------------------
Actually, even ran across a better site to find accommodation,
and
not only from Sydney City. See:

http://www.street-directory.com.au/sd_new/mapsearch.cgi

1/ Select state, city, suburb , council,location in space
provided.
This should give you
Current location:
Australia NSW Greater Sydney Sydney Sydney

2/ select what you are looking for, which is accommodation
3/ specify distance from center point, marked with a star.

I specified " Hotels, Motels & Accommodation" "within 1 km"
and got 137 results, ranged by distance.

The first 10 ranged from 0.02 km to 0.27 km. If advance through
the numbers you will find accommodation further out.

.02 km = 20 metres=~ 22 yards away, so not much of a walk to
#1 on the map.:-)

.27 km= 270 metres = ~ 295 yards

This should be enough to get you started.

A very useful location, this site. With it, and computers, and
the web had been available when I first came to Sydney decades
ago!

Hope it will be useful to you and other travelers.

For those unfamiliar with metrics, see length
conversion site athttp://www.onlineconversion.com/length_common.htm

For general conversions, seehttp://www.onlineconversion.com/

This one even includes clothing sizes in different countries,
subheads include shoe sizes, ring sizes, etc.

Australian sizes do differ from US sizes, incidentally,
so may be handy in shopping. Although to play it
safe, try it on.

Suppose I could crosspost to misc.immigration.australia+nz, but
so few posts on the two groups that, IMHO, both tourists
and immigrants should be reading both anyway.:-)

Cheers,
Kangaroo16


Thanks for the reply - allow me to clarify! I'm a tourist so I want
the touristy bit, which I realise is not in the geographic centre of
huge sprawling Sydney, or somewhere within reasonably easy reach,
i.e . doesn't have to be Kings Cross! What I want to avoid is the huge
'party all night, sleep all day, trash the kitchen, pay a deposit on
the cutlery and lock the fridges at night' places; stayed in one of
those and that was enough for a lifetime! Are there any small hostels
down quiet side streets, without an attached bar?

I tried the site and will keep trying, but it only comes up with two
hostels both of which are huge party places.

all ideas welcome

cheers
Helen (from England)

On Fri, 26 Oct 2007 11:52:59 -0700,
wrote:

planning a trip to Australia (Sydney-Adelaide-Sydney, taking about
three months) departing late November. First stop is Sydney to get
over the jet lag and buy a car. We've been there a couple of times
before but not for a couple of years, and are looking for a small and
most importantly QUIET hostel/backpackers. Done a lot of BBH hostels
in New Zealand and have found similar idyllic places in Oz. Clearly
it won't be as cheap or as quiet, but we don't want to end up in the
all-night backpacker party places; we're in our 40s!!

any ideas? have found some possibles on the web and Rough Guide but
nothing like recommendations!

many thanks
Helen

How much do you want to spend?

I've stayed a few times at the Roslyn Gardens in Elizabeth
Bay http://www.roslyngardens.com.au/

It's not a hostel but a type of basic motel. No bar, no
"common room". Rates used to be a little cheaper if you
booked via Wotif
http://www.wotif.com/hotel/View?hote...1&viewType=all
or needitnow,
http://www.needitnow.com.au/NeedItNo...AccommId=29636
but I notice they are much the same as the home site now,
and they can get booked out at peak times.

The rooms are basic but comfortable and include a
kitchenette so you can save a little on breakfasts and meals
and can have up to four beds (usually a double/queen plus a
double bunk-bed). Bus to the city to Circular Quay or
Central Station is 100m away and takes about 15 minutes.
Bus-ferry-train ticket information is he
http://www.sydneybuses.nsw.gov.au/ti...or_tickets.php

It's within walking distance of the Cross and it's
attractions, including the backpacker's vehicle exchange
place.

The other option you might investigate would be to stay
somewhere in Manly but I have no knowledge of accommodation
available there.

Cheers, Alan, Australia
--
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com/
latest: Slovenia
http://loraltraveloz.blogspot.com/
latest: Mossman Gorge in the Daintree Rainforest

On Sat, 27 Oct 2007 13:39:45 -0700,
wrote in .com
:

On 27 Oct, 02:31, kangaroo16 wrote:
On Fri, 26 Oct 2007 11:52:59 -0700,
wrote in . com
:



planning a trip to Australia (Sydney-Adelaide-Sydney, taking about
three months) departing late November. First stop is Sydney to get
over the jet lag and buy a car. We've been there a couple of times
before but not for a couple of years, and are looking for a small and
most importantly QUIET hostel/backpackers. Done a lot of BBH hostels
in New Zealand and have found similar idyllic places in Oz. Clearly
it won't be as cheap or as quiet, but we don't want to end up in the
all-night backpacker party places; we're in our 40s!!

any ideas? have found some possibles on the web and Rough Guide but
nothing like recommendations!

many thanks
Helen

please reply to group, e-mail address given doesn't work (or insert my
middle initial 's' so that it does)

Hi, Helen,

Can you be a bit more specific? Are you talking about the "City
of Sydney", which is the downtown area, or "Greater Sydney"
which comprises all the suburbs, which extend for many
kilometers?

If "Greater Sydney", how far from "Sydney City"?

Travelers, especially from the USA, tend to disregard
suburb names. They might hop into a taxi, and
ask, for example, to be taken to "83 George St."

The wise cab driver will ask "which suburb" for there
many "George Streets" in Greater Sydney!

For the 3 km [1.86 mile] square which includes
"Sydney City" see:http://www.arta.com.au/nswmaps/sydney/sydkey17.html

Sydney Airport is just below centre of this map segment. Sydney
City near upper right corner.

Each of the names in blue on this map segment is a separate
suburb, postcodes in red.

Sydney adjoins East Sydney. Kings Cross is only a few blocks
from the East Sydney, but both have different postcodes and
are separate suburbs.

If click on "Sydney" on this map, you will get a zoom in to:

http://www.arta.com.au/nswmaps/sydney/g15.html

Or you can start with the this address and zoom out.

------------------------
Actually, even ran across a better site to find accommodation,
and
not only from Sydney City. See:

http://www.street-directory.com.au/sd_new/mapsearch.cgi

1/ Select state, city, suburb , council,location in space
provided.
This should give you
Current location:
Australia NSW Greater Sydney Sydney Sydney

2/ select what you are looking for, which is accommodation
3/ specify distance from center point, marked with a star.

I specified " Hotels, Motels & Accommodation" "within 1 km"
and got 137 results, ranged by distance.

The first 10 ranged from 0.02 km to 0.27 km. If advance through
the numbers you will find accommodation further out.

.02 km = 20 metres=~ 22 yards away, so not much of a walk to
#1 on the map.:-)

.27 km= 270 metres = ~ 295 yards

This should be enough to get you started.

A very useful location, this site. With it, and computers, and
the web had been available when I first came to Sydney decades
ago!

Hope it will be useful to you and other travelers.

For those unfamiliar with metrics, see length
conversion site athttp://www.onlineconversion.com/length_common.htm

For general conversions, seehttp://www.onlineconversion.com/

This one even includes clothing sizes in different countries,
subheads include shoe sizes, ring sizes, etc.

Australian sizes do differ from US sizes, incidentally,
so may be handy in shopping. Although to play it
safe, try it on.

Suppose I could crosspost to misc.immigration.australia+nz, but
so few posts on the two groups that, IMHO, both tourists
and immigrants should be reading both anyway.:-)

Cheers,
Kangaroo16


Thanks for the reply - allow me to clarify! I'm a tourist so I want
the touristy bit, which I realise is not in the geographic centre of
huge sprawling Sydney, or somewhere within reasonably easy reach,
i.e . doesn't have to be Kings Cross!

Was just using that as an example, actually. The site is useful
for other searches. Other readers wishes may differ.

When I first came to Sydney, I quickly found that Kings Cross
was one of the more interesting areas to live in, as at the
time the rest of the city more or less closed at 10 PM, including
the pubs, restaurants, and movie theatres. Kings Cross at least
had coffee shops that stayed open until 2 or 3 AM, and even
had a 24 hour "milk bar".

Unless a member of some of the clubs, the only other place
in the city that may have operated 24 hours a day was probably
Sydney Kingsford Smith airport. I'm not even sure that
its facilities were open to the public for the full 24 hours,
actually.

Even then, Melbourne was probably worse. Actress
Ava Gardner starred in the movie "On The Beach".
Some of it was filmed in Melbourne and on one
Sunday there she made a famous comment about
Melbourne along the lines of "I can't think of a better place to
make a movie about the end of the world!"

As there is a friendly rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne,
many Sydneysiders know that quote! :-)

What I want to avoid is the huge
'party all night, sleep all day, trash the kitchen, pay a deposit on
the cutlery and lock the fridges at night' places; stayed in one of
those and that was enough for a lifetime!

Decades ago when traveling through S.E. Asia I stayed at
several youth hostels and none were that lively. Or restrictive,
for that matter. Still, times change!

Are there any small hostels
down quiet side streets, without an attached bar?

From memory, there aren't all that many "hostels" in even
the Greater Sydney area.

I tried the site and will keep trying, but it only comes up with two
hostels both of which are huge party places.

Did you just check "hostels" as opposed to "hotels, motels, and
accommodation"? Why seek a "hostel" at all?

All Pubs in NSW have to provide at least ten rooms for
rent to qualify for their bar license. They are not all noisy,
and some of the smaller ones can provide pretty low cost
accommodation.

There are "Private Hotels" in Sydney, even in Kings Cross, but
they are more often occupied by permanent residents.

If you are looking for low cost accommodation, have you
considered
a caravan park? Most have caravans [what Yanks would call
"trailers"] for rent by the day, week, month or whatever.
Reasonably secure, gives you a place to cook and sleep. Usually
have central building for toilets, showers, & laundry facilities.
There are probably quite a few when get far enough away from
the centre of the city where the land use justifies them.

Hang on, will take a few moments to check. Selected Australian
sites on Google, ran the search string

caravan parks sydney

About 639,000 returns, and the commercial caravan parks should
be in the first few pages.

If looking for used car dealers, there used to be quite a few on
Parramatta Rd, the main exit route west from the CBD.

From your post, I gather that you have seen most of the Sydney
sights you want to see, and only staying in the Greater Sydney
area long enough to buy a car and explore a bit of the rest
of Australia.

If I'm correct here, I would think that a caravan park close
to a representative selection of car yards along Parramatta road
might be a good choice.

I would suggest buying from a car dealer rather than by private
sale simply because the dealer has a license to protect.

The car will probably be sold registered, and it has to comply
with current safety restrictions to get that far. Cars and other
vehicles have to be inspected at least once a year in N.S.W.

The registration decal on the window will tell you when the
registration expires. Car owners must carry third party
insurance to cover injuries to other persons. The passengers in
the vehicle are included, but the driver isn't on a third party
policy.

Nor does it cover property damage, so most drivers carry
a policy covering property damage as well, just in case they
have the misfortune to collide with an expensive vehicle and they
are judged to be at fault.

Other than a buying from a car dealer, can buy a car at auction,
but it may or not be registered, or even registerable. You can
inspect it yourself on the day of the auction, but in most cases
you can't get a formal inspection on it.

So if buying at auction, you have to be able to assess the
roadworthiness of the vehicle yourself, unless you can get
a mechanic from a local garage to have a quick look at it and
give you an opinion. Not that this substitutes for a formal
vehicle examination which is much more thorough.

Some things like rust in the bodywork, worn tyres, worn seat
belts, pits,cracks, scratches in the vehicle glass, etc. are
pretty easy to check. It isn't possible to check wheel
alignment, many actual or potential engine or transmission
defects, though.

If you are caught driving a vehicle with a defect, even a burned
out turn signal bulb, the police will sometimes just insist you
correct it immediately. If a more serious defect, or a potential
defect, then he will issue a defect notice, which means you
generally have to take it to the nearest repair shop and get
the defect fixed, then present the evidence to police before you
can drive it again.

If a really serious defect or potential defect is spotted at this
time, or at an authorized inspection station, the mechanic
inspecting it has the authority to pull off the registration
plates then and there.

Buy privately from another individual? If I were planning to do
this, would insist on an inspection at the nearest NRMA or other
garage and require that it pass the registration inspection
before I bought it.

If you buy from a private individual, without an inspection, you
don't know what defects it might have. Or, for that matter, even
if the person selling you the car might not even own it. It
might still have money owing on it, a mechanics lien on it, etc.

Of course, it also depends on where you want to tour with it.
Most of inland Australia is pretty empty, towns can be few and
far between. Even then don't assume that all towns on the map
will have a petrol station, any retail stores, etc.

Even a very minor breakdown can strand you many miles from the
nearest town. If you belong to a motoring orginization such as
the NRMA, they will tow you for nothing up to a certain distance
to their nearest repair shop. Info on NRMA services at:
www.nrma.com.au/

A member gets free maps and a lot of other info and service
as well. I would strongly recommend it. Otherwise, if you have
even a minor breakdown on an isolated stretch, you might find it
difficult to find someone to tow it right away, and the tow will
be expensive.

Some other touring hints in my earlier post to "Carmel" on this
group.
Subject: Looking for caravanning folk
Sender: kangaroo16
Message-ID:
References:
Lines: 323
Date: Thu, 04 Oct 2007 07:52:04 GMT

Clicking on the Message-ID number might take you there
depending on your newsreader. Or copy it, go to Google, select
"advanced search" then just paste the Message ID number in the
space provided.
The letter has some links to advice on safe travel by car in
Australia. Personally, would advise staying on paved roads if
only driving a car rather than a 4WD, and even if traveling by
car on Highway one from Sydney to Rockhampton would carry
petrol, water, food, etc.

Many tourists, even those who have been to Sydney, don't fully
appreciate the size of Australia compared to their own country.
If haven't checked it from previous posts, see:
http://www.ga.gov.au/education/facts...ns/compare.htm

Even if you appreciate the size difference, do you know how
thinly the population is spread here? Most of the 21 million
people live within 70 km of the coast, most of those in the
5 largest cities.

Many residents in Sydney have never even gone across the Blue
Mts. to Lithgow, and that is an easy 112 km (~ 70 miles) by road.

It may seem a long way in the UK, but outback Aussies have
been known to travel ~ 400 km on dirt roads just to attend a
party.

Getting back to where to spend a "quiet" 2 or 3 nights somewhere
in Greater Sydney:

As to "quiet", it depends on your standards of "quietness".

I've never visited the U.K. but I hear that it is pretty crowded
country with rather reserved quiet people. Some parts of it,
anyway.

I don't doubt that Australia may strike you as a bit more
noisy. Australians are a pretty fun-loving & informal lot.

In a caravan park there may be a few children running around
during the day or evening, but most would be pretty quiet at
night, by Aussie standards anyway. I think that N.S.W., or some
councils at least, have cracked down on noise pollution.

Most days of the week, even homeowners or their kids aren't
supposed to play loud music after 10 P.M. Hopefully this also
applies to teenage motorists who have 200 watt stereo systems in
their cars. :-)

all ideas welcome

See above :-)


cheers
Helen (from England)

Cheers,
Kangaroo16

On 28 Oct, 05:28, kangaroo16 wrote:

(lots of good stuff snipped)

Cheers,
Kangaroo16


hi again,

just to say a big thank you for taking the time with all that, I
really appreciate it. Further research reveals that we have to think
about things like the 'stamp duty' when we buy a car, which seems to
be a few per cent of the value, and also that registration is quite
pricey, almost at UK levels. Still, all good food for thought.

you asked 'why hostels?' at their best they are like living in the
place you are visiting; lots of help and information but also a
comfortable if simple room (don't do dorms!) a lounge and a kitchen
where you can cook your own food and make your own cup of tea.
(british to the core...) You can't do that in a hotel. Many places
will have a stack of books and magazines, a comfy sofa etc; my home in
the UK is currently rented out so while I can't complain at the
opportunity to cross the planet, I do appreciate feeling at home.

while everyone is entitled to let their hair down, there are plenty of
hostels where the all-night partying will stop others sleeping; I've
chosen the wrong place once or twice in NZ and been woken at 2am and
again at 6am by shrieks, shouts, crashing doors and loud music. This
also means trashed kitchens, and while the hostel staff will clear up
it is not very pleasant when you come down in the morning. So I think
it best that there are two sorts of hostels; ones for those who are
travelling to party, and ones for those who are travelling to enjoy
the country, rest at night and enjoy socialising with locals and
visitors while still being able to see straight. As long as we all
pick the right place for the group we're in, no problem!

incidentally if anyone is off to NZ I've been to 60-odd hostels there
and can help with suggestions.

back to the Oz research!

cheers
Helen

On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 14:48:22 -0700,
wrote in .com
:

On 28 Oct, 05:28, kangaroo16 wrote:

(lots of good stuff snipped)

Cheers,
Kangaroo16


hi again,

just to say a big thank you for taking the time with all that, I
really appreciate it.

Am retired, so lots of time. As am sure some readers of the
group will know that I am very seldom at a loss for words. :-)

Further research reveals that we have to think
about things like the 'stamp duty' when we buy a car, which seems to
be a few per cent of the value, and also that registration is quite
pricey, almost at UK levels. Still, all good food for thought.

When left the US decades ago, my state was very slack on car
safety. You could register any car in any condition. No safety
inspection, no third party rego required. One of my mates bought
an old car for $100, which was actually in pretty good shape.
He drove it around for about 9 months, and when it developed
automatic transmission problems, just called the nearest scrap
yard. They sent out a truck to tow it away, paid him $25 for it.

So $75 for 9 months transport, including at least one 400 mile
(~ 644 km round trip) which I took with him. No idea how many
miles he put on it in the 9 months, but ~ $8.33 a month was
pretty cheap transport.

No idea what the current situation is in this state, let alone
the other 49 states, but I suspect some of them are still
pretty slack.

Why? Well, consider things like laws relating to seat belt
use, very low fines for not wearing them, etc. for all states.
See:
http://www.rvhelpdesk.com/seatbelt-laws.html

Motorcycle & Bicycle helmet laws?
http://www.iihs.org/laws/HelmetUseCurrent.aspx

New South Wales, and most of the other states,
would be a lot tougher on both. Can't easily find
data for all US states on random breath checks,
but suspect that the U.S. even more slack here.

Which is one of the reasons why the US is a more
dangerous place than Australia. If a pedestrian
is crossing the street and is run down by a
possibly drunken driver, who runs the red light, in a car that
may have cost $200, just what is the legal situation?

Suppose the pedestrian, as a result of his injuries, is
paralyzed from the waist down. Can he recover any
damages?

Not usually, unless the driver has liability insurance, and he
very often doesn't. Sure, if he is 18 or older he can be sued,
but how many 18 year olds have sufficient assets to make it
worthwhile? His only "asset" may be the car and some
used clothing.

Australia is much tougher on all of the above points.

you asked 'why hostels?' at their best they are like living in the
place you are visiting; lots of help and information but also a
comfortable if simple room (don't do dorms!) a lounge and a kitchen
where you can cook your own food and make your own cup of tea.
(british to the core...)

Not as important to me, would be just as satisfied with a No-Doz
caffeine tablet or a caffeine containing sports drink, like
"Adrenalin". Although in most travel situations I've ever
encountered I could manage to boil water, even if it
was in a tin can over a fire.:-)

If was more desperate would stop by some second hand
"thrift" shop and buy an old electric jug for $2.

You can't do that in a hotel.
I could in pub that I lived in shortly after arrival in
Australia.
Was given a key to the front door for 24 hour access, was
free to use the hotel kitchen. No free access to the bar,
though!:-)

Many places
will have a stack of books and magazines, a comfy sofa etc; my home in
the UK is currently rented out so while I can't complain at the
opportunity to cross the planet, I do appreciate feeling at home.

I don't expect that much. All travel involves a certain amount
of inconvenience. I suspect that you will learn a lot in your
travels here.:-)

while everyone is entitled to let their hair down, there are plenty of
hostels where the all-night partying will stop others sleeping; I've
chosen the wrong place once or twice in NZ and been woken at 2am and
again at 6am by shrieks, shouts, crashing doors and loud music. This
also means trashed kitchens, and while the hostel staff will clear up
it is not very pleasant when you come down in the morning. So I think
it best that there are two sorts of hostels; ones for those who are
travelling to party, and ones for those who are travelling to enjoy
the country, rest at night and enjoy socialising with locals and
visitors while still being able to see straight. As long as we all
pick the right place for the group we're in, no problem!

OK, will see how long it takes me to find a listing. Google
number hostels in australia
~1,800,000 returns.
Select first reference:

--------------
Abouthostels.com - Hostels In Australia, Australian Backpacking
....
Hostels in Sydney Sydney, Australia's most famous city, is the
entry point to the country for many visitors. A number of days if
not weeks can be well spent ...
www.abouthostels.com/australia.html

A glance at this page reveals a link to
http://www.hostelsydney.com/

A glance at this page reveals a link
List all hotels in sydney
which leads me to the list at
http://www.hostelsydney.com/findabed...ntry.Australia
Quick count of listed hostels indicates that 49 shown.

Estimated total time required? 2 or 3 minutes perhaps, at the
most. Not including the time to copy the info and make the
comments on how I found the info. :-)

Actually, I'm surprised that there are so many of them.
Stayed in a few in S.E. Asia decades ago, merely because they
were cheap. Pretty low security, though. Have never
stayed in any in Australia, although admit never tried
to find one.:-)

incidentally if anyone is off to NZ I've been to 60-odd hostels there
and can help with suggestions.

back to the Oz research!

cheers
Helen

Would suggest that you spend some of it on travel conditions,
especially in anything farther west than the Blue Mountains.:-)

Several years ago my wife and I drove to Cairns from Sydney
on main highway 1, paved all the way. What did
I carry on that trip?

--------------------
Does the main coastal highway flood often? Not that often,
but when it does be prepared to camp for possibly 3 to 4 days,
possibly longer. However, when highway closed for a couple of
days the RAAF [Royal Australian Air Force will parachute in food
and water.

Have heard that this can be pretty basic, though. When my
wife and traveled it, we carried food for a week and at least
40 liters of water, gas stove, cooking utensils, etc.
How much water to carry? Probably about 4x as much as you would
think each passenger would consume per day.

This on main highway, remember! In hot weather in outback
travel, the RFDS advises carrying 10 liters per person per day.

See
WATER (Dehydration)
http://www.flyingdoctor.net/travelin...20(Dehydration)

To quote first paragraph this section:
"It is surprising how many emergency calls we get from people
unprepared for the rig ours of outback travel. It is hard to
imagine how vast the Outback is, and how easily emergencies can
happen, until it is too late."
Chief Medical Officer, Dr Bruce Sanderson (South Eastern Section)

From previous post, details follow:

Newsgroups: rec.travel.australia+nz
Subject: Looking for caravanning folk
Sender: kangaroo16
Message-ID:
References:
signatu kangaroo16
Lines: 323
Date: Thu, 04 Oct 2007 07:52:04 GMT
----------------------------

Admittedly, we are both reasonably cautious types, I doubt
that most people would carry as much as we did. However, if made
the same trip again, would probably take much the same
gear.

Delays and breakdowns can occur anywhere, anytime. Safety is the
main consideration, of course. I don't know how much travel
experience you have had, but road travel in Australia has its own
hazards, even on inland highways.

Most people don't travel at night, if they can help it. Kangaroos
are nocturnal, and a considerable hazard.
They can suddenly hop in front of you, in which case they can be
over the bonnet and through your windscreen before you
even have time to react. One or more can be standing on the
highway at night, and when your headlamps pick them up, you
had better be able to react quickly, for they will just stand
there looking at your approaching car.

Big trucks use the highway at night, but you will note that they
have driving lights to illuminate the road several hundred yards
ahead, as well as a dirty great bull bar. This isn't for
decoration, it is to allow the truck to hit a 'roo at speed with
no damage to the truck.

Nor are they the only hazard. Livestock such as cows and sheep
sometimes breach fences and stand on the road.

Another point is that smaller towns may have 4 or 5 petrol
stations, but highly unlikely that any will be open at night, and
you may not be carrying enough spare petrol to reach the next
town.

Not all towns on road maps even have petrol stations, stores, or
even pubs. Some are just a few scattered homes.

I suggest that you read the RFDS [Royal Flying Doctor Service]
link given above for hints on safe Australian travel if you
haven't already done so.

Cheers,
Kangaroo16

we stayed at this place a couple of months ago-seems like the kind of place
you're looking for:

http://www.glenferrielodge.com/

ian


wrote in message
ups.com...
planning a trip to Australia (Sydney-Adelaide-Sydney, taking about
three months) departing late November. First stop is Sydney to get
over the jet lag and buy a car. We've been there a couple of times
before but not for a couple of years, and are looking for a small and
most importantly QUIET hostel/backpackers. Done a lot of BBH hostels
in New Zealand and have found similar idyllic places in Oz. Clearly
it won't be as cheap or as quiet, but we don't want to end up in the
all-night backpacker party places; we're in our 40s!!

any ideas? have found some possibles on the web and Rough Guide but
nothing like recommendations!

many thanks
Helen

please reply to group, e-mail address given doesn't work (or insert my
middle initial 's' so that it does)