Q: I'm an American moving to Sydney in January to begin a working holiday. I've never been to Australia so I'm basically just showing up and going to figure most of it out when I arrive, but I would love some advice in advance. I would of course prefer to live in a good and safe location in the city, and would like easy access to public transportation. Any tips??? Thank you!!! :)
A: I'm from Sydney and I can tell you that it is very safe. I would say the best place to live would be in the eastern suburbs. Areas like Potts Point, Darlinghurst, Woolloomooloo are great places and around a 15-20 minute walk into the centre of the city - there is also a train station at Kings Cross (2 stops to the centre and 2 stops to Bondi Junction). There is also a great nightlife and a short bus ride to Bondi Beach. The postcode you need is 2011. Empire Hotel in Kings Cross is always hiring staff and a 5 minute walk from these suburbs. You will be able to make lots of friends there - travellers and locals. When you first arrive you will probably want to stay in a hostel for a couple of weeks and look for a job and a flat - it will be a lot cheaper to share a flat with others - a lot of backpackers hostels are located in Kings Cross. Bear in mind that Kings Cross is a 24 hr place and can be seedy at times, it used to have a bad reputation but has cleaned up a lot. It's in the middle of a lot of exclusive suburbs. here are some links to help you: http://sydney.gumtree.com.au/ http://www.empirehotel.net/empire.php http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?id=2011&a=qfp&cu=fn-rea&t=shr&q=Go