Getting Sydney street cred

Apparently not! Before my latest trip to Sydney, I had no street cred and was pretty much a tourist in a city I thought I knew.

It took a man with a car, and a moustache to teach me the ways and wilds of Sydney. All the while looking stylish as hell in an aqua green 1964 EH Premier Holden. Enter: Mysydneydetour.com. The man with the car and the moustache is Richard, the owner of mysydnneydetour.com – his mission; to show my partner and I the parts of Sydney we’d fall in love with – essentially making us a local in five hours.

Our ‘detour’ starts at the airport, where Richard introduces us to the EH – a beautifully restored vehicle with some modern day luxuries like air con and adjustable suspension. On our way into the city, Richard quizzes us on our favourite things to do –even asking what bakeries we love to which I pretty much yell “BROWNIES!” at him. Sidenote: no-carb diets give me crazy eyes. O_o
From our answers, Richard sets out a day of places and faces to see. The man is a living iPhone – complete with GPS, notes, and a Wikipedia about Sydney.
Our first stop is Redfern and Café Ella – a locally owned and operated café that’s been around in some shape or form for the past 25 years. But, more importantly they boil and bake their own sweet and savoury bagels. We get a Blueberry bagel and their carrot cake, which is life changing.

I want to be buried in a vat of the carrot cake’s icing so I can eat my way out. FYI – if you take a detour eat whatever Richard suggests, you will not be disappointed.

From there we stroll down the street to an unassuming house, which holds a gallery displaying art from local Redfern artists. This also happens to be Richard’s living and dining room where his love and involvement with the local community is on display. After failing to convince any local galleries to display local art, he took it upon himself to do so – ladies it’s totally ok to swoon. 😉

The gallery includes a range of art – including the original 3D moulds for some of Mambo’s (yes the t-shirt guys) most iconic illustrations!

One of my favourite pieces depicts the inequity of indigenous soldiers during times of war –by local artist- Hugh Ramage.

We then cruise down to Chippendale in the oh-so-cool EH. I have to say, I think I see more people give thumbs up, waves and honks to Richard and his car than I’ve seen hot meals.
We continue our art hunting at the White Rabbit Gallery – the largest collection of modern Chinese art outside of China. The gallery consists of three floors of different artworks – the most inspiring is a mound of hand crafted porcelain sunflower seeds.

Let that sink in for a sec. Thousands of seeds created by hand. My pictures can in no way do the epicness of this justice.

After a quick stop at Brickfields for bacon sandwiches, (ps: delicious!) we head out of the city for some beach views, and this is where the EH comes into its own. Make sure you get your hair did before you hop in this car because all of the coast will be looking at you!

We head to the Clovelly bowls club – quite possibly the best bowls club in Australia – the locals may kill me, but I highly recommend booking a lane on a Saturday afternoon. Not just for the cheap drinks, but for the multi-million dollar view. Seriously.

After Clovelly we track our way along the coastline, through Bronte Beach, until we reach Bondi. Richard hooks us up and we head to Jed’s – a chilled little café. Like Café Ella, it’s a locally owned and operated café – whose chef makes the best meat pies in Sydney. They also create organic sodas, acai smoothies, and cold drip coffee. This is a definite if you’re at Bondi and looking to unwind.

After giving us some hot tips on dinner and bars, Richard drops us off at our hotel with a parting gift of 1964 Holden EH shaped Swiss chocolate. Here we wave goodbye to the EH and about 75% of our coolness factor.
Our home for the night is the Adina Apartment Hotel, Bondi Beach. A pretty slick hotel, just a few hundred metres from the beach. Staying in a one bedroom apartment, we’re greeted by a bright and very modern apartment. A long hallway allows for a separate kitchen and living area, and places the bathroom away from the bedroom.

The bathroom is definitely one of the highlights – which is great because I always judge a hotel by its bathroom! Case in point here.

It has a fully enclosed glass shower, with an adjustable shower head and shelf space for your soap, shampoo, conditioner, razor and shaving cream. The bathroom has a nice grey tile on all walls and floor with a white vanity and large mirror. The tiles aren’t cold or slippery underfoot, and the vanity is big enough to hold a toiletries bag, hair dryer and hand towel with ease. Can you tell I like my bathrooms? 😉

The living area has a large lounge (enough for me @ 6’4 to pretty much lie flat across it), sitting chair, coffee table, and dining table enough to seat three large adults pretty well ( two adults and two kids easily). The separate bedroom (separated by a rolling divider) holds a king bed, but no bath robes so I can’t get my diva on. ☹

By the time we leave Bondi we feel like, for the first time, we actually know Sydney. For anyone that wants to explore beyond the confines of the CBD and Surry Hills, I highly recommend a Sydney Detour with Richard – But buyer beware: chances of man crushes are high!

Nathan travelled as a guest of DNSW.

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