What no Wifi in Sydney?

When I travel, I find wifi a real life saver. My ongoing obsession with social media means that I sometimes wonder if there is any point in doing something unless I can tell people about it on Twitter, Facebook or Four Square.

This applies triple fold when I go on holiday. I'm convinced that my adoring followers will be utterly bereft and lost without my constant updates (yes I do know I live in a dream world). In addition to this, as the iPhone now offers free messaging and FaceTime over the internet, access to a wifi network can significantly reduce your costs when abroad.

This metropolitan city has few wifi spots!

Although the cost of using the Internet abroad has decreased recently, especially with products such as Vodafone Passport which gives you a limited amount of data when travelling in certain countries. However, if you can tap into a free wifi network, it costs you nothing, and you're not limited to a certain data use each day.

Most tourist destinations have cottoned onto this. I recently went on holiday to Santorini in Greece and nearly all of the bars and restaurants offered free wifi and advertised this on their boards and menus. It makes sense to me as, I would be more likely to go into a bar where I can access the Internet for free, and I would probably check into the bar on Four Square and maybe load up some photos of me at the venue, giving them free advertising.

However, on a recent trip to Sydney to visit my brother, I was surprised to find that this was not the case there. I received no free data on my Vodafone phone tariff for Australia and within the first day I had racked up over £10 worth of SMS and data charges. So I was keen to find some places where I could take advantage of their wifi. To my brother's great dismay, I then embarked on a desperate endeavour whereby every bar or restaurant I went into, I would ask if they had wifi, and the answer was repeatedly "no".

View from Top Deck Cafe, one of the places with free wifi

It seems so strange to me that such a busy tourist destination as Sydney does not offer this in more venues. While I was there, someone mentioned that wifi and broadband are expensive and slow in Australia. So maybe that is why more places don't offer it. This may be true as many of the places that I found offering access to wifi limited the length of time you could use it or the amount of data you could download. On top of this though, most insisted that you logged in with a certain amount of personal details before you could used the wifi, and many of the wider schemes in operation were currently in a test phase, which indicates to me some caution around the open use of wifi.

So I thought I would let you know about some of the places I found that did offer free wifi. I hope you find this useful:

• all Mcdonalds in Sydney offer free wifi. To access it, you simply have to ask for the wifi code when you purchase your food or drink
• you can just tap into at the top of the stairs outside the Sydney Opera House
• if you are travelling by train, then the station at Circular Quay in Sydney has wifi for all travellers, you just have to log on and provide some personal details (although I believe this is a trial)
• many of the Sydney ferries have free wifi. You have to travel in a certain section of the boat, log on with your personal details, you then have a certain amount of data to use. I took the ferry from Circular Quay to Manly which takes around half an hour and used all my allowance just checking into Four Square and uploading a photo
• Sydney Airport currently has free wifi that is sponsored by one of the travel companies. Again, you have to log in, but with a huge amount of personal details, including flight number and flight time. The log on also kept crashing so it was a bit frustrating but I got there in the end
• many libraries in Sydney offer the service. I regularly tapped into the one in Balmain, which again asked for some personal details
• if you can cope with all the people and the smell, the Sydney Fish Market has a pretty quick and easy free wifi service. I found a glass of Sauvignon Blanc helps
• if you are in Balmain, the Top Deck cafe does a good coffee, has a vew of the Harbour Bridge, and also free wifi
• in Rozelle, the Bean cafe has good grub, but a pretty slow wifi service

View from the ferry to Manly with free wifi

I went to Sydney in January 2012, so this list was up to date then. If you have any other places you would like to add to help other travellers, then please leave a comment below. Or if any of the places stop their wifi service, then again, just let me know below. I would love to hear from you.

Places I love around Sydney

I've been to Sydney several times in the past, but generally as a fairly penniless traveller. But having just returned from a trip to visit my brother, I've had a bit of an insider's view of the nice places to eat and drink in and around Sydney and I thought I would share them with you. Remember, Sydney is not a cheap place to play in, but many restaurants do BYO which can help balance the budget! Although it can be pricey, the quality is generally excellent, and you get lots of variety of cuisine and genuinely fresh ingredients.

The Opera Bar

With two of Sydney's most iconic landmarks in view, The Opera Bar couldn't be better located. Described as "the world's best beer garden", you can sit outside and admire the coat hanger and the Opera House, or if it rains (take it from me, it often does in Sydney) you can sit inside too. The big pull is the stunning view, but they have a lovely selection of food and wines, and for Sydney, it's not too frighteningly priced. I'd recommend the sharing plate which is a beautiful tray of little tasting bites- a bit like a high end tapas dish- and is perfect to share. Ideal if you want a break from shopping at the rocks, or for pre opera snack while marvelling the Sydney skyline.

Woolwich Pier Hotel

Sydney is built on a large port and there is a great network of ferries that offers a fun and convenient way to navigate the best spots. One of the ports is Woolwich and it's worth stopping off here to go to this hotel - or pub as we would call it in the UK. Built overlooking the Woolwhich peninsula, the wrap around veranda offers a great aspect from which to watch the boats go in and out while enjoying the bistro style dining. I had an amazing salad of Baby Beetroots, Yarra Valley Goats Cheese,Torn Croutons, Cherry Tomatoes, Watercress and Red Onion with merlot vinaigrette washed down with a lovely glass of cold crisp Sauvignon Blanc. The ordering system is a bit strange where you have to pay for the food downstairs, you're given a device which buzzes at you when your food is ready and then you have to go collect it. A bit of a fiddle for such a classy place, but maybe you burn a few more calories.

Cockatoo Island

Cockatoo Island is the largest island in Sydney harbour and a former imperial prison and Naval base. Although the Jamaican style Island Bar is a little ramshackle as it is made from recycled shipping containers, the wood fired Pizzeria looked pretty good and they do a wide selection of cocktails. The location gives you a beautiful view of the Sydney Harbour and the Harbour Bridge, and the Island has some interesting art work and historical nods to the colonial past of Sydney. A fun place to get a bit tipsy on a sunny day !!

Sydney Fish Market

This might not sound like the most classy of places to go when in Sydney, but worth it for the experience alone. When you walk into the market, you find yourself in the company of what seems like thousands of other people from every imaginable country. In group formation you walk round the market, very, very slowly, past trays and trays of the strangest looking fish. Cat fish, dory, place, prawns, lobsters, flatheads, scallops, squids, rays, the list is endless. You can obviously purchase all the fresh fish, but you can also choose from a wide range of cooked platters. It's really reasonably priced and since you pay per platter, you see people walking out with trays piled high with fish. We controlled ourselves and enjoyed some calamari rings and battered flathead. And, you can buy wine by the bottle which you then drink on the harbourside, watched by hungry sea birds. Free wifi too which is an absolute rarity in Australia.

Bavarian Bier Cafe, Manly Wharf

If you go to Sydney, you've got to take a ferry from Circular Quay to Manly. You get to sail past the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge and up past the coast with the stunning city skyline in the background. Manly has some great surf shops, a wide and touristy beach and waves perfect for any surfing fan. Before you leave, I think it's the law that you have a litre of mango beer at the Bavarian Bier Cafe on the wharf. Of course there are other beers to enjoy and you don't have to have mango juice in yours, but for me, it is the perfect refreshing drink after a hot day on the beach. There's a good pizzeria next door too. 

The Riverview Hotel

Described as a local landmark in the heart of Balmain, imagine my surprise when I walked in and saw a painting on the wall of "Southampton Docks". The nearest large town to where I live in the UK. So The Riverview Hotel gets a mention for that reason really! We ate in the bar, but you can also eat in the dining room and the hotel has recently been awarded 'Gastronomic Hotel of The Year' at the prestigious AHA Awards for Excellence (apparently). Not a cheap eatery, but pretty good quality food and a wide selection of wines and beers. They have an interesting tapas style tasting menu as well as gourmet pizzas and daily specials which are more substantial. I had the tasting plate which was three dishes for $25. 

And if none of that suits, why not do things the traditional Australian way and have a Barbie? With a lovely glass of Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir or an old fashioned stubby- I'm a fan of a Coopers or a Little Creatures!!

I won't be singing in Singapore!

When I started this blog, I promised myself that it wouldn't be just somewhere for me to complain about my bad experiences. There are too many blogs that are too heavily focused on the negative, when travelling should be fun, and sometimes the hic-cups can add to the overall experience.

I've been so disappointed with Singapore Air though, that I felt I needed to write about it, even if it helps other travellers avoid some of the pitfalls.

Elsewhere in this blog, I have discussed how much I love flying. My airline of choice is Virgin Atlantic  but due to costs, I decided to fly to Australia with Singapore Airlines. I spent quite some time on Seat Guru picking my seat, and my plan was to write a blog post about the food, the service and the overall experience.

However, I am due to fly today and since nothing to date has been at all positive, I think it is unlikely I shall feel inclined to write a glowing review of the on board delights.

These have been my issues:

Language barriers: Of course I understand that an airline such this will be multilingual, but every time I have spoken to the "London Office" they staff have struggled to understand me, and I have struggled to understand them. So much so that the booking was incorrect when it was made, with many details relating to my name and email address being wrong due to the staff not understanding what I was saying.

Poor technology: The reason why I have repeatedly had to talk to the team is because of the number of glitches in the system. The website couldn't take my booking at the time. I couldn't amend my details relating to my booking online. When I needed to check the flight times, I kept getting error messages and the site wouldn't work from my Smart Phone.

Dreadful customer service: My flights have been delayed today, which means that I am missing my connecting flight from Singapore Airport to Sydney Airport. Again, I think we all know that sometimes there are delays on flights, but for me, it is about what airlines do when something goes wrong that makes them excellent as well as what they do as part of their standard service.

I was informed that my flight from Heathrow Airport was delayed because I received a text. However, the text did not give me any detail relating to my connecting flight. When I rang them, the operative informed me that I was going to miss the connecting flight and that they were trying to find me an alternative seat on a plane to Sydney, but that I might have to sort it when I got to Singapore Airport.

The view of Sydney Harbour I shall not be seeing as I sit in the Aisle by the loo!

I got quite upset (understandably) and asked whether the delays were due to the cracks in the wings on A380 which have been widely reported in the media. The operative had no idea why the planes were delayed at all. But it was "definitely not" due to the cracks in the wings. As a person travelling alone, huge delays at airports can be particularly tiresome, especially when you have done a huge amount to organise the detail of the trip.
After being put on hold several times, I asked to speak to a supervisor which I was unable to do straight away. However, I was rung back about an hour later by Sarah who had managed to find me a seat on a flight to Sydney. Woo hoo. However, I was unable to get a window seat, so no lovely view of Sydney as we land, and I am also dangerously close to a toilet. And I think we all know what that means on a long flight! 

So, this afternoon, rather than getting a lovely manicure and pedicure followed by a final fat busting trip to the gym, I have been on the phone to Singapore Airlines and getting increasingly frustrated by their dreadful website.

My revenge? I shall attempt to drink the bar dry on the flight. I'll let you know how I get on.

Update!!
So I have now arrived in Australia after a fairly vexingly long journey. There were lots of people on my flight that were in the same position as me, and were going to miss their connecting flight. And most of them had left the UK without any idea when and if they were going to get a seat on a connecting flight. A lot of fairly disatisfied customers!

And was it a good flight? Well I had asparagus for breakfast and an onion and lettuce sandwich for supper. So, not so much.

Do I think the plane was delayed because of the issues with cracks in the wings? Well, interestingly this article was posted on Bloomberg on the day after I flew to say that Singapore Air was starting to check all of the wings of all of their A380 Airbuses. But that this was absolutely not going to affect operations. Hmmm.