#2 Fish at the Rocks<\/a><\/strong> – This small restaurant in Sydney is unpretentious and has the best seafood in the city!\u00a0 If you visit Sydney, go here.\u00a0 I think we were the only tourists….the place was filled with locals who knew each other.\u00a0 A great sign!<\/p>\n #3 Short Grain<\/a><\/strong> – This restaurant in Brisbane is some of the best Thai food we have had in years!\u00a0 We shared several dishes and they were all excellent!!\u00a0 Wow!!<\/p>\n Here is our list of things we learned about Australia:<\/p>\n 1. There are a LOT of hotels that have laundry facilities included.\u00a0 We didn’t have to hit a laundromat for our entire 7 week trip.\u00a0 They not only have washing machines but dryers, which has not been common in other places like Europe.<\/p>\n 2. As friendly as Australian’s are, they are not friendly to pedestrians.\u00a0 If you are crossing a street, even in a crosswalk, they will not slow down for you, and seem to have an attitude that if you don’t get out of the way you deserve to be hit.\u00a0 It was quite disturbing!\u00a0 This was consistent throughout the regions we visited.<\/p>\n 3. We took 9 domestic flights during our travels, and we never had to show our passport or ID once.\u00a0 They only look at your boarding pass.\u00a0 It was odd!\u00a0 They even recheck your boarding pass after walking onto the plane!\u00a0 Also, you can carry-on as much wine (or other fluids) as you want on a domestic flight.\u00a0 It was very different from the US.\u00a0 We never took our shoes off, and only one flight had me remove my laptop.\u00a0 On one flight (coming back from Kangaroo Island) they didn’t even have a security checkpoint!<\/p>\n 4. Uber is readily available everywhere and the drivers are super friendly!\u00a0 Definitely plan on using Uber!<\/p>\n 5. Joggers are a huge issue in Sydney!\u00a0 There are literally thousands of them running in very crowded areas.\u00a0 I don’t get it…I was a cross country runner for years, and the last place I wanted to be was around crowds of people!\u00a0 Very strange!<\/p>\n 6. There are shopping malls everywhere that are packed with people and people are buying shit!\u00a0 Amazon has not taken over here as of yet, so brick and mortar stores are still prospering.<\/p>\n 7. Restaurants on weekends and holidays have surcharges for labor.\u00a0 You can expect a 10% surcharge on weekends and a 15% surcharge on holidays.\u00a0 The locals basically don’t go out on weekends!\u00a0 Also, every business here charges a 1.5% surcharge on each Visa CC transaction.\u00a0 Amex is 3%, so bring your Visa card!<\/p>\n 8. Tipping is not expected, period.\u00a0 However, in tourist towns like Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane they make a big show on the credit card app of tipping.\u00a0 It’s quite interesting in smaller regions that they don’t even offer the option of tipping!\u00a0 Bottom line, they are trying to take advantage of tourists.\u00a0 Unless the service is particularly exceptional, I wouldn’t tip.\u00a0 They are paid a living wage here!<\/p>\n 9. We stayed at several high end properties (Southern Ocean Lodge<\/a><\/strong> and Saffire Freycinet<\/a><\/strong> in particular), and the staff at these properties was second to none!\u00a0 They had people from France, Canada, Argentina, Brazil….you name it, and they were all incredible!!\u00a0 These places know good workers!\u00a0 The locals were also excellent!<\/p>\n 10. I was not expecting to love the wine so much!\u00a0 There were several wines that really stood out!\u00a0 First up is Delamere Vineyards<\/a><\/strong> who had an incredible sparkling wine that we had on arrival at Saffire Freycinet!\u00a0 We had this sparkling numerous times during our stay.\u00a0 However, the best wine of the trip was a 2018 Domain A<\/a><\/strong> Pinot Noir under cork!\u00a0 Wow, what a great wine!\u00a0 The other wine we purchased was a 2023 Grenache Blanc<\/a><\/strong> and a 2021 Schiller Shiraz<\/a><\/strong> from the Barossa Valley from the Schwarz Wine Company<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 This was the best Shiraz we had in the Barossa Valley (actually the best Shiraz of the entire trip, and that’s saying something), and far cheaper than some of the crazy Penfolds and Henshke wines!<\/p>\n 11.\u00a0 It was quite interesting that every Australian, upon hearing we were going to Tasmania, commented “Oh, we just love Tasmania”.\u00a0 I asked each of them why they hadn’t moved there, and they all said “it’s too cold”.\u00a0 Regardless, our 11 days in Tasmania were the highlight of our trip.\u00a0 We absolutely loved it, and it’s the one place that has me considering a return trip to Australia.\u00a0 It’s really that amazing!!\u00a0 If you plan a trip to Australia, Tasmania demands at least 11 days, but I would prefer more!<\/p>\n 12. I was blown away by the musical talent at Lizard Island Lodge, Mason<\/a> Lloyd<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 He was awesome!\u00a0 I mentioned a few songs we love and he actually had them down and performed them before we left!\u00a0 He made the dinners that much more amazing!\u00a0 Thanks Mason!!<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/petersontravels.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/wp-17440257343428192881952033215887.jpg\")
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