Club Exchange is a student run Macquarie University group. Club Ex has been created by students who have participated in exchange, to help students who have come to Macquarie University to Study Abroad and Exchange. For full details about upcoming Club Ex events please find the information on: www.facebook.com
Information on other Clubs at Macquarie is available at:
As you’re probably discovering, there are stacks of things to do in and around Sydney. There are so many places to see, eat at, shop at, learn about, visit and discover. To help you getting around, one of our returned exchange students has created a guide to Sydney from an Australian’s perspective – it’s called ‘What to do with that weekend’ and you can download it here:
There are also some great sites to check out that will tell you all about Sydney, New South Wales and Australia. For Sydney, try http://www.citysearch.com.au/ and http://www.sydneyaustralia.com/. For New South Wales, try http://www.tourism.nsw.gov.au/ or http://www.visitnsw.com.au/.
For all of Australia it is generally easiest to contact the tourism department of each state or territory you wish to visit. Open a search engine and type in the name of the state/territory you’re interested in plus the word ‘tourism’.
There are plenty of options for getting around Australia. Given the ready availability of bus, plane and train transport, Macquarie strongly recommends that you avoid renting and buying vehicles or motorbikes for travel. We really can’t emphasise that enough.
Within Sydney there is a very effective transport network. Information, timetables and trip planners are available at http://www.131500.com.au/.
If you’re planning a trip to the Blue Mountains, the south or north coast, or anywhere within Sydney, this is the place to look for the most up-to-date information.
:: Flights
For flights, there are two main airlines operating in Australia, they are Qantas http://www.qantas.com.au/, Jetstar http://www.jetstar.com.au and Virgin Blue http://www.virginblue.com.au/.
In general, Virgin Blue and Jetstar will allow you to find the cheapest fares – if you book in advance you are usually able to get exceptional deals with them, sometimes as cheap as AU$40 one way on some routes, such as Sydney to Melbourne. It is always cheaper booking online with a credit card, with both Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Blue.
:: Trains
When travelling interstate, it is quite easy to go by train. Checkout www.countrylink.info for travel on the east coast. If you want to plan an epic train voyage, then you’re thinking about either the Indian Pacific (Sydney-Perth) or The Ghan (Sydney-Darwin via Alice Springs). Info is also available at www.gsr.com.au.
:: Buses
There are quite a number of bus companies in Australia that run everything from the main routes to small country towns. Buses provide a cheap, although more time consuming, alternative to plane travel. The difference in time between buses and trains is negligible in Australia.
For long distance travel, it is usually easiest to book your bus trip through a travel agent. The best student and backpacker travel agency on the east coast is Backpacker Travel Centre, http://www.backpackerstravel.com.au/ who specialises in cheap fares for us poor students!
It is also possible to buy ‘Bus Passes’ a convenient way to be able to ‘jump off and jump on’ all the way up the easy coast. Once again, it’s usually best to book these through an agency, and in advance. In peak periods, it can be difficult to reserve places on the heavily booked buses, so it pays to book in advance.