Just over two months ago, my temporary work visa was approved for my six-week assignment in Sydney. This only gave me a few days to find accommodation in a city that I don’t actually know very well. After checking with a couple of local friends, I started looking into places in the Surry Hills and Darlinghurst neighbourhoods of Sydney, since I was told they were laid-back yet central and bustling with cafes, bars and pubs. One place that stood out was an Airbnb at Waldorf Apartments in Chippendale, right next to Surry Hills. As it turns out, Chippendale, formerly known to be a bit of a rough spot, has transformed over recent years into a bubbling neighbourhood with a vibrant creative scene and many great places to go out.
I’m quite relaxed about accommodation in general, but if you’re moving into a place you haven’t been able to view before for six weeks, you can only hope that you made the right choice. As soon as I stepped into the little studio I had rented via Airbnb, I knew I had indeed chosen well. The little place is comfy and really has everything I need and more, even featuring a balcony, a washer AND dryer in the bathroom as well as dishwasher. A hot outdoor pool and Jacuzzi is located on the rooftop as well as a gym with a sauna. It’s definitely easier to motivate yourself for the gym when all it takes is a lift to get there.
With my work life balance looking on the upside, I couldn’t wait to explore my neighbourhood. Chippendale has just the right mix of residential feel and buzz, with a grungy touch. Many of the buildings feature graffiti, there are little cafés such as Pisco Sour and Brickfields tucked away in the alleys, the latter getting so busy that long queues build up on a weekend morning. The local pub The Chippo Hotel is less than five minutes’ walk from my house. Central Mall, a large shopping centre with a Woolworths (major Australian supermarket) is just a ten-minute walk away and so is Kensington Street, a little alleyway with restaurants and bars. Just off Kensington Street, Chippendale is home to Spice Alley, another little alleyway featuring only Asian food stalls. Basic stools and tables invite guests to eat next to heaters and underneath a canopy of Chinese lanterns.
From there, it’s just another 10 or 15 minutes along Broadway, the local shopping mile, to get to Victoria Park, a really pretty urban park with a lake and an outdoor swimming pool and gym. Right next to it, the Landsdowne Hotel is a multi-storey pub with a grungy vibe and many live music and comedy gigs on offer. I went to see four great bands in one night for only 10 AUD (6 GBP) – plus 5-dollar beers. Late opening hours (until 3 am) is another plus point of the Landsdowne Hotel – most pubs in Sydney close much earlier than this. The Clare Bar at The Old Clare Hotel on the corner of Broadway and Kensington Street is popular as well, with its interior seemingly deliberately kept in a basic, retro feel.
Following my rule of always listening to the locals for places to go, I went to Carriageworks on my first weekend in Sydney. These old railway construction buildings now house many art exhibitions and the nearby shelter is home to the local Farmer’s market, which is on every Saturday from 10 am – 4 pm.
