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Gay Woman’s Travel Guide: Sydney, Australia

Five hundred and seven pounds of glitter.

Sounds like a lot, but everything’s bigger Down Under. And apparently gayer, because 507 pounds of rainbow glitter indeed rained on 500,000 people at this year’s Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. One of the largest global celebrations of the LGBTQ community, Sydney’s Mardi Gras is held over a three-week period in February and March during the Southern hemisphere’s midsummer. It kicks off with Fair Day, a community event enjoyed by over 80,000 people, and a Festival leading up to the big, glittery event: The Mardi Gras Parade and Party. (Watch the four-hour livestream of this year’s parade here.)

photo by Steven Yee/Getty

Mardi Gras, which began as a street protest in 1978 following an anti-LGBT incident which was not unlike Stonewall, is now Australia’s proudest and most popular celebration of diversity and self-expression. It hosts over 100 events for people of all ages, sexualities, gender expressions and orientations and at the Party, which often features an international headliner, over 12,000 folks dance the night away.

While Australia is world famous for its openness and tolerance, the land of G’Day is yet to fully embrace marriage equality, and a movement is underway to bestow this last remaining right on LGBT Aussies.

For most Americans, Australia is the trip of a lifetime-and many believe it takes a lifetime to get there. But the 14-hour trip from the West Coast is a worthwhile investment of time and money, because Sydney is one of the world’s most beautiful cities. Brilliant sun, countless beaches that mark the continent’s kiss with the Pacific, and the native flora and fauna make the capital city of New South Wales, and its regional areas, more than worth the trek.

WHERE TO BEGIN

The heart of Sydney, much like Boston or San Francisco, is in its harbor. Sydney Harbour is the world’s largest natural harbor and is framed by two iconic structures: the Sydney Harbour Bridge, a magnificent single-span piece of engineering, and the renowned Sydney Opera House-arguably the country’s cultural centre, the sculpted roofs of which resemble giant sails. To get a bird’s eye view of this paradise, climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge itself, as did Oprah and Cate Blanchett (not together!) with the folks at BridgeClimb. Suits, cables and all the protection you need to ensure your safety are provided; your guide will even take a commemorative photo of you at the top!

Afterward, wander through the charming and picturesque cobblestone laneways of The Rocks, the original colonial site where European settlers stepped ashore in 1788, now lined with cosy cafes, boutique shopping, and the oldest pubs in the country.

Beyond Sydney’s harbor and central business district are many vibrant and diverse neighborhoods and suburbs, most of which are gay-friendly. Potts Point is an upscale inner-city hood favored by professional queers many of whom enjoy apartments with harbor views and leafy gardens. The streetscape consists of chic restaurants and eateries, including Good Times Artisan Ice Cream Parlor, the brainchild of Nathan Stasi, and founded with the assistance of acclaimed out lesbian chef Christine Manfield. Their soft serve ice cream cones, cups and sandwiches are all made with natural ingredients…and a queer twist: the Chief Wiggum comes with a donut; there’s the Ziggy Stardust with homemade popping candy, and when we visited they were formulating a flavor for Lickalottapuss.

If Potts Point and nearby Darlinghurst are a gay-male mecca, Newtown is where you find the lesbians. They are everywhere: in the pubs, bookshops, cafes, and restaurants, even ordering donuts from Donut Time (YOU GUYS, GO TO DONUT TIME). I literally was bathing in lesbians in Newtown. And, there’s a reason for this: Newtown is that kind-of-industrial, grungy neighborhood, a little like Bushwick in Brooklyn or Fishtown in Philly, where artists and creative types can live on the cheap and hang out with each other. King Street is the main artery where you’ll find most shops, in addition to lesbian-friendly bars like The Courthouse and the Newtown Hotel. There are other places to meet girls, too. Like many cities, Sydney’s lesbian bars have been replaced by lesbian nights and events: down the road from Newton is a suburb called Enmore, home to a Wednesday night Drag King event Sly Fox. Unicorns is an underground queer party that has a heavy mix of women, and, for the more profesh lez, there’s Lemon With a Twist at Slide Bar, which is held the first Friday of every month.

To beef up on your Sydney LGBTQ history, and to get your bearings, look no further than local gay guide Mario Paez, who operates Planetdwellers’s Sydney Gayborhood Walking Tour, now in its 9th year. Mario is a gentle and knowledgeable companion and a long term resident of Sydney, who can take you to nooks and crannies not in any guidebook. He may begin your tour on Sydney’s golden gay mile, Oxford Street, which is the Mardi Gras Parade route, pointing out popular LGBT watering holes and establishments. Stroll through Darlinghurst, Potts Point, Kings Cross, and back to Surry Hills, where you end your tour with a celebratory beverage at a local gay bar of your choice. No website or book offers such a rich history of gay Sydney. Certainly, none are as warm or as cute as Mario.

Australia is a continent that is a country that is an island-the only such landmass in the world. And Sydney enjoys a spectacular coastline of countless white sand beaches, the most famous of which is Bondi Beach. Buy yourself an Opal Card and catch a bus or train out to Bondi for a truly bucket list activity: a surfing lesson with Let’s Go Surfing. I was paired with a lovely and bubbly female instructor for a one-on-one lesson in navigating strong Sydney surf. After your lesson, you must throw back a ‘flat white’ coffee at one of the cafes and then do the coastal walk from Bondi Beach to Bronte Beach. The Bondi to Bronte Coastal Trail is a series of two cliff-top paths created in the 1930s that includes walks through Bondi, Tamarama, and Bronte beaches. I guarantee at least a dozen stunning photo ops.

WHERE TO STAY

When it comes to bedding down, you have many choices, but for something a bit different, upscale, and uniquely Australian, The Old Clare is it. This gorgeous former pub is centrally located in Chippendale, which is close to lesbian Newton, hip Surry Hills, and Sydney Harbour. (Chippendale is like the Meatpacking District in New York City; a vibrant, newly gentrified village of creative agencies, art galleries, cafes, bars and eateries, including the Kopi-Tiam on Spice Alley, a series of eateries selling Singaporean food, Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian and Hong Kong comfort food, set up outside a collection of heritage homes.)

The Old Clare is a design-led boutique hotel, transformed from a 1915 brewery and 1930 pub into sixty-two rooms and suites, and three independent restaurants. The Kensington Street Social, led by Michelin-starred chef Jason Atherton, is where guests patronize for breakfast. Automata and Silvereye are two fine-dining restaurants, with set menus that include wine pairings. Hit Automata if you’re in the mood for Asian-inspired fare, and Silvereye for a menu built on Aussie foods but cultivated and guided by Scandinavian style of cooking and preparation.

The staff at the Old Clare hotel is friendly and eager to please. When you check-in, the handsome and buff Super Concierge Martin Bray greets you with a smile and friendly banter. He may even offer you a tour of the hotel, from top to bottom, including the rooftop pool-which I took advantage of daily during my summer stay in Sydney. Our room was divine: smartly decorated, sophisticated, spacious, and boasting a luxe tub right in the middle of the room!

THE SYDNEY FOOD SCENE

Sydney’s food scene is giving Melbourne a run for its money these days. The increased emphasis on locally-sourced ingredients coupled with the existing multicultural interplay of Australian and Asian cooking traditions has breathed life into Sydney’s dining establishment. Of course, you can still procure the finest of Australian fare-Vegemite toast and a flat white for breakfast (or “brekky,” as the locals say), Tim Tams with your afternoon tea, and a kangaroo meat pie with a local bottle of Shiraz for dinner.

But here’s where we ate: for lunch and dinner, many cafes are suitable, but Bill Granger owns a trio of Sydney-based restaurants, called simply, Bills, that offer a healthy take on fine Aussie fare. Bills Bondi, for instance, is a fantastic brunch spot after surfing at Bondi Beach. I ordered the “Fresh Aussie” breakfast-lox, poached eggs, kale, cherry tomatoes and toast-healthy fuel to carry me through my day of swimming and hiking.

But Sydney is all about dining at night, and there is no better place for date night than Firedoor, located in the inner-city neighborhood of Surry Hills. The restaurant boasts two custom-made wood-fired ovens and an open kitchen for you to witness your entire dinner prepared before your very eyes. (Warning: The restaurant is meat-centric, and in the case of the marron, a cousin of the crayfish, diners are able see their food, shall we say, alive before preparation, which really forces an ethical awareness of one’s connection to her food, in this age of mass-produced and packaged food consumption.) Different types of wood-such as apple, chestnut, and ironbark-are culled and mixed in the ovens to imbue each item cooked with a special flavor. Even the ice cream is smoked in the oven before being frozen! The care and consideration of each dish is unparalleled. The menu changes seasonally, there are different types of aged beef for different price points, the bread is homemade, the wine list is extensive, and the service is impeccable. After you’ve picked your jaw up off the floor regarding Sydney’s restaurant prices, keep in mind the fact that the quality of cuisine here is on par with New York City and San Francisco’s finest. Plus: no tipping is required in Australia.

Another topnotch restaurant down near Sydney Harbour is Mr Wong, hidden in a city laneway, and decorated in retro-Chinese interior design. The restaurant showcases Cantonese-style dishes that are both generous and delicate. Snow crab salad with snow pea leaves, bamboo shoots, and ginger; crispy chicken, roasted duck, and a local specialty-pippies, which are smaller, sweeter clams served with XO sauce or black bean and chili sauce.

The culinary adventurousness of the Brooklyn food scene is making its influence felt in Sydney these days. Acme, in Rushcutters Bay, has sexy tattooed and gender ambiguous servers that bring you tasty small plates of modern Italian cuisine with a serious Asian infusion, all while your head nods to the bass-heavy music. The crudo with zucchini flowers, mint and chili will stimulate your appetite. Linguine with black garlic and burnt chili is to die for; the signature macaroni, pig’s head, and egg yolk is heartier fare. For dessert, the black sesame ice cream and matcha cake is a perfect ending to the meal.

My Scisstors, let me tell you something: If you want to dine at a hip Sydney restaurant while being surrounded by lesbians, go back to Newtown, to Bloodwood Restaurant and Bar. I squealed with delight as my wife and I walked to our table in this apparently lesbian-owned, lesbian-operated, and lesbian-patronized establishment. Even better, the food is awesome. The heirloom tomato salad with lentils was a dish made for lesbians; the tamarind, daikon, and basil takes this dish to a whole other level of #DeepLez goodness. You also can’t go wrong with the flavorful curry leaf king prawns (Australian shrimp) or the bamboo leaf kingfish. Bloodwood also has a list of homemade juices and a terrific wine list.

GETTING OUT OF THE CITY

Sydney is gorgeous, and it’s hard to beat its beauty. That is unless you head to Byron Bay, which may be the perfect location for your post-Mardi Gras recovery. Located on the top Northeast corner of New South Wales, Byron Bay is a melting pot of surfing culture, alternative lifestyles, and well-heeled bohemian society. From the lush hinterlands to the sparkling beaches, the region is full of natural wonders. This is the Australian mainland’s easternmost town, with its landmark lighthouse denoting the easternmost point of the continent. The town has a mythic history located in the history of the aboriginal natives who lived on the land, and in the marine life-humpback whales use the bay for mating, and Byron is home to bottlenose dolphins and three species of sea turtle. I went kayaking-with the phenomenal crew of Go Sea Kayaks-on the bay and personally encountered a pod of playful dolphins!

In town, there are cute shops, eateries, gelaterias, and a number of good restaurants. If you’re after more than beach casual, try St. Elmo‘s, which offers Spanish tapas and share plates, and has a global list of over 100 bottles of wine. For lunch on the land, The Farm at Byron Bay, which is a working farm, boasts a barn-like restaurant offering locally-sourced dishes (nearly 40% sourced from their own farm!). The Farm is a testament to the ethos of Byron: harmony with the environment. People are physically and spiritually connected to the land. You can even take a tour of the farm, the motto of which is “Grow, Feed, Educate,” to learn about where your food comes from.

You won’t want to leave Byron, especially if you choose to stay at Elements of Byron. This is down-to-earth luxury and romance, with modern Scandinavian-inspired cabanas a short walk to Belongil Beach, set in a secluded environment of native flora and fauna. Elements, which just opened this year, is a beachfront paradise. Yoga on the beach. Golf. Poolside dining and lounging. Visit the Osprey Spa to pamper your body. Wake up to the songs of kookaburras, cockatoos, magpies and lorikeets and then head over to the main building for the free continental breakfast; from kale juice to almond croissants-it’s one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever had!

To reach this tropical paradise from Sydney, take a flight to Ballina airport-Jetstar, which is operated by Qantas, offers cheap flights to and from Ballina daily. From there, you can rent a car and drive (approximately 30 minutes) to Byron Bay.

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

If you plan to visit Sydney in summer, invest in good walking shoes, a hat, and quality sunscreen, because the sun is very strong in this part of the world. Remember to stay hydrated.

To get there, I prefer Qantas, rated the world’s safest airline three years running. Qantas offers direct flights to Sydney from Los Angeles, Dallas/Ft. Worth and, beginning in 2016, San Francisco. Called the “Spirit of Australia,” Qantas’s CEO Alan Joyce is openly gay, and the airline has a long history of LGBT inclusivity. Its new direct flights from San Francisco to Sydney symbolize its gay connection-Qantas is a sponsor of Sydney Mardi Gras and a corporate supporter of the Australian Marriage Equality campaign. Beyond safety and its dedication to our LGBT community, Qantas also has terrific inflight entertainment (showing films currently in theaters!) and pretty stellar airline food.

For getting around Sydney, purchase an Opal card for trains, ferries, buses and light rail travel. Walking is possible, but if you’re unable to walk, buses, which are safe and clean, are your second best option, especially if you plan to travel to one of the city beaches. Cabs abound, but Sydney cabs are expensive. Otherwise, Uber is in the early stages of setting up business in the city.

For more information, visit Destination NSW.

Don’t forget: United States citizens must obtain a Visa before traveling to Australia!

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