Bondi Beach. Carry On with Curtis & Lindsay - Sydney. Credit: Damian Bennett
Bondi Beach. Carry On with Curtis & Lindsay - Sydney.
#feelnewsydney
It’s been two years since celebrity chef, author and television presenter Curtis Stone and his wife, actor Lindsay Price Stone, were last in Sydney. Follow in their footsteps with this guide of quintessential Sydney experiences, from sensational restaurants and providores to chic boutiques, tiny bars and deep cultural connections.
Bondi to Coogee and beyond
Begin your journey overlooking the iconic sandy crescent beach and cool coastal blues of Bondi before heading south on the Bondi to Coogee Walk, passing the much-photographed Bondi Icebergs. This spectacular clifftop trail winds along the coast, linking picturesque beaches and boasting panoramic ocean views throughout. Ready to refuel over a memorable meal? Stop for lunch at Mimi’s, the Mediterranean-inspired fine dining restaurant on the middle floor of Coogee Pavilion. It’s all about indulgence here, starting with a bump of caviar and ice-cold vodka, then onto fresh lobster, truffles and more.
Elevate your riverside escape
Soar sky high on an awe-inspiring flight with Sydney Seaplanes bound for the Broken Bay Pearl Farm. Located on the pristine waters of the Hawkesbury River, it is the only pearl farm in NSW cultivating akoya pearl oysters. Unwind on a scenic cruise along the river to the oyster leases, learn about the art of pearl grading and finish the tour savouring freshly shucked oysters at the Shellar Door whilst perusing the beautiful pearl jewellery for sale. Make a night, or a weekend, of it and treat yourself to a stay at the luxury retreat Marramarra Lodge.
Mimi’s, Coogee. Carry On with Curtis & Lindsay - Sydney. Credit: Damian Bennett
Mimi’s, Coogee. Carry On with Curtis & Lindsay - Sydney.
#feelnewsydney
Mimi’s, Coogee. Carry On with Curtis & Lindsay - Sydney. Credit: Damian Bennett
Mimi’s, Coogee. Carry On with Curtis & Lindsay - Sydney.
Marramarra Lodge, Berowra Waters Credit: Isabel Darling
Woman enjoying a beverage with scenic views across Hawkesbury River at Marramarra Lodge, Berowra Waters.
#feelnewsydney #ilovesydney
Marramarra Lodge, Berowra Waters Credit: Isabel Darling
Woman enjoying a beverage with scenic views across Hawkesbury River at Marramarra Lodge, Berowra Waters.
Indulge in a seafood extravaganza
Ready to learn something new? Discover the art of fish butchery from the expert himself, hatted chef Josh Niland at his new Fish Butchery Waterloo outlet. Home to Sydney’s best fish and chips, mouth-watering tuna cheeseburgers and prawn rolls, plus ready to eat meals and exceptional fresh seafood. Or, step it up a notch with an unforgettable dining experience at Josh’s other venue – Saint Peter in Paddington.
Soak up the harbour views
What would a trip to Sydney be without a cruise on the harbour? There’s no better way to experience the magic of Sydney’s glittering harbour than by boat. Soak up the sights – including a pinch-me moment as you venture under the Sydney Harbour Bridge to spot the sails of the Sydney Opera House with a cruise with Captain Cook Cruises, Lifestyle Charters or EastSail.
Lap up a different view of the city with a stay at Wildlife Retreat at Taronga. This luxury lodge is surrounded by The Sanctuary, a place for rescued native animals to rest and recuperate before being released back into the wild.
Connect with Sydney’s history
Join an eye-opening Aboriginal Bush Tucker Tour through The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney and discover native ingredients and foods that have been consumed in NSW for thousands of years. Led by a First Nations guide, the tour explores the Cadi Jam Ora garden, tasting bush foods like the tart Davidson plum, and learning how native plants were used for medicine and tools.
Learn more about Indigenous culture with a visit to Bangarra Dance Theatre, an acclaimed company of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander performers that bring the world’s oldest culture to global audiences through mesmerising dance performances.
Fish Butchery, Waterloo. Carry On with Curtis & Lindsay - Sydney. Credit: Damian Bennett
Fish Butchery, Waterloo. Carry On with Curtis & Lindsay - Sydney.
#feelnewsydney
Fish Butchery, Waterloo. Carry On with Curtis & Lindsay - Sydney. Credit: Damian Bennett
Fish Butchery, Waterloo. Carry On with Curtis & Lindsay - Sydney.
Sailing, Sydney Harbour Credit: Destination NSW
Sun setting over a sail boat on Sydney Harbour.
#feelnewsydney #ilovesydney
Sailing, Sydney Harbour Credit: Destination NSW
Sun setting over a sail boat on Sydney Harbour.
Shop til you drop
Indulge in some high-end retail therapy with a trip to The Strand. This exquisite three-storey shopping arcade in the heart of the city first opened in 1892 and is still home to top local designers like Aje, Camilla and Marc, Dion Lee, Rebecca Vallance and more. For dinner, make your way down to the new Quay Quarter Lanes precinct for an innovative Korean-style omakase at the eight-seat Kobo restaurant. Afterwards, enjoy your favourite tipple at nearby underground bar, Apollonia.
Hit the sweet spot
Satisfy your sugar cravings with an unparalleled dessert courtesy of the master himself - MasterChef alum Reynold Poernomo. His new KOI Dessert Bar in Chippendale serves up sweets almost too pretty to eat, topped with flowers grown in his mother’s garden. There’s just time for one last margarita, mixed by the experts at Cantina OK! – a tiny bar with a big personality, hidden down a laneway in the centre of the city.
You can watch Carry On with Curtis and Lindsay on the Sydney.com YouTube channel now.
Negroni Series, Apollonia Credit: Steven Woodburn
A selection of negronis from Apollonia's Negroni Series, courtesy of a stack of celebrated international bartenders from The World’s 50 Best Bars.
#feelnewsydney
Negroni Series, Apollonia Credit: Steven Woodburn
A selection of negronis from Apollonia's Negroni Series, courtesy of a stack of celebrated international bartenders from The World’s 50 Best Bars.
Circular Quay, Sydney. Carry On with Curtis & Lindsay - Sydney Credit: Damian Bennett
Circular Quay, Sydney. Carry On with Curtis & Lindsay - Sydney
#feelnewsydney
Circular Quay, Sydney. Carry On with Curtis & Lindsay - Sydney Credit: Damian Bennett
Circular Quay, Sydney. Carry On with Curtis & Lindsay - Sydney
More Inspirational Stories
The Fall Guy Credit: Universal & UPI Media
The Fall Guy in Sydney with a spectacular Glebe Island Silo Stunt
#feelnewsydney
Action-comedy film The Fall Guy explodes onto Australian screens on 24 April, and along with Hollywood superstars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, Sydney also plays a starring role. But the city isn’t just a backdrop to many of the action-packed scenes in the film, it also offers real-life action experiences to get your heart pumping. Here’s our guide to high-octane experiences in Sydney.
On-the-water adrenaline
Just like Ryan Gosling blasting around Sydney Harbour in a high-speed boat chase, you too can feel the wind in your hair, the sea spray on your face and your heart in your mouth on an Oz Jet Boating experience. These bright red, shark-faced jetboats fish-tail, spin and slide under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, past Dawes Point Park (where we meet Jean Claude the kelpie in the film) and the iconic Sydney Opera House, leaving you breathless and somewhat damp. Turn it down a notch with a two-, three- or five-day course from EastSail, with classes on the calm shores of Rushcutters Bay, or go five-star by hiring your very own superyacht from the fleet at Sydney Harbour Luxe Charters – Ghost II was featured in the film.
Get locked in an escape room
A bolted door, a countdown clock and a series of fiendish puzzles – outsmart the bad guys and challenge your friends in one of Sydney’s best escape rooms. Award-winning The Cipher Room, with locations in Newtown and St Peters, offers immersive, expertly designed rooms. Choose from a film noir-style hotel, a mysterious abandoned toy shop or a dystopian French bunker. Entermission Sydney has virtual-reality rooms, with themes like Alice in Wonderland, a pirate ship or space station. While not strictly an escape room, the one-of-a-kind Hijinx Hotel is a fun escape-like challenge set inside a quirky 15-room hotel.
Hickson Road Reserve, Dawes Point Credit: Destination NSW
Friends walking along Sydney Harbour in the morning.
#feelnewsydney
Hickson Road Reserve, Dawes Point Credit: Destination NSW
Friends walking along Sydney Harbour in the morning.
Oz Jet Boating, Sydney Harbour Credit: Destination NSW
Experience the incredible speed of the red shark boats as they blast across Sydney harbour at high speed with Oz Jet Boating.
#feelnewsydney
Oz Jet Boating, Sydney Harbour Credit: Destination NSW
Experience the incredible speed of the red shark boats as they blast across Sydney harbour at high speed with Oz Jet Boating.
Find your need for speed
It’s not an action movie without a car chase, and while you can’t speed through the CBD streets like Ryan Gosling and Jean Claude, you can still challenge your friends to race via go kart at Hyper Karting Moore Park. At the 410-metre indoor track, the electric cars offer plenty of exhilarating straights and corners, with a high-speed function to help you overtake your mates. True petrol heads should make a pitstop at Luddenham Raceway in southwest Sydney, where the go karts are fuelled and the 600m outdoor pro circuit offers 12 high-speed corners and even nighttime drives. Want to do the real thing? Trackschool has half-day passenger or driving experiences in a Porsche 911 Carrera also at the raceway.
Have an adventure up high
A high-stakes, sky-high chopper scene is an action flick essential; recreate the experience (minus the stress) on a flight with Sydney HeliTours. The 20- or 30-minute tours take in jaw-dropping views of harbour icons like the Sydney Opera House, Taronga Zoo, Bondi Beach and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Or live out your Hollywood star dreams onboard the luxury Sydney Seaplanes. If free-falling from the sky like Ryan Gosling does jumping from a multi-story building is the heart race you crave, get the thrills without the spills at iFly Downunder: fully accessible, all-ages indoor skydiving that will make you feel like a superhero. Or take a day trip to the Blue Mountains for a ride on Scenic World’s 270m-high glass-cased Beyond Skyway for that soaring feeling while safely enclosed in a cable car.
Luddenham Raceway, Luddenham Credit: Destination NSW
Track Day at Luddenham Raceway Motorsport Park, Luddenham.
#feelnewsydney
Luddenham Raceway, Luddenham Credit: Destination NSW
Track Day at Luddenham Raceway Motorsport Park, Luddenham.
Sydney Seaplanes, Rose Bay Credit: Destination NSW
Couple ready to enjoy a Sydney Seaplanes flight from Rose Bay, Sydney.
#feelnewsydney
Sydney Seaplanes, Rose Bay Credit: Destination NSW
Couple ready to enjoy a Sydney Seaplanes flight from Rose Bay, Sydney.
Scale walls and cliffs
Action heroes need to be agile and spider-like; flex your skills scaling rock walls at one of Sydney’s top indoor rock-climbing centres. Climb Fit in St Leonards has beginner and high-tech climbs using augmented reality, while Ledge is a smaller centre in Camperdown perfect for beginners, and BlocHaus in Marrickville focuses solely on bouldering. If you prefer to climb surrounded by waterfalls and forests, make the extra leap to the Blue Mountains, and challenge yourself on an abseil or rock-climb under the expert guidance of the Blue Mountains Adventure Company.
Spots to refuel
After all that adventuring, you’re going to need a spot to refuel and cheers to a big day. Make it a meal with a view at Aster Bar on top of the InterContinental Sydney – with uninterrupted views of the harbour. The rooftop bar featured in the film is the Ivy – which is a local favourite for big nights out. Partake in Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt’s love for spicy margaritas at Centro 86, a new underground tequila bar in the CBD, or taste award-winning cocktails at Dean and Nancy on 22. Finish up with a feast at one of the restaurants located around Jones Bay Wharf (you’ll spot this area in the film as Ryan Gosling hides on his boat from the bad guys) or snack in the late-night dining havens in Chinatown: try Japanese izakaya Nakano Darling, xiao long bao from Nanjing Dumpling or Mamak’s legendary roti.
Rest your head
Even heroes need their beauty sleep. Rest up like an A-lister at the Kimpton Margot, a recently opened CBD hotel with Art Deco touches, and featured in the movie (ask Kevin for the fruit plate). Compact yet comfortable, the Little National Hotel is located in the heart of the city near Wynyard (also a major filming locale for The Fall Guy). And for a boutique hotel suitable for everyone from film stars to stunt crew, stay in the Ace Hotel in Surry Hills, with unique in-room features like guitars, record players and locally made custom robes.
Sydney Adventure Tours, Katoomba Credit: Destination NSW
Sydney Adventure Tours offers private tours to the Blue Mountains. With an experienced tour guide, take a bushwalk through nature and experience the rainforests.
#feelnsw #newsouthwales
Sydney Adventure Tours, Katoomba Credit: Destination NSW
Sydney Adventure Tours offers private tours to the Blue Mountains. With an experienced tour guide, take a bushwalk through nature and experience the rainforests.
Little National Hotel, Sydney Credit: Little National Hotel
The rooftop lounge at the Little National, in Wynyard in Sydney.
#feelnewsydney
Little National Hotel, Sydney Credit: Little National Hotel
The rooftop lounge at the Little National, in Wynyard in Sydney.