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With summer here, we can hopefully get out and enjoy our incredible city after a challenging year. If you haven’t got a big budget right now, here are 10 ways to have a smashing time in Sydney for a tenner or less.
Check out emerging musicians and have a beer at Green Square Library
By day Cafe Noun serves coffee from Three Pence Roasters and excellent waffles to Green Square Library patrons and passers-by. But from 5pm to 7pm on Friday and Saturday nights, and 4pm to 6pm on Sundays the venue transforms into a bar hosting some of Sydney’s best emerging musical talent. Sit outside and enjoy the sunset with jazz and a $6 beer, or catch an acoustic set with wine from $9.
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SIGN UPTone up for free beside one of Sydney’s prettiest pools
Just because we’ve spent most of this year in trackpants doesn’t mean we should fully abandon our cores. Breathe your way through an hour of Pilates, doing toe taps or the dreaded hundreds, at one of the prettiest pools in Sydney: Andrew (Boy) Charlton at The Domain. Classes at 6.30am on Mondays are free, leaving you cash to spare for the $6.90 pool entry. Pause between laps to take in the gorgeous view.
See a free exhibit of contemporary Chinese art
Chippendale’s White Rabbit Gallery believes “art should belong to all”, which is why you can stroll in for free at any time to peruse one of the world’s most significant collections of Chinese contemporary art. The current exhibit, And Now, is the second instalment of the gallery’s 10th-anniversary celebrations. If you do nothing else, walk through Zhu Jinshi’s spectacular work, The Ship of Time, an organic, tunnel-like sculpture made from 14,000 sheets of xuan (rice) paper, 1800 pieces of fine bamboo and 2000 lengths of cotton thread.
Escape to a national park for the day
Although the walking trails are beautiful, the highlight of visiting Dharawal National Park is swimming in one of the many freshwater swimming holes and rockpools. Full of gum trees, sandstone boulders and rushing rivers, this national park just south of Campbelltown is full of places to swim and walk. The 2.4-kilometre (return) Minerva Pool walking track leads to Jingga pools, a good spot for swimming and picnicking.
Feast on $10 burgers at Harry’s
There’s no restriction on the $10 burger and $10 cocktail deals at Harry’s in Surry Hills. The price drop is permanent – all day, every day. That means you can feast on Wagyu beef burgers, juicy fried-chicken burgers or eggplant schnitty burgers every day of the week for a tenner. Visit on Wednesdays to try out the ever-changing burger special, or forgo the burgers and have a $10 Margarita, Negroni, Aperol Spritz or Espresso Martini.
Check out Lindy Lee’s exhibit at the MCA for free
Moon in a Dew Drop looks back on the career of contemporary Australian-Chinese artist Lindy Lee. The exhibition, which draws on her experience of living between two cultures and identities, demonstrates a range of mediums and techniques – Lee flings molten bronze to create sculptures, burns paper and experiments with how rain transforms surfaces. The exhibit surveys the entirety of the 66-year-old artist’s career, showing earlier works alongside recent large-scale installations and sculptures.
Find tranquillity in the heart of the CBD for $8
The Chinese Garden of Friendship might be a tourist haunt, but with its water dragons, colourful koi, dramatic pagodas and pretty waterfalls, a visit to this surprisingly large garden is a lovely experience for locals as well. Based on Taoist principles of yin and yang – the balance of opposing but complementary forces – the garden is a serene escape. Spend $8 on a ticket and pack yourself a picnic to enjoy on a stone bench under a willow tree.
Eat $1.50 oysters at Black Bottle in Darlo
This small Darlinghurst bar proves oysters aren’t just for high rollers. From 5pm to 7pm Wednesday to Saturday, Sydney rock oysters cost a buck fifty; Negronis and Aperol Spritzes are $10 a pop; and, if you bring a mate, a $15 carafe of wine plus two oysters each only breaks your $10 budget by 50 cents.
Have a pie and browse for furniture on the southern end of King Street, Newtown
The southern end of King Street was once packed with quirky vintage furniture shops, but things are changing in the area, which has a growing collection of vegan diners, small bars and the newly opened Mountain Goat Brewery. Stop by Miss Lilly’s for an excellent beef, ale and mushroom pie for $7.50, then eat, walk and window shop the last of the area’s vintage stores. If you’ve got the budget, you could pick up an old map of Europe, a mid-century lamp or a one-of-a-kind piece of costume jewellery. Once you’ve had your fill, enjoy the sunshine in Sydney Park, five minutes down the road.
Swim in an ocean or harbour pool for free
While Sydney’s beaches are obviously incredible, so too are our unique ocean and harbour pools. Many are free to enter, and the ones that aren’t won’t set you back too much. Our favourite freebies? Maccallum Pool at Cremorne Point, Bronte Baths, Fairy Bower Rockpool at Manly, and Mahon Pool at Maroubra. Iconic Bondi Icebergs and Wylie’s Baths at Coogee will both cost a few bucks – but they’re worth it.
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