Sydney/North Shore
From Wikitravel
The North Shore is a large suburban district of Sydney, capital of the Australian state of New South Wales. The North Shore district is situated "across the harbour", north of both Sydney City and North Sydney, and stretches a broad swathe of land from the northern edge of Sydney Harbour up to the Hornsby Plateau. Despite the name, North Shore suburbs are almost all located well inland from the ocean and only a very few have actual harbour frontage.
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Understand
The North Shore consists of mainly residential suburbs with relatively low density housing, their inhabitants tending to be wealthy "well-to-do" middle-class families. Servicing their perceived needs, the North Shore area includes a large number of the most expensive and prestigious private schools.
The North Shore district is divided between a number of separate municipal administrations, that include (south to north) Willoughby City Council and Hornsby Shire Council. Sydneysiders are known also to distinguish between the "lower North Shore" and the "upper North Shore"....
As one of the older residential areas of Sydney, the North Shore is also known for its extensive gardens and mature European trees, making it one of the most attractive areas within the Sydney metropolitan area. The North Shore, however, has very few tourist attractions that might interest the traveller.... Most travellers will appreciate the area as a convenient - and comfortable - base from which to explore the wider city.
Get in
By train
The North Shore is serviced by regular Cityrail [1] (http://cityrail.info/) trains running on the North Shore line between the City and North Sydney and the upper North Shore suburb of Hornsby. These are extremely busy at peak hours, but not at other times. There are a total of twelve North Shore stations:
St Leonards, Artarmon, Chatswood, Roseville, Lindfield, Gordon, Pymble, Turramurra, Warrawee, Wahroonga and Waitara (many trains only run from the city to Gordon).
By bus
Regular State Transit [2] (http://sydneybuses.nsw.gov.au/) buses run from the city as far north as Chatswood. North of Chatswood services are run by private bus companies, are slightly less regular and oriented towards locals who want to travel between North Shore suburbs.
By car
North Shore suburbs are between twenty minutes and an hour north of the City by car. Travellers should drive up the Warringah Freeway to Chatswood and follow the Pacific Highway north. The Pacific Highway passes conveniently through the centre of many North Shore suburbs.
See
Do
- Chatswood's Victoria Street Pedestrian Mall, very close to the train station, has regular musical performances, public chess games on a giant board, and occasionally performances from buskers.
Cinema
- Roseville Cinema [3] (http://www.rosevillecinemas.com.au/) regularly shows movies not released in larger cinema chains, tel 9416 8555
Buy
Most North Shore suburbs have small shopping villages oriented towards locals and their needs. The major exception is Chatswood, which has two large shopping centres: Chatswood Westfield and Chatswood Chase, as well as the smaller Chatswood Mandarin Centre.
Chatswood Chase is an upmarket shopping centre with designer clothing stores and the upmarket department store David Jones. Chatswood Westfield is a mainstream shopping centre with cheaper clothing stores. Chatswood Mandarin is an older shopping centre with an Asian food court, a number of electronics stores, and a Chinese supermarket on the ground floor.
Eat
- Gourmet Pizza Kitchen, 60 Archer Street Chatswood. (02) 9411 8000. AU$15-AU$25. The Gourmet Pizza Kitchen is a family restaurant which serves thirty different pizzas.
- The Genghis Khan Mongolian Barbeque Restaurant, 77 Archer Street Chatswood. (02) 9411 1147. AU$20. The Genghis Khan is a self-serve restaurant. Your meal is cooked on a large hot plate by a flamboyant chef.
- Cha for Tea, 389 Victoria Ave Chatswood. (02) 9884 7668. Serves light meals, snacks and a wide range of (mostly tea-based) beverages. The leafy courtyard out the back is a very pleasant place to relax on a sunny afternoon.
Drink
- Great Northern Hotel, 522 Pacific Highway Chatswood. (02) 9419 4555. The Great Northern has a friendly outdoor beer garden, and serves steak dinners.
Cope
Medical
- Royal North Shore Hospital, Pacific Highway, St Leonards. tel 02 9926 7111. fax 02 9926 7779. The Royal North Shore Hospital is a fully equipped public teaching hospital. It has an emergency room.
- Chatswood Medical & Dental Centre, 270 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood. tel 02 9413 2222. Open 8am - 10pm, Monday to Sunday.
- Forum Medical Centre, Pacific Hwy, St Leonards (cnr Herbert St). tel 02 9437 1883. Open 9am - 5pm Monday to Friday; 10am - 2pm Saturday and Sunday.
Supermarkets
- Coles Supermarket, St Leonards Railway Station, cnr Pacific Highway and Herbert Street, St Leonards. tel 02 9966 4233. Open 6am - midnight Monday - Saturday; 8am - 8pm Sunday; closed some public holidays.
- Coles Supermarket, Westfield Shopping Centre, corner of Anderson, Albert & Spring Streets, Chatswood. tel 02 9413 4448 Open 6am - midnight Monday - Saturday; 8am - 8pm Sunday; closed some public holidays.
External links
- Willoughby City Council (http://www.willoughby.nsw.gov.au/)
- Hornsby Shire Council (http://www.hornsby.nsw.gov.au/)
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