I don't have any recommendations for Sydney. However, if you want a real adventure, repeat my first work trip to Australia (late 80s). I arrived in Sydney on Saturday morning. I made my way to the domestic terminal to check in for my flight to Cobar, NSW. The agent told me that they had no record of me, no reservation, no stand-by, no nothing. "Okay, when's the next flight to Cobar?" "Tuesday". "Okay, book that for me please." She did and I proceeded to the hotel phone bank. For the young'uns, this was a wall of phones that connected you directly to the hotel as soon as you picked up the handset. The Hilton had availability so I reserved a room and made my way there via taxi (no Uber or cell phones back then). After getting settled in, I called the area service manager in Singapore, and filled him in on my situation. He tells me to sit tight while he contacts the client (The Pipeline Authority of Australia).

The next thing I know, I'm getting a call from the client asking me to get on a flight from Sydney to Dubbo, NSW and drive from there to Cobar. "How far is that?" "It's about a 3 hour drive." "Oh, I don't know about that. It might be a bit much after traveling for over 24 hours to get here." (including layovers) "Oh, but we must have you here as soon as possible to help start up the equipment." (x2 Gas Turbine/Compressor trains.) I was replacing one of our field service reps who had been critically injured on the jobsite. After some further discussion, I reluctantly agreed to continue my travel to Cobar.

So I checked out of the hotel and got a taxi back to the domestic terminal. Got on the flight to Dubbo and picked up my rental car after arrival. I got a map and instructions for the drive to Cobar and set off. About an hour later, the sun went down and I started feeling the jet lag. Luckily, it was the middle of Winter down under. I would roll the window down to get some cold air inside to "revive" me. After a while, that didn't work any longer. So I would stop the car, get out and walk around without any jacket to let the cold air revive me again. After some time, that wasn't enough. I decided I was going to turn around and, go back to the last small town I had passed through and get a room at the first motel I saw. Just then, I saw a road sign "Cobar 20 km". That was as close or closer than the last town so I continued on. I found the motel where everyone was staying, checked in and went to my room. I just flopped down on the bed fully clothed and fell into a deep sleep.

Some time later, I was awakened by the telephone. Apparently, it had been ringing for a while. When I answered, there was a woman speaking with a very thick Australian accent. In my state of barely awake, I couldn't understand what she was saying and had her repeat it 2 or 3 times. Finally, I understood she was saying the client was at the bar and wanted to stand me to a drink. "Tell him thank you very much, but I'm not sure I could even walk back over there. I will see him tomorrow."

The end.