Sydney is a fast growing city with new (and far flung) suburbs getting added to the city’s community almost each year. To cater for the transport needs of these suburbs (also referred to as villages), give their residents access to the various amenities they need and generally to connect them to the rest of the city’s community, the Shuttle bus service was launched.

On the last two working days of each week, that is Thursday and Friday, a couple of free village to village shuttles operate between the various villages that make the wider Sydney city. If you happen to be around these villages and traveling when this shuttle happens to be passing, then you get a free ride, with no catches whatsoever – which is a very rare thing in many cities nowadays.

One of the two village to village shuttles operates between Woolloomooloo (yes there is a place called that) and Redfern while the other one shuttles between Broadway and Redfern. Both are operated – free of charge on Thursdays and Fridays- by the South Sydney community transport.

The South Sydney community transport is a non-profit organization which gets most of its funding through the country’s Home and Community care program and which as part of its community care programs, provides the two shuttles between Woolloomooloo and Redfern and the one between Redfern and Broadway. To increase its funding though, the bus does also run a bus hire service at very reasonable rates. Subject to availability of the buses, it makes a lot of sense to hire buses for travel into the villages of Sydney, because for one, the drivers (who traverse these places on a weekly basis) are more likely to be aware of the routes there – and secondly because by hiring the buses from the organization, one travels with the knowledge that proceeds from the money they pay for the trip goes towards helping a worthy cause – because the free village to village shuttle services offered by the South Sydney community transport help many deserving people in the villages to access the public and shopping amenities they need to make their lives easier. In any case, the bus hire rates charged by the South Sydney Community Transport organization – it being a non profit organization – are highly reasonable.

The shuttle between Woolloomooloo and Redfern serves other villages on its route, and these include Potts Point, Darlinghurst and Surry hills. It gives the residents of the said areas access to among other facilities the Kings Cross Station, the Surry Hills Shops and the Saint Vincent’s Hospital. Now the knowledge of these kinds of places can come in handy when, for instance, hitch hiking in Sydney as a visitor.

The shuttle between Broadway and Redfern also serves the residents of the villages of Glebbe and Waterloo – and among the facilities it gives them access to are the Broadway Shopping Center on Broadway, the bank at Redfern, the library at Glebbe and the RPA hospital. Note that the Broadway to Redfern shuttle service – while a relatively new service – has already been successfully pilot tried, and is likely to be there in the long term.

Getting around Sydney should be the least of your concerns, because the city is served an extensive and well organized public transport network, made up of buses, trains, light railway transport, taxis and even ferries.

The city’s main bus terminus is to be found at the Circular Quay, though there are other major termini at the Queen Victoria Building – which is one of the city’s attractions, and others conveniently located at Wynyard Station and at the Railway square. Bus fares in Sydney are rather reasonable – and you even have the option of buying what is referred to as the day tripper ticket which gives you the opportunity (at what turns out to be a high discounted rate) to travel by bus rail and ferry for the whole day within an specified area of Sydney.

There is a railway line linking the city’s domestic and international units at the airport to the city center (at City Circle Railway Station) – and this is operational from five in the morning till midnight.

Sydney’s railway ticket vending machines operate round the clock all week – and there are special tourist and leisure tickets, especially tailored to the needs of the visitors to Sydney who want to see more of the city. Major train stations – like the bus stations – are to be found at the Circular Quay and Wynyard, though there are other major stations including the Central Railway Station, town hall, central and museum rail stations. The train system is high automated here in Sydney – and you get to buy your ticket from a vending machine (open round the clock the whole week as noted) which to the relief of many, does away with the nasty queues and crowds found at train station ticket vending counters manned by humans in other parts.

Not to be left behind by other cities of its stature, Sydney has also invested in a light rail system – whose result is the city’s tram service which serves most of central Sydney from the Wentworth Park to the Star City Casino to the city’s China Town and Central Station. The beauty of the tram service is that it runs round the clock all week, considerably easing the transport concerns for people who happen to be traveling in the areas it serves at any time of the day or night.

In considering how to get around Sydney, you don’t have to limit yourself to the means on land though. Sydney – being a harbor city, is also served by a remarkable ferry service which many find the ideal way to get round Sydney, especially those seeking to go to the various beaches which are the places to savor what Sydney has to offer to its visitors. The place to catch the ferry while in Sydney is at the Sydney harbor.

As in all cities of its statute, you also have the option of simply getting a taxi to take you round Sydney, and the beauty of the taxi as opposed to the other means of public transport is the privacy it offers.

And if you are considering traveling out of town, you will also be glad to learn that Sydney is also the main junction for the Interstate and Intrastate railway services, and the best place to catch these is at the Central Railway Station – where there are kiosks you can buy your tickets for the trip after making the necessary enquiries.

If you are truly fascinated by dolphins, and happen to be visiting Sydney, be sure to catch a glimpse of port Stephen’s dolphins.

There is a tour called Port Stephens Dolphin Magic, through which you depart from Sydney city headed for port Stephens in an air conditioned coach. Even before you get to savor the pleasures of Port Stephens, the trip there on the coach has a lot of potential for fun, passing as it does via the world famous Sydney Harbor Bridge, and via the city’s Hawkesbury River – where you get to see some amazingly tall sandstone cliffs. The air conditioned coach won’t take you all the way to Port Stephens though. At a place called Williamstown, you will have to get off the coach, and embark onto a four wheel drive vehicle, because the final phase of the route to Port Stephens can get a little rough at this point. On this phase of your trip to Williamstown on the four wheel drive vehicle, you will pass through a place called ‘desert by the sea’ and if you have brought your camera with you, be sure to take a snap of the sand dunes here – they just fascinating. This place also has a quite an extensive beach – more than 20 miles of beach to be precise – at a place called Stockton, which would be your final stop-over before lastly getting to Port Stephens.

Port Stephen’s beach – while quite small – is remarkably beautiful and you will enjoy lazing here before proceeding with your tour of Sydney. The boats on which you get to see the actual Port Stephens dolphins are equipped with a net in which you can be wrapped, and then get deeper into the water for a closer look of these amazing animals. It can get rather cold down there though – and for some people, being lowered down there has been described as the perfect way to kill a stubborn hangover – while for people who lowered without a hangover, the experience turned out to be what they describe as reinvigorating.

Besides the dolphins, there is also the opportunity that you will get to sight a whale while in Port Stephens. This is not guarantee though, because unlike their cousins the dolphins, the whales are migratory animals and are therefore ever on the move. Still there is a chance that you could spot – and even photograph a whale in Port Stephens while in Sydney.

Other than in the deeper waters of Port Stephens, dolphins are also to be found on the calmer waters on the port Stephens bay – and this yet another good place to catch a sight of these gigantic and clever water animals.

Port Stephens is also home to a number of fine cafes where you can calm those hunger pangs – and these are particularly good places to catch some sea food. The best is located in a location where you can eat and get to enjoy a beautiful view of the sea at the same time.