Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Specialist Shops and Souvenirs
Sydney offers an extensive range of gift and souvenir
ideas, from unset opals and jewellery to Aboriginal art
and hand-crafted souvenirs. Museum shops, such as at
the Museum of Sydney
(see p85)
and the Art Gallery of
NSW
(see pp108-11)
, often have specially commissioned
items that make great presents or reminders of your visit.
Darling Harbour. The
Coo-ee
Aboriginal Art Gallery
boasts
a large selection of limited
edition prints, hand-printed
fabrics, books and Aboriginal
music. The long-established
Hogarth Galleries Aboriginal
Art Centre
has a fine
reputation and usually holds
work by Papunya Tula and
Balgo artists and respected
painters such as Clifford
Possum Tjapaltjarri
(see p111)
.
Works by urban indigenous
artists can be found at the
Boomalli Aboriginal Artists'
Cooperative
.
ONE-OFFS
BOOKS
Specialist shops abound in
Sydney - some practical,
some eccentric, others simply
indulgent.
Ausfurs
sells every-
thing from luxurious
sheepskin coats and jackets
to pure wool handknits and
mohair rugs.
Wheels & Doll Baby
is a
powder-room, 1950s chic, a
mixture of rock'n'roll heaven
and Hollywood glamour.
The
Hour Glass
stocks traditional-
style watches, while designer
sunglasses such as Armani
and Jean Paul Gaultier can be
found at
The Looking Glass.
For a touch of celebrity
glamour,
Napoleon Perdis
Cosmetics
sells a huge array
of make-up and bears the
name of Australia's leading
make-up artist to the “stars”.
Or, for some eclectic fashion
and homewares, try a branch
of
Orson & Blake
, the one in
Surry Hills has a good café.
The larger chains such as
Dymocks and
Angus &
Robertson's Bookworld
have
a good range of guide books
and maps on Sydney. For
more eclectic browsing, try
Abbey's Bookshop, Ariel
and
Gleebooks
, while
Berkelouw
Books
has three floors of
new, second-hand and rare
books.
The Bookshop
Darlinghurst
specializes in
gay and lesbian fiction and
non-fiction. The
State Library
of NSW
(see p112)
bookshop
has a good choice of
Australian books, particularly
on history.
OPALS
Sydney offers a variety of
opals in myriad settings.
Flame Opals
is a family run
store, selling stones from all
the major Australian opal
fields. At
Opal Fields
you can
view a museum collection
of opalised fossils, before
buying from the wide range
of gems.
Giulian's
has unset
opals, including blacks from
Lightning Ridge, whites from
Coober Pedy and boulder
opals from Quilpie.
MUSIC
Several specialist music shops
of international repute can be
found in Sydney.
Red Eye
Records
is for the streetwise,
with its collectables, rarities,
alternative music and concert
tickets.
Central Station
Records and Tapes
has main-
stream grooves, plus rap, hip
hop, and cutting edge dance
music.
Birdland
has a massive
selection of blues, jazz, soul
and avant-garde.
Folkways
specializes in world music,
Waterfront
in world and left-
of-centre and
Utopia Records
has an impressively
comprehensive stock of hard
rock and heavy metal.
Michael's
Music Room
sells
classical music only,
specialising in historical and
contemporary opera
recordings.
JEWELLERY
Long-established Sydney
jewellers with 24-carat
reputations include
Fairfax &
Roberts, Hardy Brothers
and
Percy Marks
. World-class
pearls are found in the waters
off the northwestern coast of
Australia. Rare and beautiful
examples can be found at
Paspaley Pearls
.
Bill Hicks Jewellery
's award-
winning owner can create
unique one-off pieces
according to your designs.
Alternatively, browse their
ready-made collection.
Dinosaur Designs
made its
name with colourful, chunky
resin jewellery, while at
Love
& Hatred
, jewelled wrist cuffs,
rings and crosses recall lush
medieval treasures.
Jan Logan
is an iconic Australian jew-
ellery designer, with stores in
Melbourne, Hong Kong, and
London. Choose from beautiful
and unusual contemporary
pieces, otherwise the shop
also carries antiques.
AUSTRALIANA
Australiana has become more
than just a souvenir genre; it is
now an art form in itself.
Done Art and Design
has
distinctive prints by Ken and
Judy Done on a wide range of
clothes, swimwear and acces-
sories, while at
Weiss Art
you
will find tasteful, mainly black
and white, minimalist designs
on clothes, umbrellas, baseball
caps and cups.
Makers Mark
is a showcase for exquisite
work by artisans in wood, glass
and silver. The Queen Victoria
Building's Victoria Walk
(see
p82)
is dominated by shops
selling Australiana: souvenirs,
silver, antiques, art and crafts.
The
Australian Museum
(see pp88-9)
has a small shop
on the ground floor. It sells
slightly unusual gift items such
as native flower presses, bark
paintings and Australian animal
puppets, puzzles and games.
ABORIGINAL ART
Traditional paintings, fabric,
jewellery, boomerangs, carvings
and cards can be bought at the
Aboriginal and Pacific Art.
You can find tribal artifacts
from Aboriginal Australia at
several shops in the
Harbourside Shopping Centre,
