Sydney - Australia 2004 - page 104

Point, 7th floor, 428 George St. (above the Dymocks bookstore) ( & 02/9221
8744 ), stores luggage for A$15 (US$9.75) per piece per month. It also oper-
ates a poste restante service, has Internet access, a travel agency, a jobs
board, and ships items to the U.K. and Ireland.
Newspapers The Sydney Morning Herald is considered one of the world's
best newspapers—by its management at least—and is available through-
out metropolitan Sydney. The equally prestigious Australian is available
nationwide. The metropolitan Daily Telegraph is a more casual read and
has a couple of editions a day. The International Herald Tribune, USA
Today, the British Guardian Weekly, and other U.K. newspapers can be
found at Circular Quay newspaper stands and most newsdealers.
Pharmacies Most suburbs have pharmacies that are open late. For after-
hours referral, contact the Emergency Prescription Service ( & 02/9235

0333 ).
Police In an emergency dial & 000. Make nonemergency police inquiries
through the Sydney Police Centre ( & 02/9281 0000 ).
Post Office The General Post Office (G.P.O.) is at 130 Pitt St., not far from
Martin Place ( & 13 13 18 in Australia). It's open Monday through Friday
from 8:30am to 5:30pm and Saturday from 10am to 2pm. Letters can be sent
c/o Poste Restante, G.P.O., Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia ( & 02/9244 3733 ),
and collected at 310 George St., on the third floor of the Hunter Connection
shopping center. It's open Monday through Friday from 8:15am to 5:30pm.
For directions to the nearest post office, call & 1800/043 300.
Restrooms These can be found in the QVB (second floor), most depart-
ment stores, at Central Station and Circular Quay, near the escalators by
the Sydney Aquarium, and in the Harbourside Festival Marketplace in Dar-
ling Harbour.
Safety Sydney is an extremely safe city, but as anywhere else, it's good to
keep your wits about you and your wallet hidden. If you wear a money
belt, keep it under your shirt. Be wary in Kings Cross and Redfern at all
hours and around Central Station and the cinema strip on George Street
near Town Hall station in the evening—the latter is a hangout for local
gangs, though they're usually busy holding each other up for their sneak-
ers. Other places of concern are the back lanes of Darlinghurst, around the
naval base at Woolloomooloo, and along the Bondi restaurant strip when
the drunks spill out after midnight. Several people have reported thieves
at the airport on occasions. If traveling by train at night, travel in the car-
riages next to the guard's van, marked with a blue light on the outside.
Taxes Beginning July 1, 2000, Australia adopted a 10% Goods and Ser-
vices Tax (GST) on most goods sold in Australia and most services. The GST
applies to most travel-related goods and services, including transport,
hotels, tours, and restaurants. By law, the tax has to be included in the
advertised price of the product, though it doesn't have to be displayed
independently of the pretax price.
Taxis See “Getting Around,” earlier in this chapter.
Telephones Sydney's public phone boxes take coins, while many also take
credit cards and A$10 (US$6.50) phone cards available from newsdealers.
Local calls cost A40¢ (US25¢).