A stint in the Sydney Burbs

A family Homestay with Airbnb is the way we decided to spend time in Sydney, on our second visit. The first time around renting a bijou apartment close to Sydney Opera House and quayside, although a fabulous location and not too expensive for a city stay, this time around we opted for something a little different.

Lacking a GPS in our rental car, initially caused a little confusion on our drive up from Wollongong, as the way in which the suburbs have been developed and grown, gives rise to a very confusing, convoluted way of entering and exiting Sydney. Ross  – one of our hosts, kindly lent us a spare he had, during our stay, which made it mighty easy then to find our way around the rabbit warren of roads, as we grew used to driving the area.

Jakki our other host said ” I am aware that Earlwood is not near the centre of town and I thought that a family would be more willing to put up with inconvenience of living in the suburbs and the mess of a functioning family home in return for the extra space, better value and the opportunity to interact with some real locals!”

 How true this was, their kindness and consideration surpassed that necessarily required by Airbnb and we found ourselves on the first night being offered homemade bread and jam, and awoke the next morning to a balcony table laid with fresh offerings, cereal and bread.

Although staying inside a family home, initially felt a little uncomfortable, the perk of the pool, the use of the kitchen and washing machine meant that as a family we could function – my wish, desire and need. Our times of being indoors combined with their times of being out, plus the trust given in being left in their home and at times with their children, not lost on me.

I asked Jakki what made Ross and her decide to join Airbnb and invite people into their home.

“Some local friends are involved with website called HelpX where you host backpackers and in return they work a few hours a day for you. We had the most delightful young French couple come and stay.  After they left I thought it would be nice to keep doing it, but we actually need $$ more than we need jobs, so when someone mentioned airbnb I thought “bingo”.  I thought up the idea of attracting families because I thought it would be “safer” than single strangers staying in our house, and more fun potentially for our kids.”

 We found this Homestay a great way to achieve exactly what Jakki said, meet the locals (in our case over a glass of red wine) get to know a little about their lives (not incredibly dissimilar to those in the UK, close to London but with better weather) and explore the city from a different perspective.

Where have you stayed that has changed you perception of a place, people or culture?