Cost of Living Expenses in Sydney Has Increased Substantially !

Travelling to Sydney, consider bringing more money to spend !

I just came back from a business trip in Sydney, Australia. The last time I travelled to Sydney to work was 2 years ago. From this trip, I felt that the cost of living in Sydney has increased quite substantially.  For example, as I was scouting for fruits such as banana in Woolworth supermarket, I came cross 1 kg of banana with price tagged AUD10.49 ! 1 kg of peaches costs AUD19.90.  It is end of Spring season, and these fruits are probably imported, but I cannot believe the price can be so outrageously high.  The locals were telling me that the reason for the sky-rocketed fruits price is due to the flood in Queensland, which destroyed many farmlands. I think, inflation paid another role for the increased expenses.  The Australians are getting increase in wages for the inflation, but it isn't enough to cover the increased expenses.

RESTAURANT FOOD

When dinner time came, as I was looking for food to buy for dinner, I was also struck by the restaurant food price.  For a simple plate of noodles from an Asian restaurant, you will need to pay about AUD14 a plate.  I recalled it costs only AUD10 or AUD11 a few years ago. For any decent restaurant, you will need to pay at least AUD14 for a meal, and that is excluding drinks !  For a nicer or porch restaurant, you will have to pay AUD25 or more just for the main meal.

BUS or LOCAL TRAIN

The local transport is also getting more expensive.  Just to travel 5 minutes using a local bus from a shopping mall to my hotel, I paid AUD3.30 for the trip !  For an underground city train ride of about 8 stations, it costs me AUD4.00.