Netball World Cup, Sydney 2015

With 64 games played over 10 days, fans will have more opportunities than ever before to enjoy the best 192 netballers from across the world, battle for netball’s ultimate prize.

Whether you choose to come to Sydney for the entire 10 days of the event, one day, or anything in between, the Netball World Cup will be an experience you’ll never forget!

Closing Weekend Package:
Match tickets for Days 9 & 10 (15 and 16 August)
Medal Day Breakfast at Olympic Park
One $25 merchandise voucher

Closing Weekend Package:
Match tickets for Days 9 & 10 (15 and 16 August)
Medal Day Breakfast at Olympic Park
One $25 merchandise voucher

Closing Weekend Package:
Match tickets for Days 9 & 10 (15 and 16 August)
Medal Day Breakfast at Olympic Park
One $25 merchandise voucher

Opening Weekend:
Tickets for days 1, 2 & 3 (7, 8 and 9 August)
The Opening Ceremony
An Opening Ceremony Gift from NWC2015
One $25 merchandise voucher
Limited Edition NWC2015 Making History, Creating Legends Coffee Table Book

EVENT DETAILS: 

Venue: Allphones Arena, NSW

Date:  07 - 16 August 2015 

Tickets available at Ticketek

Metro Hotels have a range of Sydney Accommodation options available to be booked for this Netball World Cup in Sydney (Click on a Hotel or Apartment to Book)

New South Wales

Aspire Hotel Sydney
Metro Hotel Sydney Central
Metro Hotel on Pitt
Metro Apartments on Darling Harbour
Metro Apartments on King
Metro Hotel Miranda
Metro Inn Ryde

#Netball #NetballWorldCup #WorldCup #Sydney

48 hours in Sydney: What to do, where to go

Paul Keating once said Sydney was the only place to live in Australia – the rest were camping out.

The New South Wales capital can certainly lay claim to being one of the most beautiful cities in the world. London and New York have a glamour, history and majesty about them, and San Francisco, Seattle, Auckland, and Vancouver have gorgeous natural harbours, but Sydney manages to combine big-city polish with verdant nature and the glory of the world that is its harbour.

The CBD needs a bit of a facelift and an energy infusion – it can be fairly lifeless on weekends. But if you stick to some of Sydney’s more natural attractions, choose some of its new and exciting restaurants, try some small bars and take a trip out to some of the city’s lesser known foodie suburbs, you’ll have an incredible 48 hours.

Friday / Saturday Nights:

4pm: kayaking, Point Piper

Head down to Rose Bay, towards the Point Piper end, and you’ll find the Point Piper Kayak Centre – which is essentially a shed under the shade, filled with kayaks and standup paddleboards. We are given the option of choosing fast, “racing” kayaks – easy to tip over – or the more sturdy, old-fashioned variety.

We opt for the later. It’s a gloriously sunny day on the harbour, with little breeze. We head left towards Double Bay, giving us superstar views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge (and a glimpse of the Opera House sails) and pull up our kayaks on the beach at Shark Island. There are few boats out on the harbour this afternoon and the paddling is peaceful – almost meditative.

But be warned: weekends can get hectic with pleasure crafts and you need to have your wits about you to avoid harbour traffic including ferries.

Kayaks start at $20 for the first hour then drop to $10 an hour after that.

6pm: drinks at Australian 18 Footers League, Double Bay

After kayaking, wander around to Double Bay where this small yacht club boasts a big view of the harbour. It’s relaxed, with mostly outdoor seating, and far away enough from the Friday-night city hordes to grab a good table.

Harbourside bars abound in Sydney and there’s none more popular than the Opera Bar in the Sydney Opera House complex. If you want more of a buzz than Double Bay can offer and are happy to fight for a table, take a ferry from Double Bay to Circular Quay and follow the noise (it is noisy!) to the Opera Bar.

8pm: dinner at Acme, 60 Bayswater Road, Rushcutters Bay

One of the most unusual, and delightful dining experiences in Sydney is the newly opened Acme. It’s an Italian restaurant – but not Italian as I’ve had it before.

The team behind the restaurant promise “interesting and affordable pasta” which includes macaroni and bucatini with pig’s head and egg yolk or goat, spicy nduja and fresh mint. This is not novelty food but a wild mixture of flavours and a fusion of styles that work. We love the roasted carrots with ricotta and almonds, steamed pipis, lime, pepper and carpaccio parmigiana.

We nab a window seat so we can watch the passing parade of revellers heading into Kings Cross (if you’re there early enough you can see the fantastic sunset over Paddington) and enjoy wines from regional NSW.

9.30pm: drinks in Surry Hills

After dinner, take a cab into Surry Hills to experience some of Sydney’s classic old pubs.

We drink at the Hollywood Hotel in Foster Street, Surry Hills, where there’s a mirror ball and friendly bar staff but none of the hipsters sometimes associated with this part of town.

We also drop into the Shakespeare Hotel, a fairly rough-and-ready drinking establishment that has been particularly popular with the journalists who work in nearby Holt Street and theatre staff from Belvoir. Once again, it’s unpretentious and there’s good, cheap food available upstairs.

If you feel like a late night, book a room at George Street karaoke bar Mizuya or Surry Hills’ Ding Dang Dong. Love of late-night karaoke seems to be a particularly Sydney thing – perhaps feeding into Sydneysiders’ narcissistic fantasy of being a rockstar celebrity.

Source: http://www.msn.com/en-au/travel/article/48-hours-in-sydney-what-to-do-where-to-go/ar-AAbVHSA

An Evening with Neil deGrasse Tyson 2015

Get your Cosmic Calendars out – we got a badass coming over here!

In August 2015, Australian audiences will be treated to the highly-anticipated Australian return of astrophysicist, author, and all-round favourite person, Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson!

A strong proponent for the importance of scientific education and rational thinking in society, Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson is bringing the wit and wonder of his genius to Australia in August 2015, courtesy of Think Inc. – the team behind the 2014 Australian tours of Dr. Michio Kaku and The Amazing James Randi.

Since 1996, he has been the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York City. The center is part of the American Museum of Natural History, where Tyson founded the Department of Astrophysics in 1997 and has been a research associate in the department since 2003.

Tyson served on a 2001 government commission on the future of the U.S. aerospace industry, and on the 2004 Moon, Mars and Beyond commission. He was awarded the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal in the same year. From 2006 to 2011, he hosted the television show NOVA ScienceNow on PBS. Since 2009, he has hosted the weekly podcast Star Talk. In 2014, he hosted the television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, a reboot of Carl Sagan's 1980 series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences awarded Tyson the Public Welfare Medal in 2015 for his "extraordinary role in exciting the public about the wonders of science"

Tickets: http://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=NEILDEGR15

Dates & Location:

• Fri 7th Aug 2015 - VIC: Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre 
• Sun 16th Aug 2015 - QLD: Brisbane Event at Courier Mail Piazza
• Sat 22nd Aug 2015 - NSW: Hordern Pavilion Sydney 

Free Kids Admission Weekend at Australian Museum and Powerhouse Museum

Deputy Premier, the Hon. Troy Grant MP, today announced a NSW Government initiative making general entry for children (under 16 years) free at both the Australian Museum and the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (Powerhouse). To celebrate, both museums are throwing open their doors to ALL visitors for a Free for All weekend on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 June. 

“Kids Free is an exciting initiative of the NSW Government to create more opportunities for children and families to experience arts and culture,” Deputy Premier and Minister for the Arts, the Hon. Troy Grant said. “With school holidays starting that weekend, visiting a museum is a great way to get the kids out of the house and into the arts’’ he said. Director and CEO of the Australian Museum, Kim McKay AO, said that removing the entry charges for children would ensure access for every young person across the state. “Museums are places of learning, wonder and discovery and I’m delighted that we are now able to remove general admission charges for children thanks to the State Government’s support.

There should be no barrier for young people to learn and be inspired,” McKay said. “Families will save as much as $8 per child per visit, which is a fantastic bonus, particularly for larger families, making a visit to museum significantly cheaper than one to the movies or other forms of entertainment. In addition to family entry, students attending the museums as part of a school excursion will also enjoy free general admission positively impacting hundreds of thousands of school students across the state,” she said. 

Throughout the Free for All weekend on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 June, visitors to the Australian Museum will be among the first to see the new indigenous exhibition, Bayala Nura (Yarning Country), which complements the recently opened Garriagarrang (Sea Country) and participate in activities including Aboriginal animal totem craft and making animal masks. As a special bonus, admission charges to the Australian Museum’s popular Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition will also be waived over the weekend, a saving of $51.00 for a family of four. 

Favourite galleries such as Skeletons, Dinosaurs, Surviving Australia, Birds and Insects and Planet of Minerals will also be open along with the recently opened Pacific Spirit gallery, and visitors will be able to take a sneak peek at Wild Planet, a new animal gallery opening in August featuring some 400 animal specimens and biodiversity displays. 

“Museums have a vital role to play in engaging children and their parents in our natural world -­‐ they explain who we are, and it’s those early museum experiences that become seared into our memories and help inform our decisions about the natural world in the future,” she said.

Activities available for all visitors to the Australian Museum on 27 & 28 June, 2015

The FREE for ALL weekend puts a spotlight on what happens daily at the Australian Museum. Alongside favourites such as the Skeletons, Dinosaurs, Surviving Australia, Birds and Insects, Search & Discover and Planet of Minerals, visitors will be among the first to experience the brand new exhibition, Bayala Nura (Yarning Country) in the newly refurbished heritage gallery, First Australians. Bayala Nura complements the recently opened exhibition, Garrigarrang (Sea Country) highlighting Indigenous Australian culture.

In addition, the newly opened preview exhibition Pacific Spirit brings rare masks and other stunning objects from the Museum’s Pacific collection out on display. These exhibitions draw on the Museum’s extensive collections to showcase the history, cultural diversity and resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and provide a glimpse of the Museum’s extensive Pacific collection, one of the world’s largest.

While you’re here, remember to see striking photographs of wildlife and nature from the around the world in the ever popular Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition. The photographs celebrate an amazing array of animals and highlight pressing environmental issues such as animal extinction and the destruction of natural landscapes. And as a special promotion for this weekend only, visitors can receive a 20% discount off the full price of membership. Members receive special benefits such as our Explore Magazine, discounts at our Shop and Cafe, Private Members Lounge, Free National Geographic Traveller magazine, 10% discount when you book with Adventure World holidays and giveaways and deals through the fortnightly newsletter.

Centrally located opposite Hyde Park in Sydney and a short walk from Museum Station, the Australian Museum was established in 1827 and has an international reputation in the fields of natural history and cultural studies, community programs and exhibitions. Experience all this and more when you visit the Museum as part of FREE for ALL at the Australian Museum on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 June.

KIDS ACTIVITIES on the FREE FOR ALL weekend. 27 and 28 JUNE, 2015. • Come and learn about Indigenous Australian totems and make your own animal mask to take home at Aboriginal animal totem craft on Level 2. • Explore our wild planet in Surviving Australia and get up close and personal to some of our native Australian wildlife –snakes, baby crocodiles, lizards and skinks.

• Meet some legendary Australian creepy crawlies in Search and Discover.
• Discover Australia’s unique and abundant bird life in the Birds and Insects gallery.
• Budding palaeontologists can complete their museum expedition with a visit to the Dinosaurs gallery where they can touch 100 million year old dinosaur fossils.
• Come face to face with the Museum’s very own Muttaburrasaurus dinosaur, Winny-­‐saur.
• Find out about Winny’s busy life at the Museum, as well as what life was like for Australian dinosaurs that lived millions of years ago, then have your photo taken with Winny-­‐saur.
• As well as nurturing young imaginations, Australian Museum will also look after young tummies.

The new cafe on Level 4 will offer healthy hearty food and drinks along with stunning views over the city for the whole family.

See the Australian Museum Website

Madonna Announces Australia Shows - March 2016

Madonna announces first performances in Australia in over two decades & first ever appearance in New Zealand! 

Madonna will make a historic return to Australia performing live for the first time in 23 years as well as her first ever shows in New Zealand, with her Rebel Heart Tour.

The tour will kick off at Vector Arena on March 5th and 6th in Auckland, followed by the Australian dates presented by Telstra Thanks® and including concerts on March 12th & 13th in Melbourne, March 19th & 20th in Sydney and March 26th & 27th in Brisbane.

Tickets and VIP Packages go on sale Monday, July 6th at 10am.

Icon is Madonna's official fan club. In celebration of Madonna's return visit to Australia, Icon will host a pre-sale for current registered Icon members. Lifetime Legacy members of Icon will receive first access to tickets and VIP Packages starting Tuesday, June 23rd at 10am local times. 

Members of Icon from Australia and New Zealand, registered before June 15th 2015, will receive a special code to access to Icon pre-sales beginning on June 23rd at 12-noon local times. Details at http://www.madonna.com/

Madonna’s Rebel Heart Tour in Australia is presented by Telstra Thanks. Telstra Thanks will be offering customers the chance to jump the queue for tickets to the Australian leg of the Rebel Heart Tour through a pre-sale starting at Tuesday, June 30th at 11am and running until Thursday, July 2nd at 5pm. Telstra customers can register for a unique code NOW at http://telstra.com/music.

In both New Zealand and Australia Citi® Cardholders will be eligible for a pre-sale opportunity beginning Wednesday, June 24th at 10am through Friday, June 26th at 5pm.

My Live Nation members can access tickets during the pre-sale commencing Friday July 3rd at 10am through Saturday, July 4th at 5pm. To register to be a My Live Nation member, go here: http://lvna.co/registerN

For more information about VIP Packages available via VIP Nation Australia & New Zealand, go to the Rebel Heart VIP page:http://lvna.co/RebelHeartVIP

Ticket prices: 

• Platinum: $499.90 + transaction and credit card fees
• Gold: $299.90 + transaction and credit card fees
• Silver: $199.90 + transaction and credit card fees
• Bronze: $99.90 + transaction and credit card fees

TOUR DATES:


Melbourne:

12th March Rod Laver Arena - Melbourne, Victoria
13th March Rod Laver Arena - Melbourne, Victoria

Sydney: 

19th March Allphones Arena - Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney
20th March Allphones Arena - Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney

Brisbane:

26th March - Brisbane Entertainment Centre Boondall, QLD
27th March - Brisbane Entertainment Centre Boondall, QLD

Metro Hotels have ideal Australia Show Hotel and Apartment accommodation:

Sydney Accommodation

Sound of Music - Capitol Theatre Sydney December 2015

Following its record-breaking run at the London Palladium, the world’s best loved musical, The Sound of Music is coming to the Capitol Theatre! This lavish and critically acclaimed production tells the uplifting true story of the von Trapp family’s flight across the mountains and works its magic, for young and old alike.

Returning to the stage in the role of Captain von Trapp is the multi-talented Cameron Daddo. Starring alongside Cameron are many of Australia’s favourite stage performers; Marina Prior in the role of the Baroness Schraeder,Lorraine Bayly as Frau Schmidt, Jacqui Dark as Mother Abbess, and joining them in the coveted role of Maria is one of Australia’s newest and most outstanding award-winning musical theatre stars, Amy Lehpamer.

 
As a Capitol Club member, you can access tickets to performances from 13 December - 10 January before they go on sale to the general public! Book now using codeword CAPITOL to access this presale via the link below.

Professional Bull Riders Australian Finals 2015

Professional Bull Riders Australian Finals 2015



8 SECONDS OF GLORY OR A LIFETIME OF PAIN. WELCOME TO THE ROLLER COASTER WORLD OF THE ADRENALIN COWBOY AS THEY TAKE ON THE NATIONS MOST EXTREME BUCKING BULLS IN A 3 HOUR ACTION PACKED EVENT THAT WILL KEEP YOU ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT FROM THE FIRST BULL OF THE NIGHT THROUGH TO THE LAST.



Experience a once in a lifetime event as the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) prepare to deliver one huge night of the toughest sport on dirt.



It’s a showdown like no other – Twenty-two riders all eager for glory as they strive to overcome the power of the 52 most extreme bucking bulls in a head to head battle of power, agility and the fight of the fittest 8 seconds at a time.



Choreographed with pyrotechnics, lasers, concert sound system and mega screen replays, with multiple camera angles that will take you behind the scenes and inside the bucking chutes as riders prepare for the ride of their life whilst delivering you the ultimate live event bull riding experience inside the Qantas Credit Union Arena – Saturday July 11, 2015.



DATES/TIME:

• Saturday 11 July, 2015
• Start time 7:30pm

PRICES:

• VIP On The Dirt $160.00
• Platinum $110.00
• Gold $80.00
• Silver $60.00
• Bronze $45.00
• Value $25.00

Price including payment processing fee:

• VIP On The Dirt $163.12
• Platinum $112.15
• Gold $81.56
• Silver $61.17
• Bronze $45.88
• Value $25.49

Find out more

Arctic adventure at the Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney

 Arctic adventure at the Australian National Maritime Museum

These school holidays families are invited to spend the day having an Arctic adventure at the Australian National Maritime Museum as it presents a range of activities for children inspired by its major exhibition Shackleton: Escape from Antarctica. Have fun making snowdomes, take part in a print making workshop, get hands on with the Cabinet of Curiosities or go on a character-lead tour of the museum.

Kid craft activities: Terrific Tarcs (5 - 12 years)
28 June - 12 July 2015, 10am - 4pm

Investigate the amazing Antarctic environment with arts and crafts, dress ups and interactive games. Learn about epic explorers past and present. Create your own animal snowdome, explorer's flag, whale mobile or Antarctic landscape and work on a collaborative iceberg sculpture.

Entry included in the Big Ticket - $27 adult, $16 child/concession, $70 family, no booking required.
Amazing Antarctic Adventures Performances (All ages)
28 June - 12 July 2015, 11.30am, 12.30am and 2pm

Join us for Antarctic inspired interactive storytelling, circus games and character tours of the museum.

Entry included in the Big Ticket - $27 adult, $16 child/concession, $70 family, no booking required.
Cabinet of Curiosities: Epic Explorers (All ages)
28 June - 12 July 2015, 11am - 12pm and 2 - 3pm

Visit the museum's interactive touch trolley to get hands on and explore wonderful and curious explorer artefacts and specimens.

Entry included in the Big Ticket - $27 adult, $16 child/concession, no booking required.

Print workshop: Polar Patterns Palooza (Ages 8 - 14 years)
2 July 2015, 10am - 3pm

Join an all-day workshop to discover how to create your own polar patterned stencils inspired by the Antarctic wildlife on display in Shackleton: Escape from Antarctica. Learn to screen print t-shirts, bags and murals with your unique pattern and designs.

$55 per child (includes all materials). Bookings essential: 9298 3655 or book online at www.anmm.gov.au/youth

TV presenting workshop: Reporting Live From Antarctica (Ages 8 - 14 year)
8 and 9 July 2015, 10am - 4pm

Join film maker Nicola Walkerden for a two day workshop in TV presenting. Learn to script, film, present and edit your own creative TV segment inspired by the stories in Shackleton: Escape from the Antarctic. Have your work exhibited in a special screening for your family and friends.
$160 per child or $140 early bird special before 27 June. Bookings essential: 9298 3655 or book online at www.anmm.gov.au/youthhttp://www.anmm.gov.au/youth

Shackleton: Escape from Antarctica tells one of the greatest survival stories of all time, inviting visitors to walk in the footsteps of famous Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and discover his epic voyage of survival for themselves.

The exhibition brings together 100-year-old artefacts from the expedition, first-hand accounts from the men's diaries and the latest augmented-reality dioramas to bring to life details of their harrowing voyage and rescue.

Shackleton: Escape from Antarctica will be on show until 22 November 2015. The exhibition is sponsored by APT and Antarctica Flights and supported by the Australian Antarctic Division. Entry is included in the museum's Big Ticket - $27 adults, $16 child/concession or $70 families.

The Australian National Maritime Museum, in Sydney's Darling Harbour, is open daily from 9.30am to 5.00 pm. For more information, visit www.anmm.gov.au/whats-on/calendar/school-holidays<http://www.anmm.gov.au/whats-on/calendar/school-holidays> or call 02 9298 3777.

Def Leppard with Special Guests Live - Australia Tour

Def Leppard, one of the world’s dominating powerhouses of rock have announced their 2015 Australian tour.

With over 100 million albums sold worldwide and two prestigious Diamond Awards to their name, Def Leppard have gone on to become one of the most highly praised bands in rock music. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Rick Allen (drums, backing vocals), Phil Collen (guitar, backing vocals), and Vivian Campbell (guitar, backing vocals).

Def Leppard’s trademark sound and groundbreaking albums, such as Pyromania and Hysteria, have earned them massive hits – songs such as Pour Some Sugar On Me, Photograph, Hysteria, Let’s Get Rocked, Animal, Rock of Ages, When Love & Hate Collide and Love Bites have all dominated the airwaves globally. These powerful melodic rock anthems, along with their spectacular live shows are what makes this super group one of the most impressive rock bands out there.

Def Leppard will be supported by special guests Live, who achieved worldwide success with their 1994 album, Throwing Copper, which spawned the huge hits Lightening Crashes, I Alone and All Over You. Rolling Stone and MTV both dubbed the album "one of the 25 Greatest Rock Albums of All-Time", while tastemakers from Spin to The New York Times lauded it with equal praise. This is the first time Australian audiences will be introduced to Live’s new front man, Chris Shinn, who joined the band in 2012.

TOUR DATES:

• Qantas Credit Union Arena, Sydney Tue 17 Nov
• Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Wed 18 Nov 

Find out more and get tickets