Sydney is great in the summer and the only thing that could make it better is taking your chilling from the streets to the rooftops. We've busied ourselves finding the best places for you to have a good time, catch a flick or burn some calories at a high altitude while you soak in some spectacular views. You can thank us later.
Sunday Session: Hunky Dory Social Club
We all like a good ol' Sunday Session but too often they are fraught with bogans and sad old men. Thankfully the guys at boutique label
Death Strobe Records can aid us in this dire situation by throwing their excellent brand of party on the
Hunky Dory Social Club rooftop. If you like your house underground and awesome then this is the Sunday retreat for you. We can picture nothing better than kicking back with a cider and no doubt getting our dance on after a few.
Party: Ivy Pool Club
Though they flash their pooly-ness all over their website, the Ivy Pool Club doesn't usually let us plebs onto the rooftop area - this is all changing though, with a bunch of parties this summer to whet your whistle (couldn't resist, sorry). You can totally book a cabana for you and yours and pretend to be rich as well.
On Sundays witness the return of the
Marco Polo parties to wash away your hangover. Throughout January you can get your groove on to some of Sydney's best DJs and bands, including Rufus, Alison Wonderland, Nukewood, Rogerseventytwo, Goodwill and Ember.
On
Australia Day they've roped in the
Black Eyed Peas' Taboo to display his DJ skillzzz by the pool. If you're a BPE fan, apparently the 'boo is famous for jumping on the mic during his sets too.
Finely Tuned are also kicking off a series of
Lost Disco events from February 11 and they is doing it in style. Living legends Carl Cox and Eric Powell are serving up their
Mobile Disco from 12 - 8pm which will be sure to feature nu disco, old disco, old skool, jazz-funk, soul and classic house - ie. Pretty much everything that's cool in dance music right now. Cray cray. We're there.
Get fit: Regenesis Fitness
But you know, if you're going to be stripping off in front of celebs while you're taking a dip, maybe you should start taking care of that body. We're not saying you're fat, but do you really want to be sucking your tummy in whenever a
Home and Away star walks past? Thankfully
Regenesis Fitness have a rooftop that will help us proclaim 'we're sexy and we know it' (we work out). You can close your eyes and visualise it's the Ivy Rooftop for motivation. They have a bunch of classes and personal trainer dudes to join you roof side as well.
Cinema: Old Paramount Building, Surry Hills
While there's currently no trace of a rooftop cinema in Sydney,
we did uncover plans by the dudes from Melbourne's Rooftop Cinema to open one at the old Paramount Building in Surry Hills. AMAZING NEWS. At the moment it's in that annoying development application stage where local residents can say 'yey' or 'ney'. So far a few don't seem so keen on 250 people sitting silently on a nearby rooftop (attendees will wear headphones). They think you're going to piss on their fences or something. We don't remember the last time watching a movie relaxed our bladders though, so if you want to get behind the proposal
you can make a submission to the City of Sydney Council. During the day they also want to make it a 'cultural venue' where they hope to host 'yoga classes, picnics, exhibitions and theatrical events'. Sweet.
In the meantime, though lacking in loftiness, there are wonderful open air cinemas in the form of
St. George Openair Cinema at Mrs Macquaries Point, the
Moonlight Cinema in Centennial Park, and
Bondi Openair on the foreshore.