No Sweat; the freshest tips for a killer Sydney summer

Longer days means more time for perspective. And if there’s a better way to get it than on a rooftop overlooking the city as the sun goes down, please let us know. Rooftops rule because they’re usually small, almost completely outdoors and sometimes in hilarious office buildings where you get to pretend you’re living some Catch Me If You Can double life when you step into the lift.

A definite winner is Untied, nestled away among all the big business and suits of Barangaroo. Australiana-themed, with heaps of greenery and an actual cocktail called – no jokes – the ‘Flamin’ Galah’, they’ve also got garden games up there every weekend. For a real chance to be fancy up near the Gods, head to The Rook, where in January you can challenge your mates to a round of Flamingo Croquet. Smack bang in the middle of York Street, it’s an easy after-work meeting spot that’s always pumping well into the night. Ask for a Kentucky Cooler at the bar. You’re welcome.

Alright gang, it’s 2018 and we’re all grown-ups. It’s time to stop settling for house white and get some bubbles in your life. Champagne is having a moment and with good reason – it’s fun, light and eminently drinkable. It also helps that there’s a stack of bars across inner-Sydney getting on board the champers express.

We’ve got to start with the most impressive; The Winery. Surry Hill’s favourite little laneway has some grand designs for summer, with an actual Prosecco Fountain. You read that right; a bottomless flowing supply of the good stuff. It’s on every weekend across the whole of November and December, which gives you plenty of time to go twice.

Down at Barangaroo, Untied is also bringing the bubbly goods during its ‘Clicquot Season’. Teaming up with Veuve, they’ve got a DIY champagne bar, which is the best phrase we’ve heard all year. Assemble the clique, pimp your flute with fairy floss, flowers and all that jazz, then sit back and wait for the Instagram envy of your friends to kick in.

Rounding out the trifecta is the Chandon and Seafolly Summer Garden at Bungalow 8’s The Loft. The Harbourside mainstay is going full Midsummer Night’s Dream up in this mother, with botanical cocktails, Chandon bottles and bites. If you book ahead, you can also get bottomless cocktails. Just sayin’.

Look, there’s lots of water in Sydney, but sometimes we just want to get up close and personal with it. If there’s one prevailing theme for summer 2018/19, it’s that seafaring is coming back in a big way. Finally, those boat shoes and Breton stripes we’ve had hiding in the closet since March will be getting a good work out.

Everyone’s favourite watery sojourn, Cargo, is going full sailor this summer. They’ve joined forces with Belvedere to turn the venue nautical, with boat lounges, bottomless spritzer packages and seaside snacks. They also have 5 different flavoured spritz on offer, which obviously means you need to roll through with at least four friends. Preferably in stripes.

If you really want to indulge in your baller fantasies, you’ve got to get yourself to Kinglseys in Woolloomoolloo. On the first Sunday of every month in summer, they will literally take you and your crew on a yacht. This is not a drill. That’s before a huge seafood menu and two hours of free-flowing bubbles. I mean, we’re jealous just thinking about it.