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Meet Jervis- our founder and bicycle rider!
1. What’s your name (can include nicknames)
Jervis. I’m the founder of eXpertLocal.
2. What sorts of tours and experiences do you run?
I run a relaxed fun cycling tour that starts at Manly Beach and heads out to the picturesque Manly Dam and back. The view is divine and the ride makes it all the more worth it.I also enjoy local cafes and exploring the coffee scene in Sydney.
3. What lead you to run these experiences?
I love being outdoors, exploring. I also really enjoy relieving the stress and hustle of a busy week by riding my bicycle.So I see this as a great way for people to explore a very scenic part of Sydney, getting to meet new people and getting some exercise in the process. With the growth of Sydney bicycle culture, it seemed like a cool thing to try.
4. What’s your idea of a fun night out?
Discovering new foods and/or drinks at the same time meeting some fun easy going relaxed people.Going to multiple destinations with a group and with someone who knows the local restaurant and/or pub scene well enough to ensure we try the right things is definitely what I like doing.
5. What’s the coolest travel experience you’ve ever had?
My first scuba diving experience. It was in Jamaica. I received a 5-minute intro/lesson at the resort swimming pool. A few minutes later I was in the ocean scuba diving with local (friendly?) sharks!Talk about diving in the deep end!
6. Why do you want to meet people through experiences and activities?
Meeting people from different cultures and backgrounds is like travelling – without actually travelling. While showing other people your local area and lifestyle, you get to learn more about them, where they’re from, what experiences they’ve had. It’s a wonderful way to see the things you enjoy doing or even the places you live through a fresh pair of eyes.I believe meeting people who have a similar interest as you is a great way to expand your friend circle. Its easier this way because you already have something in common to discuss and build from.
7. Describe your ideal tour participant
The fact that someone has booked my tour means that I already have something in common with them, which is basically what I would ideally want.I also love meeting people from different background and cultures.
Spending time with people from other countries is the cheapest way to travel
9. What do you love about Sydney?Variety. Sydney has the everything you want in a city. Food from all over the world, the most picturesque harbour, great weather, awesome beaches, and lots to discover. There is also great history from The Rocks to Parramatta to the Northern Beaches.
Sydney really is a wonderful, vibrant and inspiring city. I think we forget sometimes just how magical this city is. So if I can help people discover a new part or experience in Sydney they love, I’m winning.
10. If you could hang out with 3 people for a day, who would they be and why?
(The late) Freddie Mercury – because he was a great performer and a musical genius.
Client Eastwood – because he is simply a legend.
Michael Jordan – because no one person has every had such a positive impact on a sport.
11. If you could go anywhere in the world and do anything, what would it be and why?
Discover Peru and Chile, very slowly, with people who are a great source of knowledge about the local lifestyle.
Not only visit the main cities but drive through the country side exploring local villages, customs and food!
A South American adventure off the beaten track would be awesome.
You can catch up with Jervis via eXpertLocal!
Want a wine matching with a twist? Meet Jake!
What’s your name (can include nicknames)
Jake.
What sorts of tours and experiences do you run?
Wine tours, with a twist. Check out Junk Food and Wine matching or iWine (matching music with wine).
What lead you to run these experiences?
I have been to so many boring, earnest wine tastings over the years that take themselves too seriously and in the process exclude everyone from the enjoyment of wine.
I wanted to create wine tastings that were about the enjoyment of wine and make them accessible to all wine drinkers.
What’s your idea of a fun night out?
Braiding my friends hair in my pyjamas, talking about cute boys and watching the notebook…
No wait, having a few beers watching the footy (AFL Dockers & The Giants) then heading out to a great restaurant drinking some great wines.
What’s the coolest travel experience you’ve ever had?
Travelling through Burgundy, The Rhone Valley and Chianti was a great experience.
Why do you want to meet people through experiences and activities?
I love meeting new people and get inspired by other peoples experiences and knowledge. Meeting people through activities and experiences helps break down any hesitancies and get to know people on a different level.
Describe your ideal tour participant
Those that really get into what we are trying to do and embrace the experience whole heartedly. You can make our events as enjoyable as you want them to be.
When someone sings in front of the group in our Music & Wine tasting I know have a group of ideal participants.
What do you love about Sydney?
Its a cliche to say the beaches, but living two minutes from the beach in Tamarama is pretty special.
If you could hang out with 3 people for a day, who would they be and why?
Derren Brown – I want to learn all his tricks and techniques.
Christopher Hitchens – Even though he’s passed away now, I could listen to him talk for hours (when he was alive that is).
Tony Clifton – Although a created character and his creator has also passed away, but he would be excruciating hilariously to hang out with.
What’s currently on your playlist?
Billy Bragg and Wilco Mermaid Avenue III
If you could go anywhere in the world and do anything, what would it be and why?
Travel to all the wine regions of the world I am yet to visit: Agrentina, Germany and any others I can fit in.
Why? ‘Cos I love wine!!
Anything else we should know about you?
I have spent the last 15 years as a professional actor alongside my wine career. Most notably probably playing Matt Jennings in Packed to the Rafters.
You can find out more about Jake and join his wine tours on his eXpertLocal profile.
Discover the magic of Asia with Wee Lyn’s food tours
1. What’s your name (can include nicknames)
Call me “Lynn” or “Wee Lynn”. But please, not “Wee”.
2. What sorts of tours and experiences do you run?
My tours are food tours in authentic food hotspots of Sydney, with a dash of cultural immersion. You’ll learn or taste something new, and you won’t leave hungry…I promise!
You’ll also learn handy tips for easily making delicious food at home. You can have a holiday for your tastebuds without getting on a plane!
3. What lead you to run these experiences?
I love my food! I relish making new food discoveries and sharing them with people.
Sydney is such a diverse place. Many people want to be adventurous and go outside their usual haunts, but it’s daunting. After you’ve decided which eatery to enter, how do you decide which of the 63 menu items the kitchen excels at?
That’s where it’s useful to be taken around by someone who personally frequents these places!
Never feel compelled to order sweet and sour pork for the umpteenth time at the usual takeaway joint again. Come eat with me instead.
4. What’s your idea of a fun night out?
A barbecue with lots of good friends and happy kids, on an autumn evening when the final remnants of warmth still linger. There’ll be an array of meats, like chilli chicken wings, bulgogi sausages, Sichuan lamb skewers in chilli, cumin and beer sauce, Malaysian satay with the proper peanut sauce. Plus an array of salads made with dewy fresh produce from the Sydney Markets at Flemington. Topped off by a gelato scoop cake from my local gelataria, Feed. YUM!
5. What’s the coolest travel experience you’ve ever had?
It’d have to be backpacking in Japan on a skin flint budget. Every single day for 10 days, I encountered something so new that it blew my mind, be it tall Japanese girls dressed like Barbie dolls, or freshly caught tuna so large the fishmonger wielded a samurai-looking sword to cut it.
6. Why do you want to meet people through experiences and activities?
I get a kick out of satisfying the curiosity of adventurous people. It is gratifying to show off the delightful food that Sydney has to offer, and its great exchanging tips on making life in the kitchen tastier and easier.7. Describe your ideal tour participant
Someone even vaguely interested in food is bound to have fun. It’s great taking around a group of people who know each other – they bond and have enjoy themselves. My tours cater to all types of people.
People with dietary or mobility requirements are also very welcome – just let me know in advance so I can make arrangements.
I’ve had guests from both ends of the spectrum when it comes to levels of culinary and cultural knowledge, but luckily the professional chef said he’d learnt something new and had fun too.
8. What do you love about Sydney?
How you can visit a suburb and be transported into a different country, complete with sights, smells and authentic food. And it’s all at our doorstep, waiting to be discovered.
9. If you could go anywhere in the world and do anything, what would it be and why?
Turkey, getting lost in a souk. I’ll be surrounded by ingredients to discover, foods to taste, and rugs and many other things of beauty. Heaven!Like the sound of Wee Lyn and her love of food? You can enjoy it, too! Simply send her a message and book her Asian thrills food tour.
The adventures of iWine: matching wine with your music
An intrepid group of wine loving, music hounds grouped at the Old Growler in Woolloomooloo for the eXpertLocal tour iWine: wine matching with music.
From Aerosmith to Prince and everything in between, our host Jake made the most fun with a group of thirsty, adventurous Sydney siders. You may also know Jake from his wine matching with junk food. Jake is a passionate wine maker with loads of experience and a true showman’s flair. He is one of the brains behind a Bronte favourite, Garrick’s Wine.
In this tour, Jake and his offsider Tom ran a great evening for The Media Madams Scarlett Vespa & Debbie Carr from Eagle Waves Radio, Katie from Wanderlust at Bondi Beach Radio, smooth musician Arrnott Olssen and the gang from Sydney Chic. And of course our own Jervis and Sharon!
Check out the evidence of fun and frivolity.
A great night was had by all.
Check out what Arrnott Olssen had to say:
And we totally agree with Katie’s advice:
Want to join the fun? Book your iWine experience today!
What’s on in Sydney in December with eXpertLocal
2013 certainly has flown by, hasn’t it? You can really feel the sea calling out to say hi, the beaches singing their siren song, and of course the sounding of wine and food flowing as we hit the festive season.
Here are our picks for December. Let’s get social!
Music for your ears
Kylie Minogue’s “Confide in Me” gains a beautiful new outlook in the hands of Jep and Dep. You can take in this lovely experience and purchase the single for yourself at the Jep and Dep single launch Brighton Up Bar, December 5th.
After 8 years of playing the traps, Found at Sea say goodbye to their drummer, Tim. Check out this last look at the original Found at Sea line up with special guests The Model School and Suzy Connelly at FBi Social, December 7th.
When the likes of the Thieves, the Mountains and the Civilians are on the same bill for only $10, you know you don’t need to ask twice whether you’ve got a good excuse to party on a Thursday. Catch them at the Brighton Up Bar, December 12th.
Friday the 13th of December sees the amazing Hollow Bones strip paint off the walls with their jangled rock that is bound to impress. Take your dancing shoes and make sure you hair is set for gale force blowing away-ness. Head to Spectrum, thank us later.
Prog rock never sounded so good with a bill including Solkyri as headline, pirate, Koranic and Melbourne’s Kalacoma all set to rock the walls right off FBi Social. If you like your music brave, experimental, loud and technically awesome, you have to be there Saturday 14th.
Head to Chinese Laundry for the diggin’est deck the halls from DJ decks around on December 21st. The Christmas Garden Party kicks off at midday and includes all kinds of musical happiness. Get your beat on at Christmas while also raising money for the Bushfire Appeal. Nice one.
Make your brain sparkle
How does sampling lots of different food trucks, a pop up bar and live entertainment sound? Like a fun Friday? It’s happening people- check out Food Trucks United on Friday December 6th.
Check out what you can do at the Arthouse Hotel when you join Doctor Sketchy’s art class. You can choose from BYO art supplies right through to a cool arty setup and dinner.
End the year on equality in IT note when you get your Geek Girl on with the Geek Girl Panel at Atlassian on December 10th.
You can ponder if letter writing and memes really do make a difference at the Amnesty International Panel Debate on ‘A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words’ on December 10th.
Want to make more out of your Christmas without the guilt associate with food waste? Check out this nifty workshop Pocket, Plate and Planet run by Parramatta City Council on December 13th.
Need a little deep thinking over dinner and some business to boot? Hub Sydney’s Deep Dinner sounds like it’s perfect for you. See you there every third Tuesday of the month.
Embrace your inner Spock and check out the latest in short film sci-fi goodness at the WD Project Sci-Fi Awards on December 19th.
Shopping for the good gifts
Soak in the indie art and design that is the Finders Keepers Market at Eveleigh on the eve of Friday 6th and all day Saturday 7th of December.
Take a joyride to the beautiful Avoca Beach and enjoy the Avoca Christmas Fair on December 8th.
Summer is here and now it’s time for the Hornsby Twilight Markets, a perfect place to find a gift for someone special!
Visit the foodie heaven that is a Simon Johnson Pop Up Shop all the way through til December 27th.
Mosey on over to the Entertainment Quarter for their EQ markets every Saturday.
Christmas Day, your way
Looking to party?
Why not join the Collaborative Christmas party?
Get your word nerd on with the Copywriter’s Yuletide Fest.
Celebrate co-working and end of year hubberation at Hub Sydney.
Let your Entrepreneurship shine at The Entrepreneur’s and Self Employed Christmas Party
If you are having a solo Christmas, there are several wonderful places you can go and make new friends.
They include:
Bondi’s Chapel by the Sea as a guest or volunteerThe Christmas Day Picnic for orphans, singles, workers and more.
The Wayside Chapel’s Christmas Day Street Party.
Plus you can also Cole, take a glorious walk around the Rocks Pubs, experience Chinatown at Night, discover beautiful Bronte, or play guitars by the sea.
For all these and more fun activities, head to www.expertlocal.com
eXpertLocal: What are we trying to do?
The amount of creative artists, small business owners, soloists looking for inventive ways to fund their lifestyle, locals who want to preserve their lifestyle and students trying to make ends meet as they fall under the crush of Sydney’s high rent is phenomenal.
On the other side of the coin, there are people who love discovering new things in their city, want to be able to go out without it costing an arm and a leg, who have friends who aren’t always willing to be adventurous and try new things, who are looking to see live music based on recommendation, and want to genuinely love this city of ours.So why is getting both sides of the fence so difficult?
We’ve heard a lot of nervous whispers from people about how collaborative consumption is a lovely theory but doesn’t work well in practice. We’ve also faced off with the high profile closures of a few other sites in the same arena that were gaining more traction. This plus our own insecurities and worries, it’s a wonder we’re still here. But we are. And the reason why is very, very simple.This is a problem worth solving
Anyone who has walked down Oxford street recently will see what happens if we don’t support local businesses. Things fall away. Every single gap toothed window with a For Lease or For Sale sign was someone’s dream and livelihood- from the building owner to person with the idea for the shop and their staff- has lost out because for whatever reason, it wasn’t sustainable.
Dreamers like the eXpertLocal team wonder:
“What would have happened if there was a giant online marketplace where you could go to discover those shops?”
“What would happen if someone ran eating, drinking or shopping tours through Darlinghurst or Paddington?”
“What if each business had the opportunity to create different events and experiences that separated them from the competition?”
“What would happen if the audiences for those businesses felt like taking a risk on the area, safe in the knowledge they had a local’s knowledge?”
The truth of the matter is, whether you are talking about the shops or the dining on Oxford street, or you’re talking about the small bars that are popping up in Redfern, Surry Hills and Newtown, Sydney’s live music scene, bringing people to suburbs they don’t know or promoting community events that benefit locals, the situation is pretty much the same.
eXpertLocal is a big online marketplace designed to attract people who want to try something different. For free or paid, food or fun, it doesn’t really matter.We work with you
eXpertLocal is a new business and we’re learning as we go along, too. As such, we will work with you to craft events and activities that work for you. If you need help, ask. It’s what we’re here for.
The basic premise behind eXpertLocal is Jervis was inspired to see the amazing cuisine around the world and wonder where that discovery comes from, how the more authentic travel experience can be fostered, and how we can learn a little about each other through experiencing what each of us holds dear.
Bek was attracted to that idea because she knew just how much things can change when you give a community something to attach to, believe in and interact with through her own project, My Redfern Rocks. She’s also got a vested interest in fostering a creative scene for Sydney that is lively and strong, considering she’s a writer, artist and music lover.
Scott is a bit of an entrepreneur, and believes eXpertlocal is an opportunity for those with a hidden talent and passion waiting to be explored. Being a living example with Art Crawl, he wants to give the next person an opportunity to live their dream and make money from it. Scott’s out consistently hustling and finding the next person, maybe it could be you.We can’t do this without you
The success of eXpertLocal depends on YOU supporting us. How can you do that?♦ Host an experience of your own
♦ Share the experiences we have with your friends
♦ Read, share and comment on our blog
♦ Join the conversation via Facebook and Twitter
♦ Suggest tours you’d like to see via support@expertlocal.com
♦ Introduce us to people you think would make great hosts via support@expertlocal.com
♦ Give us feedback so we know what works and what doesn’t via support@expertlocal.comBecause at the end of the day, this is about you shaping the eXpertLocal you want to see. So anything you offer that aids in the process is OK by us!
Thank you for being you!
This is just a little note to say thank you for popping along to the eXpertLocal launch last week. It was an extremely fun and rewarding night and we couldn’t have done it without you.
The photos are now up for the night and can be accessed on our Facebook page.
If you are keen on setting up your own tour, you can create an experience on eXpertLocal, or if you want to find out more information before you do, feel free to drop Jervis a line via jervis@expertlocal.com
We’d also like to take the time to thank the brilliant staff at Hustle & Flow for their help with the evening, and to thank the Suzanne and Purple Goanna for their tasty bushtucker. Of course it goes without saying we’re also super glad to have had Mat from St Peters Brewery, and Avery (Amuze) giving their time to share their worlds with us.
Thank you again! We’re looking forward to creating amazing experiences and things to do in Sydney with each and every one of you.
Team eXpertLocal.
What’s on in July?
Ah July, you definitely are looking like a spunky month of things to do in Sydney and surrounds. Here are our picks for the month.
Cultural Events:
The City of Sydney has some amazing events planned for NAIDOC Week from July 7th through to July 14th.
Bankstown Bites gets some mouth-watering food happening on 6th of July.
COFA presents the Australian leg of “Running in the City“- a part art and part flash mob experience.
Put some Peru on your Fork with the Peru Gastronomic Festival from July 20th to July 27th.
Musical ear candy:
Celebrate 4th of July at the Livehouse at Petersham comes alive with the sounds of Mis-Made and Tom Stone and the Soldiers of Fortune. If you are looking for a toe tapping, shimmy driven good time, this can’t be beat! The eXpertLocal Sydney live music tour will be there- so be sure to join up!
Or you can hail in the 4th of July with the ever lovely songbird from Candelo, Ms Melanie Horsnell. For storytelling, gorgeous voice and being in the presence of a truly lovely musician, you have to be at the Camelot Lounge to see Melanie Horsnell support the amazing Paul Greene.
The boys your mamma says will break your heart, Found at Sea, are launching their EP at the Brighton Up Bar on July 11th. After a sell out show at the Vanguard, these boys are looking to unleash a little indie on Oxford st. Again, the eXpertLocal Sydney live music tour will be there- so be sure to join up!
You can dance the night away to retro tunes with the Twist and Shout Dance Party at Brighton Up bar. Rumour has it, it’s back in full swing and chock full of retro gold on July 19th.
Vinyl lovers will adore the FBi Radio event “At First Sight” that brings vinyl and music to fore on July 20th.
If you missed the magic of sleepmakeswaves in June, don’t despair. The boys are back with their prog rock goodness to play at the Annandale Hotel, Friday July 26th with Meniscus and Oslow.
Preparing for party time
And while it is in September, we want to give a special shout out to FBi for their 10th Birthday Party. Tickets are on sale now and with acts like the Presets, Urthboy and the music lovin’ rag tag group that makes up the FBi on air presenters via the FBi DJs, it promises to be a day very well spent at Carriageworks. We love FBi because FBi loves giving the Sydney and surrounds music scene a boost through airplay, a venue and gigs such as this. So buy your tickets now!Plus we’ve got art crawls, bike rides, walking trails and more to entertain you via eXpertLocal.
What have you got planned this July?
