On my way to Brisbane & Sydney

One of the finer, early participants on TFL is Phil - PiPs:  http://www.thefreshloaf.com/blog/pips .  He is/used to be in Brisbane. Some of his bakes appear on regular rotation in the "Also on TFL" panel on the right.  That's how I found out about him. 

Enjoy the short flight ;-) .

time there, Abe. 

but she too doesn't post much any more. Let's see ...greedybread is from there too and of course Derek  - Yozzause.  Have a great time and get some shrimp on the barbie!

enjoy your time there, we're across the "ditch" in NZ so not close enough.

Leslie

Although Phil no longer posts here I would think a private message to him would reach his email inbox. At such short notice he may not be available but would no doubt let you know which he thinks are the better bakeries in Brisbane. Shiao-Ping too may not have time herself but is  likely to have suggestions.

The Bourke Street Bakery has grown by leaps and bounds - there are now a number of stores and one maybe in your neighbourhood while in Sydney:

http://bourkestreetbakery.com.au/

A quick google search produced this:

http://concreteplayground.com/sydney/arts-entertainment/culture/the-ten-best-bakeries-in-sydney/

http://concreteplayground.com/brisbane/food-drink/food-2/the-ten-best-bakeries-in-brisbane/

and there were plenty of other links too - some local knowledge would help to narrow the field a bit for you.

Australia has a great food culture - looking forward to your post-trip review!

Safe Travels

Robyn

edit:  I just remembered the Australian based sourdough website it was called sourdough companion but it seems it is now simply called sourdough.com. You might have some success poking around on it.

I am a Sydney-sider so I can't speak for Brisbane but can recommend a couple of excellent bakeries in Sydney.  I'm just a novice home baker so don't know the commercial side of things if that is your interest but I do know good bread when I eat it!

I frequent Bourke St Bakery at Marrickville. They also have a number of other locations around town that may be easier for you. Check out their website to find out about their community projects too.  Brasserie Breads at Banksmeadow is great and they have a strong education focus, running classes on breadmaking and "breaducation".  A new bakery/restaurant called Dust has opened at Sydney's newest food hub - Harold Park Tramsheds at Glebe.  They mill their own flour from organic and specialist grains. I bought a delicious ciabatta there last week.  Dust would be easy for a traveller to get to as it is on good public transport.  There are also some other good restaurants in these renovated old Tramsheds.  There are plenty of other good bakeries around.  Search on line for best Sydney bakeries and you will find others I have not mentioned.

I hope you enjoy Sydney. 

Megan