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Gertrude & Alice
This secondhand bookstore offers good-quality beach-reading tomes and a wonderfully casual atmosphere. The café makes hanging out easy and there are regular poetry and acoustic music sets upstairs. There's another branch at 78 Oxford St, Paddington.
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Glebe Market
If you missed Woodstock, you'll find its dreadlocked, shoeless legacy here. Inner-city hippies beat a hazy course to this crowded Saturday market. Once massaged, fuelled on lentil burgers and swathed in funky retro gear, they retreat to the lawns, pass the peace pipe and chill out to an African drum soundtrack.
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Gleebooks
Gleebooks is widely regarded as Sydney's best bookshop. The aisles, packed with an impressive mix of politics, arts and general fiction, make for great browsing, and staff know their stuff. Their annual literary program attracts big-name local and international authors.They also carry children's books and used books in their annex at 191 Glebe Point Rd.
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Good Living Growers' Market
This picturesque foodies' market not far from Darling Harbour showcases the best NSW regional produce. Peruse the 90 stalls packed with all sorts of delicacies from goat's cheese and sourdough bread to smoked tuna and wattleseed ice cream. Grab a coffee and reconstitute with an egg, bacon and chutney roll.
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Gould's Book Arcade
Possibly the scariest secondhand bookstore in the world, the floor-to-ceiling racks and stacks seem in perpetual danger of burying you under a ton of Stalinist analysis. While all manner of musty out-of-print books are stocked, owner Bob's leftie leanings are reflected in one very large wall. You'll find a whole fixture devoted to Trotsky, another to Marxist Philosophy and three to the British Labour Movement.
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Grandma Takes A Trip
We don't know where Granny's gone, but she sure left a crazy wardrobe behind her. So did Grandpa by the looks of things. This upmarket secondhand boutique has an attention-grabbing collection of freaky threads. Also at 79 Gould St, Bondi Beach.
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Helix
A magical Pandora's Box of vintage beads and unique local women's fashion awaits in this backstreet boutique. Everything's produced locally in Surry Hills and you needn't worry about some scrag showing up in the same frock; only a handful of each design is produced. Lead designer Lisa Stack hand makes her own silk screens.
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Herringbone
Combining Australian design with Italian woven fabrics, Herringbone comes up with something surprisingly English-looking - beautiful men's and women's shirts with crisp collars and bright colours. City branches are at 7 Macquarie Pl, QVB, Chifley Plaza and 1 Martin Place .
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Hobbyco
Run by hobbyists for people who take toys seriously, Hobbyco's aisles fill with excited boys (big and small) effusing over slot cars, Meccano sets, Hornby trains and radio-controlled cars (like the kick-arse Audi TT). First Fleet models and 12,000-piece jigsaw puzzles are perfect projects for a rainy year.
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Hogarth Galleries Aboriginal Art Centre
This highly respected gallery has been exhibiting Aboriginal creations from all over Australia since 1973. A wide range of art is on display, including works by young artists Rosella Namok and Fiona Omeenyo; the emphasis is on top-notch artists and their communities. New exhibits are shown monthly, and lectures can be arranged.
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Holy Moley
You won't miss this one; its very-Newtown murals (Robert DeNiro in Taxi Driver, a skeleton with a mohawk) are the first thing you see as you step out of the station. Inside it's all spunky punky T-shirts, baby-doll dresses and sexy lingerie.
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House Of Priscilla
Not only is Priscilla the queen of the desert, she also has her own boutique - not bad for a cinematic bus. Run by some of the city's leading drag artistes, Priscilla is the place for feathered angel wings and boas, naughty nurse outfits, wigs, thigh-high boots and sequinned frocks to fit front-row forwards. Very camp women also welcome.
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Irregular Jeans Warehouse
Just as it sounds, this large factory outlet has trestle tables and racks laden down with denim and more, from brands big and small. You'll also find shirts, skirts, jackets and accessories.
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Jurlique
With many branches, this highly regarded Australian skin-care brand offers hypo-allergenic and PH-balanced products made from organic herbs (grown at its own farms). Nothing is tested on animals. A spa on the premises pampers clients - both men and women - with facials, body treatments and hydrotherapy.
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Kidstuff
A menagerie of toys and books, along with a proliferation of rabbit-related toys at Easter, ensure that keen young minds will find plenty of fluffy stimulation at this long-serving children's shop. Peek at the very back for sweet little princess and cowboy costumes, or find that perfect doll house for Barbie. Even parents will have fun here.
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Kinokuniya
Located in the Galeries Victoria is this large Japanese bookstore with great book sections including art and design, travel and children's books. Also plenty of magazine, stationery and Japanese language selections.
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Kirribilli Markets
A wonderful monthly market offering everything from vintage clothes to real (and faux) antiques to kids' gear to all kinds of jewellery. Plenty of exotic foods and fresh produce too, and a great lively atmosphere.
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Kirrily Stores
A slice of Newtown in Balmain (and also at 175 Coogee Bay Rd, Coogee), Kirrily has casual cool women's wear that won't break the bank; a welcome change from the upmarket couturiers of the area.
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Kite Power
Whether you're a kid or just a kid at heart, if you're looking for beach entertainment this is the place to come. This small shop is chock-full of beach balls, Frisbees, boomerangs, smashball racquets, hula hoops, juggling paraphernalia, games and, of course, lots of kites. Test your purchases in the nearby grassy reserve.
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Kookaburra Kiosk
This small, long-running second-hand clothing store has some fab finds from the fashion archives. It concentrates on unique vintage pieces and manages to avoid that fabric-explosion atmosphere that plagues so many of these vintage shops. Sort through the sale racks out the front for bargains.
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Lee Hardcastle Antiques
Bordering on bizarre, this shop is more like a natural-history museum than an antique dealership. Here, 18th- and early-19th-century taxidermy (zebras, warthogs, black bears and deer) jostle for position with whale ribs, grandfather clocks and walnut wardrobes.
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Leona Edmiston
With two new stores in LA, Leona Edmiston clearly knows a thing or two about dresses. Her sassy designs have been described as exuberantly feminine, flirtatious and fun, cut from the best cottons, silks and jerseys in colours that range from luscious, sophisticated reds to pinstripes and polka dots.
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Lesley McKay's Bookshop
It's located a bit outside the centre, but if you make it here you'll find an excellent range of fiction, non-fiction, biography and history titles. There's an especially good selection of children's books, too, and the knowledgeable staff won't let you down.
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Love & Hatred
This plush, sensual, wood-panelled store is aglow with custom-made jewellery by Sydney designer Giovanni D'ercole. Beautiful sapphire rings, natural pearls and rose-gold pieces manifest an unostentatious, mystic blend of Celtic, Art Nouveau and contemporary styles.
