Will be taking my teen daughter to a concert she wants to go to on Thursday night at the Hordern Pavilion. My last experience there, with a member of our party having parked on site, was bad - it took us literally 2 hours to just get out of the car park after the concert.
Not sure how frequent buses are from the Hordern to Central that time of night (around 11 - 11:30?) and I imagine getting onto one may also take ages.
Worst case we can walk from the Hordern to Central, then take a train to Hornsby. I'd expect that would be around 2 hours door-to-door, though the walk might be a tad dodgy around there that time of night.
I imagine taxis would be hard to come by, and Uber would be surging.
I don't really know the area, so not sure if there are alternatives for parking nearby.
What would be the best value way to get home (ie, not too expensive, but reasonable time)?
I would personally walk to Central (same transit time, less hassle), but I understand your hesitation of walking around near midnight on a Saturday night/Sunday morning. If taking a bus that late at night you might have to take the bus to the city though and travel to another station on the T1 Northern Line.
You can always try leave on the dot at 11 pm to catch the bus before the crowds leave but you never know how many other people have the same idea, meaning you might miss the first bus.
Maybe someone here can elucidate how many people typically walk to Central after these concerts? Taxis might be cheaper than UberX I suppose in these instances.
I always park near Centennial Park, but so does everyone else :)