On the Sydney questions, all your answers and more are in this handly little dcument:
http://casa.gov.au/wcmswr/_assets/ma...ney/sydney.pdf
You can also get a hard copy of it, helpfully spiral-bound, from the CASA online store.
Last time I flew Albury-Sydney I went up towards Wagga and turned right. That keeps you clear of the Canberra Class C too, though I forget what level that was at.