Introduction

This Pacific Rim destination flaunts a sunny climate, a stunning natural harbor, exotic flora and fauna and a populace so genuinely warm, outgoing and funny that the city instantly feels like home.

Next up, Sydney on Smart Travels

You know you're somewhere special when you first approach Sydney by air. Flying over the Harbor Bridge, past a myriad of boats dancing on the water, the white sails of the famed Opera House below, Sydney unfolds in all its glory. It's a city that seems perpetually on holiday. Sailing swimming, strolling the sunny streets...and surfing—the people of Sydney know how to seize the day. And why not—with this great blue playground embracing the entire city. As the locals like to say, there's no better address in the world than Sydney.

Life in Sydney revolves around the great outdoors. A morning jog and cappuccino at the beach, an afternoon sail around the harbor, an open air dinner on the wharf: with mild winters and moderate summers, Sydney is open for fun year round.

We’ll feast on Sydney’s attractions and its cuisine.  Then sail across the harbor to ocean beaches.  For cliffs, waterfalls and wildlife we trek into the bush at the Blue Mountains. 

A Little History

Walk around anywhere in Sydney and sooner or later, you'll be drawn back to the harbor. Like a big magnet, the Harbor Bridge peeks around corners, pulling you back to the blue, the boats, the sunshine rippling on the water.

Sydney began here in 1788 when boats carrying sea weary convicts and officers from England sailed into this harbor. From this inauspicious beginning sprang a city whose settlers clawed their way into being, fighting off starvation, disease and isolation. A few decades later free settlers from England arrived to start life here anew.

A couple of hundred years later, seventy percent of Sydneysiders, as they're affectionately known, come from mixed ethnic backgrounds. Immigrants have streamed here for the abundant land, the quality of life and the freedom. The result is people who love where they live. And it's infectious.

The Local Language

Sydneysiders are quite helpful with those who don't speak the local language. Sometimes you might feel like a drongo, but if you give it a burl, well, no worries, mate. Just put on your sunnies, go watch the surfies parade around in their cozzies and you'll feel like a tall poppie in no time.

Sydneysiders are as colorful as the local slang which may have originated in English. One prominent character from the 1960's, Bea Miles, could be seen jumping in the harbor, a knife in her teeth, to chase sharks.

 

The Opera House

Dominating the view from the waterfront promenade, Circular Quay, is Sydney's signature landmark—the Opera House. The building has alternately been described as a great sailing ship, something monstrous that has crawled out of the sea/and an albino tropical plant.

Controversy surrounded the creation of the Opera House. Begun in 1959, the building was expected to take four years and instead it took 14 to complete. The architect, Jorn Utzon, resigned in disgust after cost overruns put him under enormous scrutiny. He never returned to see the final building.

Don't miss the view from upstairs. The concrete sails billow out over the harbor and you feel as though you are standing on the deck of an enormous ship.

TIP

For info on tours and ticket purchase: www.sydneyoperahouse.com.

 

Royal Botanical Gardens

What today is the site of the Royal Botanical Gardens was the colony's first vegetable patch. The convicts and soldiers who arrived here in the late 1700's found a strange new world. While these petty criminals were often quite street savvy they were helpless in the wilderness. Times were tough and starvation a constant threat. Today, these great green lawns are a place for a stroll through exotic gardens or a picnic lunch with a view over the harbor.

 

Gavala Aboriginal Art Centre

When the convicts arrived, Aboriginal people had been living in Australia for at least fifty thousand years. They lived off the land, in harmony with nature. Every living thing was considered equal and worthy of respect. Aborigines paid that respect through ritual thanks, paintings and music. The Gavala Aboriginal Art Centre is aboriginal owned and operated and is dedicated to supporting indigenous art. The shop is one of the best places to buy authentic handicrafts and the gallery exhibits a fascinating array of paintings.

 

The Rocks Neighborhood

Just the other side of Circular Quay, the area known as the Rocks is the site the convicts first settled. It became a rough and tumble neighborhood known for prostitution, murder, and drunkenness. Liquor was in high demand in the struggling town. Rum became the major currency—it even financed the building of the first hospital.

Tipping back a tinnie, a stubbie or a middy is still a favorite pastime in Sydney. If you get stonkered you might find yourself "shouting a round" and by the time you're done you won't have a brass razoo left in your pocket.

The Rocks pubs are some of the oldest and most atmospheric in the city. They are often called hotels because of a law that once limited the sale of alcohol to travelers only. Whether in a pot, a jug or a schooner, Aussie's love their beer.

 

Museum Of Contemporary Art

The Rocks isn't all about shops and pubs. The nifty Museum of Contemporary Art located here offers a fascinating glimpse into the world as viewed by contemporary Australian artists. A theme of the exhibits is art as it reflects anxiety and crisis in the modern world.

 

Sailing The Harbor

Here I am again, pulled back to the Harbor and this time determined to get out into the blue myself on a sailboat. Sydney by Sail tours the harbor daily. Our skipper, Jenny, won Olympic gold in sailing at the Sydney games. You can learn to trim the sails or just sit back and enjoy the pageant. One of Sydneysiders favorite pastimes is watching, and often betting on sail boat races in the harbor. In days gone by, sailors would load down the upwind racing sailboats with burly young men, then toss them overboard for the downwind race to the finish line. Just think of the time Jenny could make up if she heaved me into the drink.

 

The Sydney Bridge

Spanning this vast harbor is the Sydney Bridge, affectionately known as the coat hanger. The bridge was built from both shores simultaneously and connected in the middle. The project began in 1924 and took 9 years to complete.

Way up there people are climbing on the bridge—I'd say they've got a kangaroo loose in the top paddock.

 

Park Hyatt Hotel

When the sun sets in Sydney, landmarks light up, boats dance electric in the harbor and the city's many restaurants and bars spill out onto the streets and wharves. Sydney cuisine has taken off in the past couple of decades—Asian influences in particular have added zest. The chef at the Park Hyatt Hotel whips up a seafood treat.

The view from the Park Hyatt, located in the Rocks, is almost enough to keep me from ever going out. There are plenty of hotels in Sydney in all kinds of price ranges, but for a stunning location, this is it. Most rooms have private balconies overlooking the harbor and Opera House.

 

Bill's

Ahh, it's Saturday in Sydney, and time to kick back. Ask anyone where the best breakfast spot is in town and they'll direct you to bill's, small b. It's cool, casual, and delicious. The scrambled eggs and ricotta hotcakes with banana and honeycomb butter are famed throughout the city.

TIP

Check out some of Bill's easy to make recipes at www.bills.com.au.

 

Paddington

Not far from bill's place in Darlinghurst, the leafy suburb of Paddington is the perfect spot for a Saturday stroll past pastel Victorian houses with their lacey iron balconies. Paddington bursts into life Saturday mornings with the Paddington Market. Stalls selling jewelry, arts, crafts and fashions cram the streets. Young fashion designers and artists often launch their goods here to gain recognition.

 

RM Williams Outfits

For an entirely Australian adventure in shopping, RM Williams outfits people for adventures in the bush or just a chance to look like a fair dinkum ossie: the real thing.

G'day mate.

The founder, the late RM Williams, was born in 1908, and he worked as a camel boy, well digger, boot-maker, miner and leatherworker before opening his stores.

 

Sydney Fish Market

The early bird catches the best fish at the Sydney Fish Market. This is the New York Stock Exchange of fish. Starting at 5:30 AM every morning some 50 tons of fish are auctioned off in the largest market of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

It's a smelly, fishy, frenzied affair and testament to the incredible variety of fish that cruise these waters. The market even offers cooking classes and workshops with guest chefs as well as a dynamite on-line newsletter with recipes and tips. Adjacent to the market, retail outlets serve up the morning's catch.

TIP

Info on attending the auction www.sydneyfishmarket.com.au.

Sydney Aquarium

For even fresher fish, check out the Sydney Aquarium. A stunning number of different species is on display. There are platypuses, crocodiles and other Australian creatures, but by far the most impressive is the coral reef exhibit. Australia's Great Barrier Reef, located some 4 hours north by plane, is re-created here. More than 2000 fish from tiny tidbits to Jaws himself lurk here. A long glass tunnel lets visitors get intimate with the sharks, stingrays and sea turtles. It's the next best thing to scuba diving and a whole lot safer!

 

Manly Ferry

I am not afraid of sharks and to prove it I am going to take a little swim with them. But first, another great way to see the harbor: the Manly Ferry.

This half hour trip from Circular Quay to Manly beach is the best bargain in town and delivers you to one of Sydney's spectacular beaches.

 

Manly

The main thoroughfare, the Corso links Manly Cove on the harbor side with Manly beach on the ocean. Fish and chip shops line the way and fatten you up for the sharks. Yes, there are occasionally sharks in all these ocean waters and extreme rip tides as well, but nets keep the sharks out and life guards keep the people in. On a weekend day, Sydneysiders are out in droves.

 

Manly Oceanworld

The manly thing to do here at Manly is a dive with the sharks, so here I go.

Here at Manly Oceanworld, visitors come face to jaw with the great monsters inside a huge tank. The staff will outfit you, dive with you and shoot underwater footage of the adventure. The sharks here are grey nurse sharks and not dangerous unless provoked—and believe me, I am doing NO provoking. It's a heart stopping experience to watch those jagged jaws come at you, up close and personal.

If you aren't manly enough to take the dive, an underwater tunnel keeps you dry and all in one piece.

Bondi Beach

The beaches north of Manly are Sydney's prettiest, but the most famous beach of all is Bondi Beach on the southeastern side of the city. This is the beach for showing off tans and biceps. The guys in the blue shirts are the lifeguards. It's a job that was invented here at Bondi—the Surf Bathing Association of New South Wales was the first lifesaving club, founded in 1907. The waves and rip tides can be dangerous.

Sydneysiders are crazy for surfing and the rough and tumble Bondi surf gives a good ride. Novices and experts alike ride the waves here.

 

Icebergs Restaurant

Bondi's trendy little restaurant Icebergs serves up great fish and views of the surfers. The restaurant is famous for the golden harbor prawns, dipped in flour and fried, that disappear in a microsecond once they hit the table.

TIP

Bondi is 4 miles from downtown; you can catch a city bus.

 

Sydney is surrounded by natural parks, beaches, wildlife preserves, and even wine country. Weeks could be spent exploring here. I'm headed west into the bush for wildlife, mountain scenery and rainforest.

Featherdale Park

The only sure way to get a glimpse of the legendary Australian wildlife is to visit a preserve like Featherdale Park—less than an hour's drive from the city.

The 18th century settlers couldn't believe their eyes when they encountered these creatures. No one had ever seen anything like it. Living alone on a continent, these animals evolved in isolation from the rest of the world—and that's why they are so distinctive.

 

The Blue Mountains

The Blue Mountains, named for the blue mist created by particles of eucalyptus oil in the air, made a formidable barrier for the European settlers. Time after time, expeditions failed to cross them. Finally, in 1813, a party hacked and clawed its way to the top and after 17 days, the triumphant explorers looked down on the fertile plains of the Western Tableland. Soon agriculture flourished in the plains and the days of starvation in the colony were over.

 

Scenic World Cable Car

You have to have more than one kangaroo loose in the old paddock to take Scenic World's cable car ride 600 feet above spectacular Jamison Valley. Did I mention the glass floor?

Water plummets over cliffs and mist curls around the dramatic rock walls. The spires of the famous Three Sisters jut out from a ridge. Legend has it that the rocks are sisters a witchdoctor enchanted into stone to stop them from marrying outside the tribe.

And you can risk your life twice by following the cable car with the world's steepest railway that plunges 1500 vertical feet down to the valley floor.

The Blue Mountains make a great escape, but already I am drawn back to city life.

 

Life is Good

From a Saturday stroll in Paddington to a sail around the Opera house, life is good in Sydney. Add to that the beaches, the cuisine, and a shark or two and I'm hooked. A shimmering anchor in the vast blue harbor, Sydney seduces with its charm, endearing people and its great natural beauty.

Well it's time to bid a fond so long from the best address in the world. In Sydney, I'm Rudy Maxa, see you next time.

 

 

• Introduction
• A Little History
• The Local Language
• The Opera House
• Royal Botanical Gardens
• Gavala Aboriginal Art Centre
• The Rocks Neighborhood
• Museum of Contemporary Art
• Sailing the Harbor
• Sydney Bridge
• Park Hyatt Hotel
• Bill's
• Paddington
• RM Williams Outfits
• Sydney Fish Market
• Sydney Aquarium
• Manly Ferry
• Manly
• Manly Ocean World
• Bondi Beach
• Iceberg's Restaurant
• Featherdale Park
• The Blue Mountains
• Scenic World Cable Car
• Life is Good