| The oldest city in
Australia it is the economic centre of the nation. The sun
drenched capital of New South Wales.
This cosmopolitan, lively city boasts international attractions
such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. Fantastic
shopping, vibrant nightlife,
and delicious restaurants
are key to the city’s popularity. With a resident population
of around 4,000.000, Sydney has a vibrant and distinctive
multi-cultural atmosphere.
 Visitors
to Sydney by air will find Sydney
Airport (SYD) is just 9 km / 6 miles south of the centre
of Sydney. This international airport offers efficient service
and the facilities that are expected at modern airports
by today's traveller.
Sydney is also a coastal city and
the sandstone headland and dramatic cliffs give way to glorious
sandy beaches. Famous all over
the world, Bondi Beach is full of ardent surfers and body
conscious beach babes.
Sydney Harbour Bridge
Sydney Harbour Bridge is probably the best known and most
photographed landmark in Australia. Opened in March 1932
and the top standing some 134 metres above Sydney harbour
it is the world’s largest (but not the longest) steel arch
bridge. The arch span covers 503 metres. One interesting
fact is that it takes 270,000 litres of paint to give the
bridge one coat. The Australian actor Paul Hogan of Crocodile
Dundee fame was once one of the contractors employed to
paint the bridge. This major Australian tourist attraction
can be climbed with official groups of twelve people leaving
every ten minutes.
The Opera House
One of the most profound images of modern Australian architecture
the Sydney Opera House opened its doors in 1973. Reaching
out into the harbour on a point known as Bennelong Point
the building dominates the skyline of Sydney. Its dramatic
contours are unforgettable and a ‘not to be missed’ part
of any visit to Australia.
 A
ferry trip from Circular Quay will give you the best views
of Sydney harbour and the city including the Opera House.
You will also see large luxurious waterfront homes which
line the harbour. The ferry will pass many beaches and small
coves and will take you past the Heads where the entrance
to the harbour meets the Tasman Sea. Docking in Manly Cove
you can visit Manly Beach which is one of Sydney’s most
popular.
Many hotels are located in the Darling Harbour area to the
west of the city. In recent years this area has been fully
regenerated and now is the centre for many great restaurants
and unique shops and is easily accessible via the city Monorail.
Worth a visit is the Sydney Tower which from the top gives
a fantastic 360 degree view of the city.
A city surrounded on three sides by National Parks. The
Royal National Park to the south , Ku ring gai Chase National
Park in the north and the Blue Mountains National Park in
the west.
Circular Quay
It was at this place in January 1788 that the first fleet
of ships containing convicts, officials and soldiers arrived
and the new British colony of New South Wales was declared.
 Walk
from Sydney Harbour Bridge round the bay to Sydney Opera
House and you will be traversing Circular Quay with the
area on the west side knows as the Rocks.
The area of the Rocks was less than
a hundred years ago the slum area of Sydney, with people
living in appalling conditions and where gangs ran the streets.
Today it is a washed and brushed up vibrant and colourful
part of the esplanade.
Today it is a place where sydneysiders
still gather to celebrate Australia day or any other important
event.
The Sydney Tower
Reaching 250 metres above the city of Sydney and is the
tallest observation platform in the southern hemisphere.
Views from the tower are wonderful give the visitor a 360
degree perspective on the layout of Sydney and around 1
million visitors per year visit the tower.
The tower can accommodate 960 people
at full capacity, and has two levels of restaurants, one
for a la carte the other for buffet style dining. There
is also a coffee lounge, and an observation deck, open to
the public. The are three high speed, double deck lifts,
which will take you to the observation deck and restaurants
and take about 40 seconds to travel from top to bottom.
These high speed lift have a capacity of carrying up to
2000 people per hour to the top of the tower.
The tower was originally constructed as part of the Centrepoint
Shopping Complex built in the 1970’s although the tower
itself was not completed until 1981.
Museums
 The
Sydney Observatory
Watson Road, Observatory Hill, The Rocks
The Sydney Observatory has been used for over 140 years
and is the oldest observatory in Australia.
The Observatory has preserved some of the oldest astronomical
instruments in Australia and has displays of the history
of astronomy. There are working models of our solar system,
telescopes and you can read about the significance and position
of stars in the Southern Hemisphere. The Observatory also
has a pleasant garden to relax in and take in the scenery.
If you are a keen scientist there is a 3-D Space Theatre
and tours where one can view the skies at night through
the historic and the modern telescopes.
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Art Gallery Road, The Domain
Surrounded by parklands the Art Gallery NSW is on the eastern
side of the CBD. The Gallery aims to acquire and display
to the visitor the best works of art available, highlighting
the artistic customs of Australia. There are about 29,000
items in its permanent collection which is divided up into
seven main collections. These are Australian, Aboriginal,
Asian, European, Contemporary, Photography and Drawings
and Watercolours. This Gallery is well worth a visit for
those on the art trail.
The Australian
Museum
6 College Street
Since the museum first opened to the public in 1857 the
Australian Museum has been extended and enlarged into a
complex of sandstone buildings which now houses the principal
exhibition area and administrative and research space.
The Museum has some first class permanent exhibitions as
well as a varying special exhibits. The permanent exhibition
includes displays of Indigenous Australian natural history
including skeletons from mammals, fish, birds, reptiles
and insects. There is also an enormous mineral collection
and a dinosaur exhibition. The museum is stretched over
three floors and the visitor can enjoy the open plan architecture
of the buildings as you wonder from one display to the next.
There is a Highlights Self-Guided Tour brochure available
to assist you find your way around the Museum.
The Australian National Maritime
Museum
2 Murray Street, Darling Harbour
 At
the Australian National Maritime Museum you will find thousands
of exhibits has thousands of exhibits depicting Australia's
maritime history. You will find exhibits beginning from
when Aboriginal people caught fish and traded with them
with their Asian neighbours, right up to the modern day.
Explore what life was like on the convict ships and how
Australia "rode on the whale's back"; how Australia’s
first submarine vessel fought courageously but lost in at
Gallipoli during World War I. Discover what people brought
with them when they sailed away to a new life in Australia.
There are free guided tours available,
cinema, hands-on display and computer games to explore.
Go aboard the HMAS Vampire, the former Royal Australian
Navy destroyer and enjoy a guided tour which gives an insight
into how the crew worked lived and relaxed.
There are also displays of some remnants
of Captain Cook's ship The Endeavour, Australia II the winner
of the 1983 America's Cup, the World War II boat Krait;
a racing cutter from 1888 and a Vietnamese refugee boat.
The Discovery
Museum
2 - 8 Kendall Lane, the Rocks
Situated in the centre of the Rocks
area, the Discovery Museum is located in a restored 1850”s
sandstone warehouse owned by the National Trust.
The museum allows the visitor to look
at the history of The Rocks from pre-colonization days to
the present and is spread over three floors. The museum
tells the history of the indigenous Aboriginal inhabitants
who made their home along the shores of Sydney Harbour before
the arrival of the British right through to the present
day.
Displays of artefacts excavated at
various times over the centuries tell the story of the Rocks
area.
The Justice
& Police Museum
Cnr Phillip & Albert Streets, Circular Quay
This museum formerly acted as a police
station to a Court between 1856 to 1886. The building has
been restored to its 1890s glory. The theme is crime, punishment
and law and order and features a recreated police charge
room, remand cells and a magistrates court.
Check out the faces of Sydneys early
criminals in the mug shot gallery and exhibitions of different
weapons used at that time. There are gruesome details about
notorious crimes such as the Pyjama Girl Case the Shark
Arm Murder and the Graeme Thorne Kidnapping.
The Macleay Museum
Gosper Lane (off Science Road), University of Sydney
This tiny museum is tucked away between
the sandstone buildings of Sydney University, on the upper
floor of the MacLeay building. There is only a small proportion
of the entire collection exhibited as most is in storage
and generally comes from the universities historically important
invertebrate and scientific collections. Also included is
a historic photograph collection.
The Museum of Australian Currency
Notes
Reserve Bank of Australia
65 Martin Place, Sydney
 This
museum displays examples of Australian currency from the
days of the first settlement from 1788 through to the present
day. Archive film together with descriptions of economic,
social, political and cultural history are used to highlight
the times.
The Museum
of Contemporary Art
Circular Quay West
In a wonderful position overlooking
Sydney Cove with uninterrupted views of the Sydney Opera
House and, to the rear of the building The Rocks area of
Sydney.
The Museum of Contemporary Art was
officially opened in 1991 and this impressive sandstone
building accommodates four floors of contemporary art from
international and national artists.
The Powerhouse Museum
500 Harris Street, Ultimo
An interactive science-and-technology
museum which uses state of the art technology in the form
of demonstrations, computer games, videos, lectures and
activities. Over 25 exhibitions help the visitor to discover
the history of human achievement and the decorative arts,
science and technology, and how they influence our everyday
lives.
Built inside the shell of a disused
power station dating from 1899-1902 which provided power
for the electric tram system in Sydney. The power station
was in use up until 1963 when it suffered ten years or more
of dereliction until, in 1979 it was selected to be the
site for the new museum.
The Museum of Sydney
Cnr Bridge & Phillip Streets Circular Quay
This museum celebrates both colonial
and contemporary Sydney through artefacts, pictures and
digital media techniques. 360 degree views of Sydney - from
1788 to the present day - extend along the walls and video
screens. Sydney’s convict history is explored in a huge
exhibition of goods and chattels found in more than 25 archaeology
digs.
Pylon Lookout
Cumberland Street (on the Harbour Bridge).
Located on the south side of Sydney
Harbour Bridge great panoramic views of the City make this
visitor attraction an absolute must in Sydney.
Near the junction of Cumberland and
Argyle Streets climb the stairs which lead to the pedestrian
footpath and 500 metres north is the Pylon.
Displays of models, artefacts, replicas,
pictures and archival film tell the story of the building
of the Bridge. The trials and tribulations the difficulties
and lives lost.
Don’t go all the way to Sydney
and miss this one!
Darling Harbour
This former dockside harbour area, has been changed into
a major tourist are convention and exhibition centre. Take
the monorail which goes from the Central Business District
to Darling Harbour, making various stops along the harbour
as it goes There are various attractions for children and
for the adults restaurants and a café complex.
Taronga Zoo
Bradleys Head Rd, Mosmon
This is the nation's principal zoological
garden, featuring Australia's best collection of native
animals and a varied assortment of exotic species. Taronga
is special because of its location on a raised piece of
land, on the waterfront, of probably the best vantage point
looking out over Sydney Harbour.
Susannah Place
58 to 64 Gloucester Street, The Rocks
Explore l9th century inner-city
working class life, inside these brick and sandstone properties,
built in 1844 and domestically occupied until 1990. Susannah
Place is a row of four terraced houses including a corner
store.
It is situated in the centre
of The Rocks, an area that is arguably one of Sydney's most
popular with tourists.
This fascinating museum provides
a look into the fabric of community life that existed in
The Rocks during the 19th century. Its plain interiors and
back yards show the visitor of today the day to day hardships
of l9th century inner city life. The original brick outside
toilets and clothes washing facilities are some of the earliest
surviving examples to be found in Sydney. Susannah Place's
recreated early 20th century corner shop displays goods
from that era.
Cadman’s Cottage
110 George Street, The Rocks
Originally built in 1816 as
the barracks for the crews of the governors boats Cadmans
Cottage is Sydney’s oldest surviving dwelling house. It
takes its name from John Cadman, a convicted horse thief
who was transported in 1798. After holding various jobs
as coxswain he was pardoned in 1827 and moved into the cottage.
Cadman and his wife, another ex-convict, lived in the cottage
until 1846.
Cadmans Cottage was once beside
the water but after Circular Quay was built, the harbour
is now 100 meters ahead of the cottage.
The cottage now serves as the
Sydney Harbour National Park Information Centre.
Sports
Sport is not just recreation in Australia, but a way of
life and this is never more apparent than in Sydney.
Sydneysiders are generally a sporty bunch with cricket,
football, tennis and golf extremely popular and for those
who do not participate directly, watching sport on television
provides an alternative passtime.
Cricket
Sydney plays host to Test cricket in Australia and one day
international cricket matches during the summer months in
Australia. Played at Sydney Cricket Ground, tickets for
matches played during the week can often be bought on the
gate but for Test matches at the weekend it is best to book
your tickets in advance and for all one day cricket internationals.
Golf
Visitors are welcome at golf courses all over Sydney, but
probably the more well known clubs are St. Michaels, Warringah
and Moore Park. If you wish to play it is best to phone
and book ahead of time to ensure a round.
Tennis
Cooper Park and Parkland Sports Centre are good place to
play tennis, but there are courts and clubs all over Sydney.
Many centres have courts which are floodlit for night time
games.
Rugby League and Rugby Union
Probably the most popular sport in Sydney Rugby League is
affectionately referred to as “the footie”. Local, State
of Origin and Test games are played on fields all over Sydney
although the main ground is the Aussie Stadium. Tickets
for the Aussie Stadium tend to sell out quickly so its best
to buy tickets in advance from Ticketek.
Australian Rules Football
Very popular in Sydney and Melbourne,
is Australian Rules Football and the local team is called
The Sydney Swans. Competition is always strong between Sydney
and Melbourne when games are played often taking busloads
of fans between the two Australian cities. Click
here for more sport |
