What to do in Sydney
As you would expect with a world city the
size of Sydney, there is heaps to do !
A city tour can show you all the highlights in a day, there are
lots of ways to appreciate Sydney Harbour such as ferry rides,
jet boating, sailing, or climbing the harbour bridge, and there
are the Opera House,the Zoo, several museums, and only a short
drive away the Blue Mountains and the Hunter Valley for some wine
tasting !
Annual events
If you happen to be in Sydney at the right time
you can catch some of these events;
Chinese Newyear - end January
or early February this goes off with a bang (quite a few bangs
actually) of Chineses fireworks in Chinatown.
City to Surf Run - tens of
thousands of people run the 14 km. from Hyde Park to Bondi
Beach on the second Sunday in August.
Gay and lesbian Mardi Gras
- held every year around February/March, this annual street
parade gets watched by well over half a million people that
pack Sydney's streets. Gay and lesbian party animals fly in
from all over the world for the celebrations that carry on
for much longer than the actual parade runs. Visit the festival's
website for more
info...
Kings Cross Carnivale - held
in 'the Cross' at the end of October or early November.
Manly Jazz Festival - lots
of jazz music happens in Manly early October on the Labour
Day long weekend.
Royal Easter Show - a 12 day
agricultural show held at Homebush Bay, great fun for the
kids.
Sydney Festival - held in January,
art and free outdoor concerts.
Sydney Film Festival - held
in June at various cinemas around town.
Sydney Fringe Festival - also
held in January, lots of arts around the Bondi pavilion.
Sydney to Hobart yacht race
- starts in Sydney on 26 December and runs for 630 nautical
miles, roundabout 1200 km., to the Tasmanian capital Hobart.
The start is always spectacular and risky as hundreds of other
boats steam along to farewell the racing yachts resulting
in many near misses or the occasional collision.
Beach/swimming
World famous Bondi Beach
Photo by Kristin King
For a city Sydney has a huge collection of excellent
beaches, some internationally famous like Bondi. The locals
like their beaches and several times have been up in arms
to protect them. Bondi residents fought long and hard but
in vain to stop the construction of a beach volleyball facility
for the 2000 Olympics and more recently Bronte beach residents
and council stopped Qantas from filming their beach for a
commercial, fearing it would bring huge crowds to their favourite
spot. Northshore people managed to keep the Baywatch filmcrews
out in similar fashhion a few years ago. Though the beaches
are popular it does not mean they are always safe, swim in
areas patrolled by life guards if possible, some beaches have
very strong riptides and undertows and be careful with body
surfing too, you would not be the first one to get smacked
headfirst into the sand, several paralyzed bodysurfers over
the last few years have actually sued local councils for not
placing warning signs! Nobody has been eaten by a shark in
Sydney since 1963 so that means pretty safe swimming.
Blue Mountains
Sydney is surrounded by National Parks and the Blue
Mountains with the famous Three Sisters rock formation and impressive
waterfalls are only just west of the city, though only a short
drive these lush green forests are a world away from Sydney's
hustle and bustle. After the Poms had landed and started their
settlement in Sydney in 1788 it took them 25 years to make the
first crossing through this jungle. The Blue Mountains are part
of the Great Dividing Range that runs all the way into North Queensland.
Be aware that due to the higher altitude it is quite a bit cooler
than Sydney up here, in summer that will be a relief but in winter
time it can be very cold up here, between June and August you
can see snow up here. You can escape
the city on a daytour that shows you all the highlights
of this beautiful area.
Bushwalking
Sydney is surrounded by National Parks so yo
never have to go too far to escape the madness of the city.
Blue Mountains National Park -
excellent bushwalking here, though in winter time come well
prepared, for more info see above.
Botany Bay National Park - located on the southern
side of the city, this was James Cook's first landing point
in Australia and there is a monument to mark this spot. Some
nice coastal walking tracks, a cycle track and bushland can
be found here.
Heathcote National Park - lies on the southside
of the Royal National Park and offers great bushwalking and
swimming, more info from the Royal N.P. visitors centre.
Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park - this 15000
hectare national park is located at the northern end of the
city and has bushwalking tracks, horse riding, Aboriginal
rock art and some netted swimming areas to keep you safe from
sharks. The nets seem to work as nobody has been eaten here
for more than forty years now.
Royal National Park - the oldest national
park in the world, located 30 km. south of Sydney. There is
a 26 km. walking track that follows the coast and takes two
days to do. For permits and info on other walks you can phone
the visitors centre on 95420648 . You can also hire bikes
and boats here.
Wollemi National Park - A very large park
with limited access, so little visited that in 1994 the Wollemi
Pine (Wollemia nobilis) was discovered purely by chance
by bushwalker David Noble, a NSW National Parks and Wildlife
Officer. It is one of the oldest and rarest trees in the world,
scientists compared the discovery with finding a live dinosaur.
Diving with sharks
© Oceanworld Manly
Yes, believe it or not, in Sydney at Manly Oceanworld
you can scuba dive with sharks! They have two tours, one exclusively
for certified
divers and another introductory
dive for those who have never dived before. What
a blast for your first dive!
Free things to do:
Art Gallery of New South Wales
does not charge an entry fee for its permananent exhibitions
and has Aboriginal dance shows at noon.
Customs House has free exhibitions.
Powerhouse Museum is free on the first Saturday
of each month.
Harbour
Sydney harbour bridge
Port Jackson, the official name of Sydney harbour,
is a huge body of water and measures 20 km. from the Heads
at the entrance to the mouth of the Parramatta RIver on the
west side. It contains islands, beaches and many of these
places are included in Sydney Harbour National Park. Best
ways to see this harbour are either from the water or from
a high viewpoint like the harbour
bridge or AMP tower.
To enjoy the harbour at water level hop on one
of the ferries heading up to the north shore that leave from Circular
Quay, join one of the harbour cruises or go sailing.
Serious thrill seekers might like to go for a ride on the
jet boat.
Several walks along the harbour also give you
some spectacular views;
- You can walk or cycle across the Sydney harbour bridge.
- There is a 10 km. walk from Manly Cove to Split Bridge that
includes bushland, Aboriginal engravings, a light house, beaches,
you can get more info on this at the Manly Visitors Bureau,
get there with a ferry from Circular Quay.
- A shorter (4 km.) walk is near the Taronga Zoo, take the
ferry from Circular Quay and then find your way to Ashton
Park.
- In Nielsen Park there is another walk with nice views, you
can also go for a swim at Shark Beach here, scary name but
it has nets in place.
To get a birds eye view of the harbour you
also have several options;
- you can go to the top of AMP tower on Market St. where you
can see (while enjoying a meal in the revolving restaurant),
as far as the Blue Mountains in the west and the Pacific Ocean
in the east. They are open everyday from 9am till about 10.30pm.
- climb the 200 steps of the Pylon Lookout on the harbour
bridge, open everyday from 10 am till 5 pm. Get there from
Cumberland St. or from Milson's point on the north shore.
- For the more adventurous there is an even more exciting option,
there is a guided tour in which you will actually climb to the
top of Sydney harbour bridge! More
info on climbing the harbour bridge..
© BridgeClimb
To get an even higher viewpoint take a scenic
flight on a plane or helicopter, they have regular
or charter scenic flights ranging from 15 to 90 minutes.
The harbour also contains several islands;
- Clarke Island; no tours go here but you can
get there by water taxi.
- Shark Island: Matilda
Cruises do weekend trips from Circular Quay. This island
has nice views but does not take long to explore measuring
only 100 by 300 metres, in the past it has been used for animal
quarantine and as a naval storage depot
- Fort Denison; this island was originally used
to keep particularly difficult convicts and later a fort was
built to defend Australia against a possible Russian invasion.
- Goat Island; this island has over the years been
used as a gunpowder depot, a quarantine facility and as a movie
set for the popular Aussie TV series Water Rats. Several tours
are available here.
History
The area known as The Rocks is where Sydney
started so that's where you'll find the most historic buildings,
you can pick up a Sydney map from the Sydney Visitor Centre
on 106 George St. and take a walk to see it all. In its early
days this area housed nothing but convicts, hookers, fishermen
and steet gangs, later to be replaced by ware houses of which
many were also removed again to make room for the harbour
bridge. This is a nice area to just stroll around and soak
up the atmosphere.
Jet boating
© OzJetboating
For the serious thrill seekers! See the sights of
Sydney Harbour at a speeds of 80km/h on a
jet boat ride!
Kings Cross
Also known as 'the Cross', this is the Amsterdam
of Australia; hookers, strip clubs, drugs, crime, nightlife,
you can find it all here, together with cafes, hotels and
backpacker hostels, many backpackers start and finish their
Australia trip here. Popular area for a big night out with
locals and tourists alike.
Mardi Gras
Held every year around February/March, this
annual street parade gets watched by well over half a million
people that pack Sydney's streets. Gay and lesbian party animals
fly in from all over the world for the celebrations that carry
on for much longer than the actual parade runs. Visit the
festival's website for more
info...
Musea
Find out what's going on at the Sydney
Museum of Contemporary Art
Nuclear reactor
Just for something different for those who are
bored with spotting kangaroos and drinking Fosters. Although
Australia does not have nuclear energy for electricity generation
it has a nuclear reactor for research at Lucas Heights, and
will be open to the public the first Saturday of each month
from July 2004.
Opera House
A design competition in 1955 produced 233 entries
but it was Danish architect Joern Utzon who won the job though
he never finished it as he quit in 1966 when he ran into huge
arguments with the builders who had considerable trouble to
convert this idea from a design on paper in to the real thing.
Construction took far more time and money than expected and
ran from 1959 till 1973 when it was officially opened by Queen
Elizabeth II . The original $7 million budget blew out to
$102 million and a team of Aussie architects were left to
finish the interior design after Utzon quit, by then it was
realized that though it looks nice from the outside it is
a bit cramped inside where beneath the ten spectacular arches
lies a complex maze of over 1,000 rooms covering nearly two
hectares.
You can go on one hour tours between 08.30 and 17.00, visit
the Sunday craftmarket or see a performance of classical music,
ballet, theatre, film, or, as you might have guessed, opera.
To see what's going on at the Opera House and to book your
tickets visit their website.
Outback
If your time in Australia is limited you can
still see some outback as it is never far away from the coast,
this four
day tour out of Sydney includes outback, wine tasting,
history of the gold rush, Blue Mountains etc.
Sailing
© Australian Eco Adventures
What better way to enjoy Sydney harbour than to
sail around it and enjoy the views of the harbour bridge and the
city skyline. More
info...
Surfing
Sydney has some excellent beaches for surfing,
on the south side try your luck at Bondi, Coogee, Maroubra
or Tamarama. On the north shore there's even more to choose
from such as Manly, Curl Curl, Dee Why, Palm Beach, Newport
Reef etc. Avoid the busiest waves unless you know what you
are doing, surf rage is a growing problem, to the point where
authorities in some places have put up signs to advise new
surfies of surf etiquette, Australia might have a laid back
reputation but get in the way of a serious surfer and you
will find they are not so laid back at all. Some of the surf
shops like Bondi Surf Company (9365 0870) have boards and
wetsuits for hire which will cost you around $50.- for the
day. If you're new to it they can provide lessons as well.
Walking
Before you explore Sydney on foot visit Walksydneystreets.net
, the website of 90 year old Alan Waddell who has walked every
street of 135 Sydney suburbs. He has done over 2000 kms now
without ever having been attacked or threatened, showing you
what a friendly city Sydney is.
Wine tasting in the Hunter Valley
Hunter Valley Vineyards
© Australian Pacific Touring
Explore the fertile Hunter Valley and taste award-winning
regional foods and wines. Enjoy private vineyard inspections and
learn of the winemaking process. Spend your time strolling amongst
the vineyards, purchase some wines or just enjoy the beautiful
Australian countryside. More
info....
Zoo
.Just 12 minutes from the city by ferry Taronga Zoo (you
can buy a combined ZooPass) is home to more than 4,000 animals on some
of Sydney’s best harbour side real estate. Special emphasis is
placed on Australian wildlife exhibits for you to be close to koalas,
kangaroos, wombats and other famous Australian animals. Open daily,
Bradleys Head Rd, Mosman.
