Sydney Walkabout

Sydney is probably Australia’s most well known city and was a ‘must see’ place on our trip. Overlooking the Pacific Ocean Sydney has the worlds largest natural harbour. We had  3 fabulous days in Sydney which is now high on our list of favourite cities.

Above is the Sydney Harbour bridge where you can buy ‘bucket list’ walks across the top where it is said to offer one of the best views in the world! We opted for a (free) walk across the bridge and back which still gave awesome views of Sydney Opera House and harbour.

Sydney Opera House (top) was constructed between 1959 and 1973 and there are around 2500 shows and events each year.

Darling Harbour (above two pics) is a popular area full of outside restaurants and bars. We went there twice and had a delicious pizza meal in Cyren restaurant which overlooks the harbour.

Above is a picture of Sydney’s skyline which was taken from the ferry (to Manly). We went to the top of the Sky Tower (the tallest thin tower towards the centre of the picture). Upon entry you see a short 5 minute 4D film and then a lift takes you to the top of the tower. Discount vouchers can be found in the free Sydney guidebooks which can be picked up from the airport and it is cheaper to pre-book tickets online.

The Sydney Tower is 303 metres high and is the second tallest structure in the southern hemisphere. In comparison with other tall buildings it is roughly the same size as the London’s Shard (306 metres) but still only just over one third as tall as the Burj Khalifa (830 metres) in Dubai. Above is a view of the harbour, botanical gardens and Woolloomooloo Bay.

As well as being a modern multicultural city Sydney is fortunate to be surrounded by fabulous sandy beaches. On the third of our 3 days in Sydney, following the advice of a taxi driver we took a public ferry from Central Quay to Manly (above). Manly has a long stretch of sand and is lined by bars and cafes. We walked round the scenic path to Shelly Beach where we saw water dragons basking on the rocks next to the path.

We visited Sydney during February so there were many decorations to celebrate the Chinese New Year, which happens to be the Year of the Monkey.