Sydney (Australia) > Reviews (46)

From September to December 2005 I was seconded to a suburb of Sydney, Australia which, as secondments go, was a pretty juicy one for a 23 year old to land. As readers of my other pieces will attest to I got out and about in Australia during my time there, but since Sydney was the place I was working 4 days per week, every week, I also got to spend a fair chunk of time in the city.

Arriving in Sydney is generally by air on a domestic or international flight though some energetic souls may also drive in having road-tripped it from Melbourne and/or Canberra. The airport is not an especially noteworthy one but it does have one outstanding feature: Krispy Kreme donuts. Can you imagine anything nicer, having got up early to board a shuttle to Cairns or Hobart, than checking in quickly and picking up one of their glazed numbers to nibble on the way to the gate? The airport also has a lovely chocolate shop but this is located airside in the international terminal so I was only able to visit once, on my way home again. Getting to the city from the airport is easy thanks to direct bus and train links, and from my base in the eastern suburbs the journey was a pleasant 30 minutes. If you are lucky enough to land or take off at sun rise or sun set then you're in for a treat as the views over Botany Bay are breathtaking. This was my first view of Australia and it was a good one with which to start.

The centre of Sydney is surprisingly small - you can literally walk across the city centre without any trouble - but the city runs out into numerous suburbs to all sides. Many tourists naturally choose to stay as close to the famous landmarks as possible, but for a view of the bridge or the opera house you'll pay an extortionate premium. That said, I would recommend staying vaguely centrally as otherwise you'll quickly have to familiarize yourself with Sydney's crazy bus network.

The OPERA HOUSE is just like the pictures, and located right on the water. Numerous shows play on any night as there are half a dozen theatres located within the complex, but my big recommendation for visitors is to go on a tour. These cost a fraction of the price of a show ticket, include a drink afterwards in one of the nearby cafes and take you all over the building showing you much more than you'd see in an evening at the opera or ballet. These book up quickly at the weekend but mid-week you can pretty much just turn up as tours run regularly.

The HARBOUR BRIDGE is nothing all that special - just a tall bridge that, um, spans the harbour. The first time you see it at sunset, along with the Sydney skyline, it makes you stop and whip out your camera, but I'm afraid that after a few sightings it stops being worth looking up for. You can climb the bridge for a huge price tag but this is generally considered worth doing only if you have the cash to spare. Many colleagues of mine bemoaned the fact that the bridge climb was now commercialised and remembered fondly the days when anyone with a lot of guts or, perhaps, a death wish would decide to climb it (illegally) just for kicks.

DARLING HARBOUR is round and up a bit from Circular Quay if you head along the water, but if you go inland you'll come across another Krispy Kreme which I discovered on my first day and which made me feel like Sydney wasn't going to be too bad. In Darling Harbour you can go to a free didgeridoo show, have a nosy round a few touristy shops, peek into various museums and generally explore.

The SYDNEY (AMP) TOWER is a suitable alternative to the Bridgeclimb for the views it offers, and is a fraction of the price. Handily, it's located in the centre of the centre, near Hyde Park and with a shopping mall underneath. Excellent.

The CONTEMPORARY ART GALLERY and ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES are both well worth visiting, and are free. The first has some slightly dodgy pieces of 'art' (like some eggs being fried by giant coconut looking men which is supposed to be an interpretation of Australians 'frying' at the hands of the Bali Bombers) but also has some more normal ones, and the second has a suitable mix of more traditional pieces from Australia and abroad. It's also located next to the BOTANICAL GARDENS so you can go for an explore afterwards.

In SYDNEY OLYMPIC PARK you can easily spend a day being sporty and, um, eating junk thanks to the Muffin Break, McDonalds and more located there. The park has the 'world's fastest swimming pool', so called because it's the place most world records have been broken, though the local explanation for this is that it's because it's slightly slanted downhill… You can also learn circus skills from the people at Quasar Flying Trapeze. We went for a lesson one Saturday morning and within one hour we were doing catches. I can't recommend it enough for those with a dormant gymnast inside them.

SHOPPING in Sydney centre is not exciting - a few mini-malls all have the same stores, and not exciting ones at that. For touristy presents and souvenirs they're fine (if a little overpriced) but for normal things you'll find the selection is not good. For a day of retail therapy head for the megaplex at Bondi Junction or out of town to somewhere like Eastgardens.

Other suggestions:

- Take the ferry to Manly (from Circular Quay) and spend a day there, exploring the Corso and beaches, and stopping at Max Brenner's in the Wharf Terminal for one of their unique hot chocolates or $2 chocolate licks

- Walk through the botanical gardens to Mrs Maquarie's chair to (a) sit on it and feel suitably tiny and (b) line up the perfect shot of the opera house and the bridge all in one photo

- Do the Bondi to Coogee walk. It takes an hour or two but has fantastic sea views all of the way and definitely counts in place of going to the gym for a day. Better yet, time this to coincide with the weird and wonderful 'Sculpture By The Sea' contest where sculptures in an shapes and forms from international artists line the walk from Tamarama Beach to Bondi and all beaches on the way

- Go to Bondi on a Sunday to visit the flea market at the far end of the promenade in the grounds of a secondary school where you'll almost spot a bargain or at least one of the peeps from Home and Away.

If bargains and minor celebs aren't your thing, Bondi is also the best place locally to learn to surf and lessons run morning and afternoon most days of the year.

- If the weather's up to it, head to Coogee for a swim in the sea or one of the 4 ocean pools, and then go for brunch afterwards at one of the many local cafés

- Head out of town for a day trip to the Blue Mountains, to see the sights or get energetic with some abseiling or canyoning or rock climbing. Or go to Penrith for a stint of White Water Rafting. You can also go to Canberra and back in a day but that's a long day.

- Again if you're in town at the right time, head over to Get Active Sydney at Moore Park - it's a locally sports-day where you can try over 50 different activities (and get a free t-shirt) and we did everything from rock climbing to pilates to spinning to trying a surf simulator.

Here are the most bizarre things about Sydney:

Trying to find somewhere to eat after 6pm in the centre is crazily hard unless you want to go to a posh restaurant. During the day you're fine as there are dozens of food courts selling a large range of different, delicious foods, but they shut in the early evening and after that you wouldn't believe how hard it is to, say, find a pizza. That's where the title comes from: 'Maybe Tonight' was the winner's single on Australian Idol this year and became our catchphrase when it came to food - maybe tonight we'll actually find somewhere open. Bizarrely where we lived in the east there was a multitude of places open around the clock.

I have never seen so many beautiful people in all my life as I have in Sydney. They are all just so damn attractive, and yet they persist in going to the gym all the time - surely they must have fulfilled whatever appearance goals they had by this point? Maybe it's all about maintenance, but I've never been surrounded by bodies like that in a gym before.

The signs in Sydney and Australia in general are ledgenary. From 'Don't be a tosser' to 'Wrong Way, Go Back' you wonder what's going on in their creator's minds and, more worringly, if they're actually needed.

There are no Irish left in Ireland - they're all in Sydney. That's not a criticism, just an observation: never before have I heard so many lilting voices in one place. And yet in the hospital we were over-run with Scots. Bizarre.

The weather in Sydney is not guaranteed to be good and was in fact quite pants for the first two months we were there (the end of their winter / start of spring). Where was the endless sunshine of Summer Bay, filmed in a north Sydney suburb? It's deceptive marketting that is.

Sydney as a place to visit is unique, interesting and entertaining. However I thought it lacked a certain something. There was a persistent feeling of 'Is this it?' whenever we were being tourists for the day. It just seemed so small and under-resourced in terms of decent museums and attractions compared to other places I've lived. In a way it was a lot like Manchester where I'm now based - there are enough pubs and clubs and cinemas and theatres to entertain the locals, but you wouldn't stay for weeks if you came to visit. I wouldn't trade my time there for anything, and if I were to have to move their permanently I wouldn't object, but if I was going back to Australia just for a holiday I wouldn't put too much time aside for Sydney. Been there, done that, got the several free t-shirts. A place to see once, tick off the list and move on.