"Sydney" a Sydney Travel Page by leffe3

Sydney. It has a special ring to it, doesn't it. It brings to mind the Opera House, the Bridge, Bondi Beach, glorious weather and so much more. In more recent times its the Olympics, the Mardi Gras - a city that knows how to celebrate, to have a good time.

And its so true! A stunning location and, for 9 months of the year, great weather makes the city an outdoor haven. It has so many beautiful beaches and bays it defies comprehension - and if you bore of them, drive (or catch a train) for an hour or so and you can come across even more!

The first European settlement of Sydney was in 1788 at Sydney Cove (now known as The Rocks), nearly 20 years after Captain Cook first landed in Botany Bay (20 miles or so south of the CBD). The reason for the move was simple - Botany Bay was too exposed to the elements, Port Jackson (the original name) was seen as one of the finest natural harbours in the world.

In its first years, the city struggled to survive - only under the leadership of Governor Macquarie in the early 1800s did the settlement start to evolve as a permanent town or city. (the name Macquarie is to be found all over Australia). By 1901, more than 1 million lived in the city.

Now there are more than 5 million inhabitants and, geographically, the city is twice as big as London and three times the size of New York.

For most of its existance, the city was something of a cultural backwater, a city of the other side of the world from its 'Mother Country'. But the 1960s saw that change with the opening of the iconic Opera House and Sydney hasn't looked back. Now its a full-on, party city with all the vigour of a 'new city', taking the best of the US and Europe and making it work. Its a city where yu feel that 'anything could happen, so why not give a go' attitude prevails. Its a great place to visit and, while arguments abound about which city in Australia is the better (Sydney or Melbourne), most tourists go for Sydney as the palce to visit. And with those beaches, the better weather and access to stunning natural environs such as the Blue Mountain National Park and the surrounding coastal parks, it is an amazing city to visit.

This page will be constantly under construction - I'm lucky enough to travel to Sydney on average once a month and always try to go to new places and stay in different hotels.