"Sydney: Lots of Sunshine an ..." a Sydney Travel Page by amyhenderson

I have lived in Sydney most of my life. Its a fairly large city with a population of 4.5 million people, but more so geographically with just the harbour containing over 240km of foreshore and extends over 55sqkm - thats a lot of harbour!

Here are some statistics on Sydney to give you a little insight...

70 percent of Sydneysiders are a combination of two or more ethnic backgrounds, and over a third (34.5 per cent) were born overseas!!

A total of over 200 nationalities are represented in Sydney's population. When judging by the array of cuisines available, this is quite evident. Yum, yum! (yes, i'm a foodie)

Sydney is at similar latitude to Cape Town, Buenos Aires & Los Angeles, so enjoys a generally warm climate.

Personally, I think Dec, Jan is the best time to visit, especially if you are interested in the beaches and Summer lifestyle. Outdoor dining, weekend markets, numerous beaches, moonlight cinema in the park & walks along the harbour foreshore... oh, and you can't miss a weekend breakfast in a beachside cafe!

If you're only in Sydney for a limited time, you will most likely be pretty keen to plan ahead as much as possible. Here I've listed a couple of my absolute favourite Sydney activities, and ones I believe shouldn't be missed! You'll notice a lot of it revolves around food... haha, welcome to Sydney!!

* Taronga Zoo in Mosman (full day)
* The Rocks/Opera House/Botanic Gardens/Lady Macquaries Chair (1 day walking around harbour foreshore)
* Lunch in Manly Beach & make sure you walk from Manly to Shelly Beach (a
pleasant, leisurely 15 minute walk starting from the South end of Manly surf
beach)
* Catch a ferry from Circular Quay to Watsons Bay (on a weekend) and have fish & chips from takeaway Doyles and sit in the park and watch the beautiful view. Also ask for directions to walk around to Camp Cove (a cute, harbourside beach really worth a look and nice walk along the way, interesting architecture in the area)
* Dinner at 'The Golden Sheaf Hotel' in Double Bay. It's a typical upmarket
Australian pub with a beergarden out the back. It has modern Australian cuisine, I can particularly recommend the steak there. Try weeknights, as weekends can get a bit too crowded with the young twenty somethings - unless you're after that, of course! :-)

Sydney Harbour Bridge build was completed in 1932 and the Opera House was opened in 1973.

Australia is only 216 years old (as at 2004) so we don't have a whole lot of old buildings. When I say old, I mean European standard of old.

Sydney however, does have what you might know as the 'old city'. It's a great place for visitors to get an idea of some of Sydneys history. This area is called 'The Rocks' - see my Must do Activities for details. Plenty of old Aussie pubs, also some really good Belgian & German-themed pubs too!