Sydney Things to Do Tips by Bwana_Brown

Go for a little pleasure cruise on one of the many boats available for a tour of the harbour - it gives you a great view of the city! This particular shot shows a distant view of the Opera House as well as the famous Harbour Bridge. This is the world's largest steel arch bridge, completed in 1932 (a few years before San Francisco's Golden Gate bridge) after 6 years of construction work. The structure is also known as 'The Coathanger' because its arch was completed first and then the vehicle deck was completed by using the supports hanging from the arch. Now dethroned by the Opera House as the 'symbol' of Sydney, she is still an impressive piece of work!

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Directions: Sydney Harbour

The Opera House is now the most famous landmark in Sydney, an eye-catching structure unlike any other that I have ever seen! This building has a history of its own, including the fact that it took 16 years to build! Following a world-wide design competition, the winning design was selected and the NSW government decided that construction should start immediately - in 1957. The problem was, the designer had not yet fully completed the details but this did not stop the politicians! This, combined with subsequent government imposed design changes and the technical difficulties of actually building this new style of construction, led to innumerable delays. The original designer was forced to resign in 1966 and construction went on for another 7 years until the complex was completed in 1973. This was originally to be a Performing Arts Complex (and still is) but the name 'Opera House' stuck to it early on. The building has been a great success and today is the busiest performing arts theatre in the world with 3000 events and an audience of 2 million people per year.

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Directions: Sydney Harbour

On our first full day in Aussie, we drove north up the Pacific highway toward Newcastle, enjoying our first views of the Australian coastal countryside. This plant caught our attention, so we stopped for a photo beside the highway. VT member 'M0B1US' put me onto the fact that it is likely a Proteus, also known as a 'Bearded Sugarbush'. These ancient plants grow along this coastal part of Australia and also in South Africa. Research has shown that these things are indeed prehistoric, since they have been around for 300 million years.

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Just north of Gosford and south of Newcastle is a very nice coastal area, known as The Entrance. It has absolutely beautiful beaches with huge waves rolling in from the Pacific Ocean! Now we were starting to come alive!

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With temperatures in August being on the chilly side for those from down under, the beach was ours to enjoy for miles in each direction! It was very refreshing and nice to have it to ourselves, and the temperature was not all that bad for a crazy Canuck!

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Address: The Entrance, north of Gosford

Being an avid birder, I always have my binoculars at hand in case something interesting pops up. Here, we were enjoying the sight of these Pelicans at The Entrance. On a sad note, I always remember that it was here, while watching these birds, that we heard on our car radio that Lord Louis Mountbatten had been killed off the Irish coast when his yacht had been blown up by the IRA. A tragic end to an old hero of the Second World War.

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