"No kangaroos here" Sydney by Ramonq

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I grew up in this city where I lived and worked for many years, but I sometimes took this great city for granted. It's bold, beautiful and brash, but away from the tourist spots, it suffers from mundane suburban sprawl. You really have to meet a local to show you around some of the hidden gems in the suburbs.

Sydney isn't all about just the Opera House, it's the hodge-podge of mulitcultural communities that make the city interesting and cosmopolitan. The city started as a penal colony where petty criminals were banished from overcrowded English gaols. Free settlers from the British Isles moved in during the mid 1800's pushing out the Aboriginal communities away from Port Jackson and into the town's fringes; and by the mid 1900's, migrants from war-ravaged continental Europe arrived. Sydney's culinary tastes gradually changed from steak and 3 vegies to spaghetti bolognaise (spag-bol). During the late 20th century migrants from the Middle East and Southeast Asia started settling in the western suburbs of Sydney. Sydney's complexion changed and now Sydney-siders eat "doner kebabs" and "pla muk pad kra proa".

The traces of this mass diaspora from overseas can be observed by going to to the sububs of Sydney. While the majority of the population is Anglo-Saxon, there are suburbs with a higher concentration of ethnic groups such that Leichhardt has built a Florentine-like piazza, Cabramatta is full of Southeast Asian refugees from Ho Chi Minh or Phnom Penh, Campsie is full of Koreans, Lakemba is a mini-Beirut, St. Ives has many escapees from Johannesburg, and Chinatown is. of course, like a tiny Hong Kong town. The Aboriginal communities can still be seen in Redfern and La Perouse, where the original Eora tribe still live.

Despite these seemingly diverse communities living next to each other and the occasional rare racist outbursts, Sydney is still overwhelmingly harmonious and progressive.'

Built in the 1930s, this enduring symbol of Sydney stands proud across the Sydney Harbour. Locals call it the old coathanger and it is so majestic that every new year's eve, it acts as a magnificent background to spectacular fireworks display.

Going across the Harbour Bridge is an exhilirating experience day or night. Despite the daunting traffic, the view from here, especially the one overlooking the Opera House is incomparable.

One can even get a better view by climbing up the bridge through a guided tour. It's fairly pricey, but it's worth it!

I can imagine that the Sydney Harbour Bridge symbolises the hand that stretched out overseas to bind the different migrant and aboriginal communities together.

Bondi Beach

Sydney is surrounded by water, and it's no surprise that swimming is a favourite past time here during the summer months. One cannot imagine Sydney without its magnificent water views. A water view is worth its weight in gold in Sydney which is compensated by skyrocketing real estate prices of those suburbs that are close to water (even rivers). Sydney's favourite conversation topic is about real estate values.

The beaches of Sydney can be divided into two areas, the Northern and Southern beaches. The most famous Northern beach is Manly and on the southern coast, Bondi.

Sydney surfs are fairly rough which makes them ideal for surfing, and the unpredictable rips make some areas dangerous for swimming. Water temperature can be quite cold and sometimes riddled with treacherous jellyfishes and the occasional shark. Yet Sydney-siders flock to the beaches religiously every summer mainly to sunbathe and play.

Sydney beaches are panoramic and these are the places to do some people-watching when in town. You'd be able to observe that the beach is the greatest equaliser in a city that is gradually being divided between the haves and the have-nots, ie., those with water views and those with none.

• Pros:Spectacular water views
• Cons:Suburban sprawl
• In a nutshell:Sydney is home