Sydney Off the Beaten Path Tips by M0B1US

Oposite the Woolloomooloo Finger Wharf on the Kings Cross side of the harbour is the Australian Naval base 'Fleet Base East'.

Although you can only see the Woolloomooloo harbour part of the base, it takes up a large area including the headland of Potts Point. If you are at all a Naval buff, this is a perfect place to spot some of Australia's Navy or visiting dignitaries from navies around the world...

During my time here I remember seeing ships from Chile and America, though it is amazing in this time of increased security that you can almost touch these ships from your vantage point by Harry's Cafe de Wheels, perhaps with a pie in your hand... ;-)

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Sydney is close to several outstandingly beautiful national parks.

One of the most striking in terms of terrain and remoteness is the Budawang National Park just 3-4 hours down the South Coast from Sydney by car.

It is an area of rugged cliffs, beautiful rivers and cool rainforests and an area that is set far enough back from the main roads that it doesn't get that many visitors and it is possible that you might not see anyone else during your time here.

If you would like to know more about this magnificent bushwalking region, check out my Budawang Range VT Page

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The Blue Mountains are one of the favourite tourist destinations for a day trip outside of Sydney as they are so easy to get to, being only a couple of hours away by car or train!

The train is probably the main way tourists get there and a return ticket costs only AU$13.60 for a return from Central Station to Katoomba. Watch out for the bus guided tours, which cost a lot more - one of my friends took this after forgetting my advice and felt a little ripped off when he realised how much more he'd spent getting there...

Once arriving at Katoomba, you can either take an enjoyable walk through the Art Deco heart of the pleasant town of Katoomba down to the main attraction of The Three Sisters, or you can take a hop on hop off Tram that does a big circuit of all the main points of interest - I say get a tram ticket, as it is an enjoyable way to see the sights!

Conveniently for tourists, the main attractions are all around The Three Sisters rock formation in a sort of tastefully done 'theme park'...

These include:

The Scenic Railway

The Skyway

The Visitor Information Centre

The Three Sisters

The Edge Maxvision Cinema

And the Katoomba Falls Reserve

Of course, Katoomba is not the be all and end all of the Blue Mountains as there is a huge array of sights further afield, if you have more than just a day to explore...

Please check out my Blue Mountains VT page for further information on this wonderful and easily accessible tourist mecca.

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Website: http://www.bluemts.com.au

There is a huge colony of fruit bats that lives in the botanical gardens. They seem to congregate in the trees around the main restaurant and it is an impressive sight watching them roost high above in the trees.

They are a very social animal with a complex heirarchy and it is great to watch them chattering away, preening themselves, fight for a good spot or just hang there asleep cocooned in their leathery wings...

Perhaps one of the most amazing sites is their nightly journey to find food each night at dusk as they head south out of the city in a seemingly endless and silent stream - I could watch that for hours and it does almost seem to take that long for them to pass over. A perfect viewing spot is on William St just by the Cook Philip Aquatic Centre.

There is however a certain amount of controversy over their living in the Domain as they are slowly denuding the trees they roost on of their leaves and the park rangers want to get rid of them. Strangely enough, they also inhabit the botanical gardens of Melbourne, where there they have begun a capture and release programme to move them to another prepared site.

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