"Sydney, Australia - Australia's Gateway... " a Sydney Travel Page by dlytle

Sydney, the gateway to Australia, is a magnificent destination. I was fortunate to visit Sydney, on business, during its glorious middle-fall period in the month of May. The weather was perfect, the people friendly, the attractions delightful and the energy and variety of the place invigorating.

Sydney is Australia's first city, Australia's biggest city and, was, of course, Australia's Olympic city in 2000. It is a cosmopolitan city with over 180 different nationalities making their home here. This vibrant blend of cultures is probably what makes Sydney the friendly, tolerant city it truly is. And beneath a relatively thin layer of white people's history - the British arrived only in 1788 - lies a culture of many varied characteristics.

The first humans probably came to Australia from Southeast Asia between 50,000 and 70,000 years ago although there is some evidence to suggest they arrived up to 175,000 years ago. It is thought that originally Aborigines lived around what is now Sydney.

Then, in 1770, Sydney was visited by the British in the persons of Captain James Cook and Joseph Banks who sailed the Endeavour into Botany Bay.

The first recorded contact the British had with the indigenous inhabitants of Australia were at that time. According to notes in Cook's journal, warriors confronted the landing party and threatened them with spears. Cook's journal noted that 'All they seem'd to want for us was to be gone'.

It wasn't long before a colony established itself and for the next 6 decades it would be the new home to unwanted, persecuted and criminal elements of British society.

By 1840 the colony's population was made up of mainly free immigrants and transportation ceased in 1842. By 1847 the convict population of Sydney accounted for only 3.2 percent of the total population.

Today Sydney is one of the most cosmopolitan, culturally diverse and aesthetically beautiful cities in the world. The harbor is only rivaled by that of Hong Kong and with its 20 or so beautiful swimming beaches and pleasant climate Sydney has become an extremely popular tourist destination attracting almost 3 million visitors annually.

Sydney is located on the southern coast of New South Wales between the smaller coastal cities of Woolongong and Newcastle. The Central Business District (CBD) is situated on the southern bank of Sydney Harbor, 6 miles (10 km) west from the mouth of Port Jackson.

I almost hated to leave Sydney to continue on my business trip in Asia-Pacific. I think that the English novelist Anthony Trollope put it best when he wrote 'Sydney is one of those places which, when a man leaves it knowing that he will never return, he cannot leave without a pang and a tear.'

Well, I was regretful on leaving it, but I do hope I get a chance to return to this remarkable city soon.