"Sydney - my lovely home town" a Sydney Travel Page by Joseph69

Sydney Webcam from The Rocks link => SydneyTheRocksWebcam Watch the "action" on the harbour (ferries, etc) and take full control of this webcam!

Sydney Webcam from high up on the Shangri-La Hotel link => ElevatedSydneyView You may need to wait a little while or click on the big box... you also can have full control of this camera! Check it out, and I hope you enjoy it! ;)

Sydney Webcam link (works faster) => SydneyRecentPictures

Sydney (and the majority of the nation in fact) is experiencing serious water shortages! We're in the midst of the worst drought in 100 years! Australia is a very dry continent, and hence, our dam levels have been reduced to rediculously low levels. In Sydney, as of January 2007, our dam levels will provide us water for another 1.8 years unless we get some serious rain. So, if you come to Sydney, please think about conserving water usage.

Link to up-to-date Dam Levels ===>> DAM LEVELS

Sydney is a beautiful city with many fantastic beaches and suburbs. This is where I've grown up and lived all my life, a very enjoyable and cosmopolitan city to live and work.

Anywhere around the harbour is all good (provides you with a beautiful, exciting, fresh, happy feeling within), and if you have a partner, quite romantic too, especially around sunset. Probably a great idea is to have a picnic, enjoy some wine, watch the boats, hear the water splashing about, hug your partner, and be in heaven! Ahhh, yes, bliss! :)

It's also never too cold in winter to visit (in fact, the driest months are in the winter) and the summers are hot enough to enjoy the beaches making it a great city to be at in the summer. Some days when I finish work for the day, I drive to the beach and have a swim for a couple of hours! Sunset is usually around 8:15pm, giving you plenty of time to enjoy some sun and surf. It's almost like being on holiday!

There is a fair bit to do for a visitor. I think the best zoo I've visited in the World is located at Taronga Park Zoo on Sydney Harbour. There's a fantastic Aquarium at Darling Harbour, and of course, the beaches, nightlife (although during the weekdays most places are a little quiet) and great places to eat out without blowing your budget. Yep, I find the food in Sydney fabuloso!

I'm constantly updating the Sydney information site, so stay tuned as it is being updated regularly! ;)

PS. If you need some tips, help or any information, just send me an e-mail or message and I will do my best to reply!

***** Check-out the many TIPS towards the bottom of this page and also some extra TIPS and PHOTOS in my TRAVELOGUES at the bottom of this Sydney page!!!!! *****

This cathedral is next to Hyde Park on the north-eastern side. Well worth a visit.

HISTORY OF SYDNEY

Port Jackson (also known as Sydney Harbour) was home to Aboriginal tribes around 40,000 years. Excavations for a canal in Alexandria (south of Sydney's CBD (Downtown) - heading towards Sydney International Airport ) in the late 1800s, evidence was found of Aboriginal settlement dating back about 7,000 years.

When Captain James Cook in 1770 sighted Botany Bay (a bay within Sydney's south and where two of Sydney Airport's parallel runways are located), European interest arose. A settlement was founded by Arthur Phillip in 1788 under instructions by the British Governemt. They had originally landed at Botany Bay, but Phillip found it unsatistafactory (lacked fresh water and protection), thus sailed north and discovered Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), and hence, began a settlement named New Albion.

The name New Albion didn't stick, and for a reason somewhere unknown, the name changed to Sydney Cove, named after the British Home Secretary, Thomas Townshend, Lord Sydney (who authorised Phillip to establish a colony).

European settlement had a disastrous effect on the Aboriginal people around Sydney , thanks to the introduction of diseases such as chicken pox and measles. The Aboriginal people lacked immunity to such diseases, even though Governor Phillip enforced strict rules of behaviour for interaction between the European settlers and the Aboriginal people.

In 1789, only 1 year after Arthur Phillip had arrived, the French arrived into Botany Bay led by an expedition by La Perouse (which is now the southern most beachside suburb in the Eastern Suburbs peninsula).

The native Eora people suffered a massive loss of life due to the introduction of chicken pox (or small pox) of the French also. So many lives had lost, many bodies were found bobbing on the water in Sydney Harbour , although Watkin Tench in 1796 attempted to blame the Aboriginal people for disturbing a grave of a Frenchman who had died of smallpox (unlikely as Aboriginal customs won't allow it).

By the early 1800s. it was estimated that the Eora Aboriginal population had been reduced to 10% of their 1788 population estimate.

One of the most remembered Aboriginal historical figures, between 1788 and 1802, Pemulwuy (a Bidjigal man from the Botany Bay area) lead a guerilla war against the British settlement . He was not impressed with the British invaders and was regarded as a courageous resistance fighter. Two other Aboriginals (Arabanoo and Bennelong) had befriended the British and even adopted their customs (such as wearing their clothing, learning to speak English and assisting the British with Aboriginal customs, etc).

Pemulwuy led many attacks on the new settlement from Botany Bay (south) to the Parramatta and Toongabbee areas (west). In 1790, he speared a much disliked convict gamekeeper John McIntyre and was then wanted for murder. In 1797 at a battle in Parramatta, he was shot and hospitalised. To the delight of his community, he escaped! Pemulwuy was wanted dead or alove, and in 1802, he was shot dead. His head was sent to England and later, his son Tedbury was taken prisoner in 1805.

See " HISTORY OF SYDNEY continued " further down this page.

I love this photo! Taken as both teams entered the field.

November 16, 2005, it was a great day for Australian Football... after 32 years in the "wilderness", we finally qualified for the FIFA World Cup, which was played in Germany in 2006. We stayed for an hour inside the stadium after the game had finished... celebrating... many more people went into the city of Sydney and celebrated until around 3am in the morning!

Almost 83,000 fans here in the Sydney Olympic Stadium (same site when the 2000 Olympics were held here)... I have never seen/heard such an atmosphere is any sporting event and I've been to 2 World Cups and 2 Olympic Games previously. Everyone was pumped!

Uruguay beat Australia in 2001 3-1 on aggregate... this time round, we beat them 4-2 on penalties after the scores were locked at 1-1 after two matches.

2006 World Cup Update = AUS 3 vs JPN 1, BRA 2 vs AUS 0, AUS 2 vs CRO 2, ITA 1 vs AUS 0 (thanks to an unbelievable penalty in the last few seconds of play!).

HISTORY OF SYDNEY continued

When Governor Phillip left the colony in 1792, 8 years later in 1800, Governor King arrived and he initiated the policy that settlers could fire on any ‘native’ they saw. Obviously due to the past battles, disease and new laws, many Aboriginals lost their lives. Many had also fled the Sydney area in fear of their lives.

The early years in Sydney were tough for the early Europeans due to
droughts and disease, but the situation did improve. By around 1851, the discovery of gold in Bathurst (150km west of Sydney) saw large numbers of immigrant miners settling into Sydney. The Population had grown from 39,000 to about 200,000 in only 20 years!

Later in the century, industrialisation made Sydney expand rapidly. By the early 20th century, it had a population well in excess of one million people. Although The Great Depression hit Sydney pretty badly, the Sydney Harbour Bridge was atleast built by 1932.

Most recently, a newer wave of migration appeared. Due to the World Wars, and other reasons, many people from all corners of the globe started to flock into Sydney.

The majority of Sydneysiders are of British and Irish background, but the majority of the arrivals prior to the White Australia Policy (a Migration Act which excluded non-Europeans from entering Australia) officially ending in 1973, were from Italy, Greece, Germany, Spain, Poland, Jews, Malta, New Zealand, even South Americans mainly from Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile. After 1973, most notably South Africans, Chinese, Indians, Japanese, Pakistanis, Koreans, Vietnamese, Turks, Croatians, Serbs, Armenians, and Eastern Europeans from Hungary, the Czech Republic, Russia, and Ukraine. Well, there are a whole lot more, but they are the main groups mentioned.

In 1901, the Sydney population was 500,000. Today, Sydney's population is in excess of 4 million people.