Sydney & New South Wales

The largest city in Australia and the capital of the state of New South Wales stands on the hills of the rugged coast of the Tasman Sea. If you stretch the coastline of its bays, harbors, bays and islands in length, you will get almost 340 km. Sydney is the center of the East Coast, firmly connected to the water. Its canonical views are opened from the board of pleasure boats, but the best is from the Harbor Bridge hovering over the bay. The urban development of Greater Sydney is surrounded by a green ring of national parks. Several sections of the Sydney Bay, protected as terrestrial and marine landscapes, also have the status of a national park.

Sydney Districts

The heart of Sydney is its Central Business District on the south shore of Sydney Cove: an amazing mix of modern skyscrapers, pompous Victorian buildings, green oases, fashionable shops and expensive restaurants. In the western part of the district lies Darling Harbor with numerous cafes, museums, theaters and beautiful views of ships and skyscrapers.
To the north of the Central District is the Rocks district, from which the history of modern Australia began. Once it was a real gangster hangout, but after reconstruction in the 1970s, the Rocks turned into a prestigious quarter with expensive housing, houses of the first settlers, narrow cobblestone streets and cozy pubs.100 years ago, the Kings Cross area, located east of the center, was chosen by representatives of bohemia and crime, who were later replaced by hippies and illegal immigrants. Today, the area has gained respectability and, thanks to the abundance of inexpensive hotels and restaurants, is popular among tourists.
To the south, Kings Cross borders the trendy Paddington district with storefronts, one better than the other, jewelry stores, popular pubs and cozy gourmet cafes. In the struggle for the wallets of shopaholics, Paddington is successfully competing with the Newtown district, which is packed to bursting with designer boutiques and art galleries.
Sydney's most famous beach area; Bondi Beach, located 8 km east of the center: excellent infrastructure, lots of entertainment, surfers gliding over the waves, no glamour and crowds on weekends.

Sydney beaches

All Sydney beaches are free. Indeed, it is not necessary to take money for a lifestyle and a state of mind. There are several dozen sandy beaches with clear water in the city limits. Each one has changing cabins, sun beds, showers and toilets. Australians like to have picnics on the beach, so many have barbecues.
There are lifeguards on duty at every beach - strong guys in yellow suits (not girls in swimsuits from the movie about Malibu). They know all about the undercurrents, which can quickly change direction at high tide and drag them into the depths.
You can swim only within the limits indicated by red flags. Behind them is the territory of surfers, for whose lives lifeguards are also responsible. An alternative to the ocean expanses is huge concrete pools, where large waves catch up with water, or backwaters protected by rocks.The bustling and crowded Bondi Beach is the main beach of Sydney and the entire East Coast with trendy bars, cafes and beach boutiques. There are no strong waves on the beaches of Balmoral, Edwards and Shark in Sydney Bay, they are suitable for families with children. The northern beaches are more deserted, the nature here resembles a nature reserve. Palm Beach is especially beautiful with million dollar views. There is a little bit of everything on the South Coast, from the nudist-favored Perouse Beach to the vast expanses of Cronulla, where Australians come in SUVs to drive at the water's edge.

Diving in Sydney

The underwater world of Sydney is able to surprise even experienced divers. The bravest can visit the Shark Cave, located at a depth of 17-25 m. It is home to two-meter sharks, which are called gray nannies, mackerels and giant cuttlefish.
On the Berrens Hut Reef, riddled with underwater caves and overgrown with extensive coral colonies, marine life is in full swing; Striped snub-nosed fish, nicknamed "old wife", quietly get along with moray eels, small sharks and huge blue groupers.
Near Belambi Reef there is a cemetery of 11 ships sunk from 1859 to 1949. An hour's drive from Sydney, a large warship "Adelaide", launched in 1980, was sunk specially for divers at a depth of 32 m.
One of the most popular places for snorkelers is the Naked Island in Botany Bay. The funniest inhabitants of the local waters; grass sea dragons measuring 40 cm, very similar to their formidable counterparts from fairy tales.

Shopping

You can spend royally on George Street in the "House of Queen Victoria", which Pierre Cardin called the most luxurious shopping center in the world. Queen Victoria, however, has never lived in it. Before there was a concert hall, now there are boutiques of local and global brands. Everything is expensive and very beautiful. They say it was here that the outrageous Kate Moss bought her ugg boots. Without these comfortable stylish boots, Australian farmers are unlikely to leave Sydney. They are sold everywhere and regardless of the season. Gloves, bags, straps and other accessories made of kangaroo, ostrich or crocodile leather are no less tempting.
The Sydney middle class prefers to shop on Oxford Street in Paddington or King Street in Newtown. Almost every area has its own chain shopping malls Westfield Shopping Center and David Jones.
For swimwear, flip-flops and pareos, you need to go to the Palm Beach area, where the best beach boutiques are located. For souvenirs to numerous shops, but best of all; to the Sunday market "Rocks Market", where they sell things made by Australians themselves: painted boomerangs and banksia cones, cowboy hats, didgeridoos, paintings and panels made in the dot technique of aborigines. Honey and macadamia nuts are popular among edible souvenirs.

Sydney cuisine and Restaurants

As in any metropolis, Sydney has a full range of international cuisine. But who can resist the temptation to taste modern Australian cuisine and food prepared according to traditional Aboriginal recipes? The abundance of dishes makes one's eyes run away: juicy pork with sauce, roast camel meat, steaks of Australian beef with a side dish of mushrooms, stewed lamb with vegetables, fried chicken with crispy potatoes and eggplant.
One of the best places where exotic dishes are prepared from kangaroo, possum or crocodile meat; panoramic Sydney Tower restaurant at the top of the Sydney Tower. Cozy and inexpensive restaurants are located in the Rocks area. Here you should also look for trendy bars and the oldest pubs in the city to make sure of the excellent quality of Australian wine and beer.

Entertainment and attractions

The most photographed landmark of Sydney and the whole of Australia is the Opera House on the shore of Sydney Bay. Despite the name, rock and house sound more often under its bizarre roof, rather than arias from operas. On the contrary, the Harbor Bridge is thrown across the bay - the largest single-span arch bridge in the world, which the Australians familiarly call the Hanger. You can walk along the narrow flooring of its upper arch, but first you will have to take a blood alcohol test and put on a ridiculous jumpsuit with climate control.
Where the Harbour Bridge touches the south shore of Sydney Bay, the Rocks area begins. From its Circular Embankment, the main city pier, the history of the development of Australia begins. In 1788, the first European settlers landed here - English prisoners. Next to the berths there is a tiny fleet of the First Fleet, named after this event, and a pole is installed, from which all distances are counted in Australia.
To the east of the wharves is the Royal Botanical Garden, which was laid out by the governor of Sydney, Lachlan Macquarie, who decided that the citizens of the young British colony needed a place to relax and walk. The gardens overlook a steep promontory, where a bench was carved for the governor's wife, from where a romantic person admired the sunsets. Today «Mrs. Macquarie's Chair» — one of the best viewing platforms in the city with views of the Opera and Harbor Bridge.
It is equally interesting to view Sydney's sights from the upper deck of the tour bus during the Sydney Explore tour. The route of another bus tour — Bondi Beach Explorer— passes through Oxford Street shopping, Bondi Beach, beaches on the south side of Sydney Bay, the seedy areas of Double Bay and Kings Cross.