Suddenly Sydney

Yeah... There's that...

Thus it was that I arrived in probably the most iconic city of Australia, Sydney. Even Americans that do not know much about Australia (and that is a good deal of Americans) have at least heard of Sydney with its Opera House, Harbor Bridge, and so much more.

I spent ten days in Sydney and I question whether that was enough. There is a great deal to see and do in this large and historic city. It is the site of the "First Fleet," and the first European settlement on the continent of Australia. Established in 1788 by Captain Arthur Philip the city was originally called Port Jackson with only the harbor cove being named Sydney, but eventually the name came to encompass the entire colony. On July 20, 1842 the municipal council of Sydney was formed and the Sydney was declared the first official city of the colony of Australia. It has been called the "Siren City of the South," and the "Athens of Australia." It is the most diverse city in Australia as it is usually the first stop for visitors and immigrants alike. It is a diversity that shows itself in the ever expanding district of China Town, or in the number of Greek and Slovak restaurants one sees on the street corners, tempting me with kebabs...

Regardless, for a person who has spent the better part of his life growing up in the shadows of New York City, Sydney was almost like coming home. I found myself once again enmeshed in a forest of skyscrapers, traffic, and impatient pedestrians all crowding across busy intersections as they fast walk their way across this vast metropolis. My first official act in this new place was to take the free city tour offered by my hostel. (Emphasis on "free") It was a basic get to know your surroundings type of tour that showed a noobie like me the key places to focus my energies over the next ten days.

Darling Harbor

Our first stop was Darling Harbor. It used to be the old harbor for shipping and commerce, but in modern times the commercial harbor was moved down to Botany Bay (KHAAAN!... You're going to have figure that reference out for yourselves, folks.) So to save the harbor from abject poverty and despair, the city transformed Darling Harbor into a downtown shopping area and high-class eatery district, complete with a Starbucks. (Basically it is the kind of place I couldn't afford to be in, but it was nice to look at.) It is also home to the Maritime Museum, and the failed Sydney Monorail... which is an interesting story...

(Please tell us... Well, because you asked...) Basically twenty years ago the monorail system was paid for by the city as a way to modernize Sydney and bring a new way to relieve traffic and congestion. (Not a bad idea.) However, once the monorail began construction, several sections of the city began to protest that having the elevated track run through their streets would detract from the historic and natural beauty of the city. Thus, the track kept getting pushed further and further back from the main areas of the city, until eventually it became pretty much useless as a mode of public transportation. However, since the city had the grant to construct it it was basically erected around Darling Harbor and the outlying shopping area. It goes in a long loop, and its only purpose is to entertain bored tourists. I actually find this sort of indecision and second-guessing pretty common in Australia. Aussies usually have grand ideas of change and modern thinking, but when it comes time to implementation, they often shy away from it, like a child that climbed a tall tree, and decides against jumping once they are at the top.

Even with this sort of indecision permeating the culture, Sydney is still a modern city in all senses of the word. It has its iconic places such as the Opera House, Centre-Point Tower, and Hyde Park (if that sounds familiar its because the Aussies named it after Hyde Park in London.) And, in a true show of modernity the city is basically covered in malls. In fact, Westfield (The people who built up the Garden State Plaza) decided that the one thing Centre-Point Tower needed was a huge five-level mall around it. Don't get me wrong it is a nice mall, but it seems a little much to erect it around the tallest building in downtown Sydney. (Yep that is a tall structure... you know what it needs, A Mall!)

However, even with all this shocking civilization surrounding me, I was not prepared for the view I was treated to at the end of my walking tour, the Sydney Opera House. It is funny in a way. I mean I knew it existed and I knew it was in Sydney and it was definitely on my list of places to visit, but it is such an iconic building that seeing it with my own eyes was almost a moment I wasn't prepared for. Its iconic sails rose over the harbor and drew the eye, regardless of where else you looked. I assume it is the same way when people see the Statue of Liberty or the Hollywood sign. These things become so linked in culture and identity that they take on almost a mythic form in the mind. Seeing the Opera House in the flesh (sort of speak) is like going to Disney World as a child and seeing Mickey Mouse. Both the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge were everything I expected and more. (I have a lot of picture to prove that too.)

CentrePoint Tower, second highest building in the
Souther Hemisphere, only because New Zealand
Cheated. Their sky tower has a higher antenna.

Yet, there is more to Sydney than just its iconic structures and crowded streets. There are many iconic suburbs and places outside the city, such as Manly Beach and Bondi Beach. Both were recommended to me as places worth seeing and they both did not fail to disappoint. I found Manly to be a picturesque resort town complete with sailboats and golden sunset at the mouth of Sydney Harbor. I took the ferry over (as was recommended to me by a friend), and traveled back on the ferry at sunset to watch the sun sink behind the Harbor Bridge and cast its rosy rays on the bay and Opera House (thus, I took more pictures). Bondi Beach, on the other hand, is more of a vibrant beach going town that attracts college kids and surfers (like the Aussie version of Belmar.) It is known for its tremendous surf and I could see why. The waves I witnessed on my cold day of a visit must have been at least eight-feet high. I found myself walking the cliffs high atop craggy rocks and monstrous crashing surf. I was as far away from the tall towers of the downtown as you could get, yet even then I knew that these two different and beautiful beaches were not only distinctly Australian, but distinctly Sydney. The city has a feel, much like how any city does, but there something indescribable about the metropolitan Mecca of Australia.


In the past I have said Melbourne has more a Philadelphia-ness to it, with its small bistros, dedication to the arts, and savage fandom over sports teams, than I would say that Sydney is definitely the Australian New York, but something else as well. It has the buildings, but less population. It has the "hustle and bustle," but with the underlying Australian-ness to it (In other words, still a bit slower than New York.) It is a place that seems almost unique in the world. Do not get me wrong, as much as I enjoyed Sydney, my heart will always be with my adopted home of Melbourne, and the simpler days and friends I met there, but I do not want to understate how enjoyable I found the "Big City." Perhaps, traveling is definitely beginning to take its toll on me. Regardless, Sydney was a nice place to put down some roots for an extended amount of time, meet some people, and get into some trouble outside of the usual trouble I get into. All in all, (despite what Melbournians would say), Sydney is not a bad little town.