Former Australian Prime Minister, now turned urban commentator, Paul Keating says the Danish architect Joern Utzon’s three shells are a wonderment in an urban setting when viewed from the west and should be untouched externally. The harbourside Opera Bar is a popular local meeting place to gaze at Sydney’s skyline and catch up with some funky music.
The nearby Sydney Harbour Bridge is home to Bridgeclimb an award-winning and spectacular climb over the bridge’s arch both during the day and at night and is the focus to Sydney’s famous New Year’s Eve fireworks.
Sydney is becoming a leading destination and conference centre. There is a call for a larger conference centre. World Youth Day run by the Catholic Church from 15 to 20 July 2008 embraces both these icons and Sydney’s cherished harbour. The Pope will arrive by ship, not the Popemobile) and a pilgrims’ procession will cross the bridge and the pilgrims will then sleep under the stars at Randwick Racecourse. All the horses are being moved to other training facilities to cope – no betting allowed. 300,000 visitors including 125,000 overseas pilgrims are expected for this event.
Any visitor would be highly recommended to take one of the harbour walks which are easily accessible by bus or ferry, e.g. Manly to Spit or South Head to Bronte – take in the combination of ocean, sun and bushland and Sculpture by the Sea in November. These walks rate right up there with the Cinque Terra or Mansions Walk in Newport, Rhode Island. Alternatively take one of Sydneys’ commuter ferries to Manly or one of the delightful old-world inner harbour destinations like Mosman or Balmain.
For the sporting-minded, in winter there are four different football games played, which is extraordinary for a relatively small country. AFL which stands for Australian Football League has 18 players on a very large oval field involving kicking an oval ball. Some would say these are the most tragic supporters. Rugby League has 13 very tough players as tackling is generally by 3 players. Football hit the world stage with Australia’s second ever only qualification in the 2006 World Cup in Germany and perhaps unfair elimination by the eventual winners Italy. Australia after many years of requests now plays in the Asian Confederation. Finally there is Rugby Union with 15 players of hugely varying physiques – short and bulky in the forwards, lean and fast in the backs. On weekends there are traffic jams at local sports fields as kids’ games become big family and social events. Pubs screens often show all four at once.
Where does Sydney sit gastronomically? Bon appetit – a combination of a vast range of fresh products and cuisines means that Sydney will satisfy all diners. From the $10 (6 euro) steak/pasta and beer nights at the pub, through to a l Chinese yum cha (a kind of smorgasbord delivered in whizzing trolleys) at Kam Fook or Fook Yuen (careful with the pronunciations) or the 800 seat restaurants in Chinatown like Marigold, any kind of ethnic from Nepalese to Portuguese, through to the modern Australian cuisine at Georgia and Justin North’s Bécasse restaurant in the city. There are seven restaurants with 3 chef’s hat, fourteen with 2 and thirty six with 1 hat in the newspaper Sydney Morning Herald’s good food guide 2008.
