Sydney and Surroundings
One of the world's great cities
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See all Sydney photos here, and photos from
around Sydney here.
Sydney
I lived in Sydney between 2008 and 2011. It is a lovely modern city, influenced by both its proximity to Asia and its colonial past. It is hence, one of the most multicultural cities I know, and has a really international feeling as you walk through the centre as well as in the surrounding suburbs. The quality of food is very high, and there are great restaurants everywhere; I love Asian food and China town has a huge range to choose from, but really there are options from every country if you search a little and the so the variety is really great. The weather is mostly sunny but it does get quite hot in summer, whilst I lived there it topping out at 43 degrees which is too warm to do much, however most of the year it is very pleasant and the constant blue sky always makes life feel like a nice place to be.
The focal point of the city is the water front where the opera house and Harbour Bridge are located. I lived in the suburb of North Sydney, a 15-minute walk from the harbour bridge, which is mostly a business area, but close to the city and very nice to live in. The picture shows the opera house during the vivid colour's festival, where colours and patterns are projected onto the building. This is one of my favourite festivals in Sydney and every year seems to get more elaborate. The centre of Sydney is located close to the waterfront and then the sprawling conurbations of the modern city continue out for several miles in all directions inland. However, Sydney is almost completely surrounded by national parks and it takes very little time to get to places completely devoid of human influence that offer much good walking. There are also, of course, the beaches which run across the city and provide areas like Bondi and Manly that are great for swimming and snorkelling in the day and have lots of bar and restaurants for the evenings.
One of the nicest things to do in Sydney is to take the ferries that run around the harbour and travel up the river. This is a lovely way to see the city and on a hot day is always cooler on the water. After this travelling to the surrounding areas provides lots of interesting things to do, some of which are written below.
Ku Ring Gai
Ku Ring Gai is a large national park just north of Sydney. There are many areas to walk and a complex of rivers to kayak and sail on. The first place I visited here was Wondabyne, which is mostly renowned for being one of the shortest train station platforms in Australia, although the word renowned is possible an over statement. There is nothing here except a river and the start of a bush walk, which has several nice views but rather too much pushing through bush land to make it an easy hike. The guide book indicated that there was a cave at the end of the walk, although either we missed this or it was more of an overhanging cliff. The highlight of the trip was no doubt the hailing of the train to stop at the station to return home, it is not a standard stop and so there is the concern the train will carry straight on and leave you in the middle of nowhere, but of course the driver obliged and so the day ended well.
Berowra is also very close to Sydney and provides access to a number of good walks. When we visited there was a thunderstorm so the trail was quite wet but once it stopped raining it was very nice. The paths on this walk are quite well maintained and the river and marsh land gave nice views. There were leeches at times, which seem to be quite common in this area so it is advised to spray shoes with Deet to reduce the chances of unwanted surprises. Due to the variation in habitats, there are quite a few birds including whipbirds, which make a very distinctive sound, and so the area feels more exotic than might be expected with its proximity to a big city.
Hunter Valley
The Hunter valley is situated to the north of Sydney and is famous for its wine. There are many small vineyards and an enjoyable option is to take a tour bus which provides transport around a number of them. Some are very small family businesses while others are bigger labels, and each will give you a selection of wines to samples. Hence it is possible to experience a wide spectrum of wines over the day long tour. The Hunter valley is also very picturesque and green, getting more rain than surrounding areas, so is nice to go walking in and has more of a European feel than the bushland that surrounds much of Sydney.
Blue Mountains
The Blue mountains are not far from Sydney but feel a world away. From Katoomba you can look out at an endless expanse of hills, densely forested in eucalyptus and other trees. Most of the area is impossible to access but there are a few exceptions like Wentworth falls which is located near the famous Three Sisters at Katoomba, I visited here on my around the world trip and have returned many times when living in Sydney. Wentworth falls are really quite spectacular: the river crashes down nearly 200m over 3 tires. There is a circular walk from Katoomba which is quite long but very much worth it. There is a second set of smaller waterfalls at the other end of the walk which are also very nice and the walk through the valley is pleasant too. Katoomba is a nice town and has great views over the blue mountains, making it a good place to stopover, although it is easy enough to get there and back from Sydney in a day.
Jenolan
Jenolan is just the other side of the Blue Mountains from Sydney and is famous for the large complex of caves. It is very much a tourist destination, with access through a long and winding, although nicely tarmacked, road. There are lots of different caves, although they are quite expensive and you pay for each individually. The highlight of the main tour is the cathedral chamber, which is quite spectacular. The lighting within the cave is very well done and the tour winds though many tunnels and areas. Whilst a bit of an effort to get to, it is well worth a visit and makes for a nice day out.
Bundeena
Bundeena is just to the south of Sydney and has some great cliff walks as well as a wide river. The walking near the ferry terminus is rather slow going as the paths are quite overgrown, however, further away from the town there are walkways and the rocky cliff tops allow easy hiking and lots of nice views. The cliffs have a range of interesting rocks, from a type of gritty stone that falls apart when touched to odd white stone that looks like cheese. There are also massive cubic shaped boulders that have fallen into the sea although the cliff tops feel quite secure. Inland the paths are very sandy so harder going, but still very pleasant.
It is also possible to hire kayaks off the beach at Bundeena and explore the surrounding area. There are some nice open water areas and it is quite nice kayaking on the sea but at but Bundeena it is also possible to explore up the river. Here it turns quickly turns to mangroves and many small creaks which is really interesting and different from much of the surrounding areas making it a really nice excursion.
Waterfall
Waterfall is a rather misleading name for this place. Whilst there is some water around, there was not apparently any real rivers or waterfalls. This had looked like it might be a nice walk in the woods but ended up being a bit of a challenging trek on this occasion. It was the height of summer so the temperatures reached 40 degrees and coupled with modest supplies of water and overgrown trails it made the day very tough. I feel this is not one of the most popular routes as the path often disappeared completely. This led to some further challenges when we completely lost the small trail on a remote hillside and had to spend an hour hacking up and down to find it again. After this we turned around and headed back, there was a small shop near the start of the trail so we were able to buy lot of water and recover slightly, but did not return again. The lesson to be learned here is probably not to go bush walking at the height of summer, something most Australians would (and often have) point out when taking about hiking. It is at these times it becomes apparent just how big and wild Australia can be, a very short distance from Sydney and having a quick walk in the woods and it suddenly feels very remote and challenging.
Otford
Otford is a really nice place. Situated on the coast south of Sydney we probably chose one of the best days to come here. It was late spring and with a bright blue sky and the sun shining down on a shimmering blue sea. The walk follows the cliffs through forested hilled and then leads down to a quiet beach. The way was mostly easy going although there were leeches out in the wetter parts of the trail. The main attraction at the beach is the figure of eight pools which have been carved out of the rocks. Unfortunately, it was high tide when we arrived, so the pools were not visible. Similar ones can be seen at other places along the coast and they are quite interesting as the tide flows through them. It is possible, if pushed, to walk all the way back to Bundeena from Otford in a day, although taking the train back from Otford station is a somewhat easier option, especially when the weather starts to get hotter.
Port Stephens
Port Stephens is a few hours north of Sydney and is an area with amazing sandy beaches. The sea is very calm as it is protected by headlands on all sides which makes it home to large numbers of fish and dolphins. In fact, on our first evening as we walked along the beach, we saw some dolphins only meters from the water edge. The following day we took a dolphin watching trip out into the bay and then took a walk along the beautiful white sands. At one point when swimming in the sea we were engulfed by thousands of small fish shoaling around the bay. These were being hunted by larger fish that kept jumping out of the sea but could not get right into the shallows. We finished the day at Sunset Point. Sunsets in Australia are often very nice due to the sand from the deserts and at Sunset Point, with the sea and sky, it really is a very beautiful spot and well worth a visit.