G’day readers! Well, I’ve finally got around to it. Time for a post on my home town – the beautiful harbourside city of Sydney!! I know. I can’t believe in among all the travel posts that I’ve never written about the city I was born and raised in. The place that, no matter where in the world I may live or travel, will always be called home. So … lets get into it!
Sydney is the largest and most populated city in Australia, it is home to some 5 million people out of a country with a total population of only 24.5 million. The city is located on the eastern coast of Australia and is the capital of the state of New South Wales. For those that are not aware – Sydney is not however, the capital of Australia – that title goes to a city called Canberra, located approximately 2.5 hours south of Sydney. Although the area was inhabited by indigenous people for thousands of years, the colony of Sydney itself was founded on 26 January 1788 as a settlement for British convicts. And in case you are wondering, yes I am a descendant of several of those convicts. It’s a fact I’m quite proud of when I think about what they faced – shipped to some desolate, isolated corner of the world far from all they’d ever known and having to carve out a new life for themselves (once their sentences were complete) and build a new city out of what can be a very unforgiving and rugged land.
As mentioned, Sydney is located on the east coast and is bordered inland to the west by the Blue Mountains. A string of mountain ranges that make up part of the Great Dividing Range, they got their name from the blue tinge they have when viewed from a distance. This tinge is a result of light playing through particles emitted by the forests of eucalyptus trees in the ranges. Sydney sprawls out to the north and south along the coastline and encompasses an area of approx. 12,500 square kilometres (approx. 4,500 square miles). Those figures are pretty rough but you get the point! Our climate is subtropical and humid all year round, with hot summers (this summer was in the 40°C or 104°F plus range at the hottest) and cooler winters (17°C or 65°F on a cold day – nope, not cold enough to get snow in Sydney). We get a lot of rainfall in the spring (September) and then are ringed by bushfires a couple of months later in the lead up to summer.
Sydney was built on a base of sandstone, so the cityscape is a mixture of tall modern buildings with their steel and glass and the more ornate & shorter old sandstone ones. All of which is interspersed with large areas of greenery, such as Hyde Park and the Royal Botanic Gardens, and waterways like the harbour foreshore and the many bays and rivers which meander their way into the suburbs. And of course there are those two most famous and iconic landmarks – the Sydney Harbour Bridge (or “The Coat-hanger” as we affectionately call it) and Sydney Opera House – backdrops for our amazing NYE fireworks displays (seriously, everyone needs to see in at least one NYE here – it’s worth it). Like the rest of the country, we are a melting pot of different cultures and religions, we love our outdoors and the multitude of beaches are immensely popular, but we are a young city so our history is not particularly lengthy (excluding the aboriginal history of course). I’m totally biased, I think Sydney is stunning and although it’s one of the most expensive cities in the world, the quality of life is good and I think it has a lot to offer as a home or for visitors. But don’t just take my word for it … if you haven’t already, or even if you have, why not take a trip Down Under and visit Sydney for yourself 🙂
This post is part of my contribution for the April 2017 A-Z Challenge
For a list and links to all my challenge post, click here
For those interested in revisiting my 2016 challenge post for S, here’s the link: Snapshot – Sukhothai
Wow! A beautiful city Kim! My daughter has a deep desire to visit Australia. The kangaroos and the koalas, the beaches and the amazing beauty has always fascinated her. I hope we can do that trip some time soon.
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Thanks so much, Radhika! I hope you all make it down for a visit. There’s a lot to see. When the time comes, I’ll be happy to help with some suggestions. It would be a pleasure to take you all out for the day 🙂
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That is so sweet of you Kim. Will definitely let you know when the plans firm up😊
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I visited Sydney when I was backpacking in that area in my twenties. Yes, many years ago. I was really impressed with the Opera House and all the green zones! Need to come back and show my husband. I actually think we’d like Oz better than NZ in the grand scheme of things. Such a diverse country you live in!
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I’m glad you enjoyed your visit, Liesbet! It’s definitely a diverse country, lots to see but lots of time needed as well. But I’m sure you know all about that from your travels all over the US. Would be lovely to see yourself & hubby down here 🙂
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You know… they put me on the “black list” for two years, because I overstayed (first and last time I ever did that) for three weeks. Got to see and do a lot in three months and three weeks. 🙂 I think I am allowed to come back by now. All this happened in 2001.
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Yeah, I’m pretty sure the “black list” doesn’t last that long. There’s some pretty strict quarantine laws if you want to bring your dog too (just in case you were wanting to travel for a while). Sounds like you had a decent amount of time last trip too 🙂
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We are aware of the strict Quarantine laws in Oz and NZ from when we were sailing with our dogs a little while ago (we never brought them into the Pacific for a reason), but don’t have any dogs of our own now. Just taking care and loving dogs of other people we pet and house sit for in short, or longer, stints. By the way, house sitting down under is very popular as well. I do hope to go back to Australia one day, and, of course, meet you. But, that might happen anywhere in this world. 🙂
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I was actually thinking the house sitting might suit you very well for a return to Australia. I’m sure our paths will cross somewhere, whether here or there or some place in between. Would be great to meet you 🙂
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Sydney is the one place I regret not managing to get to when I was over in Australia, but it would have been a flying visit and I knew I would need more time to do a proper explore. Looking forward to when I can get back over and to seeing what travels you are taking us on next week 🙂
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What a pity! But also a smart decision as you’d want at least a week here. I’m sure you’ll get here one day! I’m so behind on my posts, I haven’t started next weeks yet! That’s tomorrow’s job 😂
I’m hoping your short stories will continue beyond the challenge too!
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I thought as much, well it’s on my bucket list so it’ll happen. I haven’t done mine either but mine probably take a lot less time than yours do. I’ll certainly try, maybe not every day though, might need a little break after this 🙂
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I can understand needing the break! 🙂
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I’ve never made it to Australia – at some stage I will though! Thanks for the look at Sydney. My parents went a few years ago and loved it.
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Thanks, Louise. I’m sure you’ll get here one day!
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I was born in Bankstown in 1968. We moved to Caringbah in 1981, and stayed in the Shire until 2001 when my wife and I wanted to buy a house but couldn’t afford Sydney prices. We bought a place in Wollongong which in my opinion is better than Sydney. I now live in Darwin. I think Sydney is a great city but I have no desire to live there. You described it very well.
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Sydney housing prices are ridiculous. It’s pretty much impossible to get into the market as a single person. Darwin is a beautiful city, I love the laid back attitude and the people are more friendly.
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Kim, what I truly appreciate about you is your honesty. You’ve got a flair for linking history with your own personal experience. That’s really fantastic! Thanks for taking me to Sydney today. Reading your blog makes me want to go everywhere. Beautiful captures as always! Hope your Sunday has been bright and shiny! 🙂
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Aww thanks, Cheryl. That’s very kind of you. I prize honesty above all else and expect it from others, so I try to do the same. My Sunday has been busy! Or productive might be a better word – I’ve written the last 7 posts for my A-Z Challenge 😴😀 Hope you’ve had a great weekend!
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Great post. It’s on my list, it really is. But I’d need several weeks there as I’d need to visit friends elsewhere in Oz
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You’d probably need even longer if you wanted to explore outside the cities too. At a stretch, I could get together a decent itinerary for a 3 week period … when you get around to visiting.
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Would have to be 3 weeks for sure
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Longer would be better but I understand there are limits lol
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Lovely post of a lovely city Kim, even from a Melbournian, haha.
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Haha! I really appreciate that, Miriam. Both are lovely cities 🙂
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They are! We’re lucky aren’t we? 😊
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Without doubt 😊
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Thanks for re-blogging my post!
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Stunning Sydney, this is what I call it 😀
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I’d have to agree with you too 😀
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This is brilliant!!! I LOVE Sydney 🇦🇺
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Thanks so much! I love it too … I’m totally biased though 😀
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