The view of Sydney from the plane windows as you start to descend is one of the most striking skyscapes on the planet. Once you have landed and settled in you still need to find your feet in this great city. What are the best ways to spend your first days of free time to get a feel for the place?
Ferry to Manly
The ferry to Manly leaves from Circular Quay in the city centre. The green and pale yellow boats are always packed out. The commuters tend to stay on the inside but the tourists, or new in sydney folk, grab one of the outside benches. Once the boat launches they are treated to a beautiful harbour cruise taking in all the sights of the city. It’s a great way to see the outline of the place and get a feel for where everything sits in relation to the city centre and eastern suburbs.
Once you get to Manly you’ll be greeted with an almost English like seaside town with golden sands and a wide beach front strolling area. Many people base themselves in Manly and commute to the CBD via the ferry every day.
Taronga Zoo
Taronga Zoo is also a ferry ride away – a short 20 minute hop from Circular Quay. It’s nestled on the North Shore between Cremorne and Mosman. The zoo itself hosts a variety of animals with a focus on local australian species. So there is plenty of opportunity to educate yourself about the local wildlife. You’ll see kangaroos, wallabies, possums, wombats, koalas, echidna as well as all the snakes and spiders in your nightmares. If you want to see what a Hunstman Spider looks like without any danger of being bitten this is a great place to come.
Bonus points go to all the local birds that hang out here. Most of them aren’t actually part of the zoo, they are just free roaming, but it’s a great place to see how exotic Australian birds are.
Chinatown
Australia sits in a strange position of being geographically close to Asia but culturally distant. While the majority of Sydney remains of white European ancestry there is a thriving Asian sub-culture. You’ll find Chinatown nestled beside the CBD and there is always great, and fairly priced, food to be found there. For Japanse check out Kura and for general awesomeness check out the food courts in the shopping malls. Great chinese restaurant quality foods at food court prices.
Bondi Beach
Bondi is world famous as a surfing beach. The first time I went there I was actually taken aback by how small it was. It has beautiful sand, plenty of waves but it’s actually fairly small. The town around Bondi is famous for being the home of a lot of Brits and there are some great cliff walks starting from here.
Newtown Meandering
Newtown is known as being the location of Sydney University and one of the more bohemian areas. It’s a great place to wander round enjoying the beautiful old Sydney University buildings, the many green space and the funky little boutique shops and book stores.