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Australia
This is an incredible natural free show. Go down to the botanical gardens just before dusk and wait for the roosting bats to take off for their nocturnal feeding. There's thousands of them and it's quite an astounding spectacle. The noise is unbelievable.
For the best results lie on your back in one of the green spaces and take a video camera. The experience is totally unforgettable.
www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au
Google map: tinyurl.com/l38bmm
Take a 30 minute ferry from Circular Quay to the surfers’ community of Manly! Away from chaotic downtown Sydney, there’s a bit more privacy and great views over the ocean. It’s still vibrant though – from the Quicksilver shops to the busy Manly Beach.
For the views, go right along the beach from the Corso around Fairy Bower to Shelly Beach.
Google map: tinyurl.com/lgoplc
There's very little in this life for free and this has got to be one of the best of them. A breathtaking walk taking in some of the city's most amazing beaches.
Bring your walking shoes though, it's a good 90 minute walk along the coast so stilettos are not advisable!
Oh, and for accommodation for when you're in Sydney, look no further than www.hostelworld.com. I use it all the time and love it.
Enjoy Sydney.
In 1789 the lora Aboriginals of Gap Bluff, a tranquil jut of land facing out to the South Pacific Ocean, were devastated by either smallpox or chickenpox. Since then this part of the Sydney Harbour National Park has seen incredible change: the building of Hornby Lighthouse after the wrecking of the Dunbar, the establishment of the Royal Australian Navy Radar School, use of the land as a transit depot for officers serving in Vietnam, and the construction of gun batteries along South Head.
Away from the blustery Gap Bluff, back down the hill and west across the head of the land lies Camp Cove. I walk around South Head, past the nudist Lady Bay and Hornby Lighthouse, before returning to Camp Cove and wandering further south to Watsons Bay.
Camp Cove’s west-facing coast is stunning in its elegance. Spiders on silky sheet-like webs hang between trees. They watch. And these yellow orbs aren’t even dangerous. Think daddy long legs with longer, thicker, yellower legs. I keep a distance in case a gust of wind lifts an orb from the comfort of its web onto the slope of my shoulder.
Boats and yachts sail around the glimmering harbour at Sydney’s regatta. The evening's drawing in but that doesn’t stop countless tourists snapping photos or sharing a cold VB in a ‘stubby’ at the hotel. Children feed the squawking gulls as their grandparents sit back and absorb the sea breeze.
Buses 324 and 325 both go from Circular Quay to Watsons Bay. Ask the bus driver where to get off - it's very near the end of the route.
This place in Circular Quay is worth popping into. The two exhibitions I saw, by Edwin Wurm and Ron Mueck, were both been fun and thought provoking. You don't need to be a great art lover to like this place. The cafe attached has great food too
140 George Street, The Rocks;
tel: 9245 2400;
www.mca.com.au
A simple pleasure. A 'chair' in the sandstone at the end of the Domain peninsula on the harbour. It was carved out by convicts for the Governor's wife in the early 19th century since she enjoyed the spot. Here she would sit enjoying the view (or wondering why she didn't marry that guy who got a job in Paris...). A shady resting place with extraordinary views. Take a load off.
Follow the path along Farm Cove east of the Opera House.
The colour, costumes and party atmosphere make this a must-see for any visitor who's there at the right time of year.
Sydney...Oxford Street
The ferry between Darling Harbour and Circular Quay gives you one of the best views of the Harbour Bridge as you actually sail under it. It is a fitting end to a visit to the Australian Maritime Museum. This free museum is well set out and has plenty to keep children interested while still being fascinating to adults. It includes some naval vessels such as a submarine but there is a charge for going aboard.
Pyrmont Wharf, Darling Harbour
It's a huge open space in the city to relax in and it's free. If you're into plants, there are organised walks (check out the leaflets at the gates); if you're not, it's still a lovely place to hang out and picnic, with nice views of the harbour. Don't forget to say hi to the flying fox colony...
Just next to Darling Harbour and the opera house
Redleaf pool in Double Bay is particularly good.
Under the harbour bridge at Kirribilli - right by the Australian prime minister's residence - is a good spot, as is Nielson Park in Vaucluse.
At at time when British museums are increasingly bowing to the cult of "accessibility", with its concomitant tendency to infantilise visitors, I liked the burst of poetry in one of the captions at the Australian National Maritime Museum: “Surfing is a look, an ideology, a spiritual quest, an adrenalin rush, a cult of cool, a burst of rage, even a religion.”
Sydney is, perhaps pre-eminently, a maritime city, as the museum quite convincingly proves. There are displays on the history of surfing, swimming apparel and shipping: the story of the wreck of the Batavia in the 17th century (although actually off the western Australian coast) is particularly gripping, not to say chilling. A whole section is devoted to the enduring Aboriginal relationship with the water.
The museum design is pleasingly open and spacious; indeed, the building is meant to resemble a ship.
2 Murray Street, Darling Harbour
+61 2 9298 3777
open daily
free admission
The first place I take any visitor from out of Sydney - from the dramatic cliff-tops looking out to the Pacific Ocean one way, and back along to the city skyline the other - here are some of the most awe-inspiring views anywhere in the world, certainly within a major city. Also a famous suicide spot, and the location of some high-profile deaths. Afterwards one can walk down to Watson's Bay, soak in the sun with a beer in one hand and a prawn in the other. Beautiful.
Next to Watson's Bay
Is this your business?Search Been there
