View from the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge

That Japanese tourist helping us out again, in front of the Opera House, well we just had to...

We spent just over a week in Sydney staying with friends Tracey in Manly, and Beverley & Dominic in Tamarama. What a fantastic city! The location of the city around the harbour is magnificent and the Harbour Bridge and Opera House complement it perfectly. Behind the Opera House and

adjacent to the Central Business District is the Botanical Gardens and we found these relaxing after walking around the city.

Many people travel to work by ferry, as in Hong Kong with the Star Ferries, and I cannot think of a better commute (although my drive into the office in Nassau along East Coast Road was pretty impressive). We spent some time on a catamaran sailing around the harbour and trying to decide which of the multi-million dollar homes we would buy. Another place we like, tucked away behind Cockle Bay is the Chinese Garden, with its calming pools and waterfalls.

The harbour location means you find excellent seafood in Sydney, and nearby some outstanding wine producing areas. There is also skiing in the Snowy Mountains and access to some of the world’s best diving (see Coral Sea section of this site). Add all that to the fact that Australia now

has a large Asian community, including many Koreans, and you can see why we like it so much.

One result of Australia’s geographic isolation is the unique and in some cases totally weird wildlife. We saw the expected kangaroos, wallabies and koalas, but also an echidnea and a wombat!