Where is Sydney?

Photo by pareeerica

Sydney is an incredible place. There’s nothing quite like Sydney anywhere on Earth. It’s also a great place to live, and the lifestyle is the true Australian lifestyle, the real deal. Sydneysiders love the place as a big, sprawling, beautiful place with a lot of charm, and endless things to do and see. This isn’t like the mega cities of the northern hemisphere, or American cities with their huge populations. It’s a city of about 4 million people, spread over an area of about 50 x 50 miles. It’s a beach city, a bush city, and an international city. Grab some travel insurance and come and check it out.

Sydney as a place to live

Everyone has their favorite places in Sydney. This is a very diverse city, with cultures from all over the world. Sydney picks things up very quickly, and if you want to find anything from anywhere, particularly China, you can just stroll down to Chinatown. These are cultural assets, and most Australians have rapidly developed a real taste for the cosmopolitan side of Sydney.

The famous places in Sydney are places where people live and love. In the city itself, you can see a huge range of human situations which can make you laugh like a horse. Sydney is a hedonistic place, and the combination of the climate, the social environment and a fairly typical Australian liking for the best of the good life does the rest.

Sydney is the New York of Australia, its biggest, oldest city, and a combination of the Australian cultural traditions and the huge energies of a big city with its own inner life is unique. Every region is rather houseproud, and prefers its area to the other areas.

The regions are like worlds. Exploring Sydney, you could be forgiven for thinking that you were travelling around the world, seeing a range of people from literally everywhere on Earth. If you want Tibetan food, African music, or German beer, you’ll find it. The different areas of Sydney all have their own natures:

The Northern Beaches: The coastal north, expensive but beautiful.

The North Shore: The older northern suburbs. The “silvertails” according to the rest of Sydney.

The City: The CBD is the place where it all converges, several miles of a strange menagerie of architecture from the ultra modern to the almost colonial. Includes Chinatown, Darling Harbour, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Opera House, and Australia’s best and arguably most eclectic shopping.

Darlinghurst and Paddington: The Oxford Street scene, famous for the Gay Mardi Gras.

Eastern Sydney: A wealthy older zone, with beautiful homes and many famous Australian places.

Bondi: The famous beach area, and a great example of the endless Australian fascination with being on the water.

The South: The southern beaches area, a distinct region with a beach and surfing culture of its own.

The Inner West: The trendy zone, also the student area, a fun place by any standards.

The South West and West: A big inland part of the city, from the incredible Blue Mountains to the multicultural south western suburbs.

All these areas have their own special places. Take your time, get some cheap travel insurance online, and have fun!

Sydney (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

Map

TravelTipsPlus Google Map of Sydney

One Great Reason to Visit Sydney

One great reason to visit this travel destination is most certainly to view its claim to fame, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House.

Sydney, Australia

For More Information

• Wikipedia
• Sydney – Official Site

Travel Photos of the Week: Sunsets over Magnetic Island, Australia

Magnetic Island is one of my favourite travel destinations having visited there twice now. It’s the perfect destination for a relaxing family holiday in Queensland. Both times we stayed at Arcadia by pretty Alma Bay where it’s an easy 5mins walk to the beach. One thing we notice about visiting during May, is it’s off-peak and very peaceful but more than that, there are sensational sunsets like these to enjoy.

Highlights your Holiday Adventures!

‘The Australia Map Journal’ collection by Linda Fairbairn, owner and founder of Journey Jottings,  is a must have for any national or international visitor trooping around Australia.

These beautifully presented maps in Australian earthy tones, allow the traveller to jot their experiences, encounters and thoughts as a visual keepsake of their trip.

We use a couple of the fridge magnets to display postcards received on our fridge!

Journey Jottings product range include:

Map Magnets

Join Linda and Journey Jottings

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Food is part of the travelling experience.

A guest post by Julie from Melbourne, Australia.

I’m just back from a trip to Morocco and the food was wonderful too, though with temperatures in the low to mid 40s, I did not eat a great deal at times. I lived on orange juices. These were freshly squeezed in front of your eyes and readily available everywhere. Along with ubiquitous mint tea, wonderfully refreshing. Moroccan food is full of fragrant and unusual flavor and aroma combinations, achieved through the use of cinnamon, ginger, saffron, cumin, pepper and coriander. For me three Moroccan dishes define the cuisine: couscous, tagines and bisteeya.

I was rather “tagine’d” out by the end of the trip, but I did make one wonderful food discovery – bisteeya (sometimes also spelt “bastillas” or “pastillas”). A fine crisp flaky pastry (rather like our filo pastry) wrapped around shredded velvety melting chicken and ingredients. I particularly loved the chicken and almond pastillas I ate. I also tried the tradition Fez dish of pigeon pastilla (pigeon pie!). Very gamey and rich. Wonderful for a special occasion or a feast.

The aspect that makes pastillas so special is the unusual combination of savoury and sweet, as the top of the pastry has a lines of aromatic cinnamon and fine sugar on top. The sweet cinnamon and savoury chicken mixture are a super and exotic combination and the textures of crisp flaky pastry and soft casserole-like filling is divine.

I come across a fabulous small restaurant in Essaouira. I had two wonderful lunches, so if you’re passing that way do drop in. It’s called ‘Restaurant des Reves’ (“Restaurant of Dreams”), 2 Av Side Med Ben Abdellah, Rue Sidi Ahmed Ouharoon, Essaouria.

Map

TravelTipsPlus Google Map of Morocco

Cooking at the Kasbah: Recipes from My Moroccan Kitchen

One Great Reason to Visit Morocco

One great reason to visit Morocco is the experience Moroocu cuisine first hand – wonderful Moroccan food can be found in a variety of settings – from roadside cafes, a delightful restauants,night-time stalls in the great square in Marrakesh ‘Djemaa al Fna’ … and if you’re lucky enough to be invited into a family home for some home-cooking consider yourself truly fortunate.

Chicken Pastilla (accompanied by great, local music)

For More Information

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