Surprising Sydney: Australia's first city abounds with bold adventures and colorful visions

Cruise Travel, Sept-Oct, 2004 by Jim Kerr

Even though I was tethered to a guard rail, I involuntarily gripped it as I looked down 32 stories from a narrow catwalk to the blue waters below where I stood on the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge

"Sydney," said Vic Martin, our young guide, "might be just another port city, except for three things which, when you put them together, make the city extraordinary--the harbor, the opera house, and the bridge."

I had to wholeheartedly agree. And I could see by their awed expressions, there would be no argument from the 10 other people standing with me at that moment on the top, and in the middle, of the arch of the bridge, 440 feet above the water.

The spectacular view of this remarkable Australian metropolis and its vast harbor was 360 degrees. I felt I was soaring over the city, a la Spider-Man. We had climbed here across metal passages, up stairs and ladders, and over uneven surfaces on what has become one of Sydney's most popular tours, the climb to the summit of the city's most distinguished landmark (see sidebar on page 13). To our immediate right were the distinctive white folds of the second most recognizable structure, the Sydney Opera House, looking as though it might sail off at any moment from its perch at the water's edge. Behind us was downtown Sydney, a skyline where 19th century colonial churches and former public edifices are dwarfed by surrounding glass and steel skyscrapers. Circular Quay, Sydney's busiest ferry terminal and dockage for cruise ships, sparkled blue and bright in the morning sun, while beneath our feet, far below, trains, traffic, and pedestrians moved along the rail lines, roadways, and walkway of the world's largest steel-arch bridge.

Immediately nicknamed the "coathanger," a term of endearment which survives today, the bridge was begun in 1923, with the last rivet inserted eight years later. Countless millions have walked and ridden across it during the ensuing seven decades, but no one ever imagined a million people, aged 12 to 100, would one day also climb it. Like the rest of Australia and its largest city, the Harbour Bridge and its current uses is just one of the fascinating surprises and adventures to be found here.

The harbor itself was a fortuitous discovery. It was sighted, but never entered, by famed explorer Captain James Cook, who recommended Botany Bay, 12 miles south, as a harbor after visiting on his way home from Tahiti in the lush days of April 1770. When the First Fleet arrived from England in the hot and dry summer of 1788, however, they found the bay totally inhospitable for colonization, even for the 778 convicts and 250 soldiers aboard the flotilla's 11 ships, Instead, Sydney Harbour, named for Lord Sydney of England, was chosen, a place described by Capt. Arthur Phillips, first governor of New South Wales (Sydney's state), as "the finest harbor in the world, in which u thousand ships of the line may ride with the most perfect security."

The date he arrived, January 26, became Australia Day, and the general area where he landed is known as "The Rocks," a residential and commercial region beneath and beyond the bridge. Today the area is better known for fine restaurants, pubs, cafes, and a Sunday open-air market where you can shop for everything from opals to oranges. The Museum of Contemporary Art is also here, or you can just sit and contemplate the early days from a bench in First Fleet Park, often in view of a cruise ship or two. The neighborhood, with its narrow streets and renovated 19th century buildings, is Sydney's oldest.

The Rocks is adjacent to Circular Quay, a lively waterfront scene of commuters, strollers, vendors, musicians, and the city's busiest ferry terminal. From here, for a few Aussie dollars, you can strike out in all directions to beach suburbs such as Double Bay, Rose Bay, or Watsons on the south shore, or popular Manly on the north shore. Day and evening coffee cruises and other tour boats leave from here as well, but if you want to see some of the local flora and fauna mixed in with the scenery, opt for a ferry to Taronga Zoo. Both the array of exotic and Australian wildlife and the setting, up on the bluffs of the north shore 12 minutes from Circular Quay, make it worth the trip.

From here, as well as from just about anywhere along Sydney Harbour, you can see the famous Opera House, still as popular and as grandly controversial as the day Queen Elizabeth opened it in 1973, 10 years behind schedule and 10 times over budget. Its white, sail-like roof over two separate theaters accounts for most of the architectural notoriety, but its reflective glass also makes it glow and soften in the sunlight when seen from different angles at various times of day. The surrounding park provides a place to picnic, and sidewalk cafes along the waterfront are always packed. Tours of the Opera House are conducted daily, but if you just want to sit quietly and contemplate it, along with the rest of the harbor, Mrs. Macquaries Point in the Royal Botanic Gardens is the place. Here Mrs. Macquarie, wife of New South Wales governor Lachlan Macquarie, would sit in her chair by the hour back in 1810, never dreaming there would one day be an Opera House, much less a vibrant, energetic city like Sydney.