The Iconic sights of Sydney

So I'm quite aware that everyone knows the iconic sights of Sydney and you've probably read countless blog posts on the subject. There's nothing alternative about them but as you are gonna want to see them anyway it is worth mentioning a couple of things. I saw the bridge climb over the harbour bridge as being one of the most rewarding things to do when seeing the complusory sights. The guides are fantastic and the history of the bridge is really interesting, plus the view from the top is amazing. It is however fairly expernsive at around $180 pp but includes the photo print outs and disc of which you can send out to your family and make them all really jealous. Far from alterative, the Sydney Opera house does have more to it than the name suggests, it also hosts dance, indie rock and comedy shows. The botanic gardens are a nice place to chill, but they have lost their appeal to me, now that all the fruit bats have moved on, and he new Gallery of Modern Art is an interesting place to soak up some air-con, plus they have a great gallery shop with lots of quirky gifts. As I mentioned in a post earlier, I loved Luna Park, which is just a short ferry ride accross the harbour. Its a great place to be silly and ride old school fairground attractions, plus it looks awesome lit up at night. I believe they do 2 for 1 tickets after 6pm so it'd be good to go get some beers and hot chips in the evening. The Big Top also hosts some big name bands, last year it had Bad Religion and NFG to name a couple, and The Decendents and the Bouncing Souls are playing there in February. The annual Vivid Sydney light festival which happens around Circular quay was a definate highlight, especially the projections onto the Opera House roof.

 There is a free bus from the quay which runs down George St (555) that will take you nearer Darling Harbour and Chinatown. The harbout itself is fairly unimpressive unless you want to go to the aquarium and drink overpriced beers, but the area does host a few intersting festivals especially on holidays such as Australia day and Chinese New Year. We went to the Hoopla festival involving lots of circus and street performance acts and most of it was free which was a bonus. Chinatown is great for inexpensive food and there you will also find the Paddys Market which is full of cheap tat, but fun to browse and maybe pick up a souvenir snowglobe with a roo in it for your gran.

The beaches of Sydney are the main obvious highlight, but as there are 104 of them I feel it probably warrants a separate post!