Olympic Park / Olympics, Sydney

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It was built for the 2000 Olympics and continues to be used for sporting and cultural events, including the Sydney Royal Easter Show, Sydney Festival, Big Day Out and a number of world class sporting fixtures.

Equipment: Sydney Olympic Park is a 640-hectare site located adjacent to the suburb of Homebush Bay, New South Wales, Australia.

It is served by the Olympic Park railway line and station. There are also regular services to the nearby wharf which to and from run from various point around Sydney Harbour.

Home of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, now home to many of the biggest sporting events in Sydney including all codes of football, major swimming events, basketball, concerts and the annual Royal Easter Show.

Equipment: Don't forget to take along your swimming gear and take a dip in the pool that made Ian Thorpe an Aussie icon.

Nestled in the inner-west Sydney suburbs, Olympic Park is not only a sports facility, but also a venue for major concerts (such as the annual Big Day Out), and the Royal Sydney Easter Show.

Olympic Park has been landscaped beautifully and is easily accessible by train, bus or car. I would recommend checking it out by day with a friendly tour, but if you're the adventurous type, see if there are any events happening and join in on the fun!

Sydney was the home to the Olympic's in 2000. Most of the venues were especially built for the events.
It was a very international city for 2 weeks. There were tourist and athleats from all over the world. You would walk around Darling Harhour and you would hear all the different accents. It was wonderful.

I attended some sporting events. As you can imagin it was packed with people and was a very hot day. I went to see Equestrian and weight lifting. ( that was the only tickets available at the door) :)

Equipment: The venues are still running all types of sporting activities.

Sydney Aquatic Centre, home to the 2000 Summer Olympics swimming and diving events, is available for open swim and for swimming laps in the competition pool. It is a thrill to swim here knowing you were in the same pool used by Olympic greats such as Ian Thorpe. This is also a great place for kids and activities and competitions are planned all the time.

Check the website for availability and schedules.

Equipment: I was able to rent towels here for my swim, and there is a shop here if you need a suit or goggles or anything else swim-related.

Telstra Stadium (Stadium Australia), with a capacity of 80,000, holds major sporting events throughout the year. Rugby Union, Rugby League, Australian Rules Football, soccer, cricket, and concerts are the main events.

Check the schedule on the website to find out what's going on and to book tickets online.

Olympic Park is an interesting place to visit. Save some money and take the 401 bus from the Homebush Bay ferry terminal instead of the Olympic Explorer. The bus travel to the same place, only the Olympic Explorer charges much more.

If you want to visit Parramatta, take the 555 bus from the Olympic Tourist Office (close to the Hotel Ibis). The 555 travels near the HMAS Parramatta memorial and goes to the Parramatta central bus station.

One can also take a train to the park.

The Tourist Office has exhibits about the different stadiums and a model of the entire Olympic Park.

The global torch relay in King street, Newtown, Sydney for the 2004 games.