Sydney Harbour, Sydney

The Bridge Climb is something that a lot of people told me is one of the things you SHOULD DO when you're in Sydney. After debating if I should it or not, I decided I'll only be in Sydney once, I should do it!! After killing some time at The Rocks and grabbing a kangaroo burger at the pub, I went up to await my ascent up the bridge.

There's a process before you climb. First you fill out the waiver, then you stand around a circle and introduce yourself, and then you go into a changing area and put on your jumpsuit. When you're finished, they scan you with a metal detector to see if you're carrying anything like your camera or something metallic. You cannot bring your camera with you up there. Hence why I don't have many shots from the bridge itself, apart from the picture on my Sydney intro page. After all this. You put on your gear and harness up for the ascent. You are giving a quick tutorial on how to climb the stairs. Then after a quick drink of water from the fountain, you start the climb. Your guide points out all the interesting parts of Sydney visible from the bridge. The guide then takes your photos at various points on the bridge. After scaling the top and listening to the commentary along the way, you climb back down.

There's different options of climbs. I did the "Discovery Climb" which was 218 AUD. Yeah, that's pretty expensive, especially for a young traveller who doesn't wanna miss a beat! But it's worth it, once anyway. You get great views, a free group souvenir photo, a free cap that has the Sydney Bridge Climb logo, and the climb of your life! It is something you should cross off your list while you're here.

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The views of Sydney Harbor are spectacular no matter where you are: the Rocks, Circular Quay, The Botanical Garden, Taronga Park, the ferries, etc. The boats, the Harbor Bridge, The Opera House are all beautiful adornments in the Harbor.

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There are several harbour cruises available and they're all very good.

A less expensive way to see the harbour is to use the ferries. A Day Tripper pass for A$17 allows you to use any ferry (plus buses and trains) so you can spend the whole day cruising the harbour and exploring the various suburbs served by the ferries.

If you don't have all day then perhaps a return trip between Circular Quay and Manly could be your choice. It costs A$12.80 and the journey is 30 minutes each way.

Another alternative is the River Cat along the Parramatta River to Parramatta, a journey of about an hour.

As you can clearly see, not all of Sydney Harbour is a hive of activity. As we tramped around Little Sirius Cove the natural beauty of the harbour became more apparent. It's quite extraordinary how quickly you can get away from the madding crowd if you are prepared to walk just a short distance. This is about a kilometre west of Taronga Park Zoo.
The cove itself is named after the flagship of the First Fleet, Sirius. At the time of the first white settlement this was almost like on another planet and so, where noise and smell were likely to offend as the ships were careened (the process of hauling the boats onto their sides in order to clean and perhaps repair the hull), it was done on the other side of the harbour.
Just out of sight on the left of picture is a tiny beach that was popular with aboriginal people as a place to gather and eat shellfish. Today a sea scout hall sits on the shoreline.

Sydney Harbour is beautiful. The best way to see it is to go on a ferry/hydrofoil trip to Manly. The Opera House and Botanical Gardens is to your right and the Harbour Bridge and The Rocks is to your left. Captain Cook cruises offer a number of lunchen/dinner cruises etc and it is worth lookin into. We used to have work party cruises on the harbour when I worked for the railways - mmm but then that's another story :o) I think you'll find the harbour the best part of your trip to Sydney. Please check out the web site below, I think yoou'll find it very helpful. Have a great holiday.

Sydney harbour..... The number one on every visitors list! No matter what your budget there is a cruise to suit.

Sydney ferries run morning, evening and afternoon cruises starting from around $15.

Many other companies offer more elaborate and expensive cruises, ranging from morning coffee and cake outings to Opera and a la carte dining. The best known operators include Captain Cook, Matilda and Vagabond.

For real budget travellers any regular harbour ferry will do.. all that is missing is the commentary. For $13 you can purchase a daytripper ticket that allows all day travel on Sydney Public transport and includes the Manly Ferry.

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Fort Denison is a former penal site and defense facility on a small island in Sydney Harbor. The Fort is slowly being ravaged by salt, sand, wind and the effects of time. It is currently a museum. Ferries from Circular Quay will take you to visit the Fort.

In May 1942, three Japanese two-man midget-submarines attacked Sydney Harbour. The cruiser USS Chicago fired on the Japanese, some shells hit Fort Denison, causing the tower minor damage that is still there.

In the summer the small island fort is used for weddings. We witnessed one while sailing by on the Manly ferry and one of our local friends had just been to a wedding here the weekend before we arrived.

Fort Denison is right in SYdney Harbor on a tiny little island that is slowly wearing away. It was first used as a place to confine prisioners and inflict punishment. in the 1800's the fort was built to protect Sydney Harbor. The problem with the construction is that the cannons are too big and the windows too small. Fortunately for the people of Sydney they never really need to use this as a military defense. The cannons were fired before but without hitting their target.

Fort Denison is a tourist draw with tours daily by the National Park Service of Sydny Harbour.

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Sydney Harbour is commonly referred to as the most beautiful natural harbour in the world. Those who come to see it will understand why. The 240 kilometres of shoreline encompass approximately 54 square kilometres of water, which translates to an enormous area for exploration and discovery.
On a warm sunny day, the harbour is a vibrant blue and dotted with hundreds of sailing boats, cruise boats and ferries.
The best way of seeing the harbour is to be on it and that's easy to do. Sydney Ferries, which are also government run, provide an inexpensive way of seeing the most beautiful harbour in the world.

On a whim, while wandering around the harbour area New Year's Eve Day, we decided it might be fun to take a jet boat ride about the harbour. It just so happened we came across the Oz Jet Boats as they were about to send out their last ride for the day, as the area was about to be closed off for NYE, and we were the last 2 to get on board.
The ride takes you all over the harbour, clear out to the ocean, whipping around in quick 270 degree turns, stopping suddenly to insure waves wash over all. You do have the option of wearing a raincoat-type covering, but no one in our boat had opted for one, so we surely couldn't!
You zip around for about 30 minutes, and it was great fun -- at a cost of AU$60 per person; however, we had a coupon for 25% off, which is why we did it. A big tip for all arriving by air -- make sure to go thru the flyers at the terminal. We got a "Welcome to Sydney" booklet that had all kinds of useful coupons, this being one of them.