: The glittering, emerald expanse of waterway which makes up Sydney Harbour is the city's focal point. It splits the city in two and is crossed by the famous Harbour Bridge and the Harbour Tunnel.
From the ocean you enter the harbour through The Heads, dramatic cliff portals between Circular Quay in the city and the beachside suburb of Manly. The tops of The Heads are covered by Sydney Harbour National Park, which stretches along the rugged harbourside for kilometres. This haven for native plants and birds really surprises visitors.
Visitors are also struck by the harbour's beauty, especially at night when the high-rise towers around Circular Quay, the girders of the Harbour Bridge and the 'sails' of the Opera House are all lit up. It's then that the harbour waters take on a magical swirl of reflected colours - red, blue, green.
Green-and-yellow ferries ply the harbour until late in the evening, looking like wind-up bath toys as they trundle off to suburbs far and wide. Sleek tourist craft, tall ships rigged with sails, giant container vessels, water taxis and private yachts flit around too, watched by sunbathers on the harbour beaches.
In the centre of the harbour is a series of islands, the most well known being Fort Denison, with its tiny sandstone castle, which once housed the worst of Sydney's convicts.
At Cadmans Cottage, The Rocks, you'll find the Sydney Harbour National Park Information Centre where you can arrange a visit to Fort Denison and other islands.
Shark Island (located between Bradleys Head and Rose Bay) has panoramic views from Sydney Harbour Bridge to Manly and The Heads, and Clark Island is a tiny piece of untouched Australian bushland, with winding tracks through gum trees and natural rocky outcrops.
; Climb the Harbour Bridge
: Beginning at the BridgeClimb office at Cumberland Street in The Rocks, Sydney Harbour BridgeClimbers don a specialised BridgeSuit, harness and communication equipment, hook themselves to a cable and begin their climb to the top of the arch, 134 metres above the waves.
Safety is a priority. A professional climb leader accompanies each group and provides an expert commentary on the history of the bridge and the sights of the city. As a safety precaution, cameras may not be carried during the climb, however climb leaders are equipped with digital cameras to capture the moment when climbers 'summit' the bridge. All climbers are issued with a complimentary photograph of their climb group. Additional photographs taken during the climb may be purchased at the end of the climb.
Climbing at night offers a truly magical experience,which adds a BridgeLamp to the equipment package.See Sydney turn onits lights for an amazing technicolour show, reflected in the waters of Sydney Harbour.
Tours last threeand a half hours.BridgeClimb operates every day (except 30 & 31 Dec)at 10 minute intervalsfrom early morning through to evening. BridgeClimb is suitable for anyone over 12, provided they are medically fit and equipped with a sense of adventure.
; Harbour beaches
: Sydneys shores stretch some 350 kilometres across surf beaches, hidden-away harbour beaches, dramatic cliff headlands and sleepy bays.
Sydney beaches are the focus of much more than just swimming and surfing. You can scuba dive, fish or watch whales migrate along the coast.
You can dine, party, and watch Shakespeare on the beach. There are jazz festivals, food and wine fests, triathlon and surf lifesaving carnivals, and even art and sculpture exhibitions all on the shores edge.
And if youre wanting to explore beyond the shores you can charter a yacht, hire a kayak, parasail or even go hang-gliding.
With every beach comes a different character. Some attract families; others draw surfers. Some have views and crowds; others are secluded and little known.
Bondi is Australias most famous, colourful and cosmopolitan beach. But further south lie other glorious beach spots - the more peaceful Coogee and Bronte. Around Botany Bay, theres Lady Robinson Beach at Brighton le Sands, and the golden arc stretch of Cronulla, famous for its surfing.
Inner harbour beaches like Nielsen Park and Parsley Bay, Balmoral, Lady Jane Obelisk beach, are calmer and more serene. Some are magnets for picnickers, the latter two for nude sunbathers.
Then theres the gorgeous Manly with its great ocean surf as well as safe and sheltered beaches. From here a string of 18 magnificent beaches stretch their way up the Northern Peninsula to beautiful Palm Beach, where Sydneys rich and famous come out in summer.
; Lasting design
: The sight of the white, billowy sails of the Sydney Opera House, against the jewel-blue Sydney Harbour has become one of the most recognisable sights in the world. It captures the essence of Sydney and indeed Australia, as a breezy, free-spirited country.
When you look at the Opera House you realise it is a totally organic shape, dispensing with such conventional architectural concepts as walls and roofs. It is one of those rare things that not only does not jar with the surrounding natural landscape, but actually enhances it, and leads the sight of the harbour. It is a monument in its own right. Jutting out onto Bennelong Point, this building entices thousands of people a day to walk from East Circular Quay just to stand on the steps and take a picture.
Up close the Opera House loses none of its majesty. You notice that what from a distance seemed to be pearl-white sails are thousands of tiny tiles in cream and white. From its steps you have a sweeping view of the harbour that makes you feel you own it. Like many wonders, this creation had its birth pangs. In the 1950s young Danish architect Jorn Utzon won a competition to design the building. Years of controversy followed as the building appeared to be beyond the engineering capabilities of the day, culminating in Utzon's resignation. Yet the job continued and the Opera House opened in 1973 to entertain millions and become an irreplaceable Australian icon.
; Vital arts centre
: The Sydney Opera House is in fact much more than just an opera house. The magnificent sail-like structure houses a complex of almost 1,000 rooms and many different performance spaces, halls and theatres, all linked together to allow enormous flexibility. The Opera House has the capacity to produce a range of entertainment from classics to the contemporary. In an average year, it presents theatre, musicals, opera, contemporary dance, ballet, all sorts of different musical forms from symphony concerts to jazz, exhibitions and films. Open-air concerts have even taken place on its steps. It averages around 3,000 events each year, with audiences totalling up to two million per year.
A great many people also go there just for the sake of the building. Countless people jump off the train at East Circular Quay and walk up to the Opera House just to take a photograph on its steps, and around 200,000 people take a guided tour of the complex each year. Even the path to the Opera House, along Bennelong Point, is dotted with buskers and all kinds of street theatre. And to think that the Sydney Opera House was created because before its inception in the 1950s, Sydney had no adequate musical venue! Since opening in 1973, the Sydney Opera House is now one of the busiest performing arts centres and attracts talent from all over the world.
; Walk the bridge
: A walk across the bridge gives you a grand view of the Opera House and of a working harbour in one of the world's most dramatic settings: the ferries and high-speed catamarans heading in and out of Circular Quay, the yachts, pleasure cruises, water taxis and merchant ships.
Each New Year's Eve, the bridge stars on television around the world when it serves as a platform for a brilliant fireworks display culminating in a Niagara-like cascade of golden fire into Sydney Harbour.
Sydney Harbour Bridge took 1,400 workers nine years to build. Repainting it uses 30,000 litres of paint and takes 10 years. Once finished, it's time to start again. Probably the best-known character to have worked on this monotonous task is Paul 'Crocodile Dundee' Hogan.
The bridge's single arch is 503 metres across and wide enough to carry two railway tracks, eight lanes of cars and lanes for pedestrians and cyclists. You can view the bridge and harbour from a lookout in the top of the bridges south-east tower. Additionally, a company called BridgeClimb conducts guided walks over the bridge's massive arches for small groups. You can do this by day or night - anytime except during an electrical storm. It pays to book your climb as far in advance as you can; the waiting list has grown quite long since BridgeClimb began operations in 1998.
