Sydney Things to do
The Sydney Monorail
Very few cities in the world have a monorail servicing their CBD so a ride on the Monorail is a must. This graceful worm like train serves over 4 million people a year and has been servicing the city since the Australian Bicentenary in 1988.
The monorail does a loop of Darling Harbour, China Town and the CBD and is a great way to get between many of Sydney’s major attractions. Being elevated above the road it is also a chance to see Sydney from a different prospective. The Monorail service operates every 3-5 minutes and operates early morning to late at night.
Centerpoint Tower
The Sydney Tower takes visitors 250 metres above Sydney, where there are breathtaking views of one of the most beautiful spectacular in the world. There are fantastic view of the city including the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Opera House and Darling Harbour and views from further a field including the beaches and west to the Blue mountains.
Sydney Tower is right in the heart of the city, and includes a large shopping centre with dozens of specialty shops and food outlets.
The tower’s lifts take approximately 40 seconds to travel from top to bottom. There is also great simulator ride and gift shop at the top of the tower.
Sydney Olympic Precinct at Homebush Bay
Sydney played host to the 2000 Olympic Games and as a legacy left some of the worlds finest sporting facilities including the 80,000+ seat Stadium Australia which was used for the opening and closing ceremonies. There is a wealth of facilities to tour including the swimming centre, the Superdome and Sydney Showground’s. Sporting and special events run all year round so there’s a good chance you can catch a game, see a concert or enjoy a festival.
The Olympic Cauldron that Kathy Freeman lit in a spectacular fire and water extravaganza during the opening ceremony of the 2000 Olympics has now been turned into a water sculpture, it stands next to the main stadium and is a great photo opportunity. Fatso the wombat, the unofficial Olympic mascot is also on show on a series of bollards commemorating the ‘best games ever’.
Olympic Park is serviced by train and there are great tour and cruise packages available from Circular Quay. Tours operate of the main stadium and other facilities when not in use.
Sydney Aquarium
Situated on banks of Darling Harbour the Sydney Aquarium is a journey thought the rivers and oceans of Australia. There are displays showing the amazing diversity of our underwater world. Favorites of the Aquarium are the Seal Enclosure where these playful but lazy creatures can be seen sunning themselves in the warm Sydney sun and the fully glass enclosed walkway where large sharks, stingray and fish swim overhead above a clear tunnel.
The aquarium also houses the worlds largest Great Barrier Reef exhibit with over 2.6 million litres of water. Here you will see coral reefs and hundreds of exotic tropical fish including ones which look just like Nemo.