Back to Homepage Back to Travel Photos	Sydney, Australia
I had gone to Australia 5 years before and again greatly enjoyed escaping a San Francisco winter and arriving during their summer in Australia. On New Year's Day it reached 113 degrees. The first 2 weeks that I was there in January it ranged from mid 80's to low 90's. This Christmas tree is located on the Corso in the neighborhood of Manly and stands about 50 yards from the beach.
One of the aspects that I think make Sydney such a beautiful place is the fact that it has such a huge variety of beaches. Because it has an irregular coastline there are literally hundreds of beaches throughout the various neighborhoods that make up Sydney. This is 40 Baskets Beach, supposedly named for how much fish the first people who found it pulled out of the water.
This is Reef Beach, just around the promontory from 40 Baskets Beach.
This is the famous Harbour Bridge where they set off a very impressive fireworks display on New Year's. You can also walk across the top of the bridge (harnessed in of course). The Opera House is at the bottom on the left and Sydney's business district is at the right.
The Sydney Opera House.
Yet another of Sydney's beautiful beaches. This is Whale Beach.
Friends of mine fishing off the rocks at Whale Beach.
With Sydney's irregular coastline, the ferry is a very common means of daily transportation and method for commuting for many Sydney-siders.
An amusement park on the Sydney Harbour called Luna Park.
A didgeridoo player entertaining tourists and commuters at the busy ferry station called Circular Quay at the base of Sydney's business district area.
The business district in North Sydney.
Dee Why Beach having a bit of a seaweed issue. The other half of the beach was seaweed-free and full of swimmers and sunbathers.
Sidewalk café in a neighborhood called Glebe.
Having Dim Sum with some Australian friends
Some lifeguards going out to the ocean to do some rowing at Bondi Beach.
One of Australia's strange-looking sea creatures, a cuttle fish at the Sydney Aquarium.
The warm waters full of lots of swimmers and surfers also invite a handful of shark attacks each year.
Some more Australian friends
Clareville Beach
Some of the friends I stayed with in a neighborhood in Sydney called Collaroy Plateau had wild cockatoos come to their balcony and they would eat sunflower seeds out of our hands.
Friends at a protected reserve called North Head
This beach is called Manly beach and in this neighborhood they put the name of the neighborhood in front of everything: Manly Surf Shop, Manly bookstore, Manly Café. The lifeguards even wear Speedos that say Manly across the back. The sun can be so intense in Australia that it is common for people to pitch tents on the beach in order to take a break from the direct rays.
Shelly Beach, about a mile from Manly Beach, with a pool built into the ocean for kids.
Throughout the summer, they have "Surf Carnivals" where they have swimming, paddle boarding, surfing and rowing competitions. Return to top