Top 50 Things to do in Sydney
What to do in Sydney? Admire the Sculptures at Bondi and explore Balmoral!
46 Sculptures by the Sea – Bondi Beach
If you’ve been meaning to do the Bondi to Tamarama Walk and haven’t quite got to it here’s an extra reason to do it. You can even combine ‘Sculptures by the Sea’ with a walk all the way to Coogee if it’s on while you’re here.
Are we there yet?
The walk will be lined with sculptures from artists around the world. Stop and admire the fascinating, the weird and the wonderful works of art on display. There’s even a kids’ guide to help the young ones get the most out of the sculptures. And it might stop the ‘Are we there yet’ comments and give you a chance to admire the art.
Improvisation
Apart from the art there’s the improvisation. Look intensely enough at one of the exhibits for long enough and someone is bound to ask you what it is…..improvise from there. 🙂
Sculptures by the Sea – Bondi Beach
47 Balmoral
View of Bathers Pavilion from the middle of Balmoral Beach
Balmoral can be either pricey or classy depending upon the size of your budget. Balmoral Beach is one of the largest of Sydney’s harbour beaches with an extensive esplanade, green reserves and Bathers Pavilion (the white building in the picture).
Sydney Heads
Balmoral is quite scenic with views out to Sydney Heads. With a mixture of tourists and locals Balmoral is a good spot for soaking up the sun and sights. Cafes, restaurants (including the Watermark, apparently the most expensive restaurant that used to be a public toilet in history. :)) or just enjoy lunch on the grass or beach.
Mosman
Balmoral has a regular bus service saving you the arduous trip up the hill to Mosman. Mosman has a number of great cafes, restaurants and boutique shops so well worth a visit as is Chinaman’s Beach nearby.
48 Sydney Olympic Park – site of the Sydney Olympics
Stop and wonder was Sydney Olympics worth it? For some countries I think the answer might have been no but for us sports mad Aussies it was a fantastic two weeks and we won loads of medals.
Catch the Ferry to Olympic Park
The fact that Olympic Park is mostly empty a lot of the time just makes it a shrine and an interesting place to visit. Beware; however, than it can get hot so pick your day. Sydney Olympic Park has a modern train station and you can also float along to Olympic Park by ferry.
Sydney Olympic Park
P. S. Olympic Park is cycle friendly.
Tour the Olympic ANZ Stadium
The Olympic Stadium is pretty impressive and it is well worth taking the time to have a closer look at it. This tour takes you ‘behind the scenes’ through the dressing rooms and the like and runs through some of the great sporting moments that have taken place in the stadium. You might even get to step up on the Olympic dais for your memento photo.
Tour the Olympic ANZ Stadium
49 Featherdale Wildlife Park
About hour west of the city you’ll discover the compact Featherdale Wildlife Park. Featherdale is a common stop for tour buses heading to the Blue Mountains. This is a great opportunity to shuffle up to a Koala or pet and feed a Kangaroo or Emu.
Wilds of Suburbia
As you navigate your way around Featherdale’s rows of enclosed animals you might begin to imagine that you an intrepid explorer on safari in the Australian savanna. As you venture further and further past beasts great and small you will discover the train line which backs onto the park. You truly are in the wilds of suburbia.
Koala and Kangaroo
Featherdale is a functional quick stop ‘tick it off the list /done that’ kind of place. It is brilliantly easy to see many varieties of Australian animals you could only dream of seeing in the bush.
Cassowary
Its attraction is its downfall. So much in such confined spaces makes for happy inmates (?). The proud Cassowary left to stare through a wire mesh.
If the animals were meant to roam free…
But hey – if the animals were meant to roam free we wouldn’t have created cages. A visit to the Featherdale Wildlife Park is a great way to see a lot in short space of time with minimal effort so it makes the list. There is a solution of course – Featherdale could move to larger premises. You heard it here first.
Yummy Chips
We will end on a delicious point. Watch out for the cafe – the chips are so yummy!
Featherdale Wildlife Park Link
50 Nielsen Park / Shark Beach
Shark Beach can get a little crowded as the well off and less so get down to their local beach to soak up the sun and admire the panoramic views of Sydney Harbour. Close by you’ll find the pleasant Nielsen Park with its own kiosk.
Chances of being taken by a Shark in Sydney
Greycliffe House
The Gothic styled Greycliffe House is situated within Nielsen Park. It is hard to miss. The house was built in 1851 to take advantage of the harbour views (nothing changes). The house is home to the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service complete with loads of useful information and it is partially open to the public, 10am to 4pm, Monday to Friday.