S Y D N E Y    A U S T R A L I A

	Sydney is a beautiful city with lots to do and see. It is famous for its beaches, the 2000 Summer Olympics, and of course, the Opera House. If you're thinking of traveling to Australia to visit Sydney, you can find out about the place right here.
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Sydney Harbour (Circular Quay) ( see Kids' POV )

Circular Quay (pronounced 'key', for you kids) is where every tourist must go. This is where you can find the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, the Royal Botanical Gardens, shopping, restaurants and more. If you go to Sydney but don't see the Opera House, everyone back home will make fun of you. If you're staying downtown, the Harbour is only a short walk away. The view is, as you might expect, fantastic.

The Opera House is much bigger than you might expect, and if you've got bad knees, you won't be very happy when you see all the steps you'll need to climb. When you make it up, though, you'll be rewarded by a view of the entire harbour and a nice shot of the city, not to mention a very nice breeze. Of course, being a tourist destination, there's plenty to buy and plenty to eat.

At Circular Quay you can catch ferries to many different places, including the Sydney zoo (Taronga) and some beaches.

Darling Harbour ( see Kids' POV )

A quick train ride from Circular Quay will bring you to Darling Harbour, on the opposite side of the Harbour Bridge from the Opera House. More shopping, more food, more activities. You can find an IMAX here, Sega World, the Chinese Garden (see below), and lots more. There's a spiral-shaped fountain and other fountains and pools that cause children to become zombies with a sole thought: "MUST TAKE OFF SHOES. MUST PLAY IN WATER!" Well, that was two thoughts, but you get the idea. There is a large playground in the area, too, so this place is a bit more kid-oriented than Circular Quay. There are plenty of other things to do, too; this is just a quick summary. For more details, feel free to visit the website.

Chinese Garden

We went to the Chinese Garden at Darling Harbour the first time I went to Australia, so unfortunately we don't have any photos and my memories aren't as sharp as I would like (that was back in December 1996, you know). Still, it was amazing how, upon entering, you just feel different. It's quieter, and more relaxed. The noise of traffic is dulled by the garden's walls, and the few skyscrapers visible from within don't seem quite so impressive measured against the beauty of the garden. If you get hungry, there is a tea shop within the garden. We had scones, and they were tasty.

Sydney Wonderland

Looking for excitement on your trip? Well, then, welcome to Sydney Wonderland, a world of fun in the middle of nowhere. It takes a bit of a ride to get to Wonderland, as it is located away from the city, but you'll enjoy yourself once you get there.

The entrance fee seems very reasonable, especially given the exchange rate and the cost to get into a comparable U.S. theme park. There are rollercoasters and plenty of other rides, including several for kids, games, shows, all the usual stuff you expect from a decent amusement park. We enjoyed the white-water ride (you will get wet) and the skytrain (you can see forever from up there). There are even waterslides, although we decided to wait until next time for that. All in all, it was fun. For all the stuff you need to know, you can go to their website.

Note: We don't have any input from our kids, since they were too young to go along at the time, but when they're older, we'll definitely take them. That's the reason we didn't consider this one Kid Approved, but we're positive that kids will love this place.

BridgeClimb

A somewhat recent addition to the many tourist activities in Sydney is BridgeClimb. It's been available just since 1998 or so, but already thousands of people have climbed the Harbour Bridge, including movie and television stars, the daughter of a former president, and us. Yes, we fit right in to that little group. You can find out everything you need at BridgeClimb's website, but I'll give you a few details. No children under age 11 are allowed, and nothing can be brought up. That means no cameras, no hats, not even your watch. It really isn't dangerous, though, and perhaps more importantly, it doesn't even feel dangerous, which was a bit of a disappointment for us and other climbers.

After putting on a windsuit and locking up all your valuables, climbers are tethered to a wire that runs the entire length of the "trail," which is actually the platforms and walking areas used by the bridge's maintenance crew. You begin at the foot of the bridge, walk along a level support structure, climb a few flights of stairs, climb a whole lotta steps, and you're at the top. The cost of the climb (about US$65 at the time we went) includes a photo of you and your climbing group at the top of the bridge. Of course, you can purchase additional photos if you'd like, along with other stuff, at the gift shop, located right where you started your climb, only 3 hours later. The final word: Was it worth doing? Yeah. Do we wish it had felt a little bit more exciting? Yeah. Did we buy an extra photo? Yeah.

Taronga Zoo ( see Kids' POV )

Hopefully, you're not the kind of person who gets seasick, because the best way to get to Sydney's zoo is a 20-30 minute ferry ride. You can spend the whole trip watching the city, the harbour, the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. That is, if you can catch a good seat. If not, well, there's always the trip back. Taronga Zoo is a good one, chock full of animals and snack bars. There's so much to see, we ran out of time and had to leave before we'd finished. Our 3-year-old got to feed carrots to a giraffe. The chimpanzees were active and funny. It's a fun place for kids and animal-loving adults. Need more info? Visit the zoo's website.

Another nice thing about the zoo is that there are several vantage points from which you can get incredible panoramas of the city and surrounds. Some of the photos at the top of the page and our family photo on our main page were taken there. Bring lots of film. Here's an idea of what you can expect.

Manly Beach ( see Kids' POV )

A longer ferry ride (about 45 minutes) will take you to Manly Beach. Just our luck, when we went to Manly Beach, it was the coolest day of the whole trip and windy and drizzling besides. There's an aquarium near the ferry dock, and a harbour-facing beach, but Manly Beach is actually about a ten-minute walk from the dock. You have to cross the street, walk through a pedestrian area filled with shops and restaurants, and cross another street. Welcome to the Pacific Ocean. A word of warning, though: the beach's restrooms are horrible. Avoid them if at all possible.

Easily the most exhilarating part of our entire time in Australia was the ride back from Manly. The weather wasn't so great, and away from the beach the water got pretty choppy. We rode in the very front of the ship, bracing ourselves for the waves. The wind whistled, and spray occasionally burst over the bow. Now that was fun.

Sydney Harbour
Believe it or not, the Opera House is a big attraction for kids. There is a slanted wall that children enjoy climbing up and sliding down. Dozens of steps lead up to the soaring building, and the views from the top of the steps are fantastic. The kids love to look at the boats, the birds, and the Bridge. Speaking of the Harbour Bridge, we rested underneath it just outside of the Rocks (the historic area), and our kids seemed to like that, too. It was shady and breezy, nice after a walk in the sun.

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Darling Harbour
A huge playground really hit the spot with our kids. The spiral fountain is very popular with everyone, along with all the other water courses in the area. This part of Sydney is full of things to do, for kids and grownups both. It was difficult to drag the kids away when it was time to go home.

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Taronga Zoo
It's a zoo! Enough said.

Well, if you want more than that, we can tell you that Taronga is a large zoo with lots to see and thankfully, lots of places to sit and rest. And food always tends to catch the kids' attention. They enjoyed the animals, of course, but the walk was fun for them, too. The liked the viewpoints, from which they were able look out over the water to the city in the distance.

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Manly Beach
Do kids love the beach?  Of course.  The sand and waves?  Sure.  What did our kids like the best?  Well, the same thing that we did:  the ferry ride.

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