sydney by suburbs

Being a tourist in Sydney, you might get the impression that, historically, the whole town was once a slum. Over the weekend I visited The Rocks, which used to be the dodgy end of town. In the 1970's there was a push to demolish most of the area and build high rise apartments and offices. The local community and unions protested until the area was preserved. It's now rejuvenated - but basically only exists (as far as I can see) as a tourist trap. The historical pub's looked like they are over-priced places - but I didn't bother checking if that was true or not. There was plenty of boomerangs for sale and other souvenirs at the weekend market. For lunch I found a German themed pub, which served dark wheat beer; yum! To be honest though I suspect there isn't a real historical German presence in The Rocks.

In and around The Rocks are two of the world's most photographed structures. Of course this means that it's mandatory to take more photos of them: the Opera House, and the Harbour Bridge. They look damn good on a sunny day.

I'd never considered the contrast between these two landmarks. The Opera House is like nothing else, soaring, white and modern - whereas the bridge is dark grey and industrial.

When I wandered over to Circular Quay I found out that there is a ferry service to Parramatta. I'll catch that to work one day. It only takes 15 minutes longer. A nice sunny day is a pre-requisite however!

Back onto the topic of Sydney being all slums at some stage... On Sunday I went for brunch at Newtown, which has a reputation for good cafes these days. It didn't disappoint - I had some excellent poached eggs and smoked salmon. Newtown's history however, is one of a poor area. This means that low rents in the 80's and 90's attracted migrants and students, which gradually made the suburb a trendy place (and rent pricing rise).

Wandering around Newtown and neighbouring Stanmore it is possible to think that it'd be a good area to move to... until the inevitable happens... A 747 takes off over your head! They are noisy mongrels! Now I know what the inner west Sydney citizens complain about. This will probably stop the area being as popular as its Melbourne "equivalents" of Carlton or Fitzroy.