Normally, I think of cities as characters; London is a well-established gentleman and Paris is a pretty girl with surprising sophistication. Sydney, I can’t quite define. On one hand is a formal, conservative city. Common hearsay is that Melbourne is the cultural capital and Sydney the capital of business. On the other hand, Sydney is a beachcomber’s paradise with plenty of waves and wet, sandy bus seats from swimmers heading home.
Sydney at night
February and March are ample times to visit; the Southern Hemisphere summer is winding down, so it’s warm and sunny but unlikely to get extreme temperatures of 40°C. The city centre is the formal side, famous for the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. The fashion is all-done-up; women wear pretty summer dresses and brightly-coloured pencil skirts while men look polished, even in business-casual wear.
For a break from harbour crowds, many tourists stop to take in the view at Opera Bar or 360 Bar in the Sydney Tower, comparable to Toronto’s 360 Restaurant in the C.N. Tower. Unfortunately, the 360 Bar has an order-price minimum and charges the difference on your bill if it’s not met.
For a trendier atmosphere, the Shangri-La Hotel’s Blu Bar has amazing views with top-quality cocktails and service to match. Try the Fire 88 with real fruit, hot spice and the perfect finish of sweet with smooth alcoholic flavour. Don’t be discouraged by the prices. A proper cocktail anywhere in Australia will cost about $20.
A little more casual, though a lot more local, is the Glenmore Pub in The Rocks, Sydney’s historical district. With a rooftop patio next to the Harbour Bridge and an Opera House view, this is where Sydneysiders take their out of town guests. Casual pubs are dotted along George St (parallel to Pitt St), but you’ll find more local business men and women gathering after work in smaller, more hidden bars such as Downstairs Bistro in the General Post Office Building or Ambar Cafe on Martin Place where you can watch the well-dressed workpeople pass.
A walk in The Rocks is a good chance to explore beautiful Victorian buildings, cute patisseries and a mix of gift and couture shopping. Other shopping and drink options can be found at Pitt Street Mall which offers a range from Wittner Shoes, similar to Aldo but slightly higher quality and Bally, the Swiss shoes no longer available in Canada, but remarkable quality and classic style.
A hidden gem for afternoon aperitifs or a night out is prohibition-themed Palmer and Co underneath inconspicuous Abercrombie Lane. The bartenders, dressed in perfect period costumes, have that old-fashioned friendliness while the Jazz bands and scotch selections aren’t bad either.
That’s Sydney during the week; fashionable and formal. Compared to other big cities, downtown is quiet on the weekend, save for special events. The weekend is when most locals stay in the suburbs, stripping down to the bikinis and board shorts hidden under their suits. Rivalling for the title of best beach suburb are Manly and Bondi.
The ferry ride to Manly is beautiful and the boulevard intersecting the beach is full of life. If the beach is too busy, or the surf too big, walk south to Shelley Beach for a snorkelling spot, protected from waves in its little bay, although the sand isn’t as soft.
Another option is Freshwater Beach, 2.5km north of Manly and truly local. You’ll see Freshwater residents teaching their little ones to surf while a rocky pass provides shade and some protection from waves.
Bondi Beach
East of downtown, Bondi Beach gets so packed that swimmers have to dodge each other in the sea, but the sand is wonderfully soft and the sloping crescent shape of the beach is a beauty. Because many Bondi restaurants bank on the location, the food can be overpriced and sub-par, so takeaway is the best bet. Try Miss Chu next to the Bondi Hotel with fresh rice paper rolls and crispy-skin quail. Although busy, the feeling of Sydney’s laid-back, beachy side vibrates through Bondi. I spotted a local Architect I had befriended on a Wednesday morning who told me “I don’t go into work when [surf] conditions are this good.” If Bondi is too busy, take the 5km coastal walk to Coogee and sample other beaches on the way. Watch local surfers at Tamarama and have a picnic at beautiful Bronte.
King Street in Newtown
The suburbs, however, aren’t all beach, either. Newtown, Sydney’s own little Melbourne, is known for great cafes. Among its funky vintage stores are local design shops, such as Elise Design whose clothing is an update to 1950’s classics, well suited to Sydney’s très-femmes style. The Glebe has many romantic midlevel restaurants while Surry Hills has a range of ethnic cuisine that attests to the city’s multiculturalism. Also in Surry Hills is Messina, a parlour that many argue makes the best ice-cream in Australia, with intricate flavours like amaretto-chocolate sponge cake.
The suburbs have their own nightlife in quirky bars with astounding drink choices such as Bat Country near Coogee, historic party pub Friend in Hand in the Glebe (which also hosts crab-races) and classic Irish pub P.J. Gallagher’s with four locations and traditional music. What really makes the suburbs special is that they’re all so unique. In what may look like a bland business centre with over-crowded beaches, Sydney has a lot of life beneath the surface for those who are willing to seek it.
Image credits: Sydney at Night and Bondi Beach courtesy of stock.xchng; King Street in Newtown by Jim Bar
