Contents
Blue Mountains
Hunter Valley
July climate
Where to get more information

Sydney

Sydney, with its population of over 3.5 million, is Australia's largest city, and was the first site of settlement on the Australian continent.

Sydney owes a lot to its harbour: first discovered in 1770 by Captain James Cook who named it Port Jackson. In 1788 Captain Arthur Phillip declared it “the finest harbour in the world”. Today, it is the world's best natural harbour, due to its vast size, its protection from storms, uniform depth, small tides, and its lack of navigational hazards. It embraces more than 55 square kilometres of water and caters for more than 4000 vessels each year.

Each weekend the harbour bustles with activity. Sydneysiders take their pleasure craft on the water - sailboats, speedboats, yachts and launches - to join the bust harbour traffic of ferries and hydrofoils. Sydney Harbour is also the venue of many boating classics, including the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.

Between Sydney's two most famous landmarks, the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, is Sydney Cove - the birthplace of the city, state and nation. In 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip chose this inlet to establish the first colony because of its deep bay and running stream of fresh water. Its foreshore, now Circular Quay, in the heart of the city, is dwarfed by skyscrapers.

Blue Mountains

Names for their distinctive blue haze, a result of eucalyptus oil evaporating from millions of gum trees, the Blue Mountains have long been a popular holiday destination and are a natural wonderland of untamed bush, spectacular rock formations and native wildlife.

The Blue Mountains are justly famous for their spectacular scenery of high precipices rising from densely wooded valleys. Although the area has been developed for tourism, deep gorges and high rocks make much of the terrain inaccessible, except to skilled bushwalkers and mountaineers.

Hunter Valley

The Hunter Valley is just 2 hours drive north of Sydney and represents one of Australia's most famous wine making regions. The winemaking tradition dates back more than 150 years.

Most wineries welcome visitors and are open for inspection and wine tasting daily.

July climate

Where to get more information

Please visit the New South Wales Tourism web site at http://www.tourism.nsw.gov.au.