Sydney Escort

ENTERTAINMENT IN SYDNEY              

Sydney has the standard of entertainment and nightlife you would expect from a cosmopolitan city.  Everything from opera and ballet at Sydney Opera House to Shakespeare by the sea at the Balmoral Beach amphitheatre is on offer.  Venues such as the Capital, Her Majesty's Theatre and the Theatre Royal play host to the latest musicals, while Sydney's many smaller theatres are home to interesting fringe theatre, modern dance and rock and pop concerts.  Pub rock thrives in the inner city and beyond;  and there are many nightspots for jazz, dance and alternative music.  Movie buffs are well catered for with film festivals, art-house films and foreign titles, as well as the latest Hollywood blockbusters.  One of the features of harbourside living is the free outdoor entertainment so, for children, a Sydney visit can be especially memorable.

INFORMATION
for details of events in the city, you should check the daily newspapers first.  They carry cinema, and often arts and theatre, advertisements daily.  The most comprehensive listings appear in the Sydney Morning Herald's  "Metro"  guide every Friday.

The Daily Telegraph  has a gig guide on daily, with opportunities to win free tickets to special events.  The Australian's main arts pages appear on Friday's and all the papers review now films in weekend editions.

Tourism NSW information kiosks have free guides and the quarterly What's on in Darling Harbour, Kiosks are found at Town Hall, Circular Quay and Martin Place.  Where Magazine is available at the airport and the Sydney Visitor Centre at The Rocks.  Hotels also offer free guides.

Music fans are well served by the free weekly guides Drum Media and 3-D World and Brag, found at video and music shops, pubs and clubs.

Many venues have leaflets about forthcoming attractions, while the major venues have information telephone lines and websites.

BUYING TICKETS
Some of the most popular operas, shows, plays and ballets in Sydney are sold out months in advance.  While it is better to book ahead, many theatres do set aside tickets to be sold at the door on the night.

You can buy tickets from the box office or by telephone.  Some orchestral performances do not admit children under seven, so check with the box office before buying.  If you make a phone booking using a credit card, the tickets can be mailed to you.

Alternatively, tickets can be collected from the box office half an hour before the show.  The major agencies will take overseas bookings.

Buying tickets from touts is not advisable, if you are caught with a  "sold on"  ticket you will be denied access to the event.  If all else fails, hotel concierges have a reputation for being able to secure hard-to-get tickets.

CHOOSING SEATS
If booking in person at either the venue to the agency, you will be able to look at a seating plan.  Be aware that in the State Theatre's stalls, row A is the back row.  In Sydney, there is not as much difference in price between stalls and dress circle as in other cities.

If booking by phone with one of the agencies, you will only be able to get a rough idea of where your seats are.  The computer will select the  "best"  tickets.

BOOKING AGENCIES
Sydney has two main ticket agencies.  Ticketek and Ticketmaster.  Between them, they represent all the major entertainment and sporting events.

Ticketek has more than 60 outlets throughout NSW and the ACT.  Opening Hours vary between agencies and call centres, so check with Ticketek to confirm.
Open:  9am - 5pm weekdays;  Saturdays 9am - 4pm.
Phone Bookings:  8:30am - 10pm, Monday to Saturday;  8:30 - 5pm Sundays.

Ticketmaster outlets are Open:  9am - 5pm Monday to Friday.
Phone Bookings:  9am - 9pm, Monday to Saturday and 10am - 5pm Sundays.

Agencies accept traveller's cheques, bank cheques, cash, Visa, Mastercard  (Access)  and Amex.  Some agencies do not accept Diners Club.  A booking fee applies, plus a postage and handling charge it tickets are mailed out.

There are generally no refunds  (unless a show is cancelled)  or exchanges.  If one agency has sold out its allocation for a show, it is worth checking with another.

DISCOUNT TICKETS AND FREE ENTERTAINMENT
Tuesday is budget-price day at most cinemas.  Some independent cinemas have special prices throughout the week.

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Opera Australia offer a special Student Rush price to full-time students under 28 but only if surplus tickets are available.  These can be bought on the day of the performance, from the box office at the venue.

Outdoor events are especially popular in Sydney, and many are free.  Sydney Harbour is a splendid setting for the fabulous New Year's Eve fireworks, with a display at 9pm for families as well as the midnight display.

The Sydney Festival in January is a huge extravaganza of performance and visual art.  Various outdoor venues in The Rocks, Darling Harbour and in front of the Opera House feature events to suit every taste, including musical productions, drama, dance, exhibitions and circuses.

The most popular free events are the symphony and jazz concerts held in The Domain.  Also popular are the Darling Harbour Circus and Street Theatre Festival at Easter, and the food and wine festival held in June at Manly Beach.

DISABLED VISITORS
Many older venues were not designed with the disabled visitor in mind, but this has been redressed in most newer buildings.

It is best to phone the box office beforehand to request special seating and other requirements or call Ideas Incorporated, who have a list of Sydney's most wheelchair-friendly venues.

The Sydney Opera House has disabled parking, wheelchair access and a loop system in the Concert Hall fro the hearing impaired.  A brochure, Services for the Disabled, is also available.

THEATRE AND FILM
Sydney's theatrical venues are well known for their atmosphere and quality.  There is a stimulating range of productions, ranging from musicals, classic plays and Shakespeare by the Sea to contemporary, fringe and experimental theatre.

Comedy is also finding a strong niche as a mainstream performance art.  Prominent playwrights include David Williamson, Debra Oswald, Brendan Cowell, Stephen Sewell and Louis Nowra.

Australian film-making has also earned ans excellent international reputation.  A rich variety of both local and foreign films are screened throughout the year, as well as during eagerly anticipated annual film festivals.

THEATRE
Sydney's larger, mainstream musicals, such as those of Andrew Lloyd Webber, are staged at the Theatre Royal, the opulent State Theatre and the Capitol Theatre. 

The Star City entertainment and casino complex boasts two theatres, the Showroom, and the first Lyric Theatre for musical productions and stage shows.

Smaller venues also offer a range of interesting plays and performances.  These include the Seymour Theatre Centre, which has three theatres;  the Belvoir Street Theatre, which has two;  the Ensemble Theatre, a theatre-in-the-round by the water;  and the Footbridge Theatre.

The Stables Theatre specialises in works by new Australian playwrights, while the new Parade Theatre at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts  (NIDA)  showcases work by NIDA's acting, directing and production students throughout the year.  It also hosts shows by other theatre groups.

The well-respected Sydney Theatre Company  (STC)  has just introduced an ensemble of actors, employed full-time, who will perform a minimum of two plays each season. 

Most STC productions are at The Wharf or the new Sydney Theatre at Walsh Bay, though some are staged in the Drama Theatre of the Sydney Opera House.

The Bell Shakespeare Company interprets the Bard with an innovative slant without tampering with the original text.  Its productions are ideal for young or wary theatre-goers.  While venues vary, there are two seasons in Sydney - one at the beginning of summer and one in autumn.

Street performances and open-air theatre are popular during the summer months when life in Sydney moves outdoors.  Shakespeare by the Sea, at lovely Balmoral Beach, has no need for painted backdrops.

For the adventurous, the Sydney Festival offers a celebration of original, often quirky, Australian theatre, dance, music and visual arts.  Once considered somewhat frivolous, it has now developed the reputation of having serious artistic depth, while maintaining its unique flavour of Sydney in the summer.

CHILDREN'S THEATRE
Sydney thrives on spectacles that delight children, and their parents.  You will often find jugglers, mime artists, buskers and magic shows at Circular Quay and around Darling Harbour.  The Sydney Opera House regularly has performances for children.

In the suburb of Killara, the Marian Street Theatre for Young People stages the occasional theatrical production.  With luck, you may even be able to see a performance by the incredibly athletic Flying Fruit Fly Circus.  This troupe, aged from eight to eighteen, excels in aerial gymnastics.

FILM
The city's main commercial cinema is in George Street, just one block sough of Town Hall.  The cinema behemoths, Greater Union and Hoyts join to form the Greater Union Hoyts Village Complex, which shows the latest films.

Similar multiplexes can be found in the Entertainment Quarter on Driver Avenue, and in Bondi Junction on Oxford Street.  The IMAX  Theatre in Darling Harbour has a giant, 8-storey screen and show 2-D and 3-D films made specifically for the large screen.  Many of these are suitable for children.

Cinephiles flock to Palace Cinemas' Academy Twin and Verona Theatres on Oxford Street, and to the Dendy Cinemas at Newtown and Opera Quays.  Cinema Paris shows arthouse and indie films, and often screens Bollywood movies as well.

The Reading Cinema regularly shows the latest Chinese films.  Foreign films are usually screened in the original language with English subtitles.

For a movie and a meal, Govinda's, which is also an Indian restaurant, screens films that have just finished their run at the cinemas.  The admission price includes a tasty vegetarian buffet dinner.

The latest screenings are usually at 9:30pm, although most major cinema complexes run shows up to as late as midnight.  Commercial cinema houses offer half-price tickets on Tuesday, while Palace and Dendy do so on Monday.

FILM FESTIVALS
The Sydney Film Festival is a highlight of the city's calendar, screening some 200 new features, shorts and documentaries from all over the globe.

Tribute sessions and retrospectives are also presented.  The main venue is the State Theatre but there are satellite screenings at other venues.

The Flickerfest International Short Film Festival is held at the Bondi Pavilion Amphitheatre at Bondi Beach in early January.  It screens shorts and animation films from around the world.

In February, Tropfest shows local short films that can be no longer than seven minutes.  Each must feature the special Tropfest signature item, which in past years has included a rock, a pickle and a match.

Run by Queer Screen, the New Mardi Gras Film Festival, starts mid-February and continues for 15 days.  Films dealing with issues relevant to the lesbian, gay and transgender community are shown at various inner-city venues.

COMEDY
Sydney's most established comedy venue, the Comedy Store is known for its themed nights.
Open:  Tuesday:  mic night;  Wednesday:  new comics;  Thursday:  cutting edge; 
Friday and Saturday are reserved for the best of the best.

Monday is comedy night at The Old Manly Boatshead, where both local and visiting comics perform.  Monday is also comedy night at the Bridge Hotel, where live entertainment is offered most nights of the week.

OPERA, CLASSICAL MUSIC AND DANCE
Music buffs cannot possibly visit Sydney without seeing an opera or hearing the city's premier orchestra perform in the Sydney Opera House.  And that is just the start.  Since the 1970's, music played in Sydney has considerably broadened its base, opening the door to all manner of influences from Asia, Europe and the Pacific, not to mention local compositions.  For the visitor, there is a wealth of orchestral, choral, chamber and contemporary music from which to choose.

OPERA
Australia has produced a number of world-class opera singers, including Joan Sutherland, and eminent conductors such as Sir Charles Mackerras, Simone Young and Stuart Challender.

The first recorded performance of an opera in Sydney was in 1834.  For 120 years, most opera was performed by visiting international companies.

In 1956, the Australian Opera   (now called Opera Australia)  was formed.  It presented four Mozart operas in its first year.  But it was the opening of the Sydney Opera House in 1973 that heralded a new interest in opera.

Opera Australia's summer season is held from early January to early March;  the winter season from June to the end of October.  Each season usually includes one accessible opera in English as well as more challenging shows.  Every year at the hugely popular Opera in The Domain, members of Opera Australia perform excerpts from famous operas.

ORCHESTRAL MUSIC
Much of Sydney's orchestral music and recital are the work of the famous Sydney Symphony Orchestra  (SSO).  Numerous concerts are given, mostly in the Opera House Concert Hall, the City Recital Hall and the Sydney Town Hall.

A Tea and Symphony series is held mid-year on Friday mornings at the Sydney Opera House.  Babies' Proms take place many times each year in the Eugene Goossens Hall for children under five.

The recently renovated Conservatorium of Music, set in the Royal Botanic Gardens, provides a wonderful atmosphere and location.  It holds a number of concerts, where you can enjoy symphony and chamber orchestras or jazz big bands.

Formed in 1973, the Sydney Youth Orchestra, is praised for its talent, enthusiasm and impressive young soloists.  With a loyal following, it stages several performances in major concert venues throughout the year.

Afcionados of Baroque and classical music should try to catch a performance by the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra.  Australia's first period instrument orchestra, this popular group appears regularly in Sydney's major concert halls.

CONTEMPORARY MUSIC
The first concert held by Musical Viva was in 1945, at the NSW Conservatorium of Music.  Originally specialising in chamber music, it now presents string quartets, jazz, piano groups, percussionists, soloists and international avant-garde artists as well.  Concerts take place at the Opera House and the City Recital House.

Synergy is one of Australia's foremost percussion quartets.  The group commissions works from all over the world and gives its own concert series at the Sydney Opera House and at Sydney Town Hall.  It also collaborates with dance and theatre groups.

Eastside Arts, held, like Paddington Markets, in the Uniting Church, hosts Cafe Carnivale every Friday night, showcasing some of the best world music, including rembetika, Indian , African, percussion, gypsy, salsa and tango music.

Fourplay is a group of classically-trained musicians who play electric string quartet versions of popular music at various venues.

CHAMBER MUSIC
Under director Richard Tognitti, the Australian Chamber Orchestra has won high acclaim for its creativity and interesting choice of venues, including museums, churches and even wineries.  Its main concerts are held at the Opera House and the City Recital Hall, Angel Place.

The Australia Ensemble is the resident chamber music group at the University of New South Wales.  It performs six times a year at the Sir John Clancy Auditorium and also appears for Musical Viva.

Many choral groups and ensembles, such as the Macquarie Trio of violin, piano and cello, like to book St James Church because of its atmosphere and acoustics.  This talented group also performs at the theatre in Macquarie University.

CHORAL MUSIC
Comprising the 120-strong Sydney Philharmonia Symphonic Choir and the 40-member Sydney Philharmonia Motet Choir, the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs are the city's finest.  They perform at the Opera House.  December is the focal point of Sydney's choral scene, with regular massed choir performances of Handel's Messiah.

The Australian Youth Choir is booked fro many private functions, but if lucky, you many catch one of their major annual performances.

One of Sydney's most impressive vocal groups is the Cafe of the Gate of Salvation, described as an  "Aussie blend of a capella and gospel".

DANCE
There is an eclectic variety of dance on offer in Sydney.  The Australian Ballet has two seven-week Sydney seasons at the Opera House:  one in March/April, the other in November/December.  The company's repertoire spans traditional through to modern, although it is perhaps most noted for classical ballets such as Swan Lake and Giselle.

Sydney Dance Company is the city's leading modern dance group, often combining its vigorous productions with innovative musical scores.  It has performed in Italy, New York, London and China.

Productions are mostly staged at the Sydney Opera House, but are, on occasion, held at The Wharf or the new Sydney Theatre.

Acclaimed choreographer and artistic director, Graeme Murphy, often collaborates with international luminaries to put up fantastic shows.

The Performance Space, which consists of a theatre, two galleries and a studio, is very popular for its experimental dance and movement theatre.  Artists with backgrounds in everything from dance, mime and circus work to Butoh and performance art are likely to appear here.

Bangarra Dance Theatre uses traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance and music as its inspiration, infused with contemporary elements.  It makes outback interstate and international tours, but is based in Sydney.

The startling and original Legs on the Wall are a physical theatre group who work all over the world, combining circus and aerial techniques with dance and narrative to form a heady mix, often performed while suspended from skyscrapers.

The smaller experimental companies rely on year-to-year funding or community-based work.  These include the collaborative One Extra Dance Company.  They perform contemporary and exploratory dance, in youth theatre, at concerts, for communities and at venues all over Sydney.

FREE CONCERTS
Throughout the year, festivals provide free live music.  These are mostly held outdoors, to take advantage of Sydney's warm weather.

During the Sydney Festival the city's favourite outdoor concert take place , including Opera in the Park, Symphony in The Domain and the Australia Day Concert, all held in The Domain, as well as Latin music in the Aquadome at Darling Harbour and events in the Sydney Opera House forecourt.

The Conservatorium of Music holds a weekly series of inexpensive concerts in their Verbrugghen Hall during the university semester, entry is by gold coin  ($1 or $2)  donation.

Staff and students present classical, modern and jazz music in ensemble, soloist and chamber performances.  Buskers, jazz bands, string ensembles, guitarists or dancers perform most weekends and during school holidays at Circular Quay, The Rocks and Darling Harbour.

MUSIC VENUES AND NIGHTCLUBS
Sydney attracts some of the biggest names in modern music all year round.  Venues range from the cavernous Sydney Entertainment Centre to small and noisy back rooms in pubs.

Visiting international DJ's frequently play sets at Sydney clubs.  Some venues cater for a variety of music tastes - rock and pop one night, jazz, blues or folk the nest.  There are several free weekly gig guides available, including Drum Media, 3-D World and Brag, which tell you what is on.

GETTING IN
Tickets for major shows are available through booking agencies such as Ticketek and Ticketmaster.  Prices vary considerable, depending on the shows that are going to take place.  You may pay from $30 to $70 for a gig at the Metro, but over $150 for seats for a Rolling Stones concert.

Moshtix also sells tickets for smaller venues across Sydney and their website gives a good idea of the various venues and what is on.  Buying online also prevents you from having to queue early for tickets from the door.

You can also pay at the door on the night at most places, unless the show is sold out.  Nightclubs often have a cover charge, but some venues will admit you free before a certain time in the evening or on weeknights.

Most venues serve alcohol, so shows are restricted to those at least 18 years of age.  This is the usual case unless a gig is specified  "all ages".

It is advisable that people under 30 years old carry photo identification, such as a passport or driver's licence, because entry to some venues is very strict.  You are also not allowed to carry any kind of bottle into most nightclubs or other venues.  Similarly, any cameras and recording devices are usually banned.

Dress codes vary, but generally, shorts  (on men)  and flip flops are not welcome.  Wear thin layers whivh you can remove when you get hot instead of a coat, and avoid carrying a big bag, because many venues do not have a cloakroom. 

ROCK, POP AND HIP HOP
Pop's big names and famous rock groups perform at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Hordern Pavilion, and sports grounds such as the Aussie Stadium at Sydney Olympic Park in Homebush Bay. 

More intimate locations include the State Theatre, Enmore Theatre and Sydney's best venue, The Metro Theatre.  Hip Hop acts usually play in rock venues rather than in nightclubs. 

You are almost as likely to find a crew rapping or a band strumming and drumming at the Metro Theatre, the Gaelic Club, Newtown or the Hopetown Hotel.  It is not unusual to catch a punk, garage or electro-folk band at Spectrum or the Annandale Hotel on Parramatta Road.

Pub rock is a constantly changing scene in Sydney.  Weekly listings appear on Fridays in the  "Metro"  section of the Sydney Morning Harald and in the street press.

Music stores are also full of flyers and gigs by international acts and popular Australian bands,  on every week at the Metro Theatre and Gaelic Club, usually sell out.

JAZZ, FOLK AND BLUES
For many years, the first port of call for any jazz, funk, groove or folk enthusiast has been The Basement.  Visiting luminaries play some nights, talented but struggling local musician others, and the line-ups now also includes increasingly popular world music and hip hop bands.

Soup Plus, Margaret Street, plays jazz while serving reasonably priced food, including soup.  Experimental jazz is offered on Fridays and Saturdays at the Seymour Theatre Centre.

The Vanguard, a newer venue, also offers dinner and show deals, as well as show-only tickets, and has been drawing and excellent roster of jazz, blues and roots talent.

Annandale's Empire Hotel is Sydney's official home of the blues, and the Cat & Fiddle Hotel in Balmain of acoustic music and folk.  Wine Banq, a plush CBD bar and restaurant, dishes up smooth jazz most nights of the week.

HOUSE, BREAKBEATS AND TECHNO
Sydney's only super club, Home Sydney in Cockle Bay features three levels and a gargantuan sound system.  Friday night is the time to go, as the DJ's present house, trance, drum and bass and breakbeats.

A mainstream crowd flocks to the nearby Bungalow 8 on King Street Wharf.  Once the sun has set, house DJ's turn the place into a club.  At the swank Tank on Bridge Lane, the emphasis is on pure house music and the decor is a throwback to Studio 54 in New York.  Cave, at Star City, is another mainstream house club.

For something a little more hip, try Candy's Apartment on Bayswater Road, or the fashionable tech-electro Mars Lounge on Wentworth Avenue, with its red lacquered interior.

Enter Goodbar on Oxford Street in Paddington by a barely marked door, descend a flight of stairs, and you will find yourself in one of Sydney's longest established nightclubs.  There is hip hop some nights, house others.

Down the road, Q Bar on Oxford Street, Darlinghurst, has arcade games for when you need a breather.  Or try the low-ceilinged Chinese Laundry on Sussex Street, tucked under the gentrified pub, Slip Inn.

GAY AND LESBIAN PUBS AND CLUBS
Sunday night is the big night for many of Sydney's gay community, although there is plenty of action throughout the week.

A number of venues have a gay or lesbian night on one night of the week and attract a mainstream crowd on the other nights.  Wednesday is lesbian night at the Bank Hotel in Newtown and some Sundays are queer nights at Home Sydney and Mars Lounge.

Club Kooky, on William Street, offers an alternative to the mainstream gay clubs with a mixed crowd, excellent DJ's and live electronic music, and an anything-goes vibe on Sunday nights.

ARQ on Flinders Street is the largest of the gay clubs, with pounding commercial house music.  The main dance floor is overlooked by a mezzanine for watching the writhing mass of bodies below.

Midnight Shift on Oxford Street is for men only, and Stonewall plays camp anthems and is patronized mostly by men and their straight female friends.  At The Venus Room, on Roslyn Street, cabaret club, drag shows are performed every night.

The Colombian is the best of the Oxford Street bars, with a mock-Central American jungle and large windows that open out to the street.

The Oxford Hotel and its upper-level cocktail bars are popular too.  Both the Newtown Hotel and Imperial Hotel have drag shows on most nights of the week.

THE SENIOR CITY                 

Australia's largest and oldest city is also its most beautifully situated Indeed arguably, no metropolis in the world can come close to its matchless setting on Sydney Harbour, the broad waterway and many inlets and bays contributing a spectacular dimension to city life.

At weekends the water is alive with sails and power craft.  And added to the natural beauty are the twin man-made landmarks known the world over, the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.

The Opera House is one of the most innovative buildings of the 20th-century, creating for architect Joern Utzon entirely new engineering problems in constructing the shell-like roofs.  The bridge, linking the north and south sides of the city, was one of the engineering wonders of the modern world when completed in 1932.

Since Governor Arthur Phillip arrived in 1788 with an 11-ship fleet carrying 1030 colonists  (736 of them convicts)  and planted his flag at Sydney Cove, Sydney has grown into an exuberant and stylish city.

The more than three million Sydneysiders sprawl over 4000 square km, suburbs stretching to the foot of the Blue Mountains 55km inland and 70km from north to south.

The heart of Sydney clings to Sydney Cove and its immediate area, and in post-war years the skyline has taken on the angular profile of tall glass and concrete tower blocks found around the world.

However, at more down-to-earth levels, much of the city's colonial heritage has been preserved - buildings which have seen Australia's span from a penal colony to a nation.

Parliament House, St James' Church, and Hyde Park Barracks have all stood since early last century.  The last two are the work of convict-architect Francis Greenway, whose design excellence is still admired.

The Rocks, where the First Fleet arrivals established their primitive homes, is Australia's oldest residential area, ans has stubbornly clung to a crowded-street charm.  There was little thought in the infant colony to orderly planning, and as a result the city lacks any broad, elegant avenues.

Macquarie Street is Sydney's most handsome thoroughfare, with its solid sandstone government buildings and former townhouses of the wealthy.  The Botanic Gardens, Hyde Park, and Centennial Park are the city's breathing space.

Inner suburbs retain the aura of Victoriana from which they sprang and in addition have taken on characters of their own.  The charm of the 19th-century terraces and cottages has become increasingly appreciated and in many cases whole streets have been brought back to their old graceful dignity.

ART GALLERY OF NSW
Australian works span paintings by colonial artists Martens and Glover, through to Streeton and Conder, up to the present day.  Roberts' Bailed Up is among the most familiar paintings.

Seventeen grave posts from Melville Island are regarded as the most significant Aboriginal items.

Over many decades the gallery concentrated on British works of the Victorian era and early 20th-century.  European representation includes the work of Picasso and Rembrandt

The imposing sandstone portico and Ionic columns for 60 years comprised the frontage of essentially temporary galleries, until the newing and renovations were opened in 1972.

BELMAIN
The closely populated suburb has a lived-in charm and a stunning view across Darling Harbour to Sydney's high-rise profile.  Situated on a peninsula, its shore varies from a container terminal and other waterfront activity to a pretty park and residential streets.

There are many historic building of note.  Blacket planned the 1854 watch house;  the old post office, now a restaurant, is even earlier, dating from 1850.

William Belmain was a First Fleet surgeon who verbally crossed swords with John MacArthur and was challenged to fight the entire New South Wales Corps' officers one by one.  Satisfaction was reached before it came to duelling.

CENTENNIAL PARK
Sydney's largest park cover 220ha and was common ground until 1888 when it was laid out to celebrate Australia's first hundred years.

The nine lakes attract many species of water birds, and the six-sided Federation monument - is the only one of its kind.  It is possible to ride through the park on hired horses or bicycles.

CIRCULAR QUAY
Officially known as Sydney Cove, where the white settlement of Australia began on January 26, 1788 when Governor Phillips stepped ashore and established his penal settlement.

The quay is the hub of the harbour ferry services, and large cruise ships - including Queen Elizabeth II - tie up at the international terminal where thousands of migrants have taken their first steps on Australian soil.

Dwarfed by neighboring office blocks, the sandstone Customs House stands where  Phillip raised his flag.  Above the entrance is a portrait of Queen Victoria and a splendidly carved coat-of-arms.  The anchor of Phillip's ship, HMS Sirius  (which was of less tonnage than a Manly ferry), is in a nearby square.

DIXON STREET
This is the heart of Sydney's Chinatown, which has expanded to cover several blocks of restaurants and shops;  there is even a Chinese cinema.  The street, entered through large Oriental gateways, was converted into a promenade after a soothsayer has pronounced the most auspicious time and good weather for the opening.

GOVERNMENT HOUSE
Governor Gipps moved into the house in 1845, a quarter of a century later than had been recommended.  The Gothic Revival building is adorned with battlements, turrets and cloisters.

Much more visible to the public is the almost as grand stables and servants' quarters, since 1916 the Conservatorium of Music.  Built to Francis Greenway's design in 1821 on Governor Macquarie's orders, its basic structure resembles a castle keep, with the courtyard since roofed in to form the auditorium.  Its extravagance at a time when the colony was almost bankrupt angered the London government.

HARBOUR BRIDGE
The majestic 503m long span commands the harbour skyline, and the pride and affection it instills makes the bridge Australia's best-loved landmark.  Eight lanes of traffic, two railway tracks and two footpaths are carried on the 59m wide deck.

Completed in 1932 after nine years' work, the steel are is a majestic feat of engineering.  Its weight of 60,000 tonnes rests on four bearing set on immense concrete foundations, and at its highest point the steelwork is 134m - equivalent to 40 storeys - above the water.

Construction was carried out from each end and when the two halves met they were only 7cm out of alignment.  Despite a toll on the 40 million vehicles which cross the bridge each year, the 9 million borrowed for construction is still not paid.

HYDE PARK
The city's most central open space has always been devoted to recreation and relaxation.  "Sydney Race-course"  was established in the first decade of the 19th-century, and the first bare-knuckle fight was also staged here.  The contest lasted or 56 rounds.

Now the park is 16ha of formal gardens, with the State's war memorial standing among trees and lawns.  The granite art deco tribute rises 30m and comprises a Hall of Memory and a Hall of Silence where statuary symbolises Sacrifice.

The largest of three fountains, the Archibald Memorial, is a bequest of Jules Francois Archibald, co-founder of the Bulletin and founder of the annual Archibald Prize fro portraiture.

Archibald was an ardent Francophile, and the memorial, bequested for in his will, commemorates the associaton of Australia and France during World War I.

KINGS CROSS
"The Cross"  is Sydney's most raffish district - by day a tightly packed community that likes to think it has retained some of the bohemian attitudes for which it was known several decades ago;  by night a  "bright lights"  tourist area of night clubs, restaurants, discos, strip clubs and tourist shops.

It was known as Queens Cross over the turn of the century, than the name was changed to avoid confusion with Queens Square near Hyde Park.

MACQUARIE STREET
A street of doctors, lawyers, politics and history, given a spacious air by The Domain bordering part of one side.  Many 19th-century townhouses of the wealthy now carry the brass plates of medical men, and the Royal Australian College of Surgeons is headquartered in a four-storey Georgian building noteworthy for its  veranda on each floor.

The core of colonial buildings on the eastern side is Sydney Hospital, built in the 1880's on the site of the famous Rum Hospital, given its name after Governor Macquarie in 1810 accepted a tender which, as payment, allowed the builders the monopolistic right to import 45,000 gallons of spirits.

One wing of the Rum Hospital has, since 1829, been the home of the New South Wales Legislature, while the other wing, with a history as the Royal Mint and various government offices, has been renovated to be a fine arts museum.

Across the street bewigged barristers emerge form the tower of the new Law Courts.  Among the statuary is a bronze of King Edward VII by Thomas Brock, whose best-known work is the Queen Victoria Memorial outside Buckingham Palace.

MARTIN PLACE
A pedestrian thoroughfare, which during the 1970's was gradually cleared of traffic, now stretches five blocks, given an air of relaxation by a waterfall, a concert amphitheatre and a selection of sculpture.  The Cenotaph is the centre of ceremonies on Anzac Day and stands on a spot where many men enlisted.

The oldest and most striking building on the plaza is the massive pile of the General Post Office, an example of the Classical Revivalism of Victorian times at its most magniloquent. 

Architect James Barnet is one of many heads carved into the friezes.  The colonnaded frontage stretches for 120m, while the 70m tower was the highest structure in the city centre in pre-skyscraper days.

OBSERVATORY PARK
The highest point in Sydney and in colonial days a signal station for shipping and site of windmills.  The building of the sandstone observatory began in 1856, incorporating walls and battlements of a fort erected half a century earlier.  It served its purpose for many decades.

The State's National Trust operates out of a two-storey building which, when taken over in 1974, was Fort Street School.  Governor Macquarie had it built in 1815 as a military hospital.

OPERA HOUSE
Australia's best-known building, with its unique sail-like profile on Sydney Harbour, is familiar around the world.  Opened by the Queen in 1973, it contains a 2690-seat main hall, 1547-seat secondary auditorium, a drama theatre, recording hall, music room, recital room and a 10,000-pipe organ which cost more than $1 million.  The white room gleams from a million Swedish tiles and weighs 157,800 tonnes.

The building's serene appearance belies the turbulence of its birth.  Danish architect Joern Utzon resigned half-way through the project in the midst of a turmoil of building delays, ballooning costs  (from $7-million to an eventual $10.2-million), personality clashes, political power plays and departmental pressures.  Despite its name, opera is staged in the lesser hall.

ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS
The nation's first public gardens began as a farm planted out with seeds and plants collected at Rio de Janeiro and the Cape of Good Hope by the First Fleet. 

Some beds still existing evolved from those early gardening patches.  The 29 hectares on the shores of Sydney Harbour are laid out in the Upper Garden, Middle Garden, Lower Garden and Garden Palace Grounds, and more than two million visitors a year stroll through the landscaped grounds, which are also a favourite route for battalions of lunchtime joggers.

Four thousand trees and plants represent most parts of the world, and more than a million specimens are to be seen in the new $4.5-million herbarium.  There is also an excellent palm collection.  The adjacent Domain covers 51ha of less formal parkland and on Sunday draws listeners to its Speakers' Corner.

Among the statues are figures of Henry Lawson, Robert Burns, Governor Phillip, Prince Albert and five-times Premier Sir John Robertson.

Under an obelisk are the ashes of explorer and botanist Allan Cunningham, who resigned as Colonial Botanist when he discovered the staff were expected to grow vegetables for high officials.

ST ANDREW'S ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL
A pedestrian precinct has opened up the view of Australia's oldest cathedral and it can no be fully enjoyed.  Although perhaps modest by expected cathedral standards, its mellow stone complements the Gothic Lines.

Governor Macquarie laid the first foundation stone of Greenway's ambitious design in 1819, but the building was postponed because of financial strictures and it was another three decades before work resumed, this time to a new Edmund Blacket design.  The two towers were added in the 1870's.

ST MARY'S CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL
The authoritative Gothic church is almost surrounded by parkland.  One of the best views is from the east;  this outlook, up a hill, puts the building on the skyline.  The building is the third on the site, the foundation stone being laid in 1868.  Building continued until 1928, but after more than half a century it is still without the twin spires planned in the original design.

The cathedral has some fine windows and at the entrance are statues of Archbishop Michael Kelly, who finished the building, and his predecessor, Archbishop Kelly.

Catholics have worshipped on this ground for more than 160 years.  Their spiritual needs were ignored in the early years of colonialism - being forced to attend Protestant services - but in 1821 Macquarie Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary  (Only three years earlier he had deported a priest).  The early church gave way to the first St Mary's Cathedral, which was destroyed by fire in 1865.

THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM
Eight million items are in the collections, which concentrate on natural science, anthropology and ethnology.  There is also an outstanding stamp collection.

The first wing of the museum was opened in 1849, and extensions have gone on ever since.  For 20 years before the first premises were habitable, exhibits were housed in the homes of the Judge-Advocate and Chief Justice, and Darlinghurst court house.

THE ROCKS
In the shadow on the Harbour Bridge and its southern approach road, The Rocks is Sydney's most historic enclave.  This is where the First Fleeters put up their shanties.  The streets are soaked in character and often linked by stone steps worn by almost two centuries of feet.

Old warehouses and bond stores have been converted into shopping arcades and restaurants, houses into craft shops and other small businesses.  But today's respectability was often, last century, a hell's kitchen of taverns, brothels and violence.

Facing Sydney Cove is the city's oldest dwelling, the 1815 stone cottage of Superintendent of Boats John Cadman;  around the corner is Sergeant Major's Row, a century-old terrace where Sydney's first street once ran;  work on Argyle Stores began in 1826;  St Patrick's  (1844)  is Sydney's oldest Catholic church.

Millers Point, reached through Argyle Cut, is a village in the middle of a city.  It even has a green, Argyle Place, lined with 1840's houses which look across to the Garrison Church, built during the same period.  Its interior is adorned with insignia of the redcoat regiments who worshipped here.

The rector's salary was ten shillings for every Church of England soldier stationed at the nearby battery,  Nautical names are appropriate for the old pubs - the Lord Nelson, the Hero of Waterloo  (licensed in 1833 as the Shipwright Arms)  and the former Whalers Arms.

TOWN HALL
The basically Renaissance building is on the site of the city's first general cemetery, a factor which caused many years of indignant wrangling before the tombs were moved.

The Duke of Edinburgh laid the foundation stone in 1868.  The result of six years' building is a monument to civic pride;  a decorated and carved exterior of Pyrmont sandstone, and a handsome interior of high ceilings and red cedar, with a 1952-piece crystal chandelier in the main reception room.

The 1880's clock is still manually wound, and the hour bell weighs almost two tonnes.  The 1906 lift was among the city's first electric elevators.

Among treasures gathered over the years is a Sevres porcelain vase known as the Vase de Rimini, which was presented to the city in 1880 on behalf of the French people.

The 2635-seat Centennial Hall was a leading concert venue before the opening of the Opera House.  Its Grand Organ is among the largest in the world.

UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY
The mellowed gentle sandstone blend of Tudor and Gothic architecture and green lawns which forms the heart of Australia's oldest university is a mirror of the  "dreaming spires"  of Oxford and Cambridge. And indeed architect Edmunc Blacket in the 1850's was inspired by the two English universities when he designed the building.

His masterpiece is the Great Hall, derived form the 1399 Westminster Hall in the British Houses of Parliament.  Its Royal Window illustrates the monarchy from the Normans to Victoria.

Carving on Blacket's main building, whose clock tower contains a carillon which is the University's war memorial, took six years.

One of the prime movers behind the early builders was Vice-Provost F. L. S.  "Futurity"  Merewether.  He gained the nickname because of his enthusiasm and certainty in the University's destiny.

An assortment of buildings has grown up around Blacket's, until the university covers 56ha with courses for more than 17,000 students.

The Fisher Library contains more than 400,000 volumes, while the Nicholson Museum of Antiquities has been built around a collection presented by Charles Nicholson, who in 1854 was appointed the first Chancellor.

VICTORIA BARRACKS
Convicts began building the barracks in 1841 at a time when this part of Sydney was rolling dunes.  The commanding officer of the Royal Engineers, Major George Barney, chose the site - deliberately away from the temptations of Sydney - and designed a fine example of Georgian military construction.

The 225m main block was designed to take a British regiment of those times, 800 men, and a sentry has manned the gate 24 hours a day for more than 130 years.

The oldest armament is a showpiece 1779 six-pounder cannon.  Every Tuesday morning, except in high summer, the guard is ceremonially changed.

PADDINGTON
The picturesque suburb is Sydney's equivalent of London's Chelsea.  Many of the ironwork-adorned Victorian houses have been restored and the suburb has become one of the  "in" places to live, gathering among its residents writers, painters, sculptors and people in other fields of art.

The first houses were built for workmen employed on building Victoria Barracks in the 1840's.  A pump installed in 1868 to provide the district's first water supply has been preserved on the main street.

RANDWICK
Randwick is known to racegoers around Australia, and cricket lovers around the world.  The first meeting at Sydney's premier course was run in 1833. and several of Australia's leading races are on the spring and autumn carnival cards.

Radio listeners tuned into Test matches from Sydney Cricket Ground know the familiar phrase:  "......and now, coming into bowl from the Randwick Road end.....".  A statue to Captain Cook erected in 1874 has mariner looking toward his landing place, Botany Bay.

NEWTOWN
A cosmopolitan district of Victorian streets, with St Stephen's Anglican Church an outstanding Gothic Revival building.

Edmund Blacket, who designed the church, lies in the cemetery alongside explorer Thomas Mitchell, scientist and first president of The Australian Museum Sir Alexander Macleay, and Major Edmund Lockyer, who founded the first settlement in Western Australia.

NORTH SYDNEY
Office towers began springing up in ranks in the 1970's and the district is now the fifth largest commercial centre in Australia.

Many older buildings have disappeared as a result of the development, which has attracted many advertising agencies and their associated concerns.

The oldest survivor is Don Bank, an 1853 slab cottage.  St Thomas Anglican Church is considered among the finest built by Edmund Blacket.

The stone font was carved in 1845 by artist Conrad Martens, who helped design an earlier church on the site.  Famous marine surveyor Owen Stanley and Martens himself are among several famous figures buried in the churchyard.

EXPLORE AUSTRALIA - THE COMPLETE TOURING COMPANION                   (BOOK)

SYDNEY'S COLONIAL PAST             Pages 30-31

At the first settlement at Sydney Cove Captain Watkin Tench of the Marines wrote  "to proceed on a narrow, confined scale in a country of the extensive limits we possess, would be unpardonable....extent of Empire demands grandeur of design".

Such "grand design"  began in 1810, when the vision of the new Governor, Lachlan Macquarie, was put into practice by the convict architect Francis Greenway, giving us a heritage of splendid buildings, many of which are landmarks today.

It continued through nearly a century of growth and lofty ideals to create a prosperous and busy metropolis - a great symbol of colonial aspirations.

As it developed, Sydney was both  "mean and princely", a mixture of broad, tree-lined  avenues and narrow streets and alleys, grand buildings and crowded cottages and terraces.  Its switchback, craggy hills around the sprawling indented harbour made orderly Georgian style planning impossible, and the grand outlines of earlier days soon became blurred by the city's growth from first settlement to colonial seat, to state capital, to modern city.

In modern Sydney, however, with its gleaming towers, its crowds and its traffic, substantial and fascinating remnants of old Sydney remain.  Some parts of the city, such as The Rocks area, adjacent to Circular Quay, are almost pure history.

The old pubs and bandstands, sandstone cottages and terrace houses, The Argyle Cut and Agar Steps, the Garrison Church and the village green are an oasis separated from the bustling city by Flagstaff Hill, where the old Observatory stands, and the Harbour Bridge.

There are many other inner suburban areas that are reminiscent of the feeling of old Sydney.  Paddington is the show-place historic suburb, with its picturesque terraces and cottages, many of them superbly restored by proud owners.  The narrow streets of this once working-class suburb provide and intimate, neighbouring feeling.

Balmain, Leichhardt and Redfern are becoming popular as the advantages of inner suburban living and sandstone cottages attract owners who are conscious of the aesthetic quality of the old houses.

In the city itself, the street which best reflects the past is probably Macquarie Street, which overlooks the Domain where Government House, the National Gallery and the Conservatorium of Music are situated.

Governor Macquarie planned fro the east side of the street to be occupied by official buildings and for the west to contain town houses of wealthy citizens, which are now mainly occupied by members of the medical profession.

Among other interesting buildings in Macquarie Street are Parliament House, a verandahed sandstone building which was known as the Rum Hospital;  the adjoining Mint Building of the same age;  the Richmond Villa in Gothic Style - now in Dent Street;  Sydney Hospital;  the Royal College of Physicians;  and the Hyde Park Barracks  (1819), now the Law Courts.  In nearby Queens Square is the classically designed St James's Church.

At the harbour end of Mrs Macquarie's Road is a natural reminder of the Macquarie era - a sandstone shell known as Mrs Macquarie's Chair.  The Governor's wife is said to have sat here and gazed out upon the great harbour, now one of the world's busiest and most picturesque waterways.

There are a number of other major buildings in or near to the city;  buildings like Elizabeth Bay House, in Regency style, now beautifully restored and show-place for the rich furnishings of the time when it looked out over a harbour verged by cliff and woodland. 

The General Post Office in Martin Place, completed in 1887  in classic Renaissance style;  the Great Hall of Sydney University , and  St Andrew's Cathedral, designed by William Wardell;  the Greek Revival courthouse in Taylor Square, designed by Mortimer Lewis;  Vaucluse House, former home of William Charles Wentworth, the father of the NSW Constitution.

But perhaps the most striking example of colonial architecture in Sydney is Victoria Barracks in Darlinghust.  This two-storey sandstone building of severe Georgian style, 74 metres long, with white-painted upper and lower verandas, is a model of elegance.

As settlement extended from the harbourside colony, villages were established, first in the upper Hawkesbury region to the north-west, then to the south and, finally, as the Blue Mountains were breached, out to the western plains and throughout New South Wales.

In the upper Hawkesbury valley are the sister towns of Windsor and Richmond, beautifully sited on the river and retaining the peaceful charm and many of their earlier days.

Windsor has a number of fine buildings:  Claremont Cottage, St Matthew's Anglican Church, the Macquarie Arms, Tebbutt's Observatory, Doctor's House, the Toll House, and the courthouse,  to name but a few.

At Richmond are the mansion Hobartville, Toxana House, St Peter's Anglican Church, the School of Arts and Belmont.

In the Southern Highlands, the settlements of Campbelltown, Camden, Moss Vale, Berrima and Bowralare full of historic interest.  Berrima is perhaps the best example of a colonial town, as the Berrima Village Trust has preserved it as it was in the nineteenth century.

Sited in a valley, it contains a number of fine sandstone buildings grouped around a  central common, among them the gaol and court-house, the Surveyor-General Inn, the Church of the Holy Trinity, Harper's Mansion and Allington.

There are many other historic towns and properties throughout New South Wales bearing the hall-marks of a nation's foundation, though Berrima is the best preserved.