[Seth] Sydney Thoughts

We have spent the last week in Sydney and just wanted to share some observations.  We stayed in an AirBnB at the intersection of two neighborhood:  Woolloomooloo

Woolloomooloo

You got this. Just sound it out. Oi Oi Oi!

Grit And Glamour

Luxury Yachts

Fine Dining

Finger Wharf

and Darlinghurst

Darlinghurst

The spectrum from seedy to sophisticated.

Gay Pride

High Energy

Oxford Street

Coffee Snobs

• And as it turns out, Sydney is a lot like San Francisco.

• Both cities are situated around water with bridges and ferries being a normal part of everyday travel. 
  
• Both have a world famous bridge (The Golden Gate and Sydney Harbour)
  
• San Francisco metropolitan area has around 4.7 million people, while Sydney has a population of 5 million.
• They both have very expensive housing.  I tend to always look at the real estate listings when I travel (a blog post for another day) and Sydney is very pricey and, of course, San Francisco is ridiculous.
• And both cities have too many cars.  My favorite cities are those in which you can rely on public transportation -- NYC, Paris, London.  Both Sydney and SF have some public transportation but not enough and the result is constant traffic.
• Sydneys beaches and coastline are incredible.  And it seems like there is a new beach or cove every kilometer or so (often with a swimming pool filled with Sea Water).  We did the walk between Coogee Beach and Bondi Beach and visited Manly Beach.   There was even a lawn bowling club right next the ocean (and a giant cemetery).
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Flying Cockroaches.  The first thing our AirBnB host told us after we arrived was that Australia was the cockroach capital of the world and make sure to keep doors/windows closed or they would fly in.  Happily, that is not my hand.
  

• Fireworks are such a frequent occurrence over the Harbour that there is a website for tracking them:  Fireworks - City of Sydney.  Likewise, cruise ships visit every day and dock next to the Harbour Bridge and you can track them too:  https://www.portauthoritynsw.com.au/cruise/cruise-schedule/

• Flying Foxes.  If you see a "bird" at dusk, it probably isn't a bird but rather a flying fox, or fruit bat.  They are everywhere close to the Sydney Botanical Gardens.