Sydney (pop. 3.4 million), the oldest, largest and handsomest of Australian cities, lies amid a unique intermingling of land and water on Jackson Bay, its natural harbor, on the southeast coast of the Australian continent.
In 1770 Captain Cook named the natural harbor to the north of Botany Bay Port Jackson in honor of the secretary to the
British Admiralty, Sir George Jackson. Eighteen years later, on January 26th 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip, commander of the First Fleet, declared a narrow inlet within Port Jackson a British colony, calling it Sydney Cove after Viscount Sydney, then secretary of state.
Public transport
Sydney has an extensive network of train, taxi, bus and ferry transportation options. Although many residents travel by car, The City Rail trains revised their schedule and brought on more drivers. This service is most used by commuters from the suburbs. Commuter and tourist ferry services are available on Sydney Harbour and the Parramatta River.
Accommodation
Sydney has a wide range of hotels in the first-class to luxury categories, which during the week are often fully booked but at the weekend usually offer price reductions. In addition to moderately priced hotels there are youth hostels and other cheap accommodation, mostly in the Kings Cross area. For a longer stay there are service apartments and bed and breakfast houses at reasonable prices. Visitors arriving in Sydney without a booking can apply to the Travellers' Information Service at the airport, which will try to find them a room.
Highlights
Sydney's principal landmarks are the Harbour Bridge, Sydney Tower (at 305m it is the third tallest observation tower in the Southern Hemisphere) and the world-famous Opera House, but the city's core is its huge natural harbor, with an area of over 55sq.km and arms reaching out in all directions - the remnants of a submerged valley system. The city center is bounded on the north and west by water, on the east by the green expanses of the Royal Botanic Gardens, the Domain and Hyde Park and on the south by the Central Station.
Layout of the city
In contrast to the regular and spacious layout of the younger Australian cities, Sydney has a complicated and irregular street pattern resulting from its gradual development from the original colonial settlement to the city's present area of over 12,400sq.km, resembling older cities of Europe. Arthur Phillip, the first governor of the colony, had ambitious plans for his settlement, with spacious squares, broad streets and imposing public buildings; but his successors did not carry out these plans, and Sydney grew up with narrow streets and buildings adapted to the contours of the site. As a result the city's streets were too narrow and irregular even in the days of coach travel.
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