Sydney is to Australia what London is to England and Paris is to France. In recent
years, the city has received the Cond Nast award for the World's Best Tourist
City. It has also won Business Traveler magazine's award for Best Destination.
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Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and is Australia's oldest and largest city. Founded in 1788 it has a population of almost four million and boasts one of the largest and most beautiful harbours in the world. Two easily recognizable landmarks which often depict Australia rather than just Sydney are the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. With the settlement of numerous nationalities over the past couple of generations, the restaurants, shopping and nightlife are as varied and interesting.
To see the best of Sydney
harbour you should try a ferry trip from Circular Quay. The Manly Ferry is
one of the best trips on offer, as it shows off some of the best views of
the city, including the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. Further on you
will see many superb waterfront homes as well as many beaches and small coves.
The ferry passes the Heads which is the opening to the harbour from the Tasman
Sea, but docks in Manly Cove. A short walk through the Mall will lead you
to Manly Beach, which is one of Sydney's most popular beaches.
To the west of the city centre is a refurbished area called Darling Harbour which is the location for many Hotels. The area offers many great restaurants, unique shops and Entertainment Centres. You can get to Darling Harbour on the Monorail which does a curcuit through the city centre. For the best view of Sydney you could go up the top of the Sydney Tower. From up here you can see the whole city with 360 degree views.
Sydney is a huge city
area wise but the city has spread out as far as it can go as it now borders
3 National Parks. The Royal National Park to the south , Kurangai Chase National
Park in the north and the Blue Mountains National Park in the west. The Blue
Mountains is a popular place for 
Sydneysiders to get away from it all because
it is situated at a higher altitude than the coast, so the climate is cooler
and and refreshingly welcome during the summer months. The Blue Mountains
can also receive snow during the winter months. The Blue Mountains is best
described as a series of canyons carved out of the Great Dividing Range. The
area is heavily forested with steep cliff walls and some spectacular waterfalls.
Colourful parrots, and other birds are abundant, and quite often they come
really close to people when they are looking for food.
Further west of the Blue Mountains, you will enter rural New South Wales, which consists of rolling green countryside populated by sheep and cattle as well as wild emus and kangaroos. Towns such as Bathurst and Orange serve as centres for the rural economy here. If you continue west the landscape becomes increasingly arid and flat as you enter the vast Australian Outback.
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