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Sydney World’s Best Harbour

August 5, 2013 by David Herd

Wonderful harbour, golden beaches & sunshine.

Sydney World’s Best Harbour

Sydney harbour best in the world, it is as exciting city, I admit to being biased when talking about this great city, I was born & raised here in the middle of the last century. I have flown into Sydney hundreds of times and even now it still takes my breath away. Most of this post will centre around the fabulous harbor because without a doubt it is the best the world has to offer.

View from Drummoyne bay.

For several years I was fortunate enough to live on the waterfront in Drummoyne, a few miles west of the city, and every day from my balcony I would marvel at the city skyline and Harbour Bridge. My boat was moored in front of my home and every weekend you would find me on the harbour visiting quaint little beaches and wonderful restaurants. The photo above was part of my view.

Here is a stunning view of the Sydney city skyline.

Sydney is rather fragmented due the harbour splitting it between north & south, personally I prefer to stay north of the harbour, but Darling Harbour on the west of the city is a great location, as is the famous Bondi Beach which is located in the eastern suburbs. Make sure you catch a ferry to Manly from the city and you will see why Sydney Harbour is regarded as the best in the world. So do your research and pick the district where you would like to book your hotel.

Circular Quay, the gateway to the city.

Grab a seat here and soak up the tremendous view.

Sydney World’s Best Harbour

A huge ship is moored right opposite the Opera House.

Ferries at Circular Quay

A short trip to Manly across the magnificent harbour should be on the top of your list.

Centrepoint Tower.

Centrepoint tower which naturally has a revolving restaurant stands 309 m (1,014 ft) above Sydney.

Anzac Bridge

The ANZAC Bridge, replacing the earlier Glebe Island Bridge, is a large cable-stayed bridge spanning Johnstons Bay between Pyrmont and Glebe Island close to the central business district of Sydney, Australia. Wikipedia

Darling Harbor in Sydney

The Grand Mercure hotel in Darling Harbour.

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The Oaks Hotel in Neutral Bay.

One of my old haunts for many years, the Oaks is one of the best hotels in Australia.

The Oak tree at the Oaks hotel

I have so many wonderful memories of enjoying a beer or two with friends at this great hotel.

Mr Wong, good Cantonese restaurant.

Mr Wong’s is a very good Cantonese restaurant off Bridge St in Sydney not far from Circular Quay.

Mr Wong at 3 Bridge St.

Mr Wong’s has a great atmosphere and very good food, put it on your list.

The famous Sydney Harbour Bridge.

No doubt this is the best harbour in the world.

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Climb the Harbour Bridge.

My English friend Bill Austin said “lets go climb the bridge”,I said “thank you, but I think at this stage I will decline”, Bill being an ex Para military man had experienced about 500 jumps out of planes, many at night into enemy territory. I on the other hand have a great fear of heights, in fact let me tell you a little story about my brief stint in the fire brigade. I was 22 years of age when I passed the simple entry exam for the NSW fire brigade, everything was fine in the first 2 weeks, I was learning all the riveting information about the contents of a fire extinguisher and driving around Centennial Park in the fire engine.

Suddenly they produced what they claimed was the highest ladder in the country, 130 feet they proudly quoted. All the new recruits had to line up to climb to the top, drop a hook attached to your belt over the top rung of the ladder, then lean backwards trusting the hook would hold you. My turn finally came, I pointed out to the instructor there was nobody up there that needed to be rescued, so if he didn’t mind I would rather decline his request. As you can imagine he wasn’t happy, so after many heated words had passed between us I wandered into the front office and laid my helmet and axe on the counter, resigned and went home. So ended my career as a fearless fire fighter. 😳

This pastime is more my preference.

Forget about climbing bridges or jumping out of planes, I prefer to do battle with a wonderful Queensland Mud Crab. OK, so maybe he was dead and posing no threat, but there is no finer meal in Australia than a 1.5 kilo monster washed down with a Margaret River Chardonnay.

The Manly Ferry.

One of the best things to do in Sydney is to catch the ferry from Circular Quay in the city to Manly one of Sydney’s famous beaches. Enjoy some fish & chips by the beach and try to keep the seagulls from stealing your food.

Fish & Chips + Oysters.

Here I am at Manly with my friend Sue from Shanghai.

The Corso in Manly.

In 1787, Captain Arthur Phillip of the Royal Navy left England with a fleet of ships to establish a colony in New South Wales. He was to be it’s first Governor. In January 1788, the fleet arrived at its destination, Botany Bay, which was found to be unsuitable for settlement, So, on 21 January, Phillip with others travelled north and examined Port Jackson, so named by Captain James Cook in 1770. They spent three days exploring Port Jackson and Phillip, impressed by the “confidence and manly behavior” of a group of aborigines in the northern reaches of the harbour, called the place “Manly Cove”.

Doyles at Watson’s Bay.

On the opposite side of the harbour from Manly is Watson’s Bay, I have forgotten how many times I ate at this famous Sydney harbour side restaurant throughout the 70’s & 80’s, in fact I could almost drive my boat blindfolded from my waterfront home in Drummoyne about 40 minutes west of here.

Doyles in 1981.

This was Doyles 32 years ago in 1981. On this original site, Doyles opened Australia’s first seafood restaurant in 1885. The restaurant has been family owned and operated for over five generations. With both indoor and outdoor dining, Doyles is located right on the foreshore of Watsons Bay overlooking the magnificent panorama of Sydney Harbour.

Flashback, Doyles 1982.

Here I am at Doyles with Helen Burke, my girlfriend at the time, enjoying one of our countless lunches on beautiful Sydney Harbour. Who said nostalgia was a thing of the past?

Did I have any fun in the 80’s?

So maybe I am going back a long way, over 30 years in fact, however the fun we had on Sydney’s beautiful harbour will never be forgotten, and you can still live this same great life in Sydney today.

Dining solo (again) at Mr Wong.

More photos of Mr Wong HERE.

Check out the super hotel rates from Agoda

Sydney is magnificent

Put this venue on your bucket list.

What a harbour

My only complaint is that I can’t afford to live there anymore. 🙂

Well folks, many thanks for visiting my Sydney Harbour photo blog about the town where I was born. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed growing up there.

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