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Some of Sydney’s most glamorous shopping, where you’ll find international labels such as Gucci, Vuitton and Chanel.

With increasingly more citizens calling for reconciliation between black and white Australia, many rose to their feet when champion Aboriginal runner Cathy Freeman lit the Olympic flame to signal the start of the first Olympic Games of the new millennium in September 2000.

Sydney’s Central Park is a gorgeous 220-ha (543-acre) expanse of playing fields, horse-riding facilities, ornamental lakes and ponds, cultivated gardens, sports grounds, cycle and jogging paths and light bushland with beautiful paperbark trees. It is the largest open space in the central area and a popular destination for barbecues and picnics.

The coast from Broken Bay (see Pittwater & Broken Bay) to Newcastle offers glorious ocean beaches, national parks and several lakes and water-ways. The main regional town is Gosford, at the head of Brisbane Waters. This large waterway runs out to Broken Bay past Woy Woy and the pleasant townships of Hardy’s Bay in Killcare, Pretty Beach and Wagstaffe. Behind Wagstaffe is Bouddi National Park, which extends north to pleasant McMaster’s Beach. Pearl Beach (see Swim at Pearl Beach) and the tiny fishing village of Patonga, surrounded by Brisbane Waters National Park, overlook Broken Bay.

Their “hip on a budget” slogan is a great description of this hotel. Its reasonably-priced studio rooms and light and airy New York-style loft suites are complemented by neutral colours and clean-lined furniture.

Grungy, smoky and filled with goths and punks, this dive pub is the place to go before watching a band at the Metro (see Metro Theatre).

Happiness is welcomed into this lively restaurant by the giant Buddha that takes center stage. The delicious Malaysian food may be an aphrodisiac.

Circus Oz mixes social commentary with satire, rock and roll, acrobatics and comedy to deliver performances that live up to their credo: Community, Diversity, Humanity, Hilarity. They are a travelling troupe but perform at Sydney’s Moore Park in January and February. Check out their website for performance dates.

The first specifically-designed concert venue built in Sydney since the Opera House, the 1973 City Recital Hall is an uplifting space, ideal for acoustic music. The quality of sound has already attracted Australia’s leading companies, including the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Musica Viva and the Sydney Philharmonic Choir.