DK Travel : Sydney : History & Culture

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Looking for Alibrandi (1992)

Melina Marchetta’s coming-of-age novel features a young girl struggling to find her identity.
Macquarie Takes Charge

Governor Lachlan Macquarie took charge of the colony in 1810 and restored order. During his 12-year governance, he managed to transform the outpost from a ramshackle penal colony into a town with regular roads and civic amenities. He also encouraged Emancipists, convicts who had served their time, to stay and contribute to the colony’s growth, thus ensuring a thriving future for Sydney.
Manly Beach

Newspaper editor William Gocher challenged the laws in 1902 by enjoying a midday swim at Manly. His crime? It was illegal to swim in public between 6am and 8pm. Thanks to Gocher’s bold action, daylight bathing was legalized within a year, provided that one always wore a conservative neck-to-knee swimsuit.
Mardi Gras is Born

Over 1,000 gay rights activists took to Sydney’s streets demanding equal rights in 1978. Several protestors were arrest-ed, but they vowed to return the following year. The parade that followed in 1979 established an annual event that is now a major tourist attraction (see Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras).
Martin Place

Martin Place runs from the General Post Office on George Street uphill to Macquarie Street. The 1891 GPO was designed by James Barnet (see Darlinghurst Court House & Old Darlinghurst Gaol) and built over the Tank Stream. Check out the amusing characters above the Pitt Street colonnade (see A Walk from Circular Quay to the QVB) and the grand 1912 Commonwealth Bank Head Office. The bank’s equally impressive 1928 sibling resides just up the hill. Opposite the GPO is the striking 1925 NeoClassical National Australia Bank, and the Cenotaph commemorating Australia’s war heroes.
May Gibbs (1876–1969)

May Gibbs wrote and illustrated children’s stories that were distinguished for their inventiveness and their use of Australian flora and fauna. Nutcote (see Neutral Bay & Cremorne), her home for more than 40 years, is now a museum dedicated to her work.
Megan Gale

A supermodel in Italy, Gale often returns to Sydney to hit the runways.
Miles Franklin (1879–1954)

Franklin struggled for years following the success of her 1901 novel, My Brilliant Career , but found renewed interest in 1928 when she published Up the Country . She was an early feminist and worked with women’s groups in the USA and as a nurse in Europe during World War I. Upon her death, her estate established Australia’s most prestigious literary award, named in her honour.
Monkey’s Mask (1994)

Dorothy Porter’s verse novel features a lesbian private detective and several poetic red herrings.
Museum of Sydney

This stunning museum occupies the site of Sydney’s first Government House, a prefabricated structure that was shipped over with the First Fleet in 1788. That structure was demolished in 1846, but some of its original footings are still visible through glass panels set into the floor. The museum places the history of white settlement against the Aboriginal custodianship of the land. The museum’s plaza features Edge of the Trees (see Edge of the Trees), an installation and soundscape which explores Aboriginal history and culture.