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Several locations around Sydney contain Aboriginal rock art, including Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, the Royal National Park, and the Brisbane Waters National Park. One of the most accessible sites is the North Bondi Golf Course, where you’ll find rock carvings just below the tower on Military Road.

Captain James Cook and the crew of the Endeavour came ashore at what is now Botany Bay on 28 April 1770. On 6 May, the Endeavour took on fresh water, weighed anchor and headed north. They soon passed the entrance to a harbour which appeared to offer safe anchorage, which Captain Cook named Port Jackson; it subsequently came to be known as Sydney Harbour.

The freshwater Tank Stream determined the site of white settlement in 1788. Other than two artworks near Circular Quay, its only visible remains are in a small display including several items found during excavations, located beneath the old GPO.

Landing at Collins Beach (see Circular Quay) in 1790, Governor Phillip and his officers met a group of Aborigines including Bennelong (see Sydney Opera House). An Eora man, never having seen white men before, speared Phillip through the shoulder. Assuming the man had misunderstood his intentions, Philip made no reprisal – that time.

This small island was once named “Pinchgut” due to the meagre rations doled out to its recidivist convicts. The body of a criminal, Francis Morgan, who was executed in 1796, was left to rot out on the gallows for three years as a warning to new convicts who sailed past the island upon their arrival.

Governor Phillip’s cottage and country retreat, constructed in 1790, was rebuilt by Governor Hunter in 1799. Governor and Mrs Macquarie, who preferred it to their city residence, later made numerous alterations to the structure and interior design. The oldest public building in Australia, it is now a museum.

A small park in Eastwood on Sydney’s North Shore commemorates Maria “Granny” Smith who, in 1868, discovered in her orchard a mutated variety of apples sprung from the cuttings of French crab apples. Then a curiosity, it soon became the world’s best-known variety, particularly valued for its virtues as a cooking apple.

Prior to Federation on 1 January 1901, Australia was not a united nation but actually six unaligned and competing colonies, comprising New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland, South Australia and West Australia. This 1988 pavilion in Centennial Park marks the site of the historic original pavilion, which was right at the centre of celebrations in 1901.

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.

Many events of the 2000 Olympic Games, including the opening and closing ceremonies, took place at Sydney Olympic Park (see Sporting Venues & Olympic Sites), 14 km (8.5 miles) west of the city. The park also contains the Tennis Centre, the Aquatic Centre and the Sydney Showgrounds. The Visitor Gateway provides maps and runs tours.