Today is a holiday in Sydney, Australia marking the day when British convicts first landed there. 10 things you might not know about Sydney.
- It’s the largest city in Australia with a population of over 5 million people, but it’s not the capital (that’s Canberra). It is, however, the capital of the state of New South Wales. In terms of area, it’s size is 1,580 square kilometres, over twice the area of New York City. It’s a very cosmopolitan city with about a third of its population having been born outside of Australia.
- At one point the settlement was going to be called New Albion, from an old fashioned name for Britain. Founder Arthur Philip, however chose the name Sydney instead.
- The area had been inhabited by human beings long before this. Indigenous Australians have inhabited the Sydney area for at least 30,000 years, and it is one of the richest areas for archaeological sites in the country.
- People from Sydney are commonly called “Sydneysiders” although the less polite nickname of “convicts” is sometimes used because that is what the majority of the first settlers were. The city’s nickname of “Sin City” also refers to this. During the 1920s and 1930s there was a lot of organised crime which was mostly run by two women, Tilly Devine, who had an extensive network of brothels in the city, and Kate Leigh, known as the queen of Sydney’s underworld. Despite it’s beginnings, however, Sydney was ranked the fifth safest city in the world in 2019.
- Sydney has over 100 beaches, ranging in size from a few feet to several kilometres in length. The smallest is McKell beach, located on Darling Point. It’s so small that the only way to get to it is by boat at low tide. The longest is Bate Bay, at 4.8 km in length. The two most famous are Bondi, where, in 2007, 1,010 women in Bikinis showed up to set the Guinness World Record for the largest swimsuit photo shoot; and Manly, named by Captain Arthur Phillip for the indigenous people there. He said of them that “their confidence and manly behaviour made me give the name of Manly Cove to this place”.
- Sydney also has the deepest natural harbour in the world with 504,000 megalitres of Water.
- As well as bikini photo shoots, Sydney holds a couple of foodie world records as well. A Sydney cafe, Ambrosia On The Spot, made the world’s largest burger, which contained a 95.5 kilograms beef patty, 120 Eggs, 150 slices of Cheese, 1.5 kg of Beetroot, 2.5 kg of Tomatoes and almost 2 kg of Lettuce. Sydney was also in the Guinness Book of Records for the longest Pizza line, at 221 meters, in the Italian quarter of Leichhardt.
- The oldest building in Sydney is Cadman’s cottage, built in 1816. The oldest street is George Street. The oldest public building is the Sydney Mint, built between 1811 and 1816. The tallest building is Sydney Tower, 309 metres tall, which opened in 1981.
- Sydney is home to the largest fish market in the Southern Hemisphere, and the longest continuous moving walkway in the Southern Hemisphere.
- Sydney’s postcode is 2000, the same number as the year it hosted the Olympic Games.
See also: Sydney Harbour Bridge, and look out for Sydney Opera House later this year.
New Year New Reading Challenge?
I can help. Here are links to books which meet potential criteria:
A title with three words
- Death and Faxes
- Killing Me Softly
- Settling the Score
- Secrets and Skies
- Over the Rainbow
- Closing the Circle
A title with six words
A book with a number in the title
A book with a colour in the title
Short story collections/A book with a green cover
A book published in the last year/during lockdown
A book you can finish in a day/A book under 200 pages
A book featuring characters from a deck of cards
A Book set during Christmas
A book with a place in the title
A Debut novel
A book with a plant or flower on the cover/A book about siblings
A book with a female villain or criminal
Includes space travel
Features Royalty
Books featuring skiing or snowboarding
A book with the Olympic games in it
A book with a bird in the title
A book featuring a secret society
A book featuring time travel/alternative dimensions
Raiders Trilogy:
Books featuring superheroes
Books featuring ghosts
From an Indie Publisher/Self published/An author you've not read before/A female author/A genre you wouldn't normally read/A book outside your comfort zone/A book by an author with your initials and your initials are JH
All of them!
More details can be found here
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