NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

NEUTRAL BAY ON SYDNEY’S LOWER NORTH SHORE HAS VIEWS THAT NEVER GET OLD. JOIN LOCALS LINGERING OVER COFFEE AT WATERFRONT CAFE THELMA & LOUISE, WANDER AROUND THE GARDENS OF NUTCOTE, THE HARBOURSIDE HOME OF MAY GIBBS, AND FEEL THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIAN VIBES AT SOCAL SYDNEY. EAT STREETS

When it comes to great food, Sydney is no slouch. And the beauty of eating your way around such a multicultural city is that you can embroider so many different experiences together. From cheap and cheerful options such as in and HAPPY CHEF CHINATOWN ALEX in to LEE KITCHEN SPICE ALLEY, CHIPPENDALE, a seemingly endless array of upscale restaurants with water views – think ANASON

in BARANGAROO, and PILU AT FRESHWATER in – Sydney has a plethora of MIMI’S COOGEE great places for good food. Kick off a great day with a cold brew at in COFFEE ALCHEMY MARRICKVILLE, breakfast ramen at the RISING (part motorcycle mechanic, SUN WORKSHOP part ramen shop in an old hardware store) in and a picnic in a NEWTOWN CAMPERDOWN park using supplies sourced from DELI. After dark, the small CONTINENTAL bars and restaurants around light SURRY HILLS up, while gourmands looking for a bit of glitz and glamour head to Alessandro Pavoni’s A’MARE, one of 14 new restaurants in the new bright and shiny kid on the block: SYDNEY. BARANGAROO CROWN

MUST DO

Whether you’re staying in a luxury WILDLIFE eco lodge or glamping at RETREAT ROAR AND SNORE, staying overnight at is TARONGA ZOO an unforgettable way to enjoy Sydney’s wild side (read: nocturnal encounters with animals). Bracket your safari-style experience with a ferry ride from nearby MANLY BEACH back to QUAY, followed by a CIRCULAR BRIDGECLIMB, which wows with its sweeping views from the summit of the ‘Coathanger’.

WALK THE WALK

In addition to well-trammelled coastal paths from to and to the BONDI COOGEE MANLY SPIT, you can follow Sydney’s scalloped shoreline from to CAPE SOLANDER CRONULLA and to BRADLEYS HEAD CHOWDER BAY.

While some walks are short and sweet – such as at and the new FAIRFAX WALK NORTH HEAD – others are BARANGAROO FORESHORE WALK aimed at hardy hikers such as the 27-kilometre-long trek from to OTFORD or the to trail, BUNDEENA BEROWRA COWAN which stretches 12.9 kilometres.