SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (Port No. 14, 2/23-27/12)

SYDNEY'S CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT

∙ GEOGRAPHY 101
          ∙ Land Mass/Continent: Australia (Continent No. 4 of 7 on our journey)
          ∙ About Sydney: Sydney is the largest and most populous city in Australia and the capital of New South Wales (Australia’s most populous state)
          ∙ Estimated Population: 4.5 million
          ∙ Distance From Home (San Diego, CA): 7,507 miles
          ∙ The Water That Got Us Here: South-east coast of the Tasman Sea (aka the “Ditch”), which separates Australia and New Zealand and is a south-western segment of the South Pacific Ocean

Location of Sydney

∙ ITS PLACE IN HISTORY/ INTERESTING FACTS
          ∙ Currency:  Australian Dollar (AUD); the 5th most traded currency in the world (with a 7.6% share of average daily turnover; the U.S. dollar is the most traded, by far, with an 84.9% share)
          ∙ Official Language:  None (!), but English has become so entrenched that it's the de facto language
          ∙ Local time: 
          ∙ Average full-time annual gross wages in Australia:  $47,810
          ∙ Inhabitants of Sydney are called “Sydneysiders”, a population made up of people from numerous parts of the world
          ∙ Radio carbon dating suggests Sydney has been inhabited by indigenous Australians, the Cadigal people, for at least 30,000 years
          ∙ Sydney, the site of the first British colony in Australia, was established in 1788 as a penal colony
          ∙ There were app, 4,000 to 8,000 Aboriginal people there when the British arrived; the next year, 1789, shortly after a French expedition arrived, a catastrophic epidemic disease wiped out thousands of local Aborigines
          ∙ There was violent resistance to British settlement; by 1820, there were only a few hundred Aborigines left; efforts began to “civilise, Christianise and educate” them, by removing them from their clans
          ∙ The city is built on hills surrounding Port Jackson, which is commonly known as Sydney Harbour
          ∙ Sydney ranks among the top 10 most liveable cities in the world
          ∙ Sydney hosted the 2000 Summer Olympics
          ∙ Some popular movies have been shot in Sydney, including "The Matrix", "Moulin Rouge" and "Australia"!
          ∙ Travel video:  http://www.youtube.com/user/THEWORLDOFTRAVEL#p/search/0/PbD-qAi3ssk

∙ CLIMATE
          ∙ Sydney has a temperate climate, with warm summers and mild winters
           ∙ Average low for February: 65.8
          ∙ Average high for February: 78.4

∙ HIGHLIGHTS/THINGS TO SEE
          ∙ The iconic Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge

SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE

SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE

          ∙ Other Places to See: Royal Botanic Gardens, Hyde Park, Luna Park, Bondi Beach, and Sydney Tower (a sky tower like in Seattle)