My answer to What's special about Sydney, Australia?
Answer by Desmond Last:
When I first arrived from the U.K (where I am in exile at the moment) I could never stop smiling after I finished work. I was living Double Bay with Red-leaf Beach on my doorstop. It was February, and I had just emigrated from the U.K.where it was cold and damp and you had to know your place.
Sydney was for me like a supermarket. What job did I want? It did not matter, if you were good they would employ you. I had never worked on a boat in my life.
Within weeks I was working on Sydney Harbor as a Boat Mechanic (I am a qualified Vehicle Technician).
In the evenings I was head deckhand and barman on the Sydney Showboat complete with glamorous Showgirls.
I have always loved Sydney. It has history that has made a present. As the owner of Sydney Boat Sales when out showing boats on Sydney Harbour, I would tell clients the history of Cockatoo Island, which was a prison for convicts from the U.K. The history of a Nation in the making is all around you.
You can walk from Newtown across the Harbour Bridge to view the Opera House from across the Harbour, and marvel at the engineering of the Harbour Bridge. It is not to big a City to walk anywhere.
I used to walk across the road from my home in Darlington, and swim in the open air pool in Victoria Park, or get on my Ducati and ride down to Coogee beach for coffee on a Sunday morning,
It is a City and a very vibrant one. It does not have the stress of London or the toxicity – apart from morning rush hour.
Sydney has every nationality, every culture and every faith. They all get on with each other.
Sydney also has every type of food and clothing.
I spent 23 years there and loved all of it, apart from the last bit.
Note: I am going back to sort out the last bit – legally. One day you will see it on your News and read about it in your newspapers. Yep it's that big.
Sydney will never fail to impress and will always delight.
What's special about Sydney, Australia?
