The city of Sydney

We live in North Sydney, about 10 kilometers north of CBD (Central Business District) famous for the opera and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Before moving here, Sydney always felt like a big city. Very busy and lively. I now know this does not apply to large parts of the city. I realize that the City of Sydney (mainly the CBD) is relatively small and that Sydney mainly consists of quiet residential suburbs. I believe Sydney alone has about 200 suburbs where you find hardly any high rise appartment buildings.

Anyway, this is the case in North Sydney where we live. It may be completely different on the other side of the Sydney Harbour bridge which divides the city in two. I’ve heard people say that if you live in the north you hardly ever travel to the other side because you have no business there. This is not the case for us, of course. Thanks to my ‘I can’t sit still’ husband, we’ve already been all over the place. I’m sure that in a few months from now we will know the city better than most Sydney people.

The suburbs all have a shopping centre with a Woolworth (or Woollies) or a Coles supermarket, a few shops, restaurants and of course lot’s of coffee places. Sydney has an amazingly strong coffee culture. While we live in a suburb in a quiet residential area we have a coffee place at about 300 meters from our house, next to the bus stop. I guess they must get enough customers to make it worthwhile. The people also use funny terms to order coffee. This morning I heard someone say: 'May I have a flat white? Can you make it very flat, please? ' Not sure what that means, 'very flat'??? Anyone?

We live relatively close to CBD. By scooter, it takes Marcel about 15 minutes to get to work depending on the traffic. By bus it takes about 30 minutes. It’s not a difficult route. From our house you just turn left, follow the road till the end, then turn left again, turn right after 200 meters, follow the road, over the Sydney Harbor Bridge, right into town.

Some people prefer to live further up north because you get a bigger house and more space for less money. There is a train line to get to CBD relatively fast. The scenery in this northern part of Sydney is definitely not what you would expect in a city. It’s a great place for nature lovers with lot’s of green.