scubish.com: Scuba diving Sydney - Australia

Understand

History

Sydney is the oldest European settlement in Australia, having been founded as a British penal colony on 26 January 1788 (now celebrated as Australia Day, the national public holiday, with major festivities around the city and the Harbour).

People

Sydney is one of the most cosmopolitan cities on the planet. As well as being home to the decendents of those who arrived with the original English, Irish and Scottish colonists, Sydney has attracted immigrants from all over the world - from countries as diverse as Italy, Greece, China, New Zealand, India, the Phillipines, Lebanon, Vietnam, Thailand, South Africa and the Pacific Islands. Sydney's culture, food and general outlook reflect these contributions to the majority Anglo-Celtic cultural basis.

Sydney has a prominent gay community. Every year, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is celebrated at the end of February, drawing people from all over Australia and the world for the celebrations.

Sydney became the centre of the world's attention in September 2000 when the city hosted the 2000 Summer Olympics - officially announced by the IOC Chairman at the Closing Ceremony as "the best games ever"! The Olympics saw a major building and renovation program take hold of Sydney, positioning it as one of the great world cities of the 21st century and will continue to hold its world city status.

Climate

Sydney is perhaps best described as "sub-tropical" - although Sydneysiders talk about "four seasons", it is truer to say that Sydney has but two seasons: a hot, mildly humid one (summer), and a colder one (winter). Others , citing indigenous traditions claim up to six seasons (not all in the same year) : hot/dry, hot/humid, warm/dry, warm/humid, cool/dry, cool/wet. The city is generally comfortable for travellers to visit any time of year. The average annual temperature in central Sydney is 25°C (77°F). The city enjoys in excess of 300 sunny days each year - that said, when it rains, it really can rain, varying between days of grey drizzle to over a week of bucketing downpours with occasional localised flooding (although Sydney is currently in the middle of a six year-long drought).

Summer can be extremely hot, with temperatures climbing to over 40 degrees Celsius for a number of days each year in Summer, accompanied alternately by stifling humidity and searing dry winds. Sydney is generally well equipped with air conditioning in public buildings, however, and the beaches and harbour are only a short journey away -- just remember your sun protection, as the UV exposure risk is extreme in Australia! Hot summer days frequently (though not always...) end with a "Southerly buster", a cold front sweeping up from the south, bringing a clearly noticeable drop in temperature, driving rain and thunderstorms -- a "mini monsoon". Within hours, the storm can pass and the evening continues cooler. Summer is also the season when bush fires on the margins of the city are most prevalent. For this reason, in hot weather lighting of outdoor fires (non-gas BBQ's etc) is frequently banned (reported as a "total...