We all know about Bridge Climb, but there are other ways to enjoy the world's most beautiful harbour.
Let's get this straight from the start - a ride on Sydney's Harbour Jet is not a relaxing sightseeing tour. But if your idea of seeing the sights includes a good dose of thrills and a guarantee of getting wet, then Harbour Jet is definitely the thing to do on Sydney Harbour.
The jet boats, which have been zipping around the Harbour now for two years, offer a range of trips, from a 35-minute 'Jet Blast' to an 80-minute 'Middle Harbour Adventure'. They all offer a mixture of high-speed touring (up to 75 km/h - which feels really fast when you're in a small boat bombarded with salt spray), 270-degree spins, wild fishtails and power brake stops that bury the nose of the boat deep into the water.
The main difference between the tours is how long you want to be out there and how far you want to travel. Most of the rides concentrate on the calm southern side Harbour bays, but the longest tour, the Middle Harbour Adventure, takes you outside the heads, where you'll ride the ocean swells and then under the Spit Bridge to a section of the Harbour and National Park that is rarely visited by other Harbour cruises.
The tours offer non-stop action and are suitable for older children. Although knee-length spray jackets are supplied you will get wet, and the jackets are not totally waterproof. Take a change of clothes and appropriate shoes. Those sitting at the back of the boat will get the wettest. It's great on a warm day, though cold days could get a little chilly (the trips go all year round, in any weather).
NRMA Members are entitled to discounts on Sydney Harbour Jet.
There is something hedonistic about spending two days and nights on Sydney Harbour. No matter how jaded you may be with the daily grind of the city, the views are so spectacular that you can't help but be exhilarated.
Until recently, there were no overnight cruises on the Harbour, apart from private charters. Now Captain Cook Cruises, the largest cruising operator on the Harbour, is offering two-night weekend escape Harbour cruises aboard MV Captain Cook's Explorer.
The cruise begins on Friday evening, departing from Walsh Bay at 6pm. After a welcoming cocktail and safety briefing, the cocktail hour begins in earnest as we cruise around the inner Harbour and watch Sydney light up and sparkle.
Dinner is served as we watch fireworks explode over Darling Harbour - they happen most Friday nights - before the dancing begins. There is a different entertainer each night. At the end of the evening the ship drops anchor at Farm Cove, just metres from the Opera House.
The next day, early risers take a guided walk through the Botanic Gardens. After breakfast, it's time to take the Saturday newspapers and enjoy a coffee on the sundeck, watching the world drift by as we lazily cruise up the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers.
Lunch is a buffet and barbecue as we head back to the city for an afternoon shore excursion to The Rocks Markets. These undercover markets offer a range of high quality arts and crafts, and there are always lots of buskers and street entertainers to further liven up the bustling atmosphere.
The ship drops anchor at Athol Bay for dining and dancing at the Captain's dinner, then there's a cruise along the eastern suburbs foreshore.
Day two starts with another guided walk, this time along the northern foreshore, before the anchor is dropped for the morning at Watsons Bay. The energetic cruisers head ashore for a swim or a walk up to South Head, while the more relaxed spend the morning with the Sunday papers or in the library with a good book.
The last meal on board is a sumptuous seafood buffet before cruising back to Pier One among the Sunday afternoon sailing boats.
For details on cruise dates and reservations call Captain Cook Cruises on (02) 9206 1122 or visit www.captaincook.com.au. For details of NRMA Member discounts on selected cruises, visit www.mynrma.com.au/attractions
Learning the ropes
Clamouring aboard the wooden deck of the 19th Century barque, the James Craig, I was welcomed with a loud chorus of "heave!" Thinking at first they were offering helpful advice to the friendly deckhand who was guiding me up the gangway, I soon realised they were, of course, hollering the order to a group of a dozen or so people straining against huge, heavy ropes to lift the mainsail. This was when I realised that I was indeed about to spend the day cruising the Harbour on an authentic, working, tall-masted, sailing ship.
The James Craig is one of only four similar vessels anywhere in the world still sailing, all others of this type are either unsalvageable wrecks or museum exhibits that haven't had their hulls wet for a very long time. It is also one of the few that are available for day trips for landlubbers like me.
Launched in England in 1874 as the Clan Macleod, the three-masted iron barque had a working life of nearly 60 years, carrying cargo to ports all around the world, including 23 roundings of Cape Horn. By the 1930s she was lying rusted, leaking and abandoned, in the waters of Recherche Bay in Tasmania. In 1973, the ship was patched up, towed to Hobart and eventually into Sydney Harbour on Australia Day 1981.
For the next few years she lay in various bays of the Harbour including, most notably, at an old wharf at the bottom of Glebe Point, where the volunteer's rivet guns would wake me at 6am every Saturday and Sunday morning. Having watched the painfully slow progress of the restoration over my morning coffee for several years, I jumped at the chance to finally sail on the majestic square rigger.
The James Craig sails every second Saturday, from the Pyrmont side of Darling Harbour, and is open for inspection most days unless the ship is sailing. Owned by the Sydney Heritage Fleet, the ship is crewed (including the galley staff) entirely by volunteers with great enthusiasm.
You can choose to become involved in the hauling, heaving and coiling of the ropes (called 'sheets', I was very quickly corrected) if you wish, or simply mooch around the deck, watching the eastern suburbs slip by and marvel at the hearty souls who climb aloft to the top of the masts to haul in the sails.
For more information visit www.austfleet.com
Watermark
If you want to explore Sydney Harbour at sea level the best way to do it is two feet above the water - no traffic pile ups, no one-way streets, no out-of-date street directories - just you, a kayak and your paddle.
Sydney Harbour Kayaks offers full and half-day guided kayaking tours of Middle Harbour, Manly and Garigal National Park.
Tours start with a safety briefing and basic instruction, then it's back to your kayak to head off to the backwaters of the Harbour. From the base, on the beach adjacent to the Spit Bridge at Mosman, we manoeuvred our way around the flotilla of yachts moored at the marina, getting used to steering with the foot-pedalled rudder and finding our paddling stroke, then under the Spit Bridge we found ourselves suddenly in a more peaceful Sydney.
Paddling past the waterfront mansions of Seaforth and Castlecrag, we marvelled at what passes for taste at some, and looked at others with undisguised envy, before gliding into the waters and wilderness of Garigal National Park and tranquil Bantry Bay. Pausing for a rest, in-kayak stretch or to pass around some lollies for extra energy, we stopped to eat on a secluded beach. Unfurling our legs from the kayaks, some took a short walk up to a ridge top for waterfall, city and Harbour views, others swam in the calm waters while a few took a nap in the shade. Then, it was back across the Harbour to Spit Bridge, powering home with the wind and a strong tide behind us.
No previous kayaking experience is necessary, and there is a choice of single or double kayaks. Paddling is easier than it looks (not quite as true for steering) but if it's your first time you can expect sore shoulders and wrists the next day.
If you don't want to join a guided tour you can also hire kayaks by the hour. To book, contact (02) 9960 4389 or visit www.sydneyharbourkayaks.com.au
Bird's-eye view
The world is a different place from the air - particularly the city you live in. For an unusual view of Sydney, or if you've only got time for a 'flying visit', a helicopter tour is a great way to see the city and its glistening waterways.
Sydney Heli Tours has a range of helicopter tours of the city and surrounds. I signed up for the Grand Tour, a 30-minute flight that promised to show me all of Sydney in just half an hour. And it definitely lived up to its promise.
Heli Tours will pick you up from your hotel and various other meeting points around the city to take you to its base at Sydney Airport. After a quick safety briefing and obligatory weigh-in, we climbed aboard and within seconds we were skimming over the south-eastern suburbs heading towards the sands and cliffs of Maroubra, Coogee and Bondi.
With a couple of sharp banking manoeuvres that had my stomach lurching and some of the younger passengers squealing in delight, we were soon zooming over the northern beaches of Manly, Dee Why and Narrabeen, with glimpses of Palm Beach in the distance. Seeing the coastline from the air, you realise how blessed this city is, with its string of sandy beaches and hidden harbour coves stretching tentacle-like in all directions from the city centre.
Once back over the city airspace, the pilot circles the well-known landmarks of the Harbour, while giving an historical commentary for the benefit of out-of-towners. This section of the flight is every photographer's idea of heaven; you can snap picture postcard perfect shots in all directions - the Opera House's nest of shells from above; the Harbour Bridge with its bridge climbers waving; the city skyline and harbour islands. A highlight for the cricket fans sitting in the back was flying over the SCG complete with a game in progress and multicoloured crowds, while Lucy in the middle managed to pick out the roof of her eastern suburbs block of flats as we flew by. I enjoyed peering into the backyards of the Potts Point and Vaucluse mansions - something you never get to see from the street!
For bookings call (02) 9317 3402 or visit www.avta.com.au
4WD
