Somewhere down under the rainbow

I was born in Sydney, and lived there until I was 22. Afterwards, I lived in Adelaide, Stockholm, Dublin and London. Nowadays, I live half the year in London and the other half in Melbourne, but I still go back to Sydney as often as I can. It was an amazing place to grow up, especially the part where my folks live, which is about a 15-minute drive from the beach, and a 10-minute drive from the second oldest national park in the world.

As a teenager, I spent a lot of time travelling around my area playing tennis, and also hung out at the beach quite a lot. I was into bodysurfing, which I’ve actually tried with Dara O Briain, who I can tell you is the worst bodysurfer in the world! Obviously the beach everyone knows is Bondi, but the one I went to most was Cronulla. Sydney is really about the beaches.
What activities are going on is really dependent on the day you go. On a hot day, the beach is packed and there’s no room for, say, volleyball. There’s more likely to be a game of beach cricket; you can buy kits consisting of plastic stumps, bats and balls, so that they don’t get ruined by the seawater.
What places you should go depends on what kind of Sydney experience you’re after, but actually one of the best places to go is Taronga Zoo. It’s a brilliantly designed zoo, one of the best in the world, and it’s on the side of the harbour, with views straight across to the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. You get an iconic view of the city, plus you get to pet a kangaroo, which is always good.
On the western edge of Sydney are the Blue Mountains, which is a massive range that goes all the way down the east coast of Australia. It’s beautiful, especially in the middle of winter, when you can huddle up beside an open fire, and take in the huge valleys and incredible views. Also stunningly beautiful is Katoomba, which is located in the City of Blue Mountains.
Another hugely enjoyable thing to do in Sydney is take a ferry ride across the harbour. Because it’s public transport, it’s not that expensive (the cost is about five dollars) and it will take you under the Harbour Bridge and past the Opera House. It only takes about an hour to get to Manly, which has one of the best beaches in Sydney.
The Opera House is brilliant. The first time I went there, I saw Billy Connolly perform. It was extraordinary to turn up to this beautiful building, then go inside and see Billy Connolly swearing like a trooper. There’s also a studio theatre there that a whole bunch of my mates have performed at, including Dave Gorman.
Actually, a great thing to do in the city is to go to dinner at The Summit, which is a revolving restaurant on the 80th floor of a building, with amazing views. I sat up there with Dave Gorman one night, and as we came around past the Opera House, he went, “Oh, that’s where I work!”
With regard to restaurants generally, there are plenty of great places to choose from. Seafood is particularly big. Doyle’s restaurant on the harbour has fantastic seafood and also offers a wonderful view. The harbour is a central focus of Sydney and my favourite place in town. Sydney was set up because of the harbour, which made it the perfect place for a city. It was always full of boats, because it was the only way to travel.
There’s a real beauty and strength that comes from Sydney Harbour which I absolutely love. My grandfather was actually born and raised in a house under Sydney Harbour Bridge. One place in the area that’s well worth checking out (it’s located on the eastern edge of Circular Quay) is the Museum of Modern Art. I went a few years ago to see a Salvador Dali exhibition and it was fantastic.
Also right on the harbour is a place called The Rocks, where the original settlement in Sydney was based. If you wander up and down there, there are these great old convict buildings that are quite extraordinary to look at. It’s also worth going to the Royal National Park, which is on the southern end of the city. If you go for a wander on certain tracks you can find aboriginal cave paintings that have been there for 30,000 years.
If you’re interested in sport, you might fancy checking out Sydney Football Stadium, which hosts rugby league games. Aussie Rules is more of a Melbourne sport, whereas in Sydney cricket is the summer sport and rugby league is the winter sport. The Football Stadium is about a ten-minute ride from the centre of the city towards the eastern suburbs; it’s basically between the city and Bondi Beach.
One thing to bear in mind is that Sydney is expensive; it’s the most expensive city in Australia, and close to being in the top 20 most expensive cities in the world. However, if you’re coming over with euro, it’s not too bad as there is quite a decent exchange rate at the moment. One final thing I would say about Sydney is that it’s incredibly pretty, and because of that, it hasn’t felt the need to develop a personality!