Sydney in Colour [antikvár]

On 26 January 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip unfurled the British flag at Sydney Cove. It was eighteen years since the explorer Cook had claimed Australia for England, and Phillip had come out from the Mother Country with eleven ships and 1,000 people to set up a penal colony. Sydney's beginnings were hardly auspicious, but now, 183 years since that hktoric ceremony gave birth to a new nation, the City of Sydney has come of age. It has 2| millión people, making it as big as Romé, and its physical characteristics have changed to accommodate them. Skyscrapers pierce the blue sky, freeways crisscross the sprawling suburbs and the authorities warn of pollution- all signs of the modern metropolis. The pulse of the city quickens daily and there is an energy about the people, as they purposely stride the streets, that telis you this is the hub of the South Pacific. Yet somehow, Sydney seems gripped in an everlasting holiday spirit. The overwhelming natural beauty of its harbour setting, a temperate climate that promises 342 days of sunshine each year and its overt youthfulness all enforce the feeling of a healthy gaiety that visitors find totally infectious. The emphasis on outdoor activities and the exciting and varied nightlife add to the effect. Seventy years ago Mark Twain called Sydney an English city with American trimmings and today, when you consider the contrast between the towering skyline and the charming rows of old terrace houses, the comment still has a certain relevance. Like all big, international cities, Sydney has its contradictions. But its spirit remains essentially Australian and this is one of its great attractions. As the twenty-first century approaches, Sydney is eager to forge forward into the future, confident in its role as Australia's oldest, biggest and most beautiful city, and determined to consolidate itself as one of the most invigorating centres of the world.