Australia at glance

Although Aboriginal people have inhabited the Sydney region for many thousand of years the city has a relatively short modern history-albeit a strange and fascinating one, based on the bizarre idea of sending 18th century British criminal halfway across the world.

Captain Cook
In April 1770, the great English sailor and navigator James Cook landed at Botany Bay, in modern Sydney's southern suburbs. He later claimed the entire east coast of Australia for Britain, under the name of 'New South Wales'. Cook, however, sailed right past Sydney Harbour, little knowing that this would be the site of future colony.

The Firs Fleet
Sydney was fonded on 26 January 1788, when the eleven ships of The First Fleet, bearing 1400 people - convicts, soldiers, and a handful of other settlers - arrived from England to establish a remote new colony.

The Rocks
The city's oldest village, named because of its rocky shoreline, was founded when the first convict tents were erected here in 1788. This is now one of Sydney's most popular precincts.

Flora and Fauna
Australia's unique animals and plants are well represented in Sydney. Admire native flora in the Royal Botanic Garden, and visit Taronga Zoo or Feather dale Wildlife Park to meet koalas, kangaroos, wombats and many other intriguing birds and animals.

Aboriginal Sydney
Indigenous people of three main language groups - Dharug, Kuringai and Dharawal - live in the Sydney area for at least 40.000 years before James Cook discovered the east coast of the continent. There is dozens of ancient Aboriginal art sites around the metropolitan area, including those at Bondi Beach Golf Course and in Ku-ri-ngai Chase National Park, but The Australian Museum is the best place to gain a brief insight into this fascinating culture.


Source : Sydney tour guide