I moved to Australia from Ukraine back in 2016 and immediately wanted to go to Sydney purely because I wanted to see The Opera House, it looked so captivating and nothing like I had seen before... and it exceeded my own expectations honestly. It was beautiful, everything around it was beautiful, but the part that struck me the most was how clean it was. It was like Australians cared for their land, to dirty it was the worst sin. So green, so clean, looked after by near on everyone... you would get chastised by the locals for dropping a cigarette butt it was that important to them. Gorgeous city tho travelled Australia wide and personally found other places more to my liking, but will never say Sydney is not heartwarming and makes you feel lucky for just being there. Fantastic spot, wish everyone could live there even just for a bit...coz it IS gorgeous, and so clean! X

Sydney boy here... You never get used to the beauty of the harbour. It never gets old 😎

I am lucky enough to have been born here.
It's wonderful to see my country through others' eyes. It helps me appreciate how special this place is.

Sydney has the harbour which sparkles in the sun. Brisbane & Melbourne have brown rivers.😢

Thank you for your beautiful and intimate description of Sydney. I have lived here all my life and you have highlighted the things that not only make living here so wonderful but the things that people who live here take for granted. To hear it from you makes me so inspired to explore my gorgeous home again, and not only that, but to look at the world in all its beauty, from another angle. Thank you for your brilliant feedback

Police horses - what about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police?

A part of Sydney that I really like that most people would not care about is the Hume Fwy from Campbelltown down to Mittagong. My last few visits into Sydney coming up from Melbourne have driven this section of highway absolutely loved it! About 50km of bush and smooth highway. Kinda feels like gliding through the treetops I also remember flying over this area once in an aeroplane.

Thanks DS, nice video. I grew up on Sydney Harbour in the sixties seventies, and eighties, it was fun. 😊👍

As someone who was born and bred in Sydney I want to deeply thank you for sharing this extraordinary and well expressed perspective.

Oh it is a beauty. Such a beauty.

I also love the animals with attitude. Not the deadly spiders and sharks and stuff, as that is present, but largely hype, just over arching feel that nature is tolerating you, rather than repressed and controlled as it is in most of the worlds cities.

But yeah, the harbour, the coast, the wilderness that hems it in on all sides, the clean, crime free, happy, healthy vibe.

It is cripplingly expensive sadly but oh my it meets the hype. I love it

Another Sydneysider here. I marvel at it all too. I love that you included Benny.

I'm SO lucky. I get to live here EVERY DAY!! Thank you LORD!

I live in Sydney's south, in what is known as the Sutherland Shire (God's own country). The next time you return come back to Cronulla in the 'Shire' and go to Blackwoods beach. Ask a local and they'll show you the goat track into the beach, or just come in via The Nun's Pool nearby. But you simply have to walk The Esplanade all the way to Bass & Flinder's Point and onto Salmon Haul Bay/beach and the rescue base, or head north along Cronulla Beach and walk out to Boat Harbour and VooDoo rock pool. Enjoy!

Benny’s steps are actually at the front of the Opera House. It is designed to be seen from the Harbour, and that is actually the front.

It’s very very difficult to take such a beautiful city for granted no matter how long living there.

The royal national park is the second oldest national park in the world  . Great spot to spend time on bush walks ,or driving through  make sure you go to the beaches like Bundeena and Jibbon . Go to Cronulla and the associated beaches with some great walks around there  , it's much better than Bondi , Bondi is for tourist Cronulla is for locals .

You don't have to be from overseas to be amazed by Sydney. Every day going to work on the train and coming out at Circular Quay station with the bridge and Opera House was always stunning. I raced on sail boats on the harbour and never had a day I wasn't stunned. Seeing penguins and sharks. Views that could not be described. Watching the harbour covered in coloured sails from one side to the other. And the best was coming out from a rain storm under the bridge and the Opera House magically appearing out of the haze. Even taking my sons fishing underneath the Harbour Bridge at night. So many images of beauty and no way to collate them all and say what a lifetime living here does to you.

I was born and grew up in Sydney. I left in my mid-twenties to travel and only visit now. I loved the way of life in the old days when it was half the size it is now. I have lived in almost all the inner city suburbs and each had their own peculiar vibe. Unfortunately many of the old residents from my time have passed on and although the buildings and architecture have stayed, the people have changed into greedy self-satisfied 'chancers' who really need to chill out. I was a keen sailor and the joy of sailing around the harbour meeting friends and relatives for on water bbq's and restaurant visits was magic. Do return Helen, I'd love to show someone around my Sydney and the weird other side to the city.

I moved to Australia from New Zealand in 1981,   45 years ago.  I remember teh day I went across teh Harbour Bridge for teh first time - my friend had picked us up from the airport and when the car came out of the highway to the bridge deck i was so excited.   Then to look to my right and see that Opera House in all its glory on a sunny day it seemed not real.     Now in 2026 after all this time,  I still get excited when i travel across teh Harbour Bridge and see the Opera House glistening in teh bright sunlight.     you know the architect of that iconic building never got to see it completed.   He and the Public Works department had an argument about how the interior would be furnished and he stormed out in a huff and never returned.

In Australia, we moved the King's/ Queen's birthday public holiday, to exactly after the NRL grand final weekend. Because we're smart. And people need that Monday to be a public holiday, for reasons.

Sydney is the friendliest most fun place in Australia. I was born and raised in the town of Adelaide so it was a huge culture shock. ☕️😎🦘.

When the wind is slight - mornings are best for that reason - you can kayak with your tent and assorted camping gear across Pittwater from the western edge of palm Beach / Barrenjoey Headland to the Basin Camp ground at Coasters Retreat, and spend a week paddling around the secluded beaches of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, which, according to the scientific record, has not changed all that much in the past 60,000 years. Did I say it's only 28km 'as the crow flies' from the centre of the city? Ask me how I know.