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Sydney in a different light

SYDNEY — To be perfectly honest, I was not expecting to have any epiphanies in Sydney. After all, I had already visited several times before, and it is not the most exotic place that comes to mind — the Australian city is only eight hours away from Singapore.

SYDNEY — To be perfectly honest, I was not expecting to have any epiphanies in Sydney. After all, I had already visited several times before, and it is not the most exotic place that comes to mind — the Australian city is only eight hours away from Singapore.

But this time, when I was there in early June, I discovered some new and very lovely ways to see Sydney, giving me a fresh perspective on a city filled with vibrancy, history, culture and warmth.

The magic of Sydney came to life properly when I found myself zipping around the city’s most picturesque areas in a shiny vermillion sidecar.

If you have had the treat of riding in one, you will know that sidecars are a treat, and if you have delusions of grandeur, this is the mode of transportation for you, because nearly every pedestrian you trundle by will hail you with wonder and delight.

“Perfect your queenly wave,” instructed Marc Jaackson of Shelby’s Sidecar Tours (www.shelbyssidecartours.com), who was gallantly taking me for a spin. Jaackson started the business after he got a sidecar for his son, Shelby, who is autistic, and saw how much joy it brought him. Jaackson and his riders are the loveliest leather-clad guys you will ever meet, and also the perfect guides in a city they know like the backs of their hands.

In two hours, he and I traversed the Harbour Bridge, snapped photos of the Opera House from a great vantage point, toured pretty residential areas, discussed the immodest number of “O”s in “Woolloomooloo” and stopped for coffee at a beautiful cafe — and we did all this with generous lashings of careless elegance, retro-chic whimsy and old-world glamour. Along the way, he shared stories of historical sandstone buildings, the motorcycle gangs he saw as a boy in King’s Cross, and an offensively ugly bridge that was saved from demolition by the protests of a handful of residents, much to the chagrin of the rest of Sydney.

It was clear that there was no better way to see the city and all its facets than perched on the back of Jaackson’s bike — the only things missing being a tiara and a corgi, of course.

For an entirely different view of the famous harbour, I did a 360-degree turn — literally — and went on a Thunder Jet boat ride (http://thunderjetboat.com.au). The little open boat makes it its mission to get you wet with its sharp turns and spins while blasting obnoxious music, and, depending on the cheekiness of the driver, also makes you feel like you are hurtling towards an accident and then narrowly escaping with your life. In between gasps for air and wiping salt water out of my eyes, I asked my driver whether a prerequisite for his job was total insanity, to which he grinned and replied: “You’re the insane one for getting on.”

But there was method to the madness — the gorgeous views of the bridge and Opera House from an open boat were sharpened by adrenaline.

 

CULTURAL AWAKENINGS

Another way of getting a new perspective on Sydney is to delve a little deeper into its culture and history.

One of Sydney’s best-kept secrets is Q Station (www.quarantinestation.com.au), an area of land in Manly that takes you back in time to the 1830s. It is home to the former North Head Quarantine Station, which was where new arrivals to Australia suspected of carrying contagious diseases were isolated. Several of the original buildings, including a shower facility, lodgings and an open-air kitchen and mess, have been preserved; others, such as the hospital, have been rebuilt after being destroyed by fire.

Here, I went on a fascinating tour that took me through the emotions and travails of those who left their homes to set sail for a brave new world; those who suffered from and lost loved ones to Spanish Influenza, smallpox or plague; those who had to accept differential treatment because of their class or race; and even the nurses, gravediggers and other personnel who worked daily at a facility of disease and death.

Naturally, the area is also rumoured to be haunted — at the morgue, for instance, the resident spook is nicknamed Mr Slinky because visitors often leave the building to find their zippers undone or their brassieres unhooked — and you can sign up for a nocturnal ghost tour.

But spooks and scares aside, it is also a very pretty place where you can enjoy coastal views, go on a hike, spend the night in a heritage cottage or room, and even hold a wedding or conference.

On a separate day, our group went on a walking tour of the arty districts of Chippendale and Redfern, benefitting from the insider knowledge of guides from Culture Scouts (www.culturescouts.com.au), who showed us around independent art galleries and historical buildings that had been given new life, such as The Old Clare Hotel by Singaporean hotelier Loh Lik Peng. Besides observing architecture and the area’s environmental evolution, we also discovered street murals by local artists, some of which have long Aboriginal histories.

As if that was not hipster enough, we proceeded for lunch at Tramsheds Harold Park, a tram depot built in 1904 that has been restored and turned into a food and lifestyle complex. Opened in September last year, it houses 11 restaurants and counting, as well as a supermarket. You can even dine in a restored tram at Butcher And The Farmer restaurant.

Yet another evening well-spent was when I embarked on a tour of the Sydney Opera House (www.sydneyoperahouse.com) that fed me with information about the ingenious design of the magnificent structure through the moving story of its designer, the Danish architect Jorn Utzon. And with the Opera House’s off-white canvas teeming with the fluid, colourful projections of the recently concluded annual Vivid Sydney festival installation Lighting The Sails: Audio Creatures by Ash Bolland, it was truly impossible not to see the familiar Australian icon in a brand-new light. May Seah

 

This trip and the trip to the Snowy Mountains (story on the previous pages) were made possible by Destination New South Wales.

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