The crest of a cockatoo? The Opera House and around

The awesome Opera House
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What if cities were human? What would Sydney be?

Paris and Vienna would both be beautiful women - venerable but still attractive. London and Madrid would both be male - aesthetics sacrificed on the altar of making money. New York would be male as well, but younger, in the middle aged bracket - still vigorous and full of life - as would Rio de Janeiro and San Francisco. But Sydney would be a teenager. She would be a stunner, a gorgeous blonde at her most beautiful, her tan would be perfect, her figure and she would be an all round popular girl. She would keep herself in perfect condition, no room for flaws here. Her ambition would be boundless, she would demand the attention of everyone and she would get it.

What did it remind me of? A sail boat? An unpeeled orange? I am going to settle on a cockatoo..

Circular Quay in the background
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There is no doubt this city is immensely likeable. It ticks all the right boxes - modern architecture, brilliant sunshine, clean streets - but I found myself thinking it rather antiseptic and sterile today. She glitters  and sparkles. Everything is polished so it shines in the sunshine in a dirt free environment. But I dont see any human frailty. I dont see any dirt underneath the fingernails? This is a city which will not show weakness. But these are just first impressions and first impressions change. I've only got one day here before flying to the Northern Territory. I've not had a chance to scratch the surface today. I suspect I will end up a fan just like everyone else.

Sydneys Pride
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This morning I took a taxi-bus to the YWCA on Wentworth Avenue and much to my delight didnt have jet-lag. And its the sheer disbelief that I am in Australia. I have to pinch myself that I am here. After a quick breakfast on Oxford Street I changed up some money and wandered through Hyde Park on a long walk to the harbour. The park is quite gorgeous with the boles of fig trees arcing overhead and fountains and ibis'. The Diana fountain is beautiful with the sun so bright in Sydney that it created rainbow effects with the light and water.

Uber trendy Sydney
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The Botanic Gardens lead down to the water and looming over the trees like a set of sharks fins was the white roofs of the famous Opera House. The end of Macquarie Boulevard was blocked by apartment blocks but once you walk under a flyover you are on Circular Quay and the whole harbour is laid out in front of you. The whole vista will blow your mind. The glittering water is to the left with the promontory storing the Opera House to your right. You are aware of people just stopping and staring as if seeing it for the first time and just gaping at the reflective water.

Your shoes will direct you to the Opera House and its promontory which is a granite escarpment leading back into the Botanical gardens. Its the colour which strikes you first - a sort of dull ivory that glints in the sun. The roofs of the auditoriums are like white beaky shells. When you get up close you can see hundreds of chevron shaped disks which reminded me of space-shuttle tiles. What did it remind me of? A sail boat? An unpeeled orange? I am going to settle on a cockatoo..

Circular Quay is nearby and is backed by the thundering Cahill Expressway and numerous skyscrapers. It is surrounded by millionaires apartments, boutique shopping and endless open-air restaurants. They fit into the hip, trendy category with prices to match a shiraz with a view and were frequented by cognescenti with year round tans. The first rumblings of irritation as I began to chafe against the "styles magazine" veneer of Sydney. But as I have said it was only my first day and I needed to scratch the surface a little deeply.

'The Rocks' is a case in point. Its Australias most historic district and was where the city began. But as I began to wander its passages, Victorian streets and ubermodern restaurants I got no feel that this was a historic area. Everything was too clean and tidy. I didnt get a feel of its brawling rakish past. Its as if they had polished too hard and rubbed it all away.

I have four days here when I am back from Victoria. Four days to get to know the city better. There must be more to Sydney? Isnt there?