History

In a city obsessed with water views, Bantry Bay remains a comparatively little-seen wonder. This gangly strip of water at the top of Middle Harbour is cradled by the bushland of Garigal national park. Along the bay’s western shores are historical magazines, once used to store explosives, but these days, Bantry Bay is a repository…

Only in Sydney can you turn loose change into something worth a small fortune. Many Sydney locals used to drop their “shrapnel”, 1 and 2-cent coins, into ash trays, fruit bowls many into the boxes of Salvation Army collectors. The coins were phased out in 1992 but still remain legal tender as long as you…

The Sydney Harbour Bridge was first opened in 1932. It took enormous effort to build with workers being pulled to work on the project from all parts of the world. Three ships were constructed exclusively for the task of carrying materials from Moruya Quarry for the massive 89 meter pylons. There are 16 officially reported…

If you were looking out over Tamarama beach in 1906, your view of the ocean would have been interrupted by a rollercoaster. The track ran in a loop, twisting and turning from one side of the cliffs to another, elevated on tall metal stilts. It was part of Wonderland City, a theme park that offered…

Something evil has been stalking the western suburbs of Sydney and Blue Mountains for close to 80 years. Reports of big cats that shred livestock and kill pets have been around since the 1930s, with at least 600 reported sightings in the past two decades alone. While the puma-sized creatures proved elusive during several government…

Unbeknownst to locals and under their feet you will find Lake St James, a mysterious underground water body below the Macquarie St station, where albino eels are said to lurk and secret military training ops are held in the darkness for weeks on end. Apparently. The city is indeed riddled with tunnels as a result…

  These days it’s a cute old cottage with Harbour views – the perfect vantage point to greet holidaymakers stepping off a tropical cruise. But in early Sydney, Cadman’s Cottage was the site of some pretty gruesome goings-on. One morning in November 1844, a man named Jean Videll brought a chest to the jetty (Cadman’s…