SYDNEY—New Year’s Eve without fireworks? Unthinkable! Especially in Australia, one of the first countries to welcome the new year with the now iconic Sydney Harbor Bridge pyrotechnics display watched around the world. But just days before the show, it was in danger of being cancelled in the wake of a dispute between the New South...
Tag: Australia
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Trainspotting down under
SYDNEY—Hours before sunrise last Aug. 19, a crowd of nearly a thousand people was reported to have gathered at the 1880s railway station in Sydenham, a suburb 8 kilometers south of this city’s central business district. Trainspotters mingled with regular commuters at the new concourse to get on the 5 a.m. inaugural service of the...
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Uluru: In the heartland of the world’s oldest living culture
SYDNEY—Can you see it from up here? I asked my daughter Giselle while I was looking out the window as the plane descended. If it’s on this side and it isn’t cloudy, she replied. Seconds later, it came into view: Uluru, the mammoth red rock that is Australia’s most iconic natural landform and one of...
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Life (and death) on the edge
SYDNEY—On the premise that the best way to explore a place is on foot, Sydney in Australia fares well on travel experts’ lists of most walkable cities in the world. Road quality, safety, convenience, and the wonders of nature are among their indices. There’s a range of walks to choose from—bushwalking, dog-friendly circuits, wilderness...