Sydney Harbour

Officially called Port Jackson.

Sydney Harbour is the focal point of Sydney and one of the features--along with the beaches and the easy access to surrounding national parks--that makes this city so special. It's entered through the Heads, two bush-topped outcrops (you'll see them if you take a ferry or JetCat to Manly), beyond which the harbor laps at some 240 kilometers (149 miles) of shoreline before stretching out into the Parramatta River. Visitors are often awestruck by the harbor's beauty, especially at night when the sails of the Opera House and the girders of the Harbour Bridge are lit up, and the waters are swirling with the reflection of lights from the abutting high-rises--reds, greens, blues, yellows, and oranges. During the day, it buzzes with green-a-nd-yellow ferries pulling in and out of busy Circular Quay, sleek tourist craft, tall ships, giant container vessels making their way to and from the wharves of Darling Harbour, and hundreds of white-sailed yachts. The greenery along the harbor's edges is perhaps a surprising feature, and all thanks to the Sydney Harbour National Park, a haven for native trees and plants, and a feeding and breeding ground for lorikeets and nectar-eating bird life. In the center of the harbor is a series of islands, the most impressive being the tiny isle supporting Fort Denison, which once housed convicts and acted as part of the city's defense

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