Sydney - Where 'The Rocks' means the harbour and Australian kitsch begins

After the Opera House, this is generally the second of Sydney's icons that visitors make for.

It stands at the tip of the city as it extends into the harbour. The area around it is one of the most historically important in Australia - the much vaunted 'The Rocks'. An age old rookery of thieves and ne'er do wells. Nowadays it has been gentrified almost to the point where it looks like a theme park with its glitzy boutiques, hotels and restaurants. But its a nice place to sit in the sunshine, order a barramundi and take a sip of a good Australian shiraz.

Most people approach the bridge from the half-moon of Circular Quay. But the main thoroughfare of George Street extends all the way through "The Rocks" until it passes under the bridge. The Bridge itself is entered from the south/CBD by the Bradfield Highway, a motorway that takes you to Sydney's northern suburbs. King George V Memorial Park stands under this highway and also has the entrance to the Bridge Climb. This is expensive at $110 Australian dollars and although I didn't partake I could view them from below taking the "riggers" route and looking tiny against the bulk of the bridge. My friend says you are not allowed to take your own camera up with you in case you drop it on passing cars below. Therefore you have to pay for a "group photo" for $24.

A good place to spot them slowly inching up the arch of the bridge is at the northern point of Dawes Point Park. Its a lovely paved promenade dotted with palm trees overlooking the water. The underside of the bridge is hundreds of feet above you, and the support pylons look like castles. If you need confirmation that the bridge was a engineering marvel then this is the place to come. Incidentally, Sydney was still paying for this bridge until 1988.

As mentioned, the bridge stands at the tip of "The Rocks." They have taken a great deal of care in renovating 'The Rocks' in what was until the seventies one of Sydney's roughest districts. But in many ways they have polished away its former ambience. It had a notoriously rakish past with brawling, press-ganging and low-life taverns—and it takes some work in the minds eye to imagine. Most of its 19th-century streets are well preserved—shops have original facades, etc. Some of the past dangerous alleyways, those once home to sailor muggings and robberies, now house opal shops, designer boutiques and "Aussie Teddy Bear" emporiums.

Despite the cuddly koalas and boomerangs this is an area worth exploring. Argyle Stores is still made of its original 18th-century sandstone and Wharf House steps is suitably old and creepy. But I think to get a full taste of "the Rocks" you must take a guided tour from the Tourist Information Centre. Then the legacy of Australia's oldest district comes startlingly to life