30

Offbeat Places in Australia

The Sydney Opera House is a topmost favorite spot that tourists look forward to visiting during their Sydney trip. Located on the east of the Sydney Harbour Bridge (Port Jackson), New South Wales, Australia, the Opera House was even designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2007 and it is one of the finest places to visit in Sydney.Its architecture is a fusion of modernist, and ancient influences, which attracts over 8.2 million visitors every year. The eye-grabbing roof structure that looks like a white sail-shaped shell makes it the best-known landmark. It is a multipurpose place used for various performing arts facilities.It can seat only about 1,500 people during one show to offer an exceptional experience to the audience. The 2,679-seat Concert Hall is the most abundant space here that hosts choir performances, symphony concerts, and famous music shows.You can head to the Opera Theatre to watch popular Opera, dance performances and ballet shows. Further, the building houses three different sized theaters for presenting film screenings, stage plays, and shorter musical acts.On the southeastern end of the building is the Forecourt that hosts outdoor performances. There are also a professional recording studio and restaurants in the complex. Thus, if you ever plan to take a tour of Sydney, the Sydney Opera House is worth a visit to witness impressive structure as well as performances.Click Here to Book Now: Sydney Opera House Guided TourHistory of Sydney Opera HouseThe location of the Opera House earlier used to be a railroad yard of Sydney. The tale of the Sydney Opera House started in 1948 when the Sydney Opera head beckoned for a new home for the opera company. Eugene Goossens, who was the resident conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, recognized the need for a musical facility in the city. He wanted it to be home to the symphony orchestra, opera, and chamber music groups. In order to make the city identified as a world cultural capital, the New South Wales government approved his proposal. It assembled the Opera House Committee in 1954 to pick a site that further recommended Bennelong Point. A proposal request was sent to architects all across the world to submit designs for the Opera House. Finally, the design sketched out by Danish architect Jørn Utzon was declared a winner by renowned American architect Eero Saarinen. As the construction work started, people had no idea how to convert the design plan of Utzon into reality. There were political hurdles, too, during the project. The construction process slowed down certain times due to lack of funds, engineers got frustrated, and politicians doubted the idea of making the Opera House. It had a $7 million cost estimation, but actual cost rounded up to more than $100 million. So, with the proper strategies and solving the difficulties, Opera House completed in1973.Click Here to Book Now: Legoland Melbourne Tickets

The Great Barrier Reef is an individual and most extensive composition of living organisms worldwide. It is one of the most celebrated Cairns tourist attractions that is renowned for its sprawling archipelago, never-ending sea, and authentic coral reefs under the water. This place in Australia is a wonderful place to go on a vacation with your friends and family and cherish the mesmerizing scenery of the attraction. Visitors can cruise through the islands to pay a visit to the Great Barrier Reef or enjoy the tranquility of the atmosphere basking under the sun and watching the world pass by in front of their eyes.The Great Barrier Reef also allows you to take a private tour of the spectacular beauty of the coral reefs, dive underwater to discover the gorgeous marine life, and go bushwalking on Haymans island. It even has the most picturesque diving spot in the entire world, thereby offering the best skydiving experience over the Heart Reef. Besides the fun and adventurous activities, there are plenty of resorts on the island that provide a remarkable opportunity to wake up to the majestic views of the attraction. You can also savor the delicious taste of the local cuisine at the stalls lining the attraction while relishing the sight-gazing experience of the coral reefs.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a colossal structure which took the efforts of over 1400 workers and a time span of 8 years. The bridge was put together using over 6 million hand-driven rivets into 53,000 tonnes of steel, thus completing the construction of the world's largest steel arch Bridge. A unique fact about this bridge is that it is continuously being painted mostly to protect it from outer elements and due to its humongous size by the time the painting is done it is time to start over and this cycle is unending. The steel arch of the Bridge actually changes in size; sometimes up-to 18 cm change in its height can be seen. The Bridge's workers and caretakers once included the famous Australian Actor Paul Hogan as a rigger and his job was to erect platforms so the painters could come. The arch of the Bridge is open to climbing and has had over 3 million visitors since 1998 that came for this adventurous trip. The view from the top of the arch is mesmerizing and unbeatable. Approximately 80 % of the steel used in the bridge was actually imported from the United Kingdom and this means that the steel has traveled halfway across the world to make this bridge. History of Harbour BridgeThe plans for building this bridge were proposed originally in 1815 by Francis Greenway to Governor Lachlan Macquarie. He even wrote a letter to an Australian newspaper in 1825, elaborating on the need for a bridge to connect the two sides of the harbor. Though his idea remained in public memory, it did not end up being executed.In 1840, Robert Brindley, who was a naval architect, proposed a floating bridge, and in 1857 Engineer Peter Henderson ended up designing one of the first drawings. Finally, John Bradfield, who is now known as the father of the bridge, became the "Chief Engineer of Sydney Harbour Bridge and Metropolitan Railway Construction" in 1914. Initially, he had proposed a suspension bridge at the location, but later after visiting New York due to the First World War, and got inspired by the architecture and decided to build an arch bridge instead. This construction too was delayed, and finally took place between 1923 and 1932 when the bridge finally opened for the public. Checkout and Book Now: Sydney Harbour Cruise