NO excuses needed. Any time of the year is ideal to explore the exciting city of Sydney, see sights from Bondi to Barangaroo, sample everything from seasonal food, classic fare and at new foodie destinations, plus go to festivals such as Vivid, the world’s largest festival of light, music and ideas. 

Four minutes from Wynyard is Barangaroo.

Walk the streets, check out the architecture, envisage where the rich and fatuous will reside and decide on an eatery with menus to suit every global palate.

Barangaroo House, with chefs Matt Moran and Cory Campbell at the helm, is modelled on three plates stacked on top of one another, and  clad with charcoaled timber. It explodes with greenery, including planter boxes filled with organic produce. 

The refurbished 1904 Harold Park Tramsheds, located a few kilometres from the CBD, where Glebe meets Annandale, is a now a European-inspired food destination hosting 12 of Sydney’s leading food operators. 

At Circular Quay’s colourful port, where ferries and cruise ships board and depart, boat watching can be as good a pastime as people watching. 

It’s a short walk to the Museum of Contemporary Art where a sculpture garden on the roof is as much a view as the waterways below, ditto the must-do Opera House.

Take the slower version of the ferry north of the harbour to Manly, surrounded by the ocean and harbour on three sides – very Aussie.

Walk from the wharf along the café-filled mall to the Norfolk Pine-fringed long beach, where screeching seagulls are ready to swoop on visitors sitting on the sand or at a seat near the lovely1933 bathing pavilion eating fish and chips. 

Colonial steps link the fascinating heritage of elegant Potts Point and Woolloomooloo, where naval ships first moored in 1856.

Take a ferry from Circular Quay to Watsons Bay and alight at Garden Island to visit the-now Royal Australian Navy Heritage Centre. 

Nearby is Kings Cross. Infamy is almost a thing of the past, however the most photographed monument is still the El Alamein Fountain and on Sunday the best meeting place for locals and visitors is the Kings Cross Market. 

From King Cross the Watsons Bay bus takes the scenic route through the eastern suburbs past all the swanky mega mansions with the final stop near the Watsons Bay Hotel’s beer garden, also Doyles where Sunday lunch is in full swing.

Alternatively from Kings Cross with beaches, restaurants and sightseeing in mind, a train and/or a bus to Bondi or even Cronulla are easy options.

Bless you Opal.