Get your paintbrush out!
The Sydney Harbour Bridge (affectionately dubbed 'The Coathanger') requires regular paint jobs as part of its maintenance. The surface area to be painted is equal to about the surface area of 60 sports fields.

Largest city in land size
Sydney is 1580 square kilometres across – the same as London and more than double New York's 780 square kilometres. Amsterdam is 167 square kilometres, and Paris is a mere 105 square kilometres.

Voted best city in Asia-Pacific region
In 2001 and 2002, Travel and Leisure Magazine voted Sydney the top city in the region, and one of the top ten cities in the world, according to both travellers and tourist industry workers.

That's what we call cable!
Sydney Tower is stabilised by 56 cables each weighing seven tonnes. If these cables were laid end to end they would stretch from Sydney to Alice Springs or Sydney to New Zealand.

Opera House millions...
Approximately 4.5 million people visit the Sydney Opera House each year. This is about a quarter of Australia's total population and more than twice the number of yearly visitors to America's White House.

Something fishy...
When it comes to variety, Sydney's Fish Markets rank as the 2nd largest in the world, boasting over 100 types of fish on the market floor daily.

Largest display of Aboriginal art...
The Art Gallery of New South Wales is home to The Yiribana Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Gallery, the world's largest space devoted to the permanent exhibition of Aboriginal art.

Voted Australia's favourite building!
Sydney's Queen Victoria Building (or QVB) on George Street is the nation's favourite. Completely refurbished, the QVB is a shopper's dream, with over 180 shops, numerous cafes and a fantastic food hall. www.qvb.com.au

Mysterious artefacts found in The Rocks
In 1989 on the site of the ANA Hotel in Cumberland Street, The Rocks, three intriguing artefacts were found - not at all what you would expect from the remains of houses dating back to the 1820s. There was an Egyptian "ushabti" figure made around 400BC, a topaz ring inset made in the fist century BC, and a Roman coin dating to 123BC. It is unclear how these pieces were brought to Australia by the 1820s.

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