In no particular order…
The Rocks
I always think of Ruth Park’s Playing Beatie Bow… a place of ghosts and time-travellers
Sydney skies
which always have a story to tell
Those intrepid bridge walkers
I admire them but I’ll never be one of them!
Balmain
fond memories of Saturday-morning shopping in this old suburb when I lived in nearby Drummoyne many years ago—and I still love its shops and cafes and markets and Federation architecture
Opera whites
a stray glimpse of those iconic sails through the trees—the Sydney wow factor!
The Art Gallery of New South Wales
home of one of my favourite paintings, Grace Cossington-Smith’s The sock knitter
The coat hanger
52,800 tonnes of cross-harbour style
Adriano Zumbo
macarons and works of art sculpted in choux and sugar… yes, please!
Great friends
Tony and Pauline (with the charming Pompey). Click here to read the story of Tony’s long-lost—and now found—band, Fuchsia
and…
Better Read Than Dead
voted Lonely Planet’s Favourite Sydney Bookshop—and the lovely folks at BRTD have invited me there to talk about Elemental on Wednesday 24 July, 6.30pm (more information here). If you’re nearby and free that night, please come along—I’d love to see you!
looking up/looking down 
I haven’t managed to spend any time in Sydney yet, except three hours stuck at Kingsford-Smith waiting for a plane home (I’d been in Townsville.) But I intend to do it a little more properly one of these days.
The Rocks and Playing Beatie Bow are inextricably linked in my mind, too. I read it for Year 9 English! As a Perth boy, I’d never even heard of The Rocks before then.
Are you originally from Sydney, or did you just live there for a while? And are you on a wee promotional tour for Elemental?
Well, The Rocks is very touristy, Glen, but the history still shines through, for me. I lived in Sydney for a couple of years a long time ago and have fond memories of that time—and that vast sparkling harbour is a wondrous thing. As for Elemental: a wee promotional visit, yes 🙂