KEY POINTS:
When you begin life as a penal colony it's not surprising if you end up a mix of softness and resentment.
To the tourist, Sydney can present a tough facade - everything has attitude, particularly cabbies and flies - but it's still a great place to see shows
and shop.
In particular, this city that dances to the beat of its own didgeridoo is the perfect host for Billy Elliot the Musical, the story of a boy from the North of England who swaps his boxing gloves for ballet shoes.
It's a tough path when your mum is dead, your granny is away with the fairies, your father and brother are hard-arsed striking miners and the working-class attitude is that "ballet is for poofs".
Set in 1984/1985 in County Durham, amid the miners' strikes and the fight against Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the storyline is heavily political. Down-on-your-luck sagas can be a tad depressing, but the Geordie humour (be prepared to hear bad language, even from the children) and music by Elton John uplifts the sombre moments and stops me blubbing like a baby into my hankie.
Peter Darling's choreography is imaginative and includes a clever dance number where picket lines and riot police smoothly interplay with ballet dancers taking a lesson.
Billy Elliot, which many will remember as a film, has translated well to stage, mainly thanks to the original director/writer team of Stephen Daldry and Lee Hall.
One of the hardest aspects of staging this show has been casting the children to play Billy and his friend, Michael.
Billy has to tap as well as do ballet and sing, preferably in an unbroken voice.
The Sydney show has four Billys and four Michaels. The Billys have different strengths and the choreography on the night is adjusted to suit each one. Lochlan Denholm, a 13-year-old dynamo from Melbourne, was Billy the night I saw the show. He has a strong gymnastics background and his routines include some amazing acrobatics, including a tumble from the top of a piano.
Although Billy is excellent, the scene stealer is Landen Hale-Brown, the cheeky-looking 11-year-old New Zealand boy playing Michael. Landen's mother is a dance teacher and his father a singer so he was born to boogie. He has some great lines and carries off his cross-dressing endeavours with aplomb. It's great entertainment.
But if you want to get a real taste of the world that has Billy bewitched, look no further than the Australian Ballet's latest appearance at the Opera House. Their double-bill performance Destiny is a stunning example of movement and music working seamlessly together.
Destiny celebrates Ballets Russes choreographer Leonide Massine, creator of the symphonic ballet genre, and is set to Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony and Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique.
It seems incredible that when Les Presages and Symphonie Fantastique were first being performed in the 1930s that some people were outraged because they thought the symphonies were pure things in their own right and should not be used in ballet.
The Australian Ballet has revived Massine's original version of Les Presages, not seen in Australia since 1955, but for Symphonie Fantastique it commissioned Polish choreographer Krzysztof Pastor to interpret Berlioz's score.
In short, it's a beautiful piece about a lonely artist who dreams of and meets the perfect woman, is rejected, gets depressed, poisons himself with opium, becomes delusional and wants to kill her. A modern-day love story, really, and one that dance enthusiasts will enjoy.
Wanting to dance after Billy and the ballet, but unable to, I take my two left feet shopping and sightseeing.
'Tis the season to be jolly in Sydney and Christmas has come early, with shop fronts and streets in the bustling metropolis looking festive and alluring. Sydney Harbour provides a glorious backdrop and the flowering Jacaranda trees add a pretty touch.
Sydney makes Auckland look like the poor cousin with its shabby shops and roadworks tearing up Queen St and scaring away any potential customers.
The sticky heat has excited the flies, though, so after slapping my face a number of times, I look for an indoor pursuit.
It's hard to go past the Queen Victoria Building, known as the QVB, where I am dazzled by the striking stained-glass windows, Romanesque architecture and a gob-smacking 24m Christmas tree covered in 15,000 Swarovski crystals. It also features 40,000 lights, 8000 baubles and 400 bows, but it's difficult to concentrate on anything but the marvellous crystal decorations which have been designed to reflect light and stun viewers.
After admiring this wonder, a visit to The Tea Room to be served High Tea in elegant Victorian surroundings is a must. I choose the Traditional Afternoon Tea ($30) - a selection of cakes and pastries, finger sandwiches, scones and preserve, served on a three-tier stand, with tea or coffee - and find these tasty tidbits are more than enough to keep me full for many hours.
Some Australians are keen on being a republic, but they are happy to embrace traditional British customs. High Tea, which in the old days meant combining afternoon tea and the evening meal, is incredibly popular and offered by many hotels and eateries.
For some, it's hard to beat a cuppa with a scone and clotted cream, but I'm a caffeine addict so the Chocolate Espresso tour is a no-brainer. Soft Centres and Short Blacks starts at Sydney's oldest coffee shop, Coffee Philosophy, in the olde-worlde Strand Arcade, where we savour our fix of choice while learning the difference between an espresso, macchiato, long black, cappuccino, caffe latte, flat white, ristretto and doppio. If your local coffee shop serves the same drink whether you order a flat white, latte or cappuccino it's time to change cafes.
Pepped up, we head off to sample a variety of Belgian, French and Swiss chocolate creations. Thank goodness some bright spark worked out how to make a bitter-tasting beverage into the sweet sensation it is today because it is the cheapest therapy you will get.
If, at the end of a hard day's shopping and eating, you feel the need to get a taxi back to your hotel make sure you've saved a few chocolates because it can be a long, hot wait.
After standing at a taxi zone, where these elusive vehicles are expected, for half an hour, I give up and start walking to my hotel. It is then I discover people throwing themselves in front of oncoming cabs, which is probably why they aren't making it to the rank. Several locals tell me cabbies frequently stop but will not pick you up if you are travelling a distance deemed to be too short to be worth their while.
Later, after showering and soothing my burnt and blistered feet, I ask the hotel doorman if he will hail a cab to take me to dinner. After a few failed attempts, he takes out a whistle and stands in the middle of the road waving and blowing. Who knew it was so hard to get picked up in Sydney.
Pack your whistle and your fly swat and she'll be right, mate.
GETTING THERE
Qantas offers daily services to Sydney from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. For the latest airfares visit www.qantas.co.nz, phone Qantas on 0800 767 400, or contact your bonded travel agent.
WHERE TO STAY
The Sofitel Wentworth Sydney is well-positioned for shopping excursions. See www.sofitelsydney.com.au.
WHAT TO DO
Billy Elliot is on stage at the Capitol Theatre. For tickets try www.ticketmaster.com.au or www.billyeliottthemusical.com.au.
For information about The Tearoom in the Queen Victoria Building see www.thetearoom.com.au.
Chocolate espresso tours are on the web at: www.chocolateespresso.com.au.
To find out about the Australian Ballet and its performances go to www.australianballet.com.au.
FURTHER INFORMATION
See www.sydney.com
* Carol Smith visited Sydney as a guest of Tourism New South Wales and Qantas.
