Amid-winter warm-up is a great excuse for travelling in the cooler months, and Australia's leading lady is seasoned in the art of perking up visitors' winter blues.
In fact, Sydney defies the descent into winter with an annual illuminated-art festival, Vivid Sydney, which is now a signature event.
Being such a cheap and effortless destination to transport yourself to, it's not too late to make a date with Vivid Sydney 2013.
Now in its sixth year, the festival transforms the harbour-side district into a sweeping canvas with large-scale light installations splashed across the city's landmarks, starting with the Opera House. The festival runs until the middle of next month.
Beyond the bright lights of a splashy festival, what I love about Sydney is its plethora of photogenic haunts for revitalising morning walks. My favourite circuit starts at the Opera House, heading east around Farm Cove before cutting into the verdant finery of the Botanic Gardens. Stop to chat to the yellow-crested cockatiels, then head south past the New South Wales Art Gallery to finish up in Hyde Park.
I challenge you to find a more fulfilling circuit that not only works out your body but also your camera, with striking vistas of the city skyline amid lush foliage.
With the sun out, a spot of lunch is best enjoyed at the water's edge in Darling Harbour and Cockle Bay. And take the opportunity to savour the elevated city perspective of the Sydney Monorail one last time, as it will literally reach the end of its line when it's decommissioned on June 30.
Another fabulous Sydney experience is to board a ferry at Circular Quay for the 10-minute ride to leafy, historic Balmain. The harbour enclave is one of Sydney's oldest suburbs, settled by boatbuilders in the 1830s. It's where most of Sydney's iconic yellow and green ferries were built.
Balmain is now a thriving artistic suburb, home to some of Australia's best-known writers, actors and musicians. The main thoroughfare of Darling St is a melange of sandstone cottages and wrought iron-wreathed villas, galleries, boutique stores and historic pubs. Quench your thirst with a foam-topped lager from the sprawling balcony of the London Hotel, one of the city's most atmospheric pubs.
If you want to scratch even further beneath the surface of the inner city, head to Newtown and Paddington to rub shoulders with the edgy and eccentric locals.
Enmore Rd and South King St are home to vintage fashion stores and a billowing array of specialised curio stores. Buttons, beads and tiles are big in Newtown.
Paddington's status as an antiques mecca is legendary, but accentuating its allure is the biggest concentration of Sydney's most beautifully restored Victorian terraces, replete in cast-iron latticework.