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Wrong turns aside, we found that Sydney's roads are easily navigated with a good map. Congestion is not as heavy as that in Asian mega-cities. Even George Street, the CBD's main avenue flowed fairly quickly. Drivers are disciplined and reasonably patient with lost tourists. Be ready for heavy use your right foot, though. Aussies like to accelerate quickly and they brake just as hard. Our XR6 was quicker than perhaps 90% of the cars around us so keeping up wasn't a problem. Keeping two quick hands on the steering is a must. Some "highways" are actually long avenues with lane markings just wide enough for a big sedan, so keeping a car between the lines required some concentration. There's an extensive selection of world cars in rhd Sydney, from the Peugeot 206cc to the Mazda6 to the Alfa 156. We could have spent a whole day just going around the various showrooms. Sedans seemed to be a default choice of most city-dwellers, with the Honda Jazz hatchback (the trunked version will be our new City) a recent favorite. A popular performance choice is the Impreza WRX. Another strange Australian is the sedan-front / pickup-rear vehicle, similar to the Nissan Ad Resort. Top-selling vehicles Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore both evolved "ute" versions. Just 7 km or so from the Central Business District is Bondi Beach, facing the Pacific Ocean. The powdery sand, blazing sun and of course the bared essentials are reason to visit for an hour or two. Sydney goes to bed quite early. Shops close at 5 pm, with only supermarkets available for late-night browsing. Dark Chocolate Timtam and Caramel KitKat, anyone? Starbucks outlets managed to stay open all the way to the wee hours--9 pm. Darling Harbor, just a ferry or subway ride away from the Circular Quay offers late dining as well as the spectacular Sydney Aquarium.
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