I arrive in Sydney @ 915am. My next flight doesnt leave til 840pM. What should I do that or what can I do that is safe. I will be by myself.

What can you do that's safe? Pretty much what everyone else does, alone or otherwise. Obey the "Don't Walk" signs (even if a lot of Sydneysiders don't), don't jump off the ferry before it's fully berthed - that sort of thing. If you're from a country that drives on the right, remember to look right, not left, before stepping off the kerb. This is important.

Have a look at the "5 hours in Sydney thread" below, for a start. Sydney Airport is relatively close to the city centre - you can get to Circular Quay fairly quickly by cab or train. Walk around the adjoining Rocks area - you can take a walking tour (although the one time we did that the guide worried me a bit, as she seemed to be under the impression that Lt James Cook had sailed into Sydney Harbour, but never mind). Have a look through the Opera House. Check out the shops, including the fine Queen Victoria Building, about 1 km south of the Quay up George Street. Catch a ferry to Manly - the slow (30 minutes) kind, not the fast enclosed variety, stroll along the beach, have lunch. If you run a search on this forum you'll find lots of info.

You won't find any no-go areas where you'll be. In fact they're pretty hard to find anywhere in Sydney, despite the hysteria of the right-wing radio shock jocks.

Enjoy your day.

If it's a nice day, take a cab to Darling Harbour, climb aboard the overhead cabin train thingie that whisks you through city streets high above the traffic (way cool!), then have a coffee and snack at one of the many places in the lovely Queen Victoria Building (QVB for short), and walk along George Street to Circular Quai. Not a spectacular street, but it's sooo Australian with the shops and the banks and the pubs on some corners. Take the ferry that goes to East Balmain and then back down to Darling Harbour.

Go check out the Sydney Aquarium - you literally walk among the sharks, it's very fine! Walk to Chinatown and have an early lunch and regroup.

Slip down into Central (the train station) and hop a train to Circular Quai, this time take the ferry to Manly as suggested earlier, and when you get there, walk along the pedestrian mall ("Esplanade&quot from the ferry terminal (on the still-water harbour side) to the beach on the open ocean side, where the Norfolk pines are lining the back of the sandy area.

Have some fresh oysters from the seafood place (about the fourth shop from the end of the mall on the right), and wash them down with a cold one from the pub opposite.

Swim if you brought swimmies or something that can look like swimmies. Stay within the markers, slow drifts can pull you out before you know it.

When you're done, walk back, catch a ferry, and from Circular Quai walk to the Opera House. Check it out. Then walk around the back through the park called The Domain to Harry's Cafe De Wheels in Woolloomolloo - these days it's a concrete structure, no more wheels (started out as a hot-dog cart years ago...).

Then walk up to Hyde Park and regroup. If you have time, check out the Australian Museum on College St., they always have weird and wonderful exhibits.

Eventually, considering how little time you have overall, splurge on a cab back to the airport. Make sure you tell the cabbie whether it's the international or the domestic terminal you want, they're miles apart. And tip him right, they don't make much money...

Enjoy

WK

Just a couple of minor corrections to Wally's excellent advice - the 'overhead cabin thingie' is the Monorail! and Circular Quai should be Quay - in case you are looking for it on a map!

It's up to you whether you tip the cabbies or not, and I have no idea what they're paid, but be aware that tipping is generally regarded as an American practice and not one that Australians are keen to emulate. I've never seen anyone tip a cab driver, other than by rounding up the fare to the next dollar. Australians may on occasion tip at restaurants, no more than 10%, but it's not expected. Bar staff aren't tipped, other than perhaps by depositing loose coins in a tip jar, if there is one. Same in coffee shops.