New South Wales (NSW) is the most populated state in Australia. It is in the eastern part of the country.
Since our home is in Western Australia, exploring New South Wales for us requires a lot of time. The distance itself from Perth is a few thousand kilometers and days of driving. Our first driving trip (hopefully, not the last) was at the end of 2024. It was a relatively short trip to sort out some matters in Sydney. Given the size of New South Wales (over 800,000 square km), there is definitely a lot to see.
First impressions
Sydney is quite different from Perth in so many ways. It is big, busy, vibrant and very much alive. Having never driven outside of Western Australia until the recent trip, for us, everything is in comparison to Perth. It is still the same Australia, yet sometimes it feels like another country. There are toll roads and we which we tried hard to avoid them. They have underground Metro, which is surprisingly not busy at all, compared to what we’ve experienced back in Moscow. There are double decker trains, which we do not have in Perth. Things are definitely different over there. In Perth many people go off-road and every third vehicle you see on the street is a four wheel drive. In New South Wales, city culture of food, drinks and shopping dominates. Of course, a bigger number of tourists and migrants makes a big contribution to this lifestyle. Lush green vegetation of Sydney is very pleasing to eyes and a mild subtropical climate is so much more comfortable. Perth in comparison looks so dry and bare. Not to mention that our home is much quieter and smaller. Sydney is a nice place to visit to experience the different side of Australia. It is somewhat more comfortable, which explains why tourists would favour it.
Below are some of the places we’ve visited and we definitely recommend them (more places to come soon).
