So recently, a fellow fanpopper Snerkie posted a soapbox article entitled “Sydney = Overrated”. If you haven’t read that article, you may have to in order to get what I’m saying. To start, My name is Ali, I’m 17 and I live in Sydney.

Second, I want to pick a little bone with Snerkie.
You say Sydney is Un-Australian. Um... isn't that is what is so great about Australia? That that we are so MULTICULTURAL. Now you say you are not racist, but seriously, everyone has a right to live in Australia (given they're not terrorists, murderers or dangerous) and that fact that you put Un-Australian in bold worries me.

No Sydney is not great. When I was 12 my family moved from Melbourne to Sydney. I remember being so overwhelmed by the enormity of it all, I kept comparing it to Melbourne. Melbourne had trams and was easier to get around, Sydney didn’t. Melbourne had all my friends, Sydney didn’t. Melbourne was Melbourne and Sydney wasn’t. But then as I realized I was going to be in Sydney for awhile, so I sucked it up. I discovered buses and I got new and in some cases better friends.

I woke up this evening around eight o'clock -feeling tired and irritated. Due to the extensive heatwave that has swept through most of the country this weekend, I had been unable to sleep for nearly two days. I live in the outer suburbs of Sydney (away from the coastline) and the temperatures reached as high as 46 degrees celcius today. I'm a person that prefers the summertime to winter as I tolerate the heat much better than the cold but these high temperatures were just too much to deal with.
I turned on the radio and the first news item was about the out-of-control bushfires in the state of Victoria.I realized as I listened to the broadcast just how lucky I am though. As much as I have complained and been grumpy all weekend over the heat (as many have I'm sure) I am more fortunate than some.
Many towns in Victoria, just north-west of the city of Melbourne,have been completely ruined by the bushfires. The state's Premier John Brumby as described the effect of today's bushfires as "the worst day in our history."

Okay, the title may "shock" some people but I will explain the whole thing...

Hello, I am Krystal, 18, and I live in Adelaide, South Australia. I've been to Queensland in 99/00 (forgot), Sydney in 01/02 (forgot), and Melbourne in 04. I recently went to Sydney again to go see the wrestling. You see on TV and everything they say how beautiful Sydney is and it's like the heart of Australia...I saw differently though. Here are a few things.

Dirty
My first day there I got sick, terrible headache that shot my head and a very sore tummy. I had been walking around the streets looking at shops. So many people around, so many homeless people sitting on the streets very close to people (will bring this up later) and smoking...every one was smoking. Sydney turned into "Cancer City" for me, everyone to light up a fag whenever they could, was extremely terrible to walk through.

Fear
Adelaide has been seen as the murder capital of the world, I have never had a fear to hold my bag tightly though. All the other places I never had that fear till this trip to Sydney. Not saying all homeless people are pick pocketers but...