Both a sporting venue and suburb, Sydney Olympic Park sprawls across the inner west within the City of Parramatta. It was originally part of Homebush Bay, but during its redevelopment in the lead up to the 2000 Olympics the area was renamed Sydney Olympic Park. With numerous sporting complexes surrounded by extensive parklands on its waterfront location, Sydney Olympic Park’s state-of-the-art facilities continue to be used as a leisure complex, festival grounds and a host to world-class sporting tournaments.
Sydney Olympic Park is a place to get active, with walking and cycling trails meandering through the 40-acre Bicentennial Park and Badu Mangrove wetlands. The Aquatic Centre is where the world’s best swimmers competed during the Olympics and now offers guests four indoor heated pools, water slides, and spa, sauna, and steam room facilities, together with a water playground for the little ones. The high ropes course of the Urban Jungle Adventure Park will get the adrenalin pumping, together with trapeze artist classes at Circus Arts Sydney. Sydney Olympic Park’s DFO factory outlet centre offers endless shopping bargains, while the Newington Armory preserves more than 100 heritage buildings within this former navy armaments depot, best explored along the Heritage Railway. Sydney Olympic Park also hosts more than 5000 events annually, including both AFL and Rugby games which ignite ANZ Stadium.
For self-drivers, there’s limited parking available at Sydney Olympic Park that fills up quickly during events, so a better option is to jump aboard one of the public transport options, with trains, buses and ferries all servicing the suburb. There’s also the option to cycle along the Sydney Regional Cycleways network, designated bike lanes and pathways.
Before the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, the area was inhabited by the Wangal indigenous people and became part of Newington Estate in 1807. While the Olympics brought the suburb much prestige, during its unglamorous history the suburb was the site of an aged women’s home, a technology park and home to eight of the city’s rubbish dumps.