Bankstown 

For excitement in this part of Sydney, look no further than the district's rich sporting heritage. The Amazing Waugh Twins, for instance. Stephen (the Captain of the Australian cricket team) and Mark (known as 'Junior' because he emerged from Mrs Waugh's womb last) are Bankstown's most famous exports. They're probably the two best batsmen Australia's had in the last 20 years and Bankstown is justifiably proud of the boys. However, only very, very, very, very, very, very occasionally do they play at Bankstown Oval. If you hear they are though, get along. The whole area comes to watch the Waugh brothers. They're champions (and it's free to get in).

In the colder months though, it's the Sydney Bulldogs, the district's rugby league club, who rule the district's sporting roost. The Doggies were formerly known as The Canterbury-Bankstown Berries, and while a football team named after a small red fruit may seem a bit poofy to you, rest assured, The Berries of the 70s and 80s were the roughest, toughest, fightingest, bitingest bunch of crazy-arsed hairy hillbillies since Genghis Khan led the claret-stained jumpers of the Mongols to victory over everybody in 854AD, or thereabouts. Man were they nasty! These days, though, with television allowing only the most surreptitious of biting and gouging, it's their spectators who've taken over the mantle. The Bulldogs supporters are often in the news for doing naughty things like throwing hot dogs onto the field, or saying rude words, and are known as the bad eggs of the supporting fishbowl. But they're just kiddies and it's generally just a beat-up by the media on slow news days to sell advertising space and circulation.

Anyway! For a slice of Australia not in many guide books and certainly off the well-and-truly-beaten tourist track, get along to night racing at fCanterbury Race Track on a Wednesday. This features horses racing around a 2km track, under lights, and being bet on. It's people watching of the highest order. My personal faves are the groupings of men who think they are - or who possibly are - in the mafia. Gold chains, black skivvies, shaking hands in a cool, Fonzie-like way - they're extremely funny blokes. Probably unwise to get caught gawking at them, however. They might send you swimming with the fishes. But get a couple of pals together, pool your cash, bet on a trifecta, have a couple of beers…

Try the Liverpool Speedway for the thrills and spills or raceway action at its best and cheer with the locals!

Culturally diverse...go on check it out you will be pleasantly surprised! This is a part of Sydney known by those in the Eastern Suburbs and North Shore as being somewhere 'down there'. Indeed, mention Bankstown, Yagoona and Lakemba to some affluent Sydney types and you'll possibly cop an 'Oh! Down there!' and then a faint shudder.

You see, the media have conned the rest of Sydney that this part of town is The Badlands. By praying on fear - that well known ratings grabber - South Western Sydney is painted as Gangland AUS - it's true the area has its problems with gangs of disaffected youth doing naughty stuff, but no more than Manly or Bondi.

Let’s turn to the plus points; food. With a high percentage of punters from Middle Eastern backgrounds you can walk into a hundred different kebab shops and buy a shawerma. Try a lamb kebab with hommus, tabouli, saturated in garlic and chilli sauce…mm-mm. Fairfield City council says you can 'rediscover the joy of eating' by eating in South West Sydney and while my own joy of eating has never once waned over three decades - indeed it's been quite fundamental to my survival - the area is renowned for its authentic restaurants offering a wide variety of cuisines: There's Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese, Cambodian and Laotian eateries in Cabramatta; Italian, Lebanese, Spanish & Hungarian in Fairfield. In Yagoona there's fish n chips and steak at Yagoona Tavern. In Liverpool you can have a hot dog at the Liverpool Raceway. More on that experience later.