You might be lucky if you range south of Wollongong into rural areas to get some old towns and sheds and farmsteads here and there, but most of those kinds of things are further afield, more of a Northern Territory or Western Australia area I’d say.
But more knowledgeable folks than me ought to contribute.
another form of unmodernised village are the surfing shack towns in Royal National Park - between Wollongong and Sydney - Garie, Buring Palms and Era. The Royal National Park coastal track is a great walk and connects these places - I just noticed its also on Google streetview - Burning Palms, Era Beach, lots of other little fishing / holiday towns down the coast which should be pretty quiet as the schools have just gone back.
If you get up to the Southern highlands are behind Wollongong, some of the more intact towns are Berrima, Appin, Picton, Burrawang. Berrima is the pick of the bunch. Also Wollongong was a coal mining centre - all around it are small pockets of late 19th century miners cottages usually now in suburbia, which aren’t tourist destinations but worth asking about.
Awesome info, thanks all!
mmm
Just saw this thread, if you can’t do the bridge, there is the Sydney Tower, which like places in many major cities takes you way the hell up in the air to overlook the city. Pretty impressive view if the weather is good.
And try to visit, if only for a short time, the ANZAC memorial. It’s rather understated, but one really doesn’t understand the heart of Australia without understanding what WWI meant to it (IMHO as always. YMMV.)
Enjoy.
I was there a year ago and did much of what’s already been suggested:
Taronga Zoo
Aquarium
Blue Mountains
Botanical Gardens / Opera House (I did that twice, really enjoyed the walk and views)
What I was unable to do was night sky viewing at the planetarium or whatever they call it. I tried, but nobody answered the phone and couldn’t do it online. I really wanted to see the southern hemisphere sky with someone to explain it, but that’ll be next time.
Will also suggest a restaurant, or rather a sort of conglomerate of restaurants, called The Canteen. Sort of a medium / high end food court with some good variety. It’s near the water, I believe west of the Circular Quay. Ate there a few times as I was walking around the city.
Not trying to be snarky, but as a point of info: I booked the bridge climb yesterday. There were plenty of openings all day long (although some karaoke thing they do looked pretty booked up).
mmm
Good to know, and hope you get a brilliant clear day for it.
School holidays have just finished and we’re in a pretty quiet tourism period, so that may have helped. Regardless, it’s the highlight of many peoples’ visits, so hope you have a blast.
Whats on in Wollongong?
No - I’m not going to explain.
Bloody well hope so!
Vote 2 Berrima, though it’s more gentrified arts & crafts now.
Australiana Pioneer Village in Wilberforce though you’ll need a vehicle from 'Gong.
It’s a shadow of the Swan Hill PioneerSettlement imho but Swan Hill is well off your radar.
Similarly up in the high country thebushman’s huts around Kosciuszko National Park might tweak your interest.
Yippee, wife and I arrived from Hawaii Saturday evening and were out and about Sunday. Early run for some groceries (in an Air B&B); brief exploration of our area - Brodie Spark Dr. - place was leveled and rebuilding with new condos near airport. Got our Opal passes; train to Circular Quay; things still set up for Chinese new year; toured around The Rocks - Sunday market in full force. Lots of food sampling and a small basket of fries to tide us over. Overcast skies progressed from spitting showers to full monsoon by 5:00pm. Train back to home area/stop for sushi/minor grocery run; inside with hot tea and drying ourselves out.
Tomorrow weather to be improved - we’ll do a hop on / hop off bus tour to check out more places for expanded exploration. Got a harbor tour, Opera house tour, and one day out to Blue Mountains already planned - need some sun.
OP checking in. Did the bridge climb Saturday, it was spectacular! Walked around Sydney a bit too.
Rained all day yesterday, walked around a mall and saw Lady Bird at the cinema. Not much else.
Still deciding about future activities and destinations.
Absolutely loving Australia so far.
(How come no one told me that ketchup is tomato sauce??) 
mmm
Mr Mustard/Mr Smith
You seem to have brought to our fair city with you copious quantities of water .
Cut it cobber.
Cease and desist.
Have you tried to order coffee yet?
Couple of cafes here in Wolli Creek. My machiato yesterday was straight from Italy.
Still raining and the high winds from yesterday are still going on. Local power outage just ended so off we go. This afternoon and the rest of the week look great.
Also did the Museum of Contemporary Art yesterday; free, dry, and very good.
Oh yeah, I think we have that solved. Also received some puzzled looks when we wanted something “to go”.
But it’s alright, mate. No worries.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Are you alluding to the lack of “drip coffee” (i.e. what most Americans would consider a standard cup of coffee)? I found that a little hard too, no one knew what I was asking for when I just asked for a cup of coffee. I assume it’s kind of the same as asking for a “beer” in a TV bar 
Still, I can’t tell if it was just the locals I was with, but I got the impression that Sydney folks were pretty sophisticated about their espresso drinks. Once I figured it out I was pleased with the coffee drinks I had.
When I was in Oz and NZ, the coffee order that worked for me was a double flat white.
Because it’s not?
There are subtle differences, Ketchup tends to have a thicker consistency, and is a little sweeter, while Tomato Sauce is a bit more vinegary. But realistically many people can’t tell the difference. 
YES! When I visited Sydney I found this out the hard way. Tried to get a coffee to go from the hotel barista, and I had no idea what a “long black” or “flat white” were. I just asked for a regular cup of coffee and she looked at me like I had lobsters coming out of my ears! I eventually figured it out, thanks to some of the folks I was working with.
If you’re still staying at Wolli Creek you are only a short distance from Newtown, which is full of restaurants from cheap and cheerful to top of middle end. It should be pretty vibrant with Mardi Gras coming up this weekend. And yet more coffee shops…