How would you define a meat pie to someone who's never had one?
It's sort of like a sausage roll. When I was a kid, the first thing we would do after school is grab a meat pie. You could probably get them then for 25 cents. Harry's used to be a rather low-rent place, but over the years it's become a landmark. Now they write about it in books and everything.

Any other restaurant recommendations?
Some of my favorite restaurants are in east Sydney. All I keep telling you about is Italian restaurants, but they're all great, like Bill & Toni's and another one called No Names. I remember going there as a kid. There are only a few things to choose from, but it's really, really cheap and full of atmosphere. I might be biased, but I rate Australia as having some of the best food in the world. Yeah, other than Italy, I'd say it is probably the best food I've ever had in the world. Because everything is fresher and the tastes are much stronger and purer.

What are your favorite places to shop?
There are great shops in Paddington along Oxford Street, but my favorite shops are on Williams Street. You've got Belinda, which is full of young designers, some of them local, some imported. It's expensive, but it has fantastic vintage stuff and some of the best finds I've ever come across. Then there's Collette Dinnigan, one of Australia's most famous designers. She sells all over America. She has shops in London and Paris. She's one of our biggest exports. Her dresses are very feminine but very modern and classic at the same time. She's a friend of mine and I have worn her things on several occasions and to several functions. There's also a fantastic shop called Orson & Blake that sells great clothes, but mainly what I like about it is the furniture. Then there's Queen Street, which has great antiques stores and galleries and things. Great shops and cafes, too.

Does the nightlife get wild down under?
My nightlife days are kind of long ago. There's a bar called Soho Bar in King's Cross that I'd go to. And I had my 18th birthday in a small club called The Freezer. In those days I had aspirations to become a dancer, so I did a dance routine there that I had rehearsed. I actually performed at my 18th birthday. I don't know what I was thinking. Somebody should have stopped me. It was one of those classic dances to Janet Jackson, where I was the girl and I was being fought over by two men.

You did the routine at The Freezer?
I did the routine. The music stopped and the lights went down and on I went. In front of about 100 people. I mean, what a lunatic. I still remember the day.

Speaking of performing, have you done any theater in Sydney?
It's on my list of things to do. I'm just trying to find the right time. I have kind of a fear about it, a bit of stage fright. The theater community in Sydney does really well. You have the Sydney Theatre Company, which is probably the biggest company, with fantastic directors and actors. Cate Blanchett had a play there. All of the great Australian actors have done at least one play out of STC, except me. There's also the Stables and Belvoir St. theatres. There are a lot of little theater companies that manage to stay alive.

If you had to pick one place that exemplified the vibe of Sydney and what it's all about, what would it be?
There's a famous restaurant in Watsons Bay called Doyles on the Beach. You should take people who've never been to Australia before. It's very touristy, but it's a great spot. Watsons Bay is just so picturesque.

And, of course, there are the obvious tourist places, like the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Your friend Nicole Kidman jumped off the Harbour Bridge with that writer from ­Esquire, right?
Yeah, but she didn't jump. She climbed. I haven't done it myself. I actually tried to go once, and then something happened with the car and we missed it. There's a certain time you have to do a tutorial and we missed it. It is something I would like to do, though.

Where do you go when you want to pamper yourself?
You can get a fantastic massage at the Ginseng Bath House. They soak you in all this great stuff and scrub you down. Then you get into these hot pools of special mineral water. I also go to this great woman named Eva Karpati in Double Bay who gives incredible facials. You go in and she says, "Oh, we've got a skin emergency on our hands." She just gets down to it and does a thorough cleansing.

What about when you want to get away from it all?
Well, there's Palm Beach, which is beautiful. Sort of the equivalent of driving from the center of Los Angeles to Malibu maybe.­ You've got the peninsula there and the most beautiful beaches, both surf and calm beaches.­ A choice of waves or no waves, ­basically. There are also the Blue Mountains. I have a lot of memories of the two-hour drive from Sydney to mountain territory and its wonderful eucalyptus trees. We had a little cottage up there for a while, and we'd go there on the weekends. We would make fires and go for walks. It's really a different side of Australia, from the beaches to the cold, crisp mountains. There are waterfalls and some incredible wildlife as well, a lot of different animals.