UPDATE 2005-12-10: Google Earth has high-res shots of western Sydney, including Penrith now

Google Maps now have satellite imagery for Australia at a much closer zoom than before. In fact some areas have maximum zoom now. Sydney has mostly full zoom, but unfortunately the more interesting landmarks like the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge are still in low resolution shots. Hopefully they’ll fix this up in the not-too-distant future.

Canberra seems to be mostly high-res too, here’s Parliament House, and just to the north-east, old Parliament House. The Australian War Memorial, with Anzac Parade leading up to it is pretty impressive too.

Sydney Olympic Park, site of the 2000 Sydney Olymic Games. This is so great, I’ve been waiting for this since Google Maps was first released.