Sydney Strolls

During our time in Sydney, we have greatly benefited from a book lent to us by an Australian friend called “Sydney’s Best Harbour and Coastal Walks”, which features 36 walks in and around the Sydney area.  They take you to places not usually frequented by the casual tourist, and provide a glimpse into what it’s like to actually live in Sydney. These photos help to memorialize some of the highlights of these walks, most of which begin with a ferry ride out of Circular Quay. 

The ferries must often make their way past large and imposing cruise ships.

The walk from Cremorne Point to popular Taronga Zoo takes you past idyllic Shell Cove.  Hard to believe the area was known for scandalous masked balls in gardens that had to be shut down in the early 1890’s. 


It meanders past various examples of Federation Arts and Crafts houses, including The Laurel (1907).

Continuing through Little Sirius Cove leads to the ferry wharf at the zoo, where the animals (particularly those with long necks) have a great city view as well.

In the other direction from the zoo, you pass through Chowder Bay and the former Army Maritime School to reach Balmoral, which has a lovely old-fashioned pavilion and beach.

It’s also possible to reach the north Sydney by walking over the Sydney Harbour Bridge (about 1.5 km) to reach Kirribilli on the and swing around through the Luna Park amusement park to arrive at chic Lavender Bay. 

Further on, a stop at McMahons Point provides a great view back to the city.

Back over to Circular Quay, one can explore the Rocks, an older area of city that is now buzzing with tourists.

It’s apparently a destination for newlyweds, like these who discovered an alternative to the traditional sharing of wedding cake.

Across the head to Watson’s Bay, going south takes you to Vaucluse, a very elegant area with great views back to the city from hidden coves.

The walk round Hen & Chicken Bay is described as “a pleasant and peaceful suburban stroll . . . with plenty of locals out jogging, walking the dog, or watching children at the playground.”  This walk starts in Abbottsford, goes past a former quarantine reserve for animals, and continues through residential areas and parks skirting the water’s edge.

Very attractive modern housing along the way in Cabarita has been located on former industrial sites, some of which remain as a reminder of the past.

The walk gives a good idea of how easy it is to live near the water in Sydney and take advantage of the views and ambiance it affords.

Also to the west of the city is Balmain, which (according to the book) was “once a working class suburb that was home to dockworkers, stevedores, and marine engineers.  Their 19^th century cottages are now worth a fortune to those who love Balmain’s proximity to the city.” 

A site that was formerly a Caltex fuel depot has now been redeveloped into a harborside park by the Sydney Foreshore Authority, and has an unusual display of personalized engraved locks on chains around the sandstone walls.

A walk down Louisa Road takes us past lovely older as well as new houses, a bit reminiscent of Georgetown in Washington.

The Olympic swimming champion Dawn Fraser lends her name to a pool in the neighborhood.

The route also passes a former Colgate Palmolive building, an industrial building successfully converted into desirable apartments.

The ferry wharf at Birchgrove also offers great city views.

A short ride from Balmain across the harbor takes you to Greenwich, where a walk to Manns Point provides yet another fantastic viewpoint back to the city skyline.

But there’s no place like home, even a temporary one.  For us, that means savoring the quirky charm of Potts Point. 










Which means ascending all 112 of the McElhone steps to get there…

Tattoos

I doubt that a large proportion of Australian males have tattoos, but a significant number do. There seems to be a focus on whole-arm or whole-leg tattoos, and we have seen one whole-back tattoo.

One Australian bowler in the test match has a horrible whole-arm tattoo: one Brit has one too.

         I also doubt that a significant proportion of Australian males have shaven or closely cropped heads, but a lot of them do.

         And as for ear-rings or ear-studs, the same applies.

         But sometimes all three are present--shaven head, extensive tattooing, and ear-studs. They are generally clothed in sleeveless T-shirts so that the tattoos show off to the best advantage. Sometimes the shaven head is accompanied by designer stubble.

         More of them here than in England or the United States? Who knows?

         Unlike photographing the little dogs (“Do you mind if I take a photo of your little dog?”), I have not had the courage to say to one of these Australian males, “Please may I photograph your tattoos?”

From the Hotel Roof

On the day before Xmas, the hotel where we stay opened up its roof to guests. The views were excellent in  most directions. So here they are:

The modern apartment block across the street.

The Sydney skyline.

The bridge and the Opera House.

Rushcutters Bay--looking towards Darling Point

The harbour, looking out towards the Heads.

The residential areas to the east.

Beach Culture: Sydney Style

To say that Australia is the land of beach culture is an understatement.  Youngsters seem to move up quickly from boogie boards to surfing, and “life is a beach” could be the national motto.  Here, for example, is Manly Beach on Christmas Day:

But the most iconic beach of all is Bondi, legendary for its surfing. Lessons begin at an early age, and the waves are soon mastered.

Bondi is also known for its “Icebergs”, the rockpool that is open year-round to swimmers.

There are various areas throughout the harbor and the coast that are enclosed in some manner for swimming, either by a man-made wall to keep the waves at bay, or by a net (e.g., the less dramatic Greenwich Baths, in which a net separates the swimmers from the sharks that are not unknown in the area).

A walkway along the coast from Bondi to Maroubra affords great views of the cliffs, punctuated by expanses of sand and waves.  The walkway is popular with runners and walkers of all ages, although there does seem to be a preponderance of young women.

A small cove in Lurline Bay has unusual sandstone formations.  

The walking instructions indicate that the bay may be impassable "when the sea is rough"; otherwise, the walker is left to find her way across the rocks.

 Some short diversions up and down residential streets along the route provide plenty of attractive flowers and shrubs, and they attract various birds, including the colorful (but noisy) Crimson Rosella.

And what better to stimulate the appetite than a bit of salty air?

Notice the book in the foreground. This has been invaluable in planning walks around the Sydney area.

Celebrity Culture

No Brit or Yank can criticize any other country for being in the grips of a celebrity culture—all one can say is that in Australia it does seem to be about in line with everywhere else. Be it sport (and here that means a wide range of sport from rugby to lawn bowling), or ‘media’--film, TV, radio, or even business and politics, the focus is on the people, and they are usually identified by their first names in the daily paper that gets delivered to our hotel room each day. This is The Daily Telegraph, which seems to be equivalent to The Sun in England and the Daily News in New York—with a dash of the American National Enquirer thrown in.

From one day’s edition, we culled the following:

Sydney New Year's Eve (NYE)

From the day we arrived in Sydney we have seen notice after notice announcing that on NYE this throughway will be closed: that access will restricted to certain parks: that control gates will be established to certain areas: and that the Harbour Bridge will be closed on NYE from 11 pm to 1 am. And as NYE approached, there was an undeniable atmosphere of excitement and anticipation throughout the city. All over the place, blocks of colourful green and white portaloos or jiffyjohns were being set up, and the rent-a-fence companies were obviously doing their best business of the year.

         Early on the morning of the 31^st we set out on one of our harbour walks and found that our usual route to the ferry quay was blocked off. On the alternative route, we found a maze of fences set up for the queue at an entrance to a desirable viewing area, and already--at 8 am--the lines were forming, and there were people there in sleeping bags as if they had been there all night.

 Far from the Harbour Bridge, which is the epicenter of the fireworks, we stepped off the ferry onto a piece of green foreshore at Cremorne Point, on which people had pitched tents and literally staked out their viewing patches with groundsheets and tarpaulins. 

Their view was good, but a fairly distant one. Our hike ended at the Zoo, where a long peninsula heads out into the harbour and ends at a point called Bradley’s Head. The night before, from our hotel window, we could see boats accumulating there, and by midday on NYE—when we were blocked off from walking out to the end of Bradley’s Head—the anchored boats were so thick you could probably have walked along to the Head by stepping from one boat to the other. And dinghies plied to and fro taking out liquor supplies to the scattered parties that were already well under way in the middle of the day.

         Later that afternoon, when we returned from our north Sydney harbour hike, we strolled down to our nearby park—Rushcutters Bay—from one end of which there ia a good view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. Squads of security men and women checked incoming spectators and searched their bags for alcohol. And although we were still at least four hours away from the first fireworks (at 9 pm—they come in two bursts: at 9 pm for children facing bedtime and at midnight), the crowds were pouring in. Outside the fenced-in restricted area, there were many group picnics underway (how the Aussies love to picnic) and we watched a whole posse of police set out to check up on each group—we think warning them that after a certain time the alcohol had to vanish, as the whole park had been declared an alcohol-free area.

We had been invited to dinner by some friends who have a modern apartment of great elegance in the street that runs down to the Opera House. The building is one of a set that overlook Circular Quay (harbour ferry central) on one side and the Botanical Gardens on the other. We walked to get there, and the crowds were building up everywhere—everyone hurrying to get to some viewing spot. Announcements were being made that this area was full, and that another area would close in half an hour (this before 7 pm).

 Eventually we produced the tickets, supplied by our hosts, that enabled us to penetrate the security perimeter and made our way up to their apartment. 

From their balcony we could look down on the huge crowds down by the Opera House and on the long lines of people standing waiting to use the temporary toilets set up in a grassy area opposite.

We ate our first course and then at 8.45 pm we were led by our hosts down onto the quay on the Harbour Bridge side and watched the childrens’ fireworks at 9.00 pm. 

A fairly conventional display, and we doubt that many children went to bed when the fireworks were over. Our hosts escorted us back through the security checks, and we had leisurely second and third courses of our meal. At about 11.45 pm, down we went again—and again our party got separated on the dense crowds, which created some difficulties in getting a good clear view. Taking photos was a problem—much to our distress, Joan’s camera had sadly given up the digital ghost earlier in the day, and my camera has a tiny screen and in the poor light it was quite difficult to do much more than hold it up, press the shutter, and hope for the best. Many botched shots. 

Joan got better ones with the I-phone.

It was a spectacular display—there were a lot of conventional fireworks, but the designers of the show made great and creative use of the bridge, with waterfalls of light from the road level and rockets going off simultaneously all across the bridge.

After our farewells to our hosts, we set off on the streets, packed with thousands of others, to walk back to the hotel. A few bunches of yobbos on the walk, but mostly everyone was in good spirits and lots of NYE well-wishing along the way. Bed at 1.30 am.