Walkabout in Sydney
It was a bit rainy this morning so my planned Saturday walk around Sydney was a bit truncated. I made it to Sydney Harbour but didn’t go on a boat trip, which I’ll do later. I didn’t have time to visit the Botanical Gardens or the Art Gallery of New South Wales, which are nearby, but will do so later. I was planning to take more pictures with my little compact camera too, but when I took it out I realized its battery was virtually flat and I had to use my phone camera instead. The light here is very different from Ireland! Fortunately I’m here long enough that I’ll have other opportunities for exploration.
My residence in Sydney is the district called Ultimo, which is very central and close to the University of Sydney campus. There is excellent public transport from here to Circular Quay, close to both the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, but I needed to stretch my legs so took a leisurely stroll of about an hour, my route taking me through Haymarket and Chinatown to Circular Quay. It being Chinese New Year, I took a detour to look at some of the preparations for two weeks of celebrations. I enjoyed the walk, which followed the tram line most of the way there, and it was getting rather warm in late afternoon so I returned by tram.
Anyway, after much fiddling about, I’ve managed to embed a video I put on Instagram. As you can hear, it was quite windy!
P.S. Here’s an interesting factoid for you: the population of Greater Sydney (5.3M) exceeds that of the entire Republic of Ireland (5.0M).
In the Dark 
February 10, 2024 at 2:48 pm
Don’t waste money on a harbour cruise, just take a few ferries from and back to Circular Quay, and wander round the harbour suburbs you reach (especially Manly). The cost of a tourist boat trip is the same as several ferries and you’ll see the best of Sydney from the ferries. Also walk over the harbour bridge, which will assuredly give you deja vu if you are from Newcastle, and stop at one or two of the pubs on The Rocks (the area on the south side to which the bridge runs).
When I arrived in October 1985 the university put me up at St Johns College, but I wanted to live normally and soon found a flatshare in Newtown, which then was just starting its rise from being a poor area. Later on I lived on the North Shore (rents were reasonable in those days) and took the ferry, then bus or rail, to Sydney Uni. For rail I walked between campus and Redfern, which was then regarded as a tough district although its street feel was gentler than parts of London or Manchester.
I recommend a day trip west to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains and, if it is still going, the Hydro Majestic hotel for afternoon tea. The Blue Mountains are not mountains in the sense of the Alps – they are afforested canyons, and Alpine mountaineers often lost their way in them and vanished in the early days. Speaking of the early days, For The Term of His Natural Life by Marcus Clarke is a cracking novel set in the early days of Australia.
Then there is the SCG (Sydney Cricket Ground), where you should be able to watch some interstate cricket in February. If they still let you into 4-day interstate games for free after tea, take a taxi there from Sydney Uni after the afternoon tea break while a match is on.
February 10, 2024 at 10:12 pm
I’ve already been told by people in the Department just to take regular ferries around the Bay and would have done that if I’d had more time yesterday.
February 11, 2024 at 6:23 pm
If you get the chance, call in at the Town Hall. There’s a pipe organ there with 64ft stops. Not harmonic / resultant basses, real 64ft. You don’t hear it, you feel it.