Some Sydney experiences

Today is my last day here in Sydney, and what I had planned to do didn't quite eventuate ... but I still had a great day.

I started my walking today heading to Sydney's Town Hall as I remembered it as a beautiful building.  I guess it's not unreasonable to think that sandstone buildings that are nearing 150 years old might, at some point, need a bit of restorative work done on them ... but I do wish it wasn't when I'm visiting!!  That being said, I must admit I quite like the scaffolding they've put up on the Town Hall - and so between it and the parts of the building you can still see, you might get an idea of the grandeur of the building.
The Town Hall was built in the 1880s and to this day it retains its original function and interior - that being the Sydney City Council Chamber, reception rooms, the Centennial Hall and offices for the Lord Mayor and elected councillors.

Next door to the Town Hall is the Queen Victoria Building (QVB) which first opened in 1898.  It was built to replace the original Sydney Markets and was named to honour the monarch's Diamond Jubilee.

It spans four floors and occupies an entire city block.  The dominant feature is the majestic Centre Dome.  Glorious stained-glass windows and Romanesque architectural features can be seen throughout the building and an original 19th century spiral staircase sits alongside the dome.

Made in England, the Royal Clock was placed in the building fairly recently (in 1986).  It performs on the hour, showing six scenes of the Royal English History, representing the close connection between England and Australia.

The Australia Clock is the world's largest hanging animated turret clock.  It took four years to build and it chimes at half past the hour.  It tells the story of Australia from the perspective of both Aboriginal and European settlers and includes 33 picture scenes, 15 of them animated.

I don't know anything about this piece of public art, but I've walked past it many times over the past few days, and so today I decided to take a picture.  I love it and it definitely looks striking out on the street.

Back down to Circular Quay and can you believe it --- there's ANOTHER cruise ship there today (and if you're looking carefully you'll see that it's not the same one as yesterday).

My original thought for today was that I was going to take a tour of the Opera House, but unfortunately both the main concert hall and the drama theatre were both closed to the public today 😕.  Seeing as how I was already at the Opera House though I decided to spend a bit of time really exploring the exterior of the building at least.  Hopefully some of these photos might be of angles and perspectives of this marvellous building that you might not see on most postcards.

Now that I had a bit of extra time this afternoon, and seeing as how I was already near Circular Quay (where all the ferries leave from), I decided to hop a ferry and spend a bit of time in Manly.  Manly is a suburb of northern Sydney, about 17 kilometres north-east of the Sydney CBD - and the nicest way to get there, I would have to say, is by ferry.  The journey takes 30 minutes and allows for scenic views of Sydney Harbour, surrounding national parks and Sydney icons including the Harbour Bridge and Opera House (which I think you've seen already).  The ferry service once advertised Manly as "seven miles from Sydney, and a thousand miles from care".  The Manly ferries are the biggest ones in Sydney Harbour because they have to pass by the headlands into the harbour.  

A second cruise ship in Sydney Harbour today

Manly has Sydney Harbour on its western side with calm water, the ferry wharf, a swimming area, and sailing and yacht clubs.  

And then, only about half a kilometre to the east is the Pacific Ocean and Manly Beach.  Manly was named by Capt. Arthur Phillip for the indigenous people living there, stating that "their confidence and manly behaviour made me give the name of Manly Cove to this place".

There is a lovely walking trail throughout Manly and a section of it runs along the Pacific Ocean.  Looking north from the trail you can see the famous Manly Beach (and beaches further north as well).

Just south of the main Manly beach there is a little cove that houses Shelly Beach.  As you can see, the waters in this little cove are much more protected and so swimming here is often possible even when Manly Beach is closed... like today.  

And watching the surf today left no doubt in my mind about why the beach was closed!

Built by local residents in 1929, Fairy Bower rockpool was built when saltwater bathing became popular.

This little guy was walking on the rocks for a little while with me - he's an Australian water dragon.  Australian water dragons have long powerful limbs and claws for climbing, a long muscular laterally-compressed tail for swimming, and prominent nuchal and vertebral crests.   (A nuchal crest is a central row of spikes at the base of the head.  These spikes continue down the spine, getting smaller as they reach the base of the tail.)

It was a rather windy day today, and so the ride both to and from Manly showcased a lot of action in the harbour.

Finally I got to see one of the cruise ships moving - this one was just starting to leave as I was coming back from Manly.

Deep sigh ... I think this was a nice way to end my last day here in Sydney.

Highlighting the city

As you've probably determined, The Rocks is a very important, and unique, place within Sydney, but there certainly is more to this city, and hopefully I'll be able to give you a bit of insight into "bigger" Sydney as well.   This post doesn't really follow any sort of a chronological timeline per se, but everything I'll talk about in this post was somehow 'important' in the beginning years of Sydney.

As you know, Sydney was established in January 1788 at Sydney Cove by Arthur Phillip, commodore of the First Fleet, as a penal colony.  The official proclamation of the founding and naming of Sydney took place on 7 February 1788.  The original name was intended to be Albion, but Phillip named the settlement after the British Home Secretary, Thomas Townshend, Lord Sydney, in recognition of Sydney's role in issuing the charter authorising Phillip to establish the colony.  
Macquarie's tenure as Governor of New South Wales was a period when Sydney was improved from its basic beginnings.  Roads, bridges, wharves and public buildings were constructed by British and Irish convicts and by 1822 the town had banks, markets, well-established thoroughfares and an organised constabulary.   He is considered by historians to have had a crucial influence on the transition of New South Wales from a penal colony to a free settlement and therefore to have played a major role in the shaping of Australian society in the early nineteenth century.  An inscription on his tomb in Scotland describes him as "The Father of Australia".

When you were looking at the photos taken from the roof of my friend's apartment building (in yesterday's post) you would have seen basketball courts in the foreground of the first photo.  Those basketball courts belong to Sydney Grammar School, which was incorporated in 1854 and still occupies the same school building, and the land on which it stands, since that time.  Sydney Grammar School is the oldest school still in use in the City of Sydney and is also historically significant as the site on which the University of Sydney began.  In fact the school was opened specifically as a feeder school for the newly founded University.

Walking along the same street where Sydney Grammar is located (College Street, which borders the east side of Hyde Park), the building next door is the Australian Museum which is the oldest museum in Australia.  The museum was founded in 1827 and moved into this building, its current location, in 1849.

Continuing along the street, the next building is St. Mary's Cathedral, the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and the seat of the Archbishop of Sydney.  The foundation stone for the present cathedral was laid in 1868 and the dedication mass was held in 1882.  It is quite a beautiful building, whether you approach it from the front,

or from the side.

Continuing north and the street name changes to Macquarie Street, and the next complex of building are the Hyde Park Barracks.  The Hyde Park Barracks is a brick building and compound designed by convict architect Francis Greenway between 1818–19; originally built to house convict men and boys.  The site is listed on New South Wales' State and Australian National Heritage registers, and is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as one of 11 preeminent Australian Convict Sites as amongst "the best surviving examples of large-scale convict transportation and the colonial expansion of European powers through the presence and labour of convicts."  As the principal male convict barracks in N.S.W. it provided lodgings for convicts working in government employment around Sydney until its closure in mid 1848.

Next door to the Hyde Park Barracks is the old Sydney Mint.  This is the oldest public building in the Sydney CBD.  Built between 1811 and 1816 as the southern wing of the Sydney Hospital, it was then known as the Rum Hospital.  In 1854 a mint was established on the site with the hospital building used to house mint staff as well as providing a residence for the Deputy Mint Master.  The Royal Mint, Sydney, operated on this site from 1855 to 1926, processing over 1200 tonnes of gold from the Australian goldfields and producing over 150 million coins.  It is now the head office of the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales.

And right next door to the Mint is still the Sydney Hospital.   Sydney Hospital is the oldest hospital in Australia, dating back to 1788, and has been at its current location since 1811.  It first received the name Sydney Hospital in 1881.  Upon his arrival in the Colony of New South Wales at the beginning of 1810, Governor Macquarie discovered that the Sydney Cove's hospital was an affair of tents and temporary buildings.  Macquarie set aside land on the western edge of the Government Domain for a new hospital and created a new road – Macquarie Street – to provide access to it.

Parliament House in Sydney is a complex of buildings housing the Parliament of New South Wales, and it too is located on Macquarie Street. The facade consists of a two storey Georgian building, and is another one of the oldest public buildings in Sydney.   Like the Mint building, the oldest part of Parliament House was built first as the north wing of Governor Macquarie's Rum Hospital.  As there was no funding from the British government, a contract to build the hospital was arranged involving convict labour and a monopoly on rum imports.

The last one along this line of very impressive buildings is the Sate Library of New South Wales. and it is the oldest library in Australia, being the first library established in the colony of New South Wales and Australia. This original building, built in 1845, is now only one wing of this massive library complex.

Sydney is well-endowed with open spaces and access to waterways, and has many natural areas (botanic gardens and parks), even in the city centre.  The Domain was established by Governor Arthur Phillip, just six months after the arrival of the first fleet.  Originally established as being exclusive to Governors, it was opened to the public in the 1830s.   This monument to Arthur Phillip is found in the Domain, which together with Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens (founded by Governor Macquarie and opened in 1816) encompass a whole headland area, leading from Sydney's CBD down to the harbour.   Arthur Phillip was the first Governor of New South Wales, from 1788-1792, and this monument was unveiled in 1897. 

The Sydney Conservatorium of Music (sometimes known as ‘The Con’) is one of the oldest and most prestigious music schools in Australia.  It is located just beside the Royal Botanic Gardens and was originally commissioned in 1815 as the stables for the proposed Government House of New South Wales.

Given that you just saw the stables, it stands to reason that Government House isn't far away... and you'd be correct.  Government House is also right beside the Royal Botanic Gardens, overlooking the harbour.  Constructed between 1837 and 1843, the property has been the official residence of the Governor of New South Wales since 1845.

(Nice view from the side gardens.)

Wurrungwuri, meaning "this side - this side of the water", is a giant sculptural waveform in the Royal Botanic Gardens.  It is constructed of 250 sandstone blocks in a range of sizes, weighing 350 tonnes in total.   Wurrungwuri also speaks of the cultural history of this cove, where Aboriginal people and the European convict colony first encountered one another.  Woven within the 16 000 white, quartz stones is an ochre coloured shield pattern recalling an Eora shield, thought to have been traded in 1788 with the new 'boat people'.

And now again, look what I can see.  No matter how many times I come to Sydney, or go down to the harbour, it seems I am physically incapable of seeing this scene and not taking a photo.  (I tell myself it's a new or different angle, but really...)

There's a wonderful walking trail that extends for several kms along the foreshore of part of the harbour, and I walked along this for a little while this afternoon.

At one point on the trail the area is known as Mrs. Macquarie's Point, and there is a special landmark called Lady Macquarie's Chair.  It is actually a carved rock ledge seat where Elizabeth Macquarie (the Governor's wife) liked to sit and admire the view of the harbour.  Her husband had his workmen carve this special seat for her and it was completed in 1816.

The foreshore walk starts/ends at the Opera House (again, another one of those 'can't resist' photos) and from there you also have a nice view over Circular Quay.  And can you believe it - there's another cruise ship in port?!?!?!

Although there are many, not all of Sydney's historical buildings are located on Macquarie Street - many are also located near to Circular Quay.  Customs House, constructed in 1844-1845, served as the headquarters of the Customs Service until 1990.  It was built in response to Sydney's growing volume of maritime trade, and the building project also doubled as an unemployment relief measure for stonemasons and labourers during an economic depression which was afflicting the colony at the time.

Beside Customs House a flag flies permanently on the site where the first British flag was raised.  For some Australians, this is the site of invasion.

Bulletin Place is a rare historic streetscape which provides a glimpse of some of the early warehousing which used to dominate this area.  This is also where J.F. Archibald's famous weekly The Bulletin was published from 1880.

Originally swampy mangrove land, the little parkette area known as Macquarie Place has many historic relics.  This obelisk marks the point from which distances to all places in the colony were measured.

This anchor and cannon belonged to the H.M.S. Sirius which convoyed the First Fleet to Botany Bay in January 1788.

The imposing statue of Thomas Sutcliffe Mort looks out over Bridge street, the premier financial street in Sydney.  Thomas Sutcliffe Mort (1816 – 1878) was an Australian industrialist responsible for improving refrigeration of meat, and he was renowned for speculation in the local pastoral industry (and many other accomplishments).

Bridge Street was named for a little wooden footbridge that crossed over a stream that was here - called the Tank Stream - Sydney's source of fresh water.  From the start, the town was both physically and socially divided by the Tank Stream.  On the one side were the Governor's house and the tents of the civil establishment and on the other side were the makeshift barracks of the military and the convicts.  To this day, many impressive sandstone buildings can still be found on Bridge Street.  The Lands Department Building (built in 1877-90) is listed on the Register of the National Estate as well as having a NSW state listing.

The Education Department building is next door - built in 1881 it is still the head office for the Department of Education for New South Wales.

The Museum of Sydney sits on the site of the first Government House (which was really a tent).

And last in this row of impressive buildings is the Chief Secretary's Building.  Originally the Colonial Secretary's Building, this sandstone building was the seat of colonial administration and has been used continuously by the Government of New South Wales ever since.  It was built in 1873-80.

Also along Bridge Street, but in the other direction, there are other buildings of significance.  The ASX/Australian Stock Exchange has its home here,

and you can also see the headquarters of Burns Philp which was once one of the major shipping companies in the Pacific.

One feature of walking through Sydney's CBD that is quite lovely is its mixture of old and new.  This gigantic residential tower was built in the 1980s but a condition for building this tower was that the old Johnsons Corner and The Brooklyn pubs (both built in the early 1900s) be retained.

This simple Gothic sandstone church (St. Patrick's) was built in the 1840s on land donated by William Davis, a convict who took part in the Irish Rebellion in 1798.  The church has been the traditional heartland of Sydney's Irish working class Roman Catholics.

St. Philip's is the oldest Anglican church parish in Australia.  The original church was built by orders of the colony's first chaplain, Rev Richard Johnson using convict labour in June 1793.  The wattle and daub construction church was later burnt down by convicts in 1798.  A second stone church was built across the street from St. Patrick's (in an area known as 'Church Hill' and operated from 1810 to 1856.  It was made from poor materials and gained a reputation as "the ugliest church in Christendom".   The current church building was built in 1848-1856.

And just around the corner from here I happened to stumble upon a familiar looking sign and flag.  Yes, this is the Canadian Consulate here in Sydney.

At this point I was back in The Rocks again, but at an area I didn't get to yesterday.  These little houses and the corner shop date from the 1840s and are known as Susannah Place.

By this time I was pretty sure it was beer-time, so I ended my walk today at the Australian Hotel, a typical early 20th century hotel, built in 1914.  The odd shape of the land here is a result of street re-alignments for the building of the Harbour Bridge.

And how lucky are you - two photos in the same post to prove that I am here.  I just couldn't resist this background when someone offered to take my photo.