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Parks Around Sydney |
Sydney is riddled with parks and playing fields, almost all of them open to the public, unlike sporting venues where major competitions are held. Those will be full of people, and unpleasant, but if that is your thing, see Australian sports for more.
Here, that usually reliable observer was a little off beam. After the original water supply for Sydney, the Tank Stream, was completely polluted, Busby's Bore was established. This was a long sloping tunnel, running down from the Lachlan swamps in Centennial Park (in which entry there is more detail on the bore) to Hyde Park, at Liverpool and College Streets. From there, the water ran in wooden above-ground pipes to the corner of Elizabeth and Park Streets, so that carts loaded with barrels could drive beneath the outpour and be filled. The excess water drained off down into the Tank Stream. There is more about Busby's Bore under the Centennial Park entry.
The Archibald Fountain at the northern end is a delight when it is running, and the statue of James Cook is in the southern half of the park, near the corner of William Street and College Street. Once it was so placed that Cook could see every ship sailing into the harbour, and they could see him, but now the trees have grown up. The southern end of the park contains a large War Memorial and the Pool of Remembrance, which seems mainly to commemorate fallen leaves and ice cream wrappers.
There are also resident possums, onychophorans (velvet worms) living in the leaf litter, and usually nesting tawny frogmouths and kookaburras. On a good morning, you can hear a dozen species of bird calling while walking across this park in the middle of the city. Not the ibis, though: these mudflat birds have learned to hunt in freshly-turned flower beds, and it is hard to sing while your face is in the mud.
You can visit the Royal Botanic Gardens site to learn more about them, but they are one of the world's oldest gardens. Aside from the educational and botanical side, the gardens occupy a prime piece of scenic Sydney real estate. You will find a shop with books and all the mementoes you need to buy for your elderly uncle and aunt, a kiosk, a restaurant — and views to die for. There isn't a lot of shelter from rain, and you can be quite exposed to sun, so take an umbrella and sunscreen!
You can also get there from any of several gates in Macquarie Street, or from near the Art Gallery of NSW. Go along past the Art Gallery, and look for entrances on your left, just past the bridge over the Cahill Expressway. This road leads on down to Mrs Macquarie's Chair, and there is metered parking in the road down to, with proceeds going to the gardens. You will find a number of gates into the Gardens on this road.
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Sydney's Gardens were founded in 1816. They aren't the oldest in the world: Padua, Paris, Edinburgh, Cambridge, Rio de Janeiro and Munich are older, but few even of those have such a fine setting. It was probably fitting that Australia should establish Botanic Gardens so early: so much of the history of white settlement was tied up with botanists.
Not only was there Sir Joseph Banks, who sailed with Cook to Botany Bay, but Robert Brown (known to physicists as the discoverer of "Brownian motion", and to biologists as the discoverer of the cell nucleus), Allan Cunningham, and any number of other botanists who spent time in the young colony: you can find traces of some of them in the gardens.
At first, the gardens were seen as little more than a "Government vegetable garden", but slowly the plant collection developed. The name of the bay near the gardens is a reminder of this earlier role: it is Farm Cove. Six months after the first settlement, there were "nine acres in corn". The soil there, though, was poor, and the crop was not a success, so agriculture moved elsewhere, and the area became a centre for acclimatising new plants from overseas.
People who wanted to grow oaks could obtain acorns, and those with damp patches on their farms could get bamboo plants. By 1816, it had become more of a plant collection, and by 1825, there were more than 3000 plant species in the collection. Even so, Allan Cunningham, whose tomb is to be found in the gardens, referred to it slightingly in early 1838 as the "Government cabbage-garden". The science of botany had come to take second place to horticulture, with convicts being trained in practical farming there.
The gardens declined until 1848, when Charles Moore, a trained botanist, started a 48-year reign as Director of the Gardens, and from then on, they were to be truly Botanic Gardens, as well as being the home of the National Herbarium. This is a research collection of dried plant specimens, used in the identification of unknown species. Moore's successor, Joseph Maiden, was also a botanist, and it showed: one of Maiden's daughters was actually named Acacia! Some Sydney botanists have a theory about the family sitting around, asking each other, "What'll we call her, what'll we call her?" Well, it's only a working theory . . .
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Entry fees: Entry to the gardens is free. There is an entry fee for the "Pyramid" and the "Arc", but it is well worth paying to see the contents of these two glass-houses. Special prices for families, concessions for children, opening times a bit variable, Saturday mornings are excellent, because nobody else is there.
Closed: The shop and visitor centre are closed Christmas Day and Good Friday.
You can also get maps and information to help you find the First Farm exhibition, the rose garden and the succulent garden, and you will find an excellent restaurant and a good kiosk. If you will be in Sydney for any length of time, the Gardens have their own Friends organisation, like those at the other main museums and art galleries.
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Pictures: (left) The Royal Botanic Gardens runs into the Domain, and the two are seen here, across the waters of Farm Cove.For historical background, see these quotes. This is an area of land near the city of Sydney set aside as "the government domain" in the very first days of the new colony at Sydney Cove.
It is under the management of the neighbouring Royal Botanic Gardens but remains as open space. In summer, a series of concerts are offered to crowds of up to 100,000 people, using the part of the Domain that lies between the Art Gallery and the state Parliament.
You can walk through the Royal Botanic Gardens, or walk past the front of the State Library of NSW, and veer right, or walk south past the Hyde Park Barracks in Macquarie Street, left around the corner, and keep going: the choice is yours. You can even ride the Sydney Explorer to the Domain.
Here we can read that the Domain comprises ". . . in its extent the governor's private grounds, the Botanic Garden, Paddocks, &c. It was greatly improved and beautified under the tasteful direction of Mrs. Macquarie; it is thickly interspersed with walks, winding amongst native and exotic trees, and plants of the finest and most varied foliage, and is much enlivened by many tame kangaroos and emues."
The Domain, we are told, was a favourite place for promenading on a Sunday afternoon, even as it is with some people today, even though the "kangaroos and emues" are no longer there. Each year, during the Festival of Sydney, there will be a number of "Things" in the Park. First come the carols by candlelight, just before Christmas. Then, during January, you will find Jazz in the Park, Symphony in the Park, Opera in the Park, and maybe a few others as well, although some of these have been taking place further west in recent years. Nonetheless, the Domain is where they all started, and where most of these will occur.
There was a time when the Domain was a free speech place, just like London's Hyde Park Corner, but this seems to be a dying tradition. Keep an eye out on a Sunday afternoon: you may still see and hear a few funny bits - a recent sculpture is intended to bring back the old tradition of soapbox oration.
One thing that becomes apparent to the average visitor is the number of things named after Macquarie: the names "Macquarie", "Lachlan", "Elizabeth", even "Argyle" or "Argyll" and "Campbelltown" all have Macquarie links. But in his defence, many of them were not named by Macquarie, and while his first name was Lachlan, most of the "Lachlans" are actually named after his son, young Master Lachlan.
The Domain and the Royal Botanic Gardens surround Farm Cove. Enter the area however you wish, and head down to the eastern side of Farm Cove to Mrs. Macquarie's chair at the end. There is parking there, so you can try driving, but parking spots can be hard to come by: walking is often easier. Then head back along the foreshore towards the Sydney Opera House on the next point, diverging when you feel like it. You can add in parts of the gardens, or the Opera House, and you can keep wandering.
You will find stairs that lead up to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, while the tunnel takes you under it, to the western side. As you come out of the tunnel, Observatory Park is in front of you. There is a more level approach from Lang Park, on the corner of Grosvenor Street and York Street. Cross York Street at the lights, and keep going in the same direction, and look for the pedestrian subway system. Use this to cross all of the major roads, and bob up on the other side. Then walk parallel to the major flow of bridge traffic, following the signs.
As an alternative, walk down along Kent Street, and go up the Agar Steps. You can also walk right up the left-hand side of Argyle Cut, until you come to some stairs on your left. Go up these, turn left, and follow Watson Street to the park.
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Then it became Flagstaff Hill, when the area was used as a signalling station for ships in the harbour, and to the signal station on South Head. For this reason, the top of the hill was kept cleared: the magnificent fig trees are comparatively recent additions.
In 1847, Sir Thomas Brisbane's observatory at Parramatta was closed, and Sydney had no observatory until 1855, when Sir William Denison pointed out the need for a time service for ships in the harbour, and for the city generally. Soon after, work was started on the present Sydney Observatory, and the park became Observatory Park at some time after that.
Just down on the hill, towards the harbour, is the side of The Rocks that tourists seldom see. Wander down there, and have a look at the Garrison Church, the terrace houses, and other bits and pieces. The S. H. Ervin Gallery is there, and so is the Observatory itself. The "Lord Nelson" hotel and the "Hero of Waterloo" are both worth a visit, though not after work on a Friday night.
The report adds that the watering of milk samples ranged from 10 to 50%, often with cane sugar or milk added, to raise the specific gravity to the expected range. A little later, we learn that in November in 1859, there were 124 deaths in Sydney, 75 of them under the age of five."One member of this sub-committee hs on several occasions, seen milkmen increasing their stock, by the addition of water taken from that filthy pond, situated at the junction of Newtown and Parramatta Roads."
Let us hope that times have changed . . .
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Pictures above, from left to right:
Dawes Point
Suburban parks
Centennial Park
For historical background, see these quotes.
To drive there, go from Taylor Square into Anzac Parade, Cook Road, and in through the gates. There are other entry points as well: check any street directory for fuller details. There is parking inside at most times, but be wary of runners, cyclists and horses when you are driving around the park.
To get there by public transport, you can catch a wide range of buses running along Anzac Parade. If you prefer, the walk from Bondi Junction railway station is not too bad: walk west along Oxford Mall and Oxford Street, heading back towards the city. From Circular Quay, catch a 380 or 383 bus or a 394 bus or 396 bus, from Central Railway, catch a 378, or a 393 bus or 395 bus,from the city, catch a 339 or 340 bus, or from Bondi Junction, catch a 355, 357 or 359, and walk.
Entry fees: There are no charges for using Centennial park, unless you are engaging in commercial photography.
Closed: On a few Sundays of the year, cars are completely banned from the Park, making parking more difficult. Football matches happen nearby, and there will usually be at least one cricket test match at the SCG each summer, as well as day-night matches: all of these bring traffic problems which affect Centennial Park.
It was once the Second Sydney Common, and before it became a park, the area included the Lachlan swamp, a sandy area which provided the source of the water which ran through Busby's Bore to Hyde Park. This was a tunnel, started from Hyde Park, and carved through sandstone by convict labour. As it tapped into minor water sources in the sandstone, the bore delivered water very early, and according to legend, the overseers were unwilling to risk going below ground with the convicts for fear of "accidents" involving blunt instruments. This, says the legend, is the reason why some parts of the bore are much wider - the convicts, running into a section of soft stone would hew away at that, rather than pushing on into the hard rock beyond.
At least one guide-book to Sydney tells a sad tale of the convicts toiling away with windlass and bucket, hauling water to the surface, but the whole tunnel drained on gravity: the only thing to be hauled out by windlass was the rock spoil from the tunnel! There is now a fountain in Hyde Park to commemorate Busby's Bore, but at the wrong place. The actual outlet of Busby's Bore was near the corner of Park and Elizabeth Streets, at the head of the old swamp which once fed the Tank Stream, our first water supply.
In the end, though, the tunnel ran all the way up Oxford Street, and across to the swamps. The tunnel is still there, and most of it is accessible, though the part under Oxford Street was filled with sand in 1934 to stop subsidence under the tram-lines. The section under the old Showground (now the Fox Studios Australia complex) is still completely clear. With more than a dozen access shafts inside the Showground, no doubt some enterprising soul will one day offer tours of the tunnel (or a remake of The Third Man?). If they do, watch out, because the tunnel is only about a metre and a half high. Still, the convicts who made it were able to walk along it, so why not you? Just make sure you take a hard hat with you, as you have to if you can arrange a tour of the Tank Stream.
The water of the swamps is still there, so there are birds, carp and eels to feed in the lakes, if you have some bread for them. There are bicycles for hire, places to picnic, and lawns to walk on. This is one of the surprises we have for visitors from Europe: our sun is strong enough, even in winter, to produce lawns that will stand up to the wearing-away action of hordes of feet, so you are allowed on the grass in most parks.
Contact details, Web links
Phone: 9339-6699
Web: http://www.cp.nsw.gov.au/visitor_information (this site is laden with large images: this page will get you past the worst of them).
The park raises an interesting point: what is the proper behaviour to demonstrate when you find some wetlands? Once, developers had no problems here: you filled in the wetlands with rubbish and turned them into something nice and flat. Mangroves were buried and bulldozed, and everything was made nice for urban humanity. These days, we know that this is not such a good idea: wetlands are good for birds, and fish breed in among the mangroves when the tide comes in. So now we try to preserve mangroves, and to replace them where they have been destroyed. Bicentennial Park is an attempt to re-create the environment in this way.
You can get there from the Concord West railway station, from the Olympic Park railway station (slightly further away, but well within driving distance), or by the Olympic Explorer service being run (at the time of writing) by Sydney Ferries. The main entrance for cars is in Australia Avenue. Drive to Concord Road, turn off at Correys Avenue, and follow the blue and white signs from there. From the freeway, take the turnoff to the Olympic site, and get into Australia Avenue.
Access, times, entry costs
Opens: 0630
Closes: sunset
Entry fees: no charge
Work started on reconstruction in 1983. This resulted in a 100-hectare wetland ecosystem, set in formal parklands, opened in 1988, Australia's bicentennial year, hence the name. Admire the reclamation, the 140 species of birds, the area. By now, it has matured, and lies on the edge of a magnificent site for the Olympic Games, also on reconstructed land. Work started well before Sydney got "the Games", and even if we had missed out on the Games, we would still have reclaimed and restored the land, for the benefit of all Sydneysiders. Now we know that we have done the whole world a favour.
The starting point was remediation. Some of the landfills are 25 metres deep, and nobody is sure what is in them. Analysis of the water leaching out in the early 1990s only showed ammonia as a waste product, but the landfill areas were being concentrated, drained and capped to stop too much water getting in, and to stop any "nasties" getting out. These artificial hills provide some interesting landscape features on the flat site, and they have been planted with trees. By 1999, the leachate in Bicentennial Park contained nothing worse than ammonia and dissolved iron, but they were treating even this on-site in an artificial wetland, even though they have approval to release the leachate into the bay.
It will take a while to see if the drainage will work perfectly, but the green and golden bell frog, an endangered species of frog, has been found in the park, along with four other frog species, and so they have been extending the habitat for the frogs. So far, everything seems to be going well.
What to watch out for Walk along the boardwalk over the mangroves, look out over the trees from the viewing towers, spot the bird life, see the displays in the visitor centre (if you can catch them open!!), cook barbecues, picnic, run, walk, watch model yachts sail on the lake, then start all over again. Above all, see the mangrove walk, and some of the quieter and more natural areas.
If that isn't enough, there are tracks leading around the headland, going all the way down to the shores, where you will often find anglers fishing for dinner. There is also a rock pool, but last I heard, the pool was closed for swimming. The cause(s) of the closure: a combination of suspected harbour pollution and problems in getting public risk insurance for the pool. At the top of the headland, there are coin-operated gas barbecues, just in case you want to cook your own meat, but there are no tongs or forks for turning the meat over, so take your own. If not, you're going to have raw meat, cooked fingers, or both.
From Waverton Station on the North Shore Line, walk or drive in a southerly direction along Bay Road, Balls Head Road, and Balls Head Drive. Watch out for the point where the road divides into a one-way loop. When you reach that, you are at Ball's Head. Drive slowly along until you come to a sharp right turn, and look for parking. If you are walking, go the wrong way, against the traffic along the one way road loop: it is much shorter that way, as well as being safer, because you are facing the oncoming traffic. Stay on the right!
Berry Island is now connected to the mainland by an artificial isthmus, but there was no need of that at Ball's Head, where the land connection is a natural one. The isthmus is, however, lower than Ball's Head, and so the whole thing looks rather like a club, hence the expression "club cape".
The walk from Ball's Head to McMahon's Point ferry wharf is a pleasant one if the day is right for it. If you don't have a map, ask for directions to Blues Point Road, then walk down there. You can get to Blues Point Road along Woolcott and Union Streets, but there are many other pleasant ways of doing the trip: consult a street directory for ideas, and just wander.
The best access point is reached by driving along O'Connell Street, turning into the one-way Hunter Street, then right into Pitt Street, moving rapidly to the left-hand lane, ready to turn left into the park at the next corner, where Pitt Street turns into Macquarie Street. Familiar street names, aren't they? As in Sydney, they tell us quite accurately when the area was first settled and surveyed.
Parramatta Park is in great demand at times: on Sunday mornings, touch football is popular, and traffic can be bad if there is a football match on at the nearby Parramatta Stadium, when parking in the park area is restricted to a two-hour limit. You may have to drive around for a bit before you find a suitable parking place.
So go during the week, or public transport may be a good idea: from Westmead railway station, cross Railway Parade, walk north along Central Avenue, and turn right into Queens Road. Then walk straight ahead until you enter the park. The RiverCat offers a 10 minute walk to the park, and so does Parramatta railway station.
The land in this area is all Wianamatta Shale, so that the soil was quite rich, and Governor Phillip's personal servant, Henry Dodd, was farming there by 1789. The area has been settled ever since, with a vice-regal presence in the area for some seventy years at Old Government House. For some time, there was an observatory there, and a steam tram service ran through the park for many years: some remnants are still there to be seen. Ride bicycles, picnic, sit and look at the river or fish in it, visit Old Government House.
Parramatta Park
Getting there
From the very earliest days of white settlement, Parramatta Park has been a cleared area, straddling the Parramatta River. In past times, it has been farm land, now it is a park full of history.
Access, times, entry costs
Opens: sunrise to sunset
Entry fees: Entry is free.
What to do there
Once you are in the park, watch out for bicycle riders. There is quite a lot to see and do, and it is probably best seen or done on foot or on a bike, so it is a good idea park your car - if you can. There is a visitors' centre, called Burramatta, open on week days from 1000 - 1500, and weekends from 1000 - 1600.
What to watch out for
Watch out for the Dairy Precinct, where two of Australia's oldest cottages are to be found. In the future, the Park management hope to operate guided tours, so enquire for these.
Contact details, Web links
Phone: 8833-5000
Web: http://www.ppt.nsw.gov.au/
Caption: Parsley Bay.
Parsley Bay lies between Vaucluse Bay (which is below Vaucluse House) and Watsons Bay. The 325 bus from Edgecliff railway station will take you to Hopetoun Avenue, close to the bay: look for the white-on-blue signs.
By bus, you can catch any of a large variety of buses from Wynyard. Some buses may carry "First Set Down" restrictions at some times, so check before you get on the bus. As with driving, the long downhill run is your best landmark, together with good water views on your left.
The park and bridge are there at all times, but it will cost you a parking fee to get into the parking area, with "pay and display" tickets to be bought from a machine. The Spit Bridge is raised and lowered at regular intervals to let larger craft pass through. Most of the openings are on the hour, weekdays and weekend mornings, and on the half-hour on weekend afternoons.
Closed: Parking is very hard to get on summer weekends.
By 1900, trams ran from Mosman to the Spit, and by 1910, trams ran from the Spit to Manly. Passengers had to change trams and cross by punt, but there were a number of trams carried across by punt, as this was how Manly got its trams. If this is the sort of stuff you go for in a big way, try the Sydney Tramway Museum, close to the Audley entrance of the Royal National Park. The first Spit Bridge, built around 1924, was a timber structure put up by the Manly Council. The present bridge was built just to the east of the old one in the late fifties, by the Department of Main Roads.
And if it gets really boring, the bridge usually goes up once an hour to let boats through: on the hour in the mornings, and half past the hour in the afternoons, not during peak hours. Fun for kids to watch, useful for yachts, annoying for car drivers.
Don't miss the sunset from the shore near the parking area, especially in winter on a calm day, early morning when there is a high tide, the Spit-Manly walk. You may prefer just to take a shorter walk along the same track, around to Clontarf Beach, some twenty minutes away, where there is a meshed tidal pool,(see Harbour Pools - best visited at high tide). Do not swim from the unmeshed beaches. Sharks were once common, and as the water quality improves, they may return to the harbour. The channel under the bridge is quite narrow, and carries all of the tidal ebb and flow of a very large part of the harbour. At times, the current can reach six knots under the bridge.
You can fish in the area, but it is illegal to fish from the bridge itself. You can also hire boats: small yachts, kayaks and powerboats, at the various marinas.
There is a small parking fee for each vehicle, as there is at Mt Tomah. Take a picnic lunch: there are gas barbecues and plenty of shady spots to cook, eat and relax. Don't miss the sundials!
Alternatively, drive through Parramatta to Windsor, Richmond, Kurrajong and Bilpin along Bell's Line of Road to the gardens. This variety of routes means, of course, that you can go up one way, and return to the other way. From the north, use the M2 and a small piece of the M7 to access the Old Windsor Road, and watch out for road works!! (They were stil there and awful in September 2006.)
Mount Tomah. (left) Looking down into the gardens from the restaurannt verandah. (centre) Wollemi pine at Mount Tomah, a recently discovered 'living fossil'. (right) Looking back up the slope. The plants here are typically those which do best in cool conditions, making this an ideal summer spot.
Entry fees: Adults $4.40, children and pensioners $2.20. seniors $3.30, family $8.80
Closed: Christmas Day.
Some of the quieter trails are well-worth wandering along, but their simulated bog is a delight, with carnivorous plants from Australia and overseas, and intelligent signage explaining how it is set up. The shop is good for souvenirs, and the restaurant service is excellent. Try to avoid the coach groups who come in.
The other main attractions in the area must include the Blue Mountains. On our last visit (April 21, 2006), we took friends to Mount Wilson to se the autumn colours, then drove to Bell and over to Mount Victoria, turning right to get to the lookout on the keft side of the road, running down the hill, overlooking Victoria Pass. It is a largely unsigned unsealed track on the left, with amazing views of the Megalong Valey and out to the west.
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See also the National Parks page. For some amazing pictures, see http://goinside.com/04/4/tomah.html and take the tour.
This file is http://members.ozemail.com.au/~macinnis/syd/parks.htm, first created on February 28, 2006. Last recorded revision (well I get lazy and forget sometimes!) was on October 21, 2006.