Museum Station To The Rocks and Wynyard - 3rd January 2019
The group met at a café across the road from Museum Station at 9.30am.
Participants - Ron, Chris, Helen, Richard, Colin and Natalie.
Along the Way:
After wishing everybody good travel times ahead for the 4 going to Cuba, we resolved not to meet in February but will plan another easy walk in March which is just a few days after their return.
Time Taken: 4 and ¼ hours including morning tea and lunch.
Distance: 6.9 on Natalie’s pedometer app on her phone by the time she got home! 11,000 steps.
The group met at a café across the road from Museum Station at 9.30am.
Participants - Ron, Chris, Helen, Richard, Colin and Natalie.
Along the Way:
- Morning tea and catch up talk about Xmas and New Year. Helen and Richard had the best view with friends from an apartment in North Sydney.
- War Memorial
- Cascade walkway was fenced off but the water was running
- Walls of the Hall of Service-“display soil samples from 1,701 New South Wales' towns, cities and districts given a place of address by First World War enlistees.”
- Sites of Military Significance-“sites from across the world extends from 19th century battles through to modern-day Australian peacekeeping missions and honour more than a century of service on the floor under the Oculus.”
- Botanic Selection Vases-“eight hand-etched glass urns, each with an image of a different plant species”
- Oculus-attendant explained how rain runs off well using hidden drains on the floor
- Hall of Service-“The sculpture Sacrifice uses the analogy of the Spartan warrior being returned to his loved ones dead on his shield to evoke the emotion experienced by the families of the young men who died in the Great War 1914-18. It depicts the weight of the dead young warrior carried on his shield by his mother, sister and wife nursing infant child.”
- Water fountain “John Hardie Mayor 1881-1882. Donated by John Frazer MLC to his fellow citizens.”
- Garden-lovely colourful new plantings of flowers-maybe dahlias but I am not sure.
- Tram Tracks from Market Street down towards Martin Place.
- Birdcage alley near the Recital Hall-the empty cages represent the birds that were once present in Sydney. We only heard a few of the recorded sounds above the city noise. Everyone’s favourite patisserie was closed. We hope that is only for the holiday period!
- Dymocks building-originally known as “The Block” and was completed in 1832 to house a more “bazaar” style of retailing.
- Tree sculpture in Underwood Lane- “The Underwood Ark is a symbolic vessel that carries the history of this particular place, floating down the once existing stream. Laying on its side, the tree becomes a boat, an ark floating down Underwood Street."
- Tank Stream Sculpture at Circular Quay and interesting large pictures on the hoarding depicting early Sydney
- Lunch in a café at the Rocks where Colin’s salt and pepper squid was served with a cachet of strawberry jam instead of tomato sauce!
- Walked around Observatory Hill. We stopped for some classic pictures of the Harbour Bridge, and Packers new Casino is now up to about 23 floors and rising.
- Kent Street underpass-another way to get from the Wynyard side of town to the Barrangaroo area.
- St Philip’s Church in York Street is the oldest Anglican Church parish in Sydney dating from 1793 when it was a wattle and daub hut. The current building is the second one on the site and was built 1846-1856. (Chris-we discussed which church was the first St Philip’s or St James’. St James was built between 1820 and 1824 and was originally meant to be a court house. It was not a parish site before that so St Philip’s is the oldest church site but not the oldest church building.)
- York Street escalator sculpture-uses the steps from the original wooden escalators at Wynyard.
After wishing everybody good travel times ahead for the 4 going to Cuba, we resolved not to meet in February but will plan another easy walk in March which is just a few days after their return.
Time Taken: 4 and ¼ hours including morning tea and lunch.
Distance: 6.9 on Natalie’s pedometer app on her phone by the time she got home! 11,000 steps.