City Hike

Yesterday, I decided to head into the city and visit a few museums that I wanted to see and were only open on Saturdays. I woke up early because most of them closed by mid-afternoon and I wanted to walk everywhere instead of relying on buses once I got to the city, even though most of the places I visited were a few kilometers apart.

I first went to the government house, which is the oldest building still standing in all of Australia. It was not the original government building, but the second one built in a slightly more private spot than the first (which is now completely surrounded by office buildings). The tour was pretty boring overall and we only got to see a few of the rooms. I felt like I was seeing the New South Wales version of the White House. I did find out some interesting facts though. Apparently, governor Macquarie, the namesake for my school and many other places around Sydney, fought for Britain in the American Revolution. Also,  the first queen of Australia—Queen Charlotte—was also queen of America before it was free from British rule, that’s why a lot of places in the United States are named Charlotte.

Government House

View of the harbour from the Government House

City view from the botanical garden

After the tour, I wandered around the grounds of the house and through the botanical gardens that sit on the Sydney Harbour. It still amazes me how much of the harbor remains green. Considering the lack of further expansion available to Sydney, you would think the green spaces would be the first thing they would destroy, especially ones that sit on the harbor front and could be prime real estate.

I made my way through the city and Kings Cross (the red light district of the Sydney, which is pretty sketchy even during the day) over to Potts Point, where the Elizabeth Bay house is located. I stopped at a few random street markets I saw on the way, but didn’t see anything interesting or affordable at them. The Elizabeth Bay House, while pretty, was not very interesting. It was much larger on the inside than it appeared from the outside and it overlooked another pretty part of the harbor, but I felt like I was just walking through an old house with some old furniture. I did really like the massive wine cellar in the basement though.

Wine Cellar in Elizabeth Bay house

Elizabeth Bay

Elizabeth Bay House

I headed to Paddington afterward to visit Paddington Markets, which is a large collection of art and clothing dealers who gather on the grounds of an area public school each Saturday. I was tempted to pick up one of the matted pictures of Sydney to match the painting I have from Italy, but none of them seemed quite right. I found the most amazing bookstore in Paddington called Ampersand Cafe. It was three floors of secondhand books with a cafe in the middle. Tables were spaced out on all three floors so that you could read and eat in whatever little nook you wanted to. I wish Paddington weren't an hour and a half bus ride from Macquarie because it seemed like the perfect place to go and read for the afternoon.

I finished earlier than expected so I decided to walk across town to Paddy’s Market and pick up some cheaper fruit. In the process, I walked through an area of Sydney where, for the first time, I felt like I shouldn’t be walking through. It was fairly derelict and I think I passed three people in the whole of ten minutes, which is strange for any other part of Sydney. It didn’t help that halfway through the walk the skies darkened, giving the whole place an eerie vibe. Needless to say, I was glad when I reached Chinatown. I was able to find some cheap grapes, eggs, apples, and bananas at Paddy’s before walking back to the main bus station to head back to campus. It started to rain just as I was crossing the street in front of the bus stop, but I lucked out because my bus pulled up almost instantly. I was so happy to sit down after all of the walking.