Sydney: Gardens and Rocks

My hotel was located a few blocks walk from the entrance of the Royal Botanic Gardens, 30 hectares that is home to an outstanding, and beautiful, collection of plants from Australia and overseas. It was founded in 1816 by Major-General Lachlan Macquarie, Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821 (aka "The Father of Australia"). A section of the gardens is known as Mrs. Macquarie's Point and is home to Mrs. Macquarie's chair, an exposed sandstone rock that was cut into the shape of a bench. Folklore has it that Mrs. Macquarie used to sit on the rock and watch for ships from Great Britain sailing into the harbour. It is now a popular lookout position to view the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge to the north-west.


I also walked down to The Rocks, my most favorite section of the city. The Rocks area has a rich history that began when the Indigenous Cadigal people inhabited the rocky headland and surrounding shoreline. Thousands of years later, Australia's first European settlers, British convicts, and their overseers claimed the land and built their camp atop the sandstone cliffs. It then grew into a vibrant port community, whose colorful history of shanghaied sailors, rough gangs, and gritty life can still be traced in the many surviving buildings from the last two centuries. But today the renovated former warehouses, sailors' homes, and dens of iniquity house a unique mixture of fine restaurants, one-of-a-kind shops, and galleries showcasing both established and emerging talent. It also hosts an open-air market every weekend with more than 150 stalls selling everything from handmade leather goods, aboriginal art, and hard-to-find books to fashion, jewelery, and delicious home-made foods. Ya, I did some damage to the pocketbook here. :)


More to come . . .