Reminiscent of Mercator

In my childhood - in the middle of last century - John Curran, who was the Principal of Denman Public School, would pull down a map of the earth from above the blackboard and tell us about the most magical of places. Then he would tell us that the map we were looking at was merely representational; that the world was actually round and that end joined to that end and both the bottom and the top became distorted as they closed over the top of the sphere. I was hooked on Geography from that time forwards.

This photograph was taken last Saturday morning from North Head looking back to the city of Sydney. Dad and I sat there mesmerised. For starters, look at the sky: it was relatively cold (23C) and blustery; yet, this is mid-summer.

Like a fish-eye lens isn't it? To the left is the Pacific Ocean which is where the fishing boat is heading. Straight ahead is South Head from where I took the photo of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race on 26th December. The expanse of water is Port Jackson aka Sydney Harbour. The city is but a speck on the horizon about 5kms away by water. The headland that appears to be in front of the city is Middle Head.

North Head is a National Park. Never to leased to the developer, Meriton. And neither it should be. Never. Ever.