An east coast low

It was bad on Tuesday. Like this all day Wednesday. Thursday is expected to be slightly worse:

Cloudy. Rain, heavy at times with possible thunderstorms. Winds E 30 to 50 km/h, strongest along the coast, easing later in the afternoon. Dangerous surf conditions, hazardous for coastal activities such as swimming, surfing and rock fishing, are expected in the afternoon and evening.

The wet weather is being caused by a deepening low pressure trough on the east coast, causing an increase in cloud and rainfall. It should ease by the weekend.

Monday Mural -The Battle for the 'Loo

Wooloomooloo is a tiny suburb in the very inner city, bordered on one side by a steep escarpment, and on another by the harbour. In the late 60s and early 70s it was the battleground for a no-holds barred war between property developers, residents, and the Builders Labourers Federation (BLF). I touched upon this in my post about Juanita Neilsen for Taphophile Tragics a couple of weeks ago.

In 1973, as the Green Bans were proving pivotal, the viaduct for the Eastern Suburbs railway was also slicing through the southern portion of the area. The viaduct can be seen here near the intersection of Bourke and Cathedral Streets. After the battle was over, the residents and a group of artists coalesced on the creation of 16 massive murals to be attached to the pylons of the viaduct. Over the years, 8 were either lost or destroyed. The preserved murals were rehung last year. The story is too long and involved to rehash here, but those interested may care to read this. The murals have been preserved rather than restored, at the behest of the artists. The complete set of 16 murals, in their original (1983) condition, can be viewed on Matthias Tomczak's Flickr page.

I will show more of the murals on Wednesday and Thursday this week, together with the story of the activists involved. There is also the story of what they were fighting to stop, and what was built instead. Join me then.

This is my contribution to the Monday Mural community.

Monday Mural - Victoria Street

One of the blessings of photography, is the ability to show something that no longer exists. This photograph was taken early in 2010, in Victoria Street, Darlinghurst.

The mural was on the hoarding for the Kinghorn Cancer Research facility which is still under construction between the Green Park Hotel and St Vincent's Hospital.

This is my contribution to the Monday Mural community.

Green Park Hotel

A most atmospheric internal beer-garden sets this basic 1893 suburban pub apart from others. Along with the $5 glass of wine all weekend!


Whereas this pub is on the intersection of Victoria Street and Liverpool Street in Darlinghurst, Green Park itself is another 200m along Victoria Street and opposite St Vincents' Hospital. It is the park with this outstanding folly.

Helping hands, healing hands

Rising up on Victoria Street, Darlinghurst, is the joint venture between St Vincent's Hospital, and The Garvan Institute for Medical Research. It is to be called the Kinghorn Cancer Centre and is due to open in 2012. All up, the centre is expected to cost upwards of $100 million, with $70 million coming from the Federal Government, and another $25 million coming from John Kinghorn who made a cool $650 million on the stock exchange when he listed RAMS Home Loans in 2007.


This mural was donated by the pupils of Darlinghurst Primary School, just around the corner, and is entitled 'Helping hands, healing hands'.

Railway archaeology geeks

John Oates, a retired Maths teacher, and railway nut

No better way to spend an autumn Saturday than traipsing through disused railway tunnels. We piled into an inter-city train from Central to Helensburg with John Oates who is a great bloke from the NSW Railway Heritage Society. As we chugged the 45 minute journey, John pointed out all the "dives", crossovers, branch lines and quadruplication lines along the way.

Top Left: The gang coming out of Tunnel #3; Top Right: Looking into Tunnel #4 from the old raiway siding Center Left: looking back along Tunnel #3; Centre Right: Looking through the Wilson Creek culvert Bottom left: The current Helensburgh station looking back toward Sydney Bottom Right: The present Sydney to Wollongong line looking toward the 'Gong.

The line from Waterfall to Helebsburgh opened in March 1886. Over time, lines have been relocated to avoid some of the 1 in 40 gradients faced by some of the Sydney bound locomotives. Using solid boots, becoming headwear and chunky torches, we trudged through two tunnels and a culvert. The Helensburg Tunnel (Tunnel #3) is 80 metres in length. The Metropolitan Tunnel (Tunnel #4) is 624 metres in length. The old Helensburgh platform is 60 metres long and was opened in January 1889.

When we turned our torches off in the Metropolian Tunnel (where a family used to have a mushroom farm) and once it had been pitch black for a few minutes, the walls of the tunnel came alive with glowworms. A wonderful way for active "oldies" to spend a Saturday morning. John is working up sessions and excursions on the abandoned railways of the state of NSW.

Bring . it . on!

See ... I was not the only female on the excursion!

Eastern suburbs - Kings Cross - Postcode 2011

High up on the eastern ridge overlooking the city, Kings Cross is the angled intersection of Darlinghurst Road with Victoria Street.

Kings Cross is a doddle during the day. Yet, the evening news carries images of drunks wrestling in gutters, and a young police-woman bashed to within an inch of her life. Not to mention the horrors of 'glassing'. But during the day, I watch as the elderly and the painfully thin, infirm young, wend their way across Fitzroy Gardens to the IGA or the local Centre-Link to lodge a complaint about their pension.


In 1963, when I was 15, I walked Darlinghurst Road with my parents to find a way to celebrate the end of one traumatic year and the beginning of another. Naive, conservative citizens, we flocked to admire the newly installed 'El Alamein Fountain'. Rather than show the seedier side of the suburb, here are two icons of Kings Cross that hark back to that gentler time, the fountain and the Coke billboard atop the crossover.