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Sydney Harbour is a drowned valley, a series of scalloped bays sliced from one another by ridge lines that run back up to the plateau of the land mass. This is more obvious on the northern shore of the harbour, man having levelled much of the southern side. From the Bridge, heading East we have:
George Street running down to Dawes Point (Harbour Bridge)The other day, I sauntered (maybe even 'flaneured') from my apartment down Macleay Street.
Sydney Cove
Maquarie Street running down to Point Bennelong (Opera House)
Farm Cove
Art Gallery Road running down to Macquarie Point
Wooloomooloo Bay
Macleay Street running down to Garden Island.
View Larger Map
Darlinghurst Road magically becomes Macleay St just where the kink is at the Fitzroy Gardens. Kink is a non-subtle word to use around this area! Up until the kink, it is Darlinghurst Road in the suburb of Kings Cross. After the kink, it is Macleay Street in the suburb of Potts Point.
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The difference is quite discernible. Kings Cross is all sleaze, single doors opening onto dingy stairs, adult bookshops, and burly bouncers. It is populated by addicts, pimps, whores and crooks all closely followed by coppers. Potts Point is more refined, with terraces built towards the end of the 19th century and quaint post WW2 apartment blocks full of character. It is populated by the ageing bohemians of the '50s, pallid poets, would-be intellectuals, and travellers from distant lands. Not tourists, but travellers!
One could find renewal, a new sense of self, in Potts Point.
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A member of the Sunday in my City community.
Thank you for sharing a look at your city.
ReplyDeleteA very insightful look into a part of your city that most people probably don't see. For some reason I really like that first photo - the way the shadows, not the light, enhance the colors!
ReplyDeleteA nice look into different areas. I love the sun and shadow effect in all your photos. They make for very interesting pictures.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week!
You always show mw things I have not seen before. Here it is the cool shady places of Potts Point filled with aging Hippies. My kind of place!
ReplyDeleteI just love your city and the vibrant photos!
ReplyDeleteI love these photos... the city just looks so.... clean. I love it!
ReplyDeleteIs it just my imagination, or do I see a hint of autumn?
ReplyDeleteMacleay Street is fantastic. I love the tree-lined shot especially.
ReplyDeleteYour post is wonderful. Thanks for the map so I could get a good sense of where your were photographing!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you had a lovely walk.
Happy Sunday,
jj
Thanks for the tour. I like the shots in the mosaic a lot--the trees along the streets appeal to me. It nice to see city neighborhoods that have character.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the tour and history of an interesting street.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely a leafy suburb - great shadows!
Thank you the sun, the colours and the very researched and detailed post. I loved every bit of it. xxx
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting. I have very little idea of what Sydney is like - apart from the bridge and the Opera House of course - so it's great to have a tour of these areas. Kings Cross in London is a bit sleazy in parts too.
ReplyDeleteI don't know the significance of the numbering on the sap buckets, Julie. Sorry. As for the crutches, I've left them behind and have graduated to a cane. Yeah! Thanks for asking.
ReplyDeleteSome great urban shots.
ReplyDeleteSydney - City and Suburbs
As a homebody, I tend to discount some of the more mundane aspects of the world around me. But your post shows me that the combination of unfamiliar eyes and a knowing guide can make even a storefront interesting. Thanks! I will look at the world around me a little differently this week because of you!
ReplyDeleteBeautifully illustrated! I enjoyed your guided walk the walk through these streets!
ReplyDeleteBeen away for a few days so catching up ... thanks for introducing me to Potts Point. I generally give that part of town a big miss so all new stuff for me.
ReplyDeleteI loved reading this. It's a wonderful thing to know a city and it's neighborhoods and how a street evolves through blocks. I envy it.
ReplyDeleteThanks MA. When I saw your name come up, I realised how similar some of these images are to what you post. Similar but different.
ReplyDeleteOn the topic of evolving down at the 'hood level. I was wandering in a back alley the other day, looking at your sort of wall, when I noticed that the alley was called Stream St. Now THAT took me back 200 years, to the underlaying landform of that back alley. A post coming up on this.
You are an awesome tour guide and a phenomenal photographer!
ReplyDelete*blush*
ReplyDeleteThanks Mami.
So interesting. When I travel, I avoid the tourist traps and head for the real life spots. I want to walk down these streets.
ReplyDeleteI love your city - the photos here remind me of my city - Portland, Oregon in so many ways. I hope that some day I have a chance to visit Sydney. It was always a dream of mine.
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