The Eastern Suburbs railway

Governments the world over, across the political spectrum, have at least one massive project that they promise again and again, and yet never seem to deliver. When I was young, I remember our state government promising to build a train service from the city to Bondi Beach.

Plans had first been drawn up by Dr Bradfield when he designed the city subway and the Harbour Bridge. However, the Great Depression and World War II intervened. Plans were progressed further from 1947, but lapsed in the mid-'50s. It was not until 1979 that the line was actually opened. And not to Bondi Beach, but rather to Bondi Junction a few kilometers up the hill.

This shot was taken looking eastwards from the Rushcutters Bay pedestrian overpass, showing a train coming from Edgecliff station and heading for Kings Cross station.

In praise of ordinary people

Statues of notable people crowd the city. They can be found in landscaped parks, on busy street corners, on the ediface of standstone buildings, and in cultured courtyards. But what of ordinary people, of the hoi-poloi, the madding crowd. Where are their memorials? I went in search of some.

Driving East along New South Head Road, you will come upon this stunning art-work on the left part way up the ridge just before Edgecliff Station. She is the "lady of Edgecliff", with various dedications over the years since she first arrived in 1989. Always drawn from the back, she is regularly updated with different surroundings and mottos. This version is dedicated to "Rebecca - life is a palette of colour to express beauty". The artist is Bruno Dutot.

A row of terraces is being restored on the corner of Bourke and Stanley Streets in East Sydney. Once the restoration is complete, this face will be lost to us. I think of it as a "dead christ", but more likely it is a dedication to a former tenant who passed away from HIV and other needle-borne diseases.

Lisa Marie Smith was serving time in a Bangkok gaol for being a drug courier. However, in early 1997, the Australian Embassy in Athens renewed her passport, someone paid her way out of the gaol and she simply disappeared. This memorial is on Oxford Street just before the Paddington RSL club on the left.

It is important that we remember the little people, whether they are goodies or baddies. This is the first of an occasional series.