Most of the suburbs in Sydney have an oval surrounded by a park. It is a focal point for cricket matches in the Summer and Australian Rules Football (AFL) games during the Winter months. They remind me of village greens.
The above is in Petersham Park, sadly threatened by plans to build the West Connex motorway.
Petersham Park, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Morton Park, Lewisham, New South Wales, Australia
The sunshine was so bright yesterday that I couldn’t see if I’d managed to capture this little critter. His shell was about the size of my smallest finger nail; impressive camouflage against the bark of the gum tree!
My great local is Morton Park;
For walking Stan and birds to hark
Smell the Oleander tree,
Flowers, palms and shrubs to see,
Tall gums, gingers, lilies too;
Sunshine, clouds and skies of blue.
Space for picnics and to play,
Shortcut home or sit and stay.
The shades of red and green
Can’t be missed, must be seen!
On Saturday we were treated to lunch for my birthday at the Park Hyatt Hotel adjacent to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. A triple sparkling event as the group gazed at the harbour sipping champagne.
We saw fluoro green ones outside Customs House in Circular Quay last weekend, the pinks cousins above were spotted having a chat this morning in Sydney Park.
The snails are part of the Art and About Festival, more information is available from the ABC: Giant snails slide into Sydney for arts festival
Chilly overcast day
Blue and grey
Workers have fled
Black and red
Trial and error
White ‘n’ yella
Sydney Park has undergone a major transformation over the past two decades. The land was originally given as a grant to a convict woman and has since served Sydney as a site for crops and food production, brick making, gas storage and waste disposal. When the New South Wales state government first envisaged turning the site into a public green space in the early 1980s, a key factor in transforming the site was to preserve some of the history associated with it.
Spanning 44 hectares, the park is the largest in Sydney and is connected by about 12 kilometres of pathways. The vast majority of the vegetation on the site was planted as part of a community effort in the early 1990s. The park now has nine hectares of gardens and 28,000 native trees, including 277 Port Jackson and Moreton Bay fig trees. Fifty types of mammals, native birds, frogs and reptiles also frequent the park.
Read more:
The Sydney Morning Herald, February 11, 2012 Rubbish dump transformed into park oasis tips its hat to the past
Brick works in the 19th century, rubbish dump in the 20th, thank fully the last 22 years have seen the City of Sydney transform this mistreated landscape into 44 hectares of parkland to be enjoyed in the 21st century.
Sydney Park’s 12km (about 19 miles) of paths are enjoyed by walkers, joggers and cyclists. Being an off leash parks, dogs are free to run while children play in a safety.
There is space to picnic and also to enjoy the native shrubs and trees.
As the park matures ducks are attracted to the wetlands.
If you are lucky you can enjoy the sight of black swans regally, gliding by.
theINFP 