The Wild Reed: Sydney

Monday, April 07, 2025

Sydney

Australian Sojourn – February-April 2025 • Part 12

Early this morning mum drove me to the Port Macquarie coach stop where I caught the NSW TrainLink coach to nearby Wauchope, which is where the nearest railway station to Port Macquarie is located. From Wauchope, I caught the morning XPT to Sydney, arriving at Central Station at 3:30 this afternoon.

I then made my way to Victoria Cross station in North Sydney where my good friend Garth works. As he was still finishing up his work day, Garth suggested I leave my luggage in his office and walk down to nearby Lavender Bay as it affords some spectacular views of Sydney Harbour and its various landmarks. He was not wrong!

Above: Blues Point Tower, an apartment block at McMahons Point, close to North Sydney. Designed and built in the Internationalist Style, Blues Point Tower rises to a height of 83 metres (272 ft) with 144 apartments over 24 levels. It’s regarded by some as one of the ugliest buildings in Sydney.

Notes Wikipedia:

Construction was completed in 1962, and it was Australia's tallest residential building until 1970.

The architect was Harry Seidler and Associates, who had planned a high-density redevelopment for the entire suburb. Reacting to a 1957 suggestion that the area be zoned for industrial use, Seidler proposed that McMahons Point could instead house hundreds of apartments, all with harbour views. Although the industrial zoning was rejected, political support for Seidler’s plan quickly faded, and Blues Point Tower was the only element of the plan to be built.

. . . Blues Point Tower is considered by many Sydney residents to be inconsistent with its surrounding buildings and cityscape. Over time, many public figures have criticised it, or even called for its demolition. However, in 1993, North Sydney Council added the building to its local heritage register.

Above: Sydney’s famed Habour Bridge, as viewed from McMahons Point – April 7, 2025.

Notes Wikipedia:

The view of the bridge, the Harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is widely regarded as an iconic image of Sydney, and of Australia itself. Nicknamed "the Coathanger" because of its arch-based design, the bridge carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic.

. . . Under the direction of John Bradfield of the New South Wales Department of Public Works, the bridge was designed and built by British firm Dorman Long of Middlesbrough, and opened in 1932. The bridge’s general design, which Bradfield tasked the NSW Department of Public Works with producing, was a rough copy of the Hell Gate Bridge in New York City. The design chosen from the tender responses was original work created by Dorman Long, who leveraged some of the design from its own Tyne Bridge.

It is the tenth-longest spanning-arch bridge in the world and the tallest steel arch bridge, measuring 134 m (440 ft) from top to water level. It was also the world’s widest long-span bridge, at 48.8 m (160 ft) wide, until construction of the new Port Mann Bridge in Vancouver was completed in 2012.

Above: The Sydney Opera House – April 7, 2025.

Notes Wikipedia:

The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings, and a masterpiece of 20th-century architecture.

Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon and completed by an Australian architectural team headed by Peter Hall, the building was formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 20 October 1973, sixteen years after Utzon’s 1957 selection as winner of an international design competition. The Government of New South Wales, led by the premier, Joseph Cahill, authorised work to begin in 1958 with Utzon directing construction. The government’s decision to build Utzon’s design is often overshadowed by circumstances that followed, including cost and scheduling overruns as well as the architect’s ultimate resignation.

Above: Lavender Bay – April 7, 2025.

Notes Wikipedia:

Lavender Bay is a harbourside suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney . . . The suburb takes its name from Lavender Bay, a natural feature of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) immediately west of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It lies between Milsons Point and McMahons Point.

. . . Lavender Bay was named after the boatswain George Lavender, from the prison hulk "Phoenix", which was moored there for many years. The bay is dual-named Gooweebahree, (also sometimes written as Quiberee) in the Dharug language of the local inhabitants, the Cammeraygal people of the Eora nation. The colonists also called it Hulk Bay and sometimes Phoenix Bay. George Lavender lived on 14 acres (57,000 m2) adjacent to the property of Billy Blue.

Above and below: Luna Park – April 7, 2025.

Notes Wikipedia:

Luna Park Sydney is a heritage-listed amusement park located at 1 Olympic Drive, Milsons Point on the northern shore of Sydney Harbour. The amusement park is owned by the Luna Park Reserve Trust, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It is one of Sydney's most famous landmarks and has had a significant impact on culture through the years, including being featured as a filming location for several movies and television shows.

. . . The park was constructed during 1935, approximately 600 metres (2,000 ft) from the northern approaches of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It was an extremely popular attraction during World War II and the post-war period. . . . [After numerous closures and redevelopments beginning in 1979 and continuing into the 1990s] it reopened in 2004 and has continued operating ever since.