Annandale - Inner West Sydney

July 12, 2023

It was a cool start to what was to be a beautiful day. A friend of mine had suggested that I might like to meet a friend of hers who lived in Sydney. I thought it would be nice to do and made contact. We had arranged to meet in Brook Street which is in the inner west of Sydney in a place called Annandale. I was not at all familiar with the area so it was a new adventure.

Central Station Concourse

The instructions were get to Central (Railway Station) and take Bus 470 direction Lilydale. What could be difficult. It was an early start so I was on a full train with office workers heading to the CBD. Alighting from the train I found a sign that directed me to go, on what turned out to be a long walk to the bus station. The route took me under the railway lines in a series of tunnels. Despite the long walk it was interesting as there were lots of interesting murals. The tunnels seemed new and I suspect were part of the upgrade to the station caused by the metro station being built there. Finding the bus stop was not the easiest as the signs sort of petered out. However, I eventually found the stop. Then it was a wait. One bus must have self cancelled but eventually another turned up and I was even more delighted to find that it was an electric bus. The first one I have seen in Sydney. It didn't take long to get there.

I had a wonderful coffee with a charming and effervescent woman who had migrated from New Zealand some forty or so years ago. She had had an interesting career in the Correctional Services which took her to several states in Australia and which led to stints in Timor Leste, Geneva and New York. She has Parkinson's disease but has not let that interfere with her desire to travel and generally engage with the world, despite a number of physical impediments.

Modern apartments next to Federation Park

Rather than return by bus I had decided to take a Tram from nearby, a fifteen minute walk to get to so the website said. It was lovely walking down a street with the old terraced houses lining them. Some were superbly done up. Then just over the stream were low rise apartment buildings which looked very nice. The street led into Federation Park and then into Jubilee Park. There were some old Tram Sheds that had been converted into eateries and a supermarket. I found a place to have lunch sitting in the warming sun at the sheds. Afterwards I toured the Sheds before finding the tram stop. It took me to Pyrmont Bay where I disembarked to wander through the area which took me to Darling Harbour and the Pyrmont Bridge.