If you have an hour to spare in Sydney, or are driving into the city, I suggest either walking to, or parking at the Domain Carpark to experience the Domain Carpark express walkway. It’s one of Simon Winkler, my friend, amazing DJ and Triple R’s Music Co-ordinator’s favourite places in Sydney and he recommended it to me and I’m passing on the news about this peculiar underground installation because I loved it. Under the Domain, is a 200 and something metre long tunnel with a travelator, that exits by St Mary’s Cathedral and the corner of College St and Macquarie St. This moving footway is an odd but wonderful shortcut into the city, the entrance to it is a little hard to find, but chances are the people you see in the area, are heading just there. The walls are covered in murals and it is super surreal. I’m hesitant to post too many photos because I’d rather you get the full effect in person. I searched for it when I was feeling pretty frazzled and it enthralled me to no end and completely changed my mood.
Other ways to spend a day in Sydney:
Morning – Scour the markets and eat breakfast from a cart. There’s The Rocks market I mentioned earlier, plus some good markets in Bondi and Glebe. Pick one and go.
Afternoon - Stay local. Spend an afternoon in the sun at Darling Harbour. Browse books at the amazing Books Kinokuniya store at the Galeries Victoria, where you can leaf through samples of amazing art, photography, design and comic books before buying. Tweet from the three storey Apple store and lick frosting at Cupcake Bakery on George St.
Evening – Visit Kings Cross. Buy something cute at Jay and Mike’s vintage, have a hot chocolate in the chocolate cigar smoke haze of Coco Cubano – cool decor and it smells incredible, peek at the Coke Sign and people watch. It’s super seedy, and quite fantastic. I loved the Cross.
Night – I don’t know. I was in bed by ten. According to Simon, ‘the Summit bar (Orbit lounge bar) is a kind of kitsch 70s cocktail bar/revolving restaurant with arguably the best panoramic view of the city, the harbour and it’s surrounds’ – and I would have gone had I not lacked human accompaniment.
Little peepshow below.
According to my friend Del who I stayed with in Sydney, The Rocks was the coolest place and the oldest part of Sydney. Turns out it’s true. I headed to The Rocks on my first day with a boy I met on the train from the airport who was in town checking out Viviens and a bunch of other agencies. It was Rosemount Australian Fashion Week at Circular Quay and we just blended in, my camera, and his hot face. All I really wanted to do was get a good view of Oprah’s house. Damn, that bitch is rich. (Oh yah, I kill myself)
I’d only been in Sydney two hours, and I was feeling pretty lost, it’s so much bigger and more daunting that Melbourne. The Rocks has a great Visitors Information Centre though, and that’s where i picked up my maps and guides which I highly recommend once you’ve had a good look at the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, and especially, if you’re going to explore the city yourself. Near there, on the weekends, is the very cool The Rocks Market which was awesome. There are so many stalls selling gorgeous handcrafted wares and delicious foods and a friendly vendor gave me some free chocolate dipped fruit. I bought a tiny carved wooden platypus brooch for $3.
The Rocks seems like a cute cobblestone maze full of beautiful old buildings, cosy coffee shops, designer stores, bars and restaurants and even a Guylian chocolate cafe. Num num num. It’s definitely picturesque and lots of fun to explore.
Lastly, the Museum of Contemporary Art (or the MCA) is at The Rocks by Circular Quay. The current big exhibition is Yayoi Kusama: Mirrored Years which is a must see if you’re in Sydney. She’s this half-crazy, amazing, totally psychedelic, prolific Japanese contemporary artist and there are installations and paintings and things that have to be seen to be believed. Much of the art on display was done in her 70s which is admirable in itself I think. Convex mirrors, stainless steel balls, polka dots, repetition! My favourite thing were the ultra ethereal Clouds (2008). It’s such a vast exhibit, and it’s free! But it only runs till the 8th of this month.
Ed Jansen
I was recommended Newtown, a vibrant and eclectic Sydney suburb by many people before I went. I’m not sure what it is about me that screams Newtown, it’s a bohemian, lesbian precinct just a few kilometres from the city but even Tim, an 18 year old aspiring stylist I befriended in Sydney who said awesome things like ‘No, you must be 17!’ and ‘That’s so fun!’ pointed at me and said ‘Looking at you, I think you’ll love Newtown, you’re so Newtown.”
Curious, on Saturday morning I traipsed Newtown’s main strip King St, window shopping and searching for a place to have breakfast. I ordered a ricotta and honey bagel, read the paper and people watched, from the cushioned window of a cafe that smelled of coffee and incense sticks. There were guys holding hands in the street, lesbians running vintage shops, old Italian men who knew all about the suburb’s history, dozens of cute boutiques, and many cafes, restaurants and bars. The place had a lovely sense of community and bucketloads of personality. I felt so welcome that I bought a sweater. I plan to cultivate an extensive knitwear collection. And I have Newtown to thank.
I admit to not taking many photos, so here are just a few. How delicious is morning light?!
So Sydney is on. There’s a line in ‘The Fashion Pack’ by Marion Hume where it says living in Sydney is like ‘living inside a perfume bottle’ and I thought it was really beautiful and it made me want to go and now I’m going! Not for RAFW or anything, the timing is purely coincidental. But I do get to go to Fashion Palette, this fashion conference thing this weekend. I love learning! Anyways, I booked my flight for Thursday, I return Saturday and the rest is history and by history I mean not much has happened since but I wikipedia-d Sydney and I’m trying to find couches to crash on and nice people to have coffee with. I might go to Double Bay to see the first buyer I looked after at NZ Fashion Week when I was 17. My friend Amber recommended “Newtown for cafes, boutiques and lesbians, can’t go wrong”. I would love to go to Bondi because I’ve heard so much about it. And I can’t wait to take a cheesy photo in front of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.
These are my friend Hayley‘s photos of Sydney. She’s a super photographer and she has her own radio show so that makes her ten or fifteen times cooler than me. Dammit.
