Harbour

Post #144 gentle perfect sounds under the full moon

July 6, 2020 by MG

Posted in: Adventure, Aesthetics, Harbour, Music, Urban landscape, Wildlife

Monday 6 July 2020

My Sydney visit could not have started better than it has. I actually came up early for a girlfriend’s birthday drinks. That was so fun. While I stayed in the Campari lane (Negroni much as I love it, is too strong for me), I was also introduced to the pretty amazing flavour of an Australian “smoked gin”. Does anyone know about this? I will make efforts to penetrate the local gin distilling scene and report back.

This evening I’ve done one of my favourite things – walking at night. I can’t really walk at night in the country (a) because it is too dark (b) it puts the farm dogs into a frantic (c) walking at night is really a city thing anyway. It’s all about the quiet lights radiating from houses, glimpses of people at home in their rooms with books and paintings or in their kitchens, or watching the tv, still city gardens – intimate landscapes, the harbour, city lights, the racket of occasional flying foxes.

It feels a bit Venetian (well land-based Venetian :-))

This is a slice of my night walk, coming back over Darling Point, looking through the terraces toward Elizabeth Bay.

The best of all, is coming down the hill to Rushcutters Bay to hear one of my favourite sounds, rope gently thumping against the mast. And once there are a few boats rolling gently it’s like a gamelan orchestra. You never hear them tolling so clearly and gently during daytime.

I made a lovely little clip of the full moon and the gentle sound of rope against mast.

MG xx

Post #113 Sunday 23 June 2019 – Pretty Balmoral

June 23, 2019 by MG 1 Comment

Posted in: Adventure, Coast, Eating out, Food, Harbour, Letters from America, Sky, Urban landscape

Letters from America

Sunday 23 June 2019

The lovely thing about Sydney, well there are many but this is also one of them, is that even when it is overcast it can be very pretty.

I was at Mosman last week during the week, a bit of an event because I don’t go over the Bridge so much these days. Afterward I dropped down from the steep ridge that Military Road follows, to the pretty harbour beach, Balmoral (surf beach for the under threes). I had a nostalgic and quality fish and chips from the Bottom of the Harbour fish and chip shop, which I think has been there about 20 years, loyally taking cash only and reminding some of us of scandalous tax avoidance schemes from the days of when…

It was an overcast day. A steady number of citizens walked their dogs along the foreshore. I have always liked the somewhat art deco style of the concrete foreshore walkway, complemented by the little bridge across the isthmus which you can just see at the end of the beach here in one of my afternoon snaps.

Bottom of the Harbour – tax schemes from the past

MG xx
Both sides of the Bridge

Post #109 Thursday 14 March 2019 – Aquijo

March 13, 2019 by MG 4 Comments

Posted in: Harbour, Letters from America

Letters from America

Thursday 14 March 2019

This week I could see from my balcony the tops of two incredibly tall masts rising up out Sydney Cove. I couldn’t see what they belonged to so walked down yesterday to have a look. Coming round the West facing edge of Mrs Macquarie’s chair, looking out across the current Opera on the Harbour set for West Side Story, was an enormous ketch. I took a snap, including the dinghy in the foreground on the left for scale.

I searched the web when I got home for “maxi cruising ketch”. After a bit of clicking around I discovered that this is Aquijo, the largest ketch in the world at 85 metres. She is currently cruising the South Pacific and was most recently visiting New Zealand. Her masts and rigging were designed in New Zealand and she was built in the Netherlands in 2016.

I don’t want to be boorish about boats, but this was pretty special.

A couple of links:

https://www.yachtingworld.com/extraordinary-boats/aquijo-10478 https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/central-leader/107444289/one-of-the-largest-sailing-superyachts-docks-in-auckland–and-for-800k-you-can-charter-it

xx MG

Post #108 Sunday 3 March 2019 – Neighbourhood charm

March 3, 2019 by MG Leave a Comment

Posted in: City, Harbour, Letters from America, Urban landscape

Letters from America

Sunday 3 March 2019

At the end of Victoria Street, where the road ends and becomes a paved pathway a little lane way joins up with the path. It’s a dead end that meets the last apartment blocks on St Neot’s Avenue (which you can get to only by sandstone stairway). It’s a charming part of the Potts Point neighbourhood. A local wit has added some cats to the traffic sign in the lane way.

And this is a view of the lane way with the sign in place (well it’s a bit obscured in the hedge), looking across to the City. It’s not the best photo of all time but it’s still a lovely evening outlook.

MG xx

Post #105 Sunday 2 December 2018 – The Finger Wharf Woolloomooloo

December 1, 2018 by MG 2 Comments

Posted in: Art, Harbour, Letters from America, Urban landscape

Letters from America

Sunday 2 December 2018

One of my routine evening walks involves a circuit of the area down by the Finger Wharf at Woolloomooloo. At the moment it’s especially nice because summer has brought out the jasmine. There is a great hedge of it running down one side of the McElhone Stairs at the end of Victoria Street and it’s a heavy summery scent which is just beautiful.

There is a always a set of sculptures on display along the boardwalk adjacent to the Finger Wharf. According to the labels next to them they come from a commercial “art bank”. The display changes every six months or so. There is one new I like especially. It reminds me of the symetry in a shell or the inside of a flower.

Then sometimes, just when you are minding your own business on your evening walk, a huge floating resort rounds the point in front of you and cruises down the harbour, towering over everything.

xx MG

Post #94 Sunday 8 July 2018 – Favourite local walks

July 8, 2018 by MG Leave a Comment

Posted in: Adventure, Coast, Harbour, Letters from America, Urban landscape

Letters from America

Sunday 8 July 2018

I have a couple of favourite walks I do between commitments and just to unwind. Because I am so central in Kings Cross I am spoilt for choice. Yesterday I took two photographs: one of the foreshore walk that I take down to the Opera House, and the other of a typical back street walk I do through Paddington.

Lots of tourists enjoying themselves! Even more of them I think, because it’s school holidays. I am regularly asked to take photos for visitors, not everyone has a selfie stick.

And a somewhat wintery vibe in my typical back street Paddington walk – which is generally quite a deserted walk save for the odd dog walking local.

MG xx

Post #90 Saturday 9 June 2018 – Fireworks fatigue

May 28, 2018 by MG Leave a Comment

Posted in: Aesthetics, City, Harbour, Home, Letters from America, Urban landscape

Letters from America

Saturday 9 June 2018

Sometimes I get the luxury of a little fireworks fatigue. I see a lot of fireworks from the balcony. There would not be a week that goes by without some fireworks near the City. So would it be possible to have anticpatory Vivid fatigue? I don’t even get to see much Vivid detail – the projections onto the Opera House are on to the West facing sails. But I do see some of the sky lit up by the Vivid festival lights, and then there is the Bridge which gets heavy neon treatment, such as this aqua tone for example:

And this year, trying to avoid being a bit grouchy about the ever present bread and circuses feel of the Vivid festival, I took myself off to see some of the sights including a visit to Luna Park at Milson’s Point, where the ferris wheel was looking exceptionally pretty.

And visiting Luna Park reminded me of the short time I worked there – a while ago now – an impoverished student bravely manning the fairy floss cart in my little french navy uniform in all weather. I didn’t do that job for long, but long enough to remember being reprimanded by management for wearing glasses (it was pre laser surgery so I was stilling wearing bookish specs), and for being too generous with the serves!

MG xx

Post #53 Friday 27 October 2017 – Melbourne, Canberra and Parsley Bay – part 2

October 26, 2017 by MG 2 Comments

Posted in: Adventure, Coast, Harbour, Wellbeing, Wildlife

Letters from America

Friday 27 October 2017

I did a short excursion to another beautiful beach on the eastern suburbs shore line. This time to Parsley Bay in Vaucluse. There are old family photos showing I was brought here as an infant but I have no recollection. The only thing I recall as a child, is the netted harbour pool at Redleaf Woollahra, a few inlets over from Parsley Bay. It was a very scary thing to be taken, as a very small person, to the inky deep end of the harbour pool netted off from the _sharks_ – one cannot quite forget the horror of it!

Here is Parsley Bay, with its footbridge, looking dazzling when I visited:

And this image goes some way to showing that lovely emerald green the harbour goes. The shadows have a violet touch when they fall on the green:

And here was also a very senior looking water dragon basking on the sandstone:

It’s a lovely series of sunny photos to post – especially as today is so grey and rainy by contrast.

yours ever,
MG xx

Starry silver fantasia

December 18, 2016 by MG 4 Comments

Posted in: City, Harbour, Urban landscape

I took this photo on the phone just now Sunday 18th December 2016. My friends will know this is taken from the balcony here in Potts Point looking across to the City. I am not a great fireworks person myself but these ones were lovely. And so we are bringing the year to a close. I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and New Year and thank you for being such good company. xx MG

Flowering trees – Cape Chestnut

December 6, 2016 by MG 4 Comments

Posted in: Flowering trees, Harbour, Urban landscape

Well I already reported on the excellent Jacaranda season we seem to have had in Sydney this summer. So at the risk of turning into a complete _b_o_r_e_ about flowering trees I’d like to ask you to notice, if you come across it, another beautiful flowering tree that is just coming into full bloom now. It is not as noticeable or as well known as the Jacaranda – it’s the Cape Chestnut.

Here is a Cape Chestnut tree in Rushcutters Bay Park, down near the tennis courts – it’s overloaded with bunches of blossoms. This one may not be the best shaped tree of its kind, but it is still putting on a spectacular display.

This is an individual blossom fallen from the tree – delicate as an orchid.

So it’s over an out from me in the Potts Point botanical studio here this evening.
xx MG