St Mary's Cathedral - From a distance

Photography can be deceptive, I suspect you might agree. It is all in the framing. This first image was taken from the viaduct that separates The Domain from Wooloomooloo. Not sure why the viaduct is there: it does not carry water, it does not carry cars. It allows pedestrians to cross from Cook+Phillip Park over to The Domain, and hence to the AG-NSW. It is excessively ugly when included.

As you can see from this second image showing the viaduct obliterating the beauty of St Mary's Cathedral. This was taken from the intersection of Riley Street and Sir John Young Crescent, the head of Wooloomooloo Bay, prior to it being retained by a wall, and extensively retained, in the 1860s.

This third image was taken having crossed the viaduct and on my way across the grassy expanse of The Domain sports fields. I looked back, judiciously framed my shot, removing all ugly, and just showing a magnificent contrast of old vs new. The new is the building in which my daughter currently works; on the 22nd floor. Below is a paining by Geoge Lambert in 1849. It shows the ridge upon which St Mary's Cathedral is now located. Actually, the original St Mary's is in the painting, but the new building was swung around to be north-south. The church with the spire is St James.

Yurong Water Gardens

The Yurong Water Garden is an environmental artwork inspired by the Yurong Stream that once ran close to the edge of Cook and Phillip Park through the mangrove mud-flats down into Woolloomooloo Bay. The Yurong Stream itself was sourced up at the head of the Wooloomooloo Valley (the Darlinghurst escarpment), close to the gaol. It meandered down, under William Street via a culvert, and into the increasingly putrid head of Wooloomooloo Bay.

It was joined at the back of St Mary's Cathedral by an unnamed (but steep) tributary. Roughly hewn boulders of sandstone and original pavers and rocks from the landscape have been arranged to form a course for the "stream" which flows down three terraces of gardens retracing the path of the original tributary. The use of sandstone reflects the cultural and natural heritage of the surrounding area. Both the Yuromg Strem and the tributary have ceased to exist since the 1860s, when they were converted into the Wooloomooloo Sewer. It is hard to believe that these shots are in the centre of my city. The serenity of the area nowadays, could be taken as an abject apology for our cavalier approach to their bounty during the 19th century.

The installation was devised by Anita Glesta together with Spackman & Mossop, and installed in July 1999.

Mrs Macquarie's Point

Our forebears were really wise, and reserved much of the harbour foreshores on the southside for public recreation. Here is some of it. Elizabeth Macquarie shared her husband's passion for aesthetics. This was a new and rough land they were trying to civilise. The indigenous inhabitants used the land in a totally different way to those born and bred in England's "green and pleasant land". If the Aborigines wanted fresh green shoots, they used fire. If the colonists wanted green shoots, they planted trees from their homeland. Eucalypts and acacias are more olive green than "Jerusalem" green.

This aerial view of the southern shores of the harbour is an excellent overview of the results of the vision of the Macquaries. This shows the Royal Botanic Gardens and The Domain. I have included a labelled version, too, down below. From the left, the three inlets: Wooloomooloo Bay, Farm Cove, and Sydney Cove. The two Peninsulas: Mrs Macquarie's Point, and Bennelong Point. Garden Island is out-of-sight to the left. The harbour bridge is out-of-sight to the right.

My two photos were taken from the tip of Mrs Macquarie's Point looking across Farm Cove to the city skyline, and Government House, nestling in the trees of the Botanic Gardens. This was the home of the Governors of this state, New South Wales, from 1845 until the present day (with two small breaks). Of course, there is a mucho impressive view from the tip of Elizabeth's point looking across the harbour itself. Show you this tomorrow.

Wooloomooloo Bay

Two, ever so slightly different, views of this bay on the southside of Sydney Harbour. I included the second shot, to show the proximity to the city, ie including Sydney Tower. In the foreground is "The Andrew(Boy) Charlton Pool". In the centre, middle-ground, is The Finger Wharf. On the left, two ships of the Royal Australian Navy, ride at anchor adjacent to the Garden Island Dockyard.