Hyde Park, garden

The remnants of a heritage listed underground public toilet is located at Hyde Park, along Park Street close to the corner of Elizabeth Street. Built in 1909, it has now been dicommissioned and filled with sand, which preserves it and allows for reuse in the future. The features above ground such as the the lamp post on a sandstone plinth and wrought iron stairway fences have been incorporated into the garden beds.

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Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park, art

 This view of Ballast Point Park in Birchgrove shows a couple of public artworks. "Delicate Balance" by Robyn Backen, hangs over the water's edge, looking out on Sydney Harbour and Mort Bay at Balmain. The wall with a watery theme features the words "Like us, water breathes and dances to and fro between the earth and sky". It uses a dot font typeface used throughout the park to reflect the thousands of rivets and circular tanks that were once located on this former oil refinery site.

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Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park, art

This is part of an artwork located in the middle of Ballast Point Park at Birchgrove, with a glimpse of the Sydney skyline seen below. "Tank 101" was created to symbolise the past working history of the site by Caltex, as an oil refinery. The original tank was the largest industrial storage vessel on this site. Panels of curved sheet steel from the old tank were incorporated in this structure with graphics using a dot font typeface to reflect the thousands of rivets and circular tanks once on the site. The text is part of a line from "The Death of Isaac Nathan" a poem by Australian poet Les Murray: "Stone statues of ancient waves, tongue like dingoes on shore".

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Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park, wall

The retaining walls at Ballast Point Park at Birchgrove are made up of rubble and recycled material encased in a wire frame, from the buildings on this former oil refinery site. If you look closely, you can see that this wall features engraved padlocks. The padlocks are locked by romantics to preserve their everlasting love, with the key thrown into Sydney Harbour. The tradition seems to have originated in Italy, where couples attached padlocks to the Ponte Vecchio Bridge in Florence and threw the keys into the river. The Sydney city skyline can be seen in the distance, across the harbour.

Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park, Goat Island

This view through the bushes and benches is from Ballast Point Park, in the inner west suburb of  Birchgrove. Golden Grove is the First Fleet Class ferry, which has just departed from Balmain ferry wharf in Mort Bay, is making its way through Sydney Harbour past Goat Island, with the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background.

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Millers Point, Observatory Park

Observatory Park is located on Obsevatory Hill, in the inner city suburb of Millers Point. The bandstand rotunda, which sits north of Sydney Observatory, was built in 1912 and is used for public musical performances. It overlooks Sydney Harbour and the Harbour Bridge, which makes it one of the city's most popular locations for weddings and naming ceremonies. The sculpture is a bust of Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, created to celebrate the bicentenary of his birth. It was unveiled in 2005 by HRH Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and HRH Princess Mary of Denmark. The connection to the city is that Princess Mary is Australian and the couple met in Sydney in 2000 during the Sydney Olympic Games.

Botany, Sir Joseph Banks Park, sculpture

Sir Joseph Banks Park is a 28 hectare park in the eastern suburb of Botany. It is made up of Foreshore Reserve and the Sir Joseph Banks Pleasure Gardens. The gardens were the main attraction of the old Sir Joseph Banks Hotel in the 19th Century. This lifesize bronze statue of Sir Joseph Banks in the park, depicts him examining botanical specimens. Joseph Banks was a naturalist on the expedition of the Endeavour led by James Cook that explored the eastern coast of Australia in 1770 and landed at nearby Botany Bay.

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Botany, Sir Joseph Banks Pleasure Gardens

The Sir Joseph Banks Pleasure Gardens are located in the eastern suburb of Botany. They were the main attraction of the old Sir Joseph Banks Hotel in the 19th Century. From 1845 through to the 1910, the hotel and its famed pleasure gardens were Australia's equivalent of a European spa resort. It was bought by entrepreneur Frank Smith in 1884 by who set up famous running races from 1884-92. When the hotel was sold in the 1920s and much of the land subdivided, the remnant gardens became a public park. In 1988, an interpretative recreation of the former gardens was created featuring a sports oval, thematic gardens, a maze and pergolas. Structures in the park include this arbour and formal terrace.

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Liverpool, Pioneers’ Memorial Park

Pioneers’ Memorial Park is bounded by Campbell Street, Macquarie Street and the Hume Highway, in the south western suburb of Liverpool. This was originally the site of St Lukes Cemetery. In 1970 the old cemetery was converted into a rest park, featuring original headstones and a memorial wall. This was the resting place of many prominent pioneers of this area and their families.

Liverpool, Pioneers’ Memorial Park, monument

This memorial in 1980 in Pioneers’ Memorial Park in the south western suburb of Liverpool, was erected by Rotary International. It is dedicated to the men, women and children who through their pioneering spirit and determination established Macquarie Town, now known as Liverpool. This piece of old farming equipment on the plinth, reflects on the past.

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Mount Lewis, park

  Mount Lewis Reserve is located in the western suburb of Mount Lewis. It is unclear how the suburb got its name because it isn't much of a mountain, although this park is the highest point in the local government area of Bankstown, providing distant views.

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Woolwich, Clarkes Point Reserve

Clarkes Point Reserve is located in the inner west suburb of Woolwich and provides spectacular views of Sydney Harbour. This lookout is one of the best vantage points on the harbour with views to the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

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Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park, artefacts

Ballast Point Park at Birchgrove is located on the site of a former oil refinery. Artefacts from the demolished buildings and those discovered during redevelopmen of the site are displayed in the centre of the park in these marble and glass display cases.
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Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park

Ballast Point Park in the inner west suburb of Birchgrove is configured in terraced sections leading down to Sydney Harbour which each provide scenic views including this one of the Sydney city skyline.

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Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park

This contemporary sun shelter over these benches is located in Ballast Point Park at Birchgrove. It's designed to provide shade when the sun is at its harshest, in the middle of the day, yet still provides views of the sky. The benches provide spectacular views over Mort Bay and Sydney Harbour, with Goat Island and the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the distance.

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Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park, The Tank Farm

"The Tank Farm" is the name of this structure in Ballast Point Park, in the inner west suburb of Birchgrove. The tanks depict how Ballast Point was once used by industry as a working harbourfront and grease manufacturing site. The three remaining riveted horizontal tanks date back to the 1920s and were formerly used to store solvents. They are in their original form, making them a visual landmark from land, air and the harbour.

Ashfield, war memorial

The Ashfield war memorial stands in the centre of Ashfield Park, beside Parramatta Road, in the inner west suburb of Ashfield. It was established in 1921 and dedicated as a grateful tribute to the soldiers, sailors and nurses who volunteered and gave their lives in World War 1. It is a ten metre high obelisk on a concrete plinth with an enamelled tiled floor. The Rosemary Bushes have been planted by Ashfield Council in memory of those who gave their lives in the Boer War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Malayan War and Vietnam War. The wreaths at the base of the memorial have been laid to commemorate Anzac Day, which is a day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand today.

Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park, Delicate Balance

"Delicate Balance" is a public artwork created by Robyn Backen, located at Ballast Point Park at Birchgrove, looking out towards Mort Bay and Sydney Harbour. The artwork hovers over the water's edge and can be entered, suggesting the entrance to a lighthouse or jetty. A series of cutouts offers views of the harbour, city, sky and park. The water can also be viewed from a metal grate in the floor and its sound reverberates through the artwork, like hearing the sea in a shell held up to the ear.

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Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park

This is the middle section of the gates at the entrance to Ballast Point Park, in the inner west suburb of Birchgrove. This contemporary design features part of the name of the park in each section of the gate. This former industrial site was transformed into a pulblic park in 2009. The Sydney city skyline can be seen just peeking through and above the gate.

Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park

This rockery is part of Ballast Point Park, in the inner west suburb of Birchgrove, which looks out towards Goat Island and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The name Ballast Point is derived from the early days of the colony when ships arrived from England with a full load but returned empty. To control buoyancy, stability and speed, sandstone was cut from this point to fill the ships as ballast.

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