Walk 40 - Darling Harbour, Chinese Gardens

A visit to Darling Harbour provided a sunny walk alonside the many cafes and restaurants as we made our way towards the Chinese  Gardens, our destination.   On a tuesday morn ing early enough there were not many tourists around but we knew that by lunch time there would be a great deal of hustle and bustle.

Marie-Claire led us aside to view a lonely little koala wide awake for a change, munching on his specially brought in tree branch of gum leaves.   He lives right there, safe and sound and asleep at night in Madame Tussaud's foyer.

I

The Chinese Garden of Friendship:  The garden as a whole cannot be seen from any single point but once within we found ourselves in a haven of tranquility with pathways to seduce one through each and every gentle aspect of the clever architecture and stunning landscaping.

  It felt as though we were walking backwards in time, the serenity and quiet solitude of ancient Chinese architecture.   Everything  designed with a purpose and a relationship to nature with the elements of stone, plants and water.Every turn of the winding pathway presented a new and different scene of mountain, lake, rock forest, lace green willow trees, lotus plants and lagoons.

The Darling Quarter Kids Playground was new for most of us  - a playground of flying foxes, mega climbing ropes, an exceptional water play-ground  of scoops, pumps, bucket dumps, little fountains all carefully planned to delight children and adults too!  

 Walkers:   Pippa, Marie-Claire, Moira, Donna, Carolle 

Walk 39 - Rose Bay to Watsons Bay

Rose Bay to Watsons Bay:  Gloomy skies gave way to brilliant sunshine and warmth today.   We were met at the Rose Bay Wharf by Marguerite who led us along our route all the way to Watsons Bay for lunch followed by a quick look at the The Gap and then a cup of tea in her home.  Marguerite knows the area well and  we were absolutely delighted to have her along leading the way and providing so much information.  

A highlight, or one of them,  today was the 1.8 kilometre Hermitage Foreshore Walk part of the Sydney Harbour National Park.   No-one in our group had walked this portion of today's walk before thus a delightful new experience  for all of us.  The area is home to the last remnants of coastal  bushland on the eastern harbour  foreshore.  We had spectacular views down the harbour to Shark Island, the city skyline, The Bridge and Opera House.   Spectacular!   After walking along the signposted track through gnarled tea trees we came upon the first little beach,  Queens Beach,  then  on to the gracious old Strickland House (c 1856),  now sadly quiet and empty.  A huge flock of black cockatoos flew overhead.  

 Every time we looked  over left to  the harbour we were presented with ever more stunning views.   Onwards we went to Milk Beach with more peaceful  bushland including paperbarks and stringy casuarinas before descending to Nielsen Park on Shark Beach.  Coffee in the old sandstone kiosk before ambling alongside  Vaucluse House with its well kept original style gardens.

Through a few streets of Vaucluse before arriving at Watsons Bay for a relaxed lunch in the warm sunshine.  As we had an hour before our return ferry Marguerite invited us to her home for a cup of tea after climbing the steps up to The Gap.

Thank you Marguerite for a wonderful day - we started at 9.00 leaving Rose Bay at 2.00 p.m.   A lovely day indeed.

Walkers : Donna, Pippa, Marie-Claire, Jane, Carolle and of course Marguerite

Walk 38 - Clifton Gardens/Zoo/Circuit

Clifton Gardens/Zoo Circuit:  Once again sunny, pleasant weather for one of Sydney's great walks which afforded many outstanding views across the harbour to the city skyline as well as to the Opera House and the Bridge.   It is a comfortable walk too with excellent board walks, shady soft tread underfoot, Parking at Clifton Gardens amused us as the meter rejected coins but once we had that covered we were ably led by Marie-Claire who knows that walk and the area very well indeed.  Clear water, Moreton BayFigs, natural unspoilt bush, Bacino Cafe, school kids on the beach all helped to make a perfect walk.

(Bradleys Head was named after Lieutenant William Bradley of the First Fleet who surveyed the harbour in 1788 with Captain John Hunter)

quote

"There is a fine view from Bradley's Head. There is also a memorial to the four naval vessels which have borne the name H.M.A.S.Sydney and the mast from the first of these. This mast belonged to the light cruiser which, on 9th November 1914, engaged the German cruiser Emden near Cocos Island in the first naval engagement of the Great War (WWI) involving an Australian ship. Nearby is a stone column from the old Sydney Post Office which was used to measure a distance of precisely one nautical mile from the tower of Fort Denison."

Walkers:    Marie-Claire, Moira, Pippa, Donna, Carolle

30 Rooms in The Manor

quote - "The Manor is a mansion in the Sydney suburb of Mosman. Built circa 1911, loosely in the Federation Queen Anne style, it stands in the harbour-front street of Iluka Road, in the Mosman locality of Clifton Gardens. It is listed on the heritage register of New South Wales.^[1]

[edit]History and description

The Manor's original owner, a Mr Bakewell, initially planned a cottage of eight rooms, but the project kept growing until it was a mansion with over thirty rooms, most of which were lined with beaten copper. It became known locally as Bakewell's Folly.^[2] In 1922, the Theosophical Society rented The Manor for a community of some fifty people, headed by Charles Leadbeater, a claimed clairvoyant, and a major figure in the Society. The Manor became an important centre for the Society and was regarded as a great "occult forcing-house".^[3]

The English writer Mary Lutyens stayed at The Manor in the 1920s and described it as "a huge and hideous villa".^[4] The young Indian Jiddu Krishnamurti, who was presented as the new "World Teacher", stayed in nearby David Street with his brother Nitya while Lutyens—his eventual biographer—stayed at The Manor.^[5]

The Theosophical Society bought the house in 1925, holding it under a trust deed. In 1926 they started the radio station 2GB; the initials stood for Giordano Bruno, a saint. The station operated from The Manor for a few years.^[6] In 1951, they set up The Manor Foundation Ltd to own and run the house. The Society still uses The Manor as of 2013."

(Well what a surprise it was to learn from the above quote from the Internet that 2GB, a Sydney radio station that the initials GB stand for Giordano Bruno a saint who was burnt at the stake.  At a meeting recently a couple of the walkers in this Walking Group and I listened to an interesting talk about this very man.   Most people have never heard of him.   None of us at that meeting  certainly had no knowledge of him.  Why I wonder is 2GB named for him?)

Bacino Cafe - Hole in the Wall