It’s no secret that I really enjoy visiting Sydney. There are so many little communities tucked away in bays and coves, separate but connected by the vast network of ferries and public transit. We spent some more time in Kirribilli at one of my favourite little hotels and set out to explore the surroundings.
Wendy's Secret Garden
I learned of Wendy’s Secret Garden the first time we stayed at the Glenferrie Lodge in 2018, but we didn’t visit. This time we made an afternoon out of it.
After losing her husband in 1992, Wendy Whiteley threw her grief and artistic passion into the overgrown and abandoned land outside her front door in Lavender Bay. The only problem was, it wasn’t her land – hence the ‘secret’ garden. Now it is public space, and not-so-secret, but still a slightly hidden gem.
I didn’t know it at the time, but there is a self-guided tour of public art installations for this area of North Sydney, and the garden is part of it.
Wild bush turkeys have invaded the leafy suburbs, and their numbers keep increasing. We saw several meandering along the sidewalks of Kirribilli. Others seem to have found a nice home in the secret garden.
Tucked among the shrubs and grasses between the garden and Luna Park were these funny little statues. This area of the public art trail is known as ‘The Comic Walk’.
The iconic entrance to the heritage-listed amusement park is also included on the list of significant art pieces.
Nielsen Park, Vaucluse
Our day trip to Nielsen Park took a little more effort than our walking tour of North Sydney. We took the ferry from Kirribilli to Circular Quay, the main ferry hub in Sydney. There we caught another ferry to Rose Bay and then a bus to just outside Strickland House in the suburb of Vaucluse.
Stickland House, a 19th century mansion is not open to the public but the grounds are and the views are pretty spectacular. Just imagine what it would look like without the smoke haze. There is a small patch of sand in front called Milk Beach. It is here that we struck out on the Hermitage Foreshore Track to take in some stunning shoreline and native bushland.
Our destination was Shark Beach, and it was busy! That’s expected on a very hot Saturday during summer, but I overheard locals say they’d never seen it so busy.
Watson's Bay
After a quick bite to eat, we continued on our way. This time catching the bus to Watson’s Bay. We were greeted by this friendly local as soon as we arrived.
Watson’s Bay is located on a peninsula. There are views of Sydney Harbour on one side and out to the open Pacific on the other. It’s no surprise these coveted neighbourhoods have very high real estate prices.
This day trip to the eastern suburbs was technically a bonus. We were supposed to be dog sitting for one more night but the fires to the south changed the plans some. We took advantage of the extra time and came back to explore more areas around the city before heading into the Blue Mountains for our final mini-adventure in Australia.
And, of course, an extra night at Glenferrie Lodge is never a bad thing, especially when there are surprise breakfast guests.
Beautiful Jen. How sad that travel for the next while won’t be possible. Live on the memories eh? Love AT
Thanks for the post Jenn. I loved the amusement park entrance.