Views of biblical proportions

Sydney has hundreds, or probably thousands, of scenic little secret spots, and this is one of my latest discoveries. It's the Bible Garden, in Mitchell Rd, Palm Beach. It features most of the plants that are mentioned in the Bible, nicely kept and nicely labelled and referenced. 

It also features some terrific views of Palm Beach and of points north along the Pacific Coast. It's a very pleasant place to spend some time.

Messing about on the river

On the Parramatta River, to be precise. I took the classy option yesterday for the journey into the city: the Parramatta River Rivercat.

Most of the other passengers were tourists, and didn't they just love it! None of the discomforts of train, bus or car travel, none of the uninspiring scenery of the Parramatta Road or the main western line corridor. Just  clear blue skies, clear blue water, fine views of boats, bridges, Olympic stadiums, parks and bike tracks. And some rather well positioned and expensive real estate here and there too.

The Rivercats all seem to be named after famous female athletes. I found myself aboard the Betty Cuthbert. Betty was a world champion sprinter in the 1950s and 60s. She grew up in the nearby suburb of Ermington, and is still alive and living in Western Australia.

The cabin is warm, roomy and comfortable, but the location of choice is the front deck, where the views make up for any cold winds or stray sea spray. As you approach the Harbour Bridge, everyone vies for a good position, and the selfies and group pictures all get taken. Then it's the equally scenic Circular Quay and Opera House.

One of the highlights of the trip is the first leg, from Parramatta to Rydalmere, where you negotiate a narrow passage through the mangroves. A lowlight is that at low tide the vessel - a flat bottomed catamaran - nevertheless can't actually make it through this part. The service terminates then at Rydalmere, and passengers pile onto a bus for the rest of the journey.

I understand the Parramatta-Rydalmere leg will be withdrawn altogether soon, so use it while you can.

A Maritime Endeavour

Sydney's National Maritime Museum is usually worth a look. It has its permanent stuff, but also special little exhibitions that can be quite interesting. Then it has its collection of floating exhibits, which I'd somehow never got round to exploring.

The special little exhibition the other day was 'East of India', about trade links between colonial India and Australia. There was a lot of it, because the early Australian colonies were six months away from Britain, but only six weeks from India. So where was the obvious place to supply them from, especially after the near starvation of the early years?

As for the floating exhibits, how could one go past The Endeavour, or more accurately the Endeavour replica. As replicas go, it's the most faithfully replicated such ship around, according to the volunteer guide. The timbers are Australian rather than British, but the size, shape, colour schemes: everything is spot on, I was told, because the original plans had still been available to work from.

You have to mind your head as you walk around the rather small vessel, the original of which had been converted from a coal carrier with a crew of 12 into a world-circling expeditioner with nearly 100 on board. They'd had to put in an extra deck between the top and bottom ones to house the extra people, and for a fairly large section you actually have to bend double to navigate it. Most of the crew in those days were probably quite short, but Captain Cook, and expedition sponsor and naturalist Joseph Banks were extremely tall men, even by today's standards. If you've seen the movie 'Being John Malkovich', you'll remember the scenes in the low-ceilinged floor 7½. It's worse than that on the Endeavour.

You get to see the whole ship, and get a fabulous feel for what it might have been like on that first three year voyage. Banks had the best living quarters, and these days, when the ship's in port anyway, it's all decked out with his botanical samples.

Rookwood - our dead centre

Some people don't like cemeteries. Others do, and I'm in the latter group. In Sydney we've got a very special and very historic one located pretty close to the dead centre of the metropolitan area.

Rookwood Necropolis is about 3 square kilometres in area, and Wikipedia tells me it's the largest Victorian era cemetery in the world. Rookwood is a suburb in its own right, between Lidcombe and Strathfield. I was going to say it has its own postcode too, but I see it shares its postcode with Lidcombe. I guess its one million inhabitants don't really need to receive much mail any more.

It's divided into five main areas, managed by five denominational trusts. There's the catholics, the anglicans, the independents, the jews and the muslims. Then there's the crematorium too. I enjoy exploring the different areas, with their different styles. There are also memorials to things like the jewish holocaust, and monuments to peace.

Some of its more notable inhabitants include former NSW premiers, famous business and underworld figures, plus friend Bob's mother, and a whole host of friend Jacqui's relatives. She's measured herself up for her spot there too!

Sydney's best running circuit: the Bay Run

The Iron Cove 'Bay Run' is a seven kilometre circuit for runners, walkers and cyclists, which circumnavigates the pocket of Sydney Harbour called Iron Cove, passing through bits of the Inner West suburbs of Leichhardt, Haberfield, Drummoyne, Five Dock, and Lilyfield.

It's very scenic, and very popular. When I lived nearby I used to run, shuffle and walk my way around it in typically 36 to 40 minutes. I imagine the more competitive types would aim for under 30 minutes. According to my usual rule of thumb, whereby anything I do can be done in half the time by someone, somewhere, there must be those who do it in about 20. 

You pass by several other shrines to physical fitness: soccer fields, swimming pools, rowing clubs. And then there's the dog park, with its Cafe Bones, where the trendy Leichhardt canines feast on 'pupaccinos' and gourmet dog biscuits.