Sydney in a Storm

Coming from Norfolk Island’s record drought, it was a surprise to land at Kingsford Airport in a full-on rainstorm. From fires to flood in the period of a week, tropical cyclone Damien is blasting Sydney! Even though it has only been raining for 3 days, everything was green and lush. Yesterday, it rained 79mm and today 150mm. It is only February 9th and the total rainfall has thus far been 254mm, when the February yearly average since 1856 is 117.6 mm. Such is the nature of climate change with more extreme weather events. When I arrived in December 2019, Sydney’s air was full of smoke from the bushfires raging across the east coast of Australia.

Over the last two years I have enjoyed Sydney harbour and in particular, my visits with my old university mate, Maria and her husband, Robert. Their house is definitely home from my adventures and getting there is now a familiar route. I walk from Airport Customs to the train station, tap-on with the Opal card and ride the very efficient train system through Central Station and disembark at Circular Quay. There, I join throngs of students, business people and tourists in the heart of Sydney downtown. One taps through the gate at Pier 5 and waits for the very efficient Sydney ferries. Sydney’s ferries vary from sleek to almost tug-boat style and they ply the harbour’s many convoluted bays and passages. “Cockatoo Island via Balmain and Birchgrove”.

I get off at Birchgrove, then walk about 500 metres through suburbs, by marinas and then through a large playing field to Robert and Maria’s lovely yard and house in Snail’s Cove. Their red-brick roofed house was built in when this Birchgrove and Balmain were centres of industrial ship-building.

Balmain is a lovely neighbourhood with harbour, narrow streets with interesting houses, trails, greenspaces, interesting shops and friendly folk. Maria and Robert’s neighbours, John and Julie keep bees. Maggi runs an historical Airbnb. Everybody seems to show up for Robert’s wonderful dinners on the porch. Despite being of Irish upbringing, Robert is a master of the “Barbie” and even turkey suppers come out of the bbq tasting superb.

I especially like the “smashed potatoes” and of course the wonderful selection of Australian fruits and vegetables. Today we went to the Orange Grove market to pick up fresh bread, fruits and take in Turkish Goslen and a “flat white” for breakfast. My mouth was watering at all the fresh and beautiful produce, so absent from Norfolk Island and our diet on Phillip Island.

Since I am going on to Tasmania after a couple of days, I wanted to pick up a rain jacket and something warmer than a cotton shirt. I had gotten away with no raincoat or even a sweater on Norfolk/Phillip Islands, but the Sydney storm reminded me that even if the weather is warmer here (21 degrees today), the hard rain can be chilling to a soaked body.
The “Ops shop” didn’t have the “winter” clothes out, so off I was to the modern outlet mall at Birkenhead across the bridge. Some of the photos are from the walk back, when there was a lull in the storm.

Sydney has a population of 5.23 Million people and has aspects of big city life like traffic jams, skyscrapers, malls and bustle. However, it doesn’t have the hustle of some big cities.

People are genuinely friendly and helpful and the various neighbourhoods have a lovely small town feel. The best thing about Sydney in my opinion are the walking tracks and greenspace around the convoluted harbour. I have walked probably at least 80 km in my weeks here, exploring Spit, Manley, home from Taronga Zoo and all around Birchgrove and Balmain. The plants and animals along the way are fantastic! Rainbow lorikeets, Magpies, Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, Ibis, Monitor Lizards and Brush Turkeys are astonishing to me, but are kind of normal.

Less than 300 years ago, Sydney was the home to the Eora people. “Eora” is roughly translated from Aboriginal language to English as “people of the place ” which is actually similar to Haida Gwaii (Islands of the People). These names give us an idea of the roots of people that have inhabited place over the millennia. According to first settlers which landed in Botany Bay in 1788 there were about 25 Eora clans in Sydney basin and approximately 1500 people. Eora people were experts in coastal navigation, fishing and cooking. They used coastal sandstone shelves for shelter and made bark canoes.

Summer foods were oysters, turtles, mullet and other fish. Winter foods included possum, echidna, fruit bats, wallabies and kangaroo. Women collected herbs and were experts in healing. However, nothing could prepare Eora for the onslaught of the first settlement of 1300 convicts and soldiers. By early 1789, canoes had disappeared and 30-60% of the aboriginal population had died of “Gai-galla” or Smallpox. Like the Haida, smallpox and the plundering of resources wrecked havoc on the aboriginal way of life. Little remains in Sydney to tell this sad story, except some rock carvings, song, a wonderful mural at the Sydney Botanical Garden and information signs on the walking tracks.

Like Vancouver, Sydney is a very liveable city and has some of the most expensive real estate in the world. Building and construction is everywhere apparent. There is a great mix of old and new. On a walk from the Birkenhead outlet to Snail’s Bay, I encountered the remains of old shipbuilding industry, the electric plant, collieries and fishing piers. All of these were along walking tracks and narrow roads winding along waterfront in most spots.

It is 21 degrees today, so the relentless rain doesn’t feel so cold. Welcome Swallows swoop in to grab insects emerging from washed out burrows. Silver Gulls congregate in the playing field which has turned back to its original lagoon form. Kids are wake-boarding in the large puddles. What are those fruit bats doing? Surely they must hide out and not even brave the relentless wet on their fur!

Like all cities, there are problems of housing affordability and traffic congestion. There are plans for another tunnel across the harbour which would have many environmental problems. Perhaps I only have a visitors perspective, but Sydney has a great vibe, even in a storm!