East Sydney Gardens

Start the day with Kinkara Tea !

Well like millions of Aussies I am starting my day with tea and toast,sitting up in bed clearing away the brain cobwebs

Yesterday i took a tour with U3A inspecting some Community gardens in East Sydney.We met at Kings Cross rail station and mooched down Darlinghurst Road to the El Amain Fountain,where we had lunch in the park. It was a fine Autumn day and Sydney turned on the sunshine.

After some delays we had received permission to inspect the Wayside Chapel's rooftop garden,in Springfield Avenue,a short walk away.

We were crowded into a small lift ,after our welcome and conveyed to the second floor, with only one flight of concrete stairs to the roof.

Most of the trees and shrubs were in meter wide tubs,and doing remarkably well in the small garden.

We saw a shaded worm farm,processing kitchen waste ,a native bee hive,large colourbond water tanks and a small statue of ABC's gardening host Costa.

The garden has several purposes

1.To provide herbs and vegetables for the kitchen downstairs.

2.As therapy for the homeless persons taking part in the garden training program.

We sampled some of the leafey salad leaves and listened to the manager John explain the gardens activities.

After the tour half the group of 20 headed back to the railway station,and the other half of curious members headed for the very old suburb of WoolLoomooloo.

To get there we had to negotiate several sets of decrepit stairs,Hughes and Butler steps,that drop 100 feet,past early colonial terrace houses and avenues of shady Plane trees,we could have been in any great European city.

In another month these trees would be shedding their leaves into a carpet of brown on the pavement.

Some of the earliest housing was in this district,we saw a lovely single storey sandstone cottage,reminding us of early times.

The WoolLoomooloo Community garden was located beside the fenced netball courts,and had some surprises.Beautiful bunches of bananas,Taro,a grapevine growing over the shed,and a 30 foot high Avacadoe tree.