Rockdale Fire Station, built in 1938 in the art deco style, is located in Bay Street in the southern suburb of Rockdale. It replaced the fire station on the corner of Princes Highway and Bay Street established in 1897. This fire station closed in July 2006 when the Rockdale Fire Brigade moved to the new Arncliffe Fire Station. 
Australia Day is Australia's national day which is celebrated on the 26th January. This date commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet in Sydney Cove in 1788. The city is often decorated with flags for various celebrations and events. For Austalia Day this year, eye-catching red, blue and white flags have been displayed throughout the city. These are located on Elizabeth Street at Hyde Park, beside the war memorial. 
'Australia' is the epic movie that was released in November, directed by Baz Luhrmann. The movie stars well known Australian actors Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman and newcomer, young Brandon Walters, who practically steals the movie. David Wenham, Bryan Brown and David Gulpilil are also in the cast. This week, 'Australia' became the third biggest Australian movie in Australian box-office history. A huge billboard advertising the film sits in a prominent position at North Strathfield, in between the M4 Motorway and Parramatta Road.
Bass Hill was one of the last surving drive-in cinemas in Sydney until it closed in 2007. Luckily, I managed to snap this photo before it was demolished a few months ago to redevelop the site into a large residential estate. Drive-in cinemas were very popular in Australia in the 1950s and 1960s. Their popularity declined in the 1980s, as video cassete recorders and tapes increased in popularity. I have some fond memories of my parents taking me to the drive-in at Matraville, as a child back in the 1970s. The only drive-in still open in Sydney is at Blacktown.
Tempe is not the most glamorous suburb in Sydney, considering it is made up of mostly industrial and commercial developments and the skyline is dominated by a large concrete water tower. Given the right weather conditions, the area around the Cooks River can look quite picturesque. This area was once a popular resort, with large crowds attracted for swimming and boating on the river, until it became too polluted by industrial estates further upstream. Later, part of the suburb became landfill, colloquially known as 'Tempe Tip'. These days, much of that area has been redeveloped for commercial use and some beautiful parklands have been created near the river. Seeing the high density residential redevelopment that has occured to the industrial areas south of the river, in the area known as Wolli Creek, I can imagine Tempe as a future redevelopment site. 
The Festival of Sydney is in full swing and runs for most of the month of January. The Bosco Theatre is a spiegeltent that has been set up in Hyde Park, on the corner of College Street and Park Street. Spiegeltents were created in the early 20th century and are travelling pavilions that have been used for concert venues, dance halls, bars and entertainment salons.
