The Rocks, Rawson Institute for Seamen

This view of the Rawson Institute for Seamen, formerly the Mariner's Church, at The Rocks is from Circuar Quay West. The original Mariners' Church building in George Street was designed by John Bibb in the Victorian Free Classical style in temple form and built in 1859. Alterations were designed by William Kent in Federation Free Classical style in 1909. A new chapel was built in the Inter-War Mediterranean or Romanesque style In 1927. The Bethel Union, which built the original church was involved in missionary activity among seamen. They leased the Mariners' Church to the Missions to Seamen in 1835, creating a mission for neglected seamen. The complex included accommodation, a hall for concerts and dining, smoking rooms, a library and a gymnasium. The two organisations combined functions and after Sir Henry Rawson instigated extensions which were carried out in 1910, the complex was renamed The Rawson Institute for Seamen. These days the complex is a gallery.

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The Rocks, police station

This building on the corner of George Street and Argyle Street at The Rocks became the police station in 1998. The Rocks local area command police station was a replacement for the small police station located opposite in George Street and another in Phillip Street. I took this photo a few months ago before construction work began for the extensions to The Museum of Contemporary Art next door on George Street extending behind this building to Argyle Street and leading down to Circular Quay.

Millers Point, bridges

The Windmill Street Bridge and the Munn Street Bridge over Hickson Road at Millers Point. The road was cut out of the sandstone cliff to provide a link between the wharves on Walsh Bay and those being built at Darling Harbour, requiring these bridges to be built in 1910.

Millers Point, emergency response tug

The emergency response tug is one of two used by the Sydney Ports Corporation on Sydney Harbour. They are used for Incidents Response such as fire-fighting, oil spills, salvage and vessel assistance. The Tedd Noffs tug seen here is moored at the Operational Headquarters of the Sydney Ports Corporation at Millers Point. It's named after Reverand Tedd Noffs, an Australian humanitarian who pioneered initiatives for young people.

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Millers Point and Barangaroo

This view of the inner city suburbs of Millers Point and Barangaroo is from a ferry on Sydney Harbour. Moore's Wharf and the Operational Headquarters of the Sydney Ports Corporation in the foreground and the Palisade Hotel on the horizon are in Millers Point. The Harbour Control Tower and the city's former port facilities, which are soon to be redeveloped, were formerly part of Millers Point but are now part of a new suburb known as Barangaroo.

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Millers Point, Sydney Theatre Company

Sydney Theatre on Hickson Road at Millers Point is located opposite the Walsh Bay wharves.  It seats up to 896 people and is managed by the Sydney Theatre Company, which was established in 1978. The company also manages The Wharf Theatre located nearby at piers 6/7 and theatre productions at the Sydney Opera House. Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton joined the Sydney Theatre Company as Artistic Directors at the beginning of 2008.

Millers Point, Moore's Wharf

Moore’s Wharf on Walsh Bay at Millers Point was established in the 1830s by Henry Moore, the first Australian P&O agent. The sandstone warehouse built by William Long using convict labour and stone quarried on site. Moore bought the wharf and accompanying building from Long in 1837. The warehouse was originally located further west but in 1978 was moved, stone by stone, to its present location when it became the Operational Headquarters of the Sydney Ports Corporation. The vessels moored at Moore's Wharf are used by Sydney Ports Corporation on Sydney Harbour.
Linked to: Watery Wednesday

Millers Point, Towns Place Square

This small square (above) located at Towns Place in the inner city suburb of Millers Point sits between two new apartment developments. Towns Place at Walsh Bay was once the site of Robert Towns’s whaling and trading empire. The sandstone wall of the original bond store c.1860 was rebuilt in 2006 using stone salvaged from the cellar level wall uncovered during excavations for these new blocks of flats. Stone blocks from the old warehouse have also been formed into benches in the square, along the length of the wall (below).

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Millers Point, ablutions block

This heritage sandstone building located on the corner of Towns Place and Hickson Road at Millers Point houses a cafe. Back in the 1850s and 1860s this area around Walsh Bay was the site of Captain Robert Towns’s whaling and trading empire. This building was used as an ablutions block, where wharf labourers could clean up after their day's work.

Woolloomooloo, street art

This artwork features a rural scene in the middle of the inner city suburb of Woolloomooloo. It was created by Guerrilla Gardeners, a short-lived reality television, gardening makeover show. The premise of the show was to revitalise parts of the city that they feel had been neglected by local councils.This busy intersection is located  between the ramps of the Eastern Distributor, near a railway bridge for the Eastern Suburbs railway line. The artwork features a row of humorous road signs that provide a useful way of remembering how to spell the suburbs name 'wool', 'loo', 'moo', 'loo' with relevant pictures of a 'sheep', 'toilet', 'cow', 'toilet'. The suburb's name is derived from an Aboriginal word that was used for a historic homestead that was located here. It's unclear if it was derived from either Wallamullah, meaning 'place of plenty' or Wallabahmullah, meaning a 'young black kangaroo'.  I have featured a couple of other Guerrilla Gardeners projects at Moore Park and Barangaroo.

 Linked to: Everyday Life.

Manly, Oceanides

'Oceanides'  is a sculpture of two sea nymphs located on the side of the rock pool at Fairy Bower Beach, in the northern suburb of Manly. The sculpture was created by Helen Leete in 1997. The Okeanides in Greek mythology were sea nymphs that were part human and part sea creature.

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Kyeemagh, Cooks River

This sunset view of Cooks River is from the Endeavour Bridge, in the southern suburb of Kyeemagh, looking towards the suburbs of Banksia and Arncliffe.

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Botanic Gardens, The Satyr

The Satyr is a bronze cast of a 1924 sculpture by Frank ‘Guy’ Lynch located in the Royal Botanic Gardens. It was modelled on the artist’s brother, whose death inspired Kenneth Slessor to write his poem 'Five Bells'. In Greek mythology, the Satyrs were half human and half goat deities of the woods and mountains. They were companions of the gods Pan and Dionysus.

Farm Cove, Man O'War Steps

The Man O'War Steps and jetties are located on the western end of Farm Cove and the Royal Botanic Gardens. The stone jetty and steps were reconstructed in 1973 when the adjacent Sydney Opera House was built on Bennelong Point, from where this photo was taken. The floating Man O'War West Jetty and Man O'War East Jetty which were added later are used by water taxis. The original stone jetty and steps were constructed for the movement military stores and personnel to and from a ship called the Man O'War, anchored nearby in Sydney Harbour. According to a plaque here: the Man O'War Steps served as a landing and embarkation point for men of the British and Australian Fleets in peace and war for 150 years.

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The Domain, Veil of Trees

Veil of Trees is an art installation by Janet Laurence and Jisuk Han created in 1999, comprising of a line of forest red gum tree plantings and glass panels. It is located beside Mrs Macquaries Road at The Domain, just outside the Royal Botanic Gardens. The glass panels are embedded with seeds, ash, honey, resin, and fragments of prose and poems by Australian writers, inspired by the landscape.

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Circular Quay, buskers

These buskers dressed as surf lifesavers that are usually seen on a beach, pose for photos with tourists, crack jokes and display some antics for people passing by at Circular Quay.

Sydney Harbour Bridge, night

The Sydney Harbour Bridge at night, viewed from the Overseas Passenger Terminal.

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Botanic Gardens, Biennale, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

The Main Pond at the Royal Botanic Gardens hosted this floating art installation for the 17th Biennale of Sydney. 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being' by artist Choi Jeong Hwa was a four-metre plastic lotus flower that inflated and deflated every minute. The fluoro colour looked a bit faded by the end of the biennale when I photographed it but it was still impressive to watch. There's a video of this installation in action at the Royal Botanic Gardens site here.

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Cockatoo Island, stack

This chimney stack from the industrial past of Cockatoo Island still dominates the skyline. The coal fired powerhouse and brick chimney stack were built in 1918, to provide electricity for the island. For a distant view of how it dominates the skyline of the island, there's a shot here from across the harbour.

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Cockatoo Island, houses

These historic houses that sit high on the cliff on Cockatoo Island were built in the Federation architectural style. The houses were once home to the medical officer and engineering manager when the island was a busy shipyard. They are available as holiday accommodation these days.