"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move." RLS
Why don’t people promenade any more?
Every time I visit Commonwealth Park I am somewhat taken aback by the paucity of people out enjoying this beautiful park. I often wonder (and I have been here 16 years), as do visitors, where do Canberrans go at weekends. Why are they not out enjoying the delights of this great city? Their loss is the visitor’s gain. Continue reading “Commonwealth Park – Go Promenade!”
Inaugurated in April 1970 (with the accompanying globe referred to below) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to commemorate the bicentenary of Captain James Cook’s discovery of the east coast of Australia this fountain/jet sits in Lake Burley Griffin in front of the National Capital Exhibition at Regatta Point. Continue reading “Captain Cook Memorial Fountain and Globe”
The title of this review may be a bit misleading – I actually mean a walk around the central basin – a circular walk of 5kms crossing the lake via Commonwealth and King’s bridges (bridge to bridge). This is an easy walk along flat (apart from going up and down onto the bridges to cross the lake – steps or ramp) sealed paths and is a favourite of locals and tourists alike. Please look at my separate review on cycling around the whole lake – some 29 kms though shorter options are also mentioned there. Off course there is nothing stopping you walking the lot. Continue reading “Walk Around The Lake – Lake Burley Griffin”
One evening I had a sudden urge for Thai food but didn’t want to walk or travel too far from my hotel (The Grace) in the centre of Sydney.
Regent Place, close to the Town Hall and less than five minutes walk, came to mind as I had eaten there a few times, though not Thai. Regent Place is a throughway between George Street and Kent Street and contains about a dozen upcoming quality eateries. On the lower level I found what I was looking for – a Thai Restaurant called Senyai. Continue reading “Senyai – Thai: “A Cut Above Your Average Thai””
Sedap is a delightful little hawker style Malaysian restaurant tucked away from the hustle and bustle of George Street in the Regent Place Arcade. I should add that the arcade has a great selection of eateries including an excellent Thai Restaurant – Senyai – upon which I have written a separate review and in which I have eaten many times. Continue reading “Sedap Malaysian Kopitan: “Hawker Style Malaysian””
In 1792 the first formal burial ground for Sydney was established on the site which is now occupied by the Sydney Town Hall. In 1792 this was deemed sufficiently far from the settlement area such that it would not affect the health of the living and it would provide a place of quiet repose for the dead. Continue reading “Dead in the Town Hall – Old Sydney Burial Ground”
He or she who kisses the Blarney Stone is filled with eloquence and has a way with words or, as many would say, has the gift of the gab or is full of the blarney. The RamblingWombat has kissed the Blarney stone, not once, but twice! Continue reading “Kiss the Blarney Stone – In Sydney?”
When the adjacent Queen Victoria Building was being restored in the 1980s Malaysian developers, Ipoh Gardens, decided that an exterior sculpture of Queen Victoria would be an appropriate addition.
The hunt for a second-hand statue commenced and in the end Ireland obliged. Having found the requisite statutory something was required to cover an unsightly air vent from an underground car park which sat about 10 metres from where Her Majesty was to be erected. Continue reading “Did that dog just talk to me?”
When the owners of one of Sydney’s most beautiful buildings, the Queen Victoria Building, decided to renovate it in the mid 1980s they sought a suitable statue to place at the main entrance. What could fit the bill better than a statue of Queen Victoria herself? Continue reading “Queen Victoria – Transported from Ireland”
World-wide, Freemasonry has always been and remains shrouded in mystique. How can this be for an organisation some 300+ years old (with roots back to trade organisations in the 1400s) with a current membership of around six million? Are Freemasons latter day Knights Templar? What do the handshakes mean? Why the regalia and other symbolism? Do they really run the United States and other countries? Continue reading “Museum of Freemasonry”
The Rambling Wombat 