Ballast Point Park

My second adventure yesterday was a walk along the harbour in Ballast Point Park. I'd never been up around that area before, partly as Tom pointed out because they hadn't fixed it up until recently, so it wasn't quite as nice of a walk.

The park has a few structures including this one. Apparently it can be used as a sundial. 

Inside are four rectangular view finders that highlight some areas around the harbour. 

Sydney Tower.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge.

North Sydney National Park.

East Balmain.

The Sky.

The Water, this was a little freaky to stand on.

Enjoying the winter sun. Most of the old buildings and walls are made from the same yellow sandstone. It gives a very sunny feel to the whole city.

Another funny building is this fort-like structure. The walls are made of a mixture of stone and ceramics held in place with wires. 

I found a few neat things mixed in. 

There was one part of the wall that had 8 or 9 locks on it. Most of these had names of couples engraved on them, some with the dates of the marrige/ deaths of one of the couple. It was part memorial part new age graffiti. 

This little marina is at the bottom of some people's back yards. So of course they have boats docked next to their homes. One house even had a habourside pool. I should mention this is the most expensive area to live in Balmain (this particular suburb).

After looking at the marina we got to walk up these. 

Which lead us to this secret garden area.

Through the gap in the wall. Tom calls the circular lawns an alien baseball pitch. 

The pitch from above.

A bit of metal poetry.

This is the beginning of the most expensive street in Balmain. It's got a mixture of old and new houses, but even the modern ones fit into the old stone walls and the general feel of the neighbourhood. Some of the houses had court yards below street level, so to get to the front door you'd have to walk over a little bridge. Most courtyards and walk ways have patterned tiles and the houses, particularly the old ones are bright colours.

One of my favourite things about Sydney is all the odd bits and pieces that give it's neighbourhoods character. For example a tiny little gate about 4 feet above the sidewalk.