So, this weekend, we...

The Old Fitzroy

Posted: February 23, 2017 in Bars, Drinking at the local hotel
Tags: Beer, Local, wine

The Old Fitz is more than a century old but retains a lot of its original character and is loaded with history and stories.
It’s clearly a meeting place for locals.
Plenty of different beers on tap including some niche brews – I enjoyed a Quick Draw Pale Ale – and a good selection of wines from Australia or NZ – Robyn had a Marlborough Black Star Sav Blanc.

We then went for a walk around the local streets – an interesting mix of poor, gentrified and waiting for something to be done.
Interesting winding old “dunny lanes”, lots of stairs that are a thoroughfarebetween Potts Point/Kings Cross and Woolomooloo.

Finished off with a pie from Harry’s Cafe de Wheels.

The London

Posted: February 6, 2017 in Drinking at the local hotel
Tags: Beer, Local, Local Hotel, Local pub, Pub, Sydney, Sydney weekends, walking inner Sydney

On the corner of Darling Street since the 1870’s, The London’s colonial era building with its veranda and sandstone walls is reminder of times gone by.
The hotel has very close ties to the Cooper’s Brewery and the site was once part of a Cooper’s Brewery Complex.
Great pub grub and and fine dining with a great selection of beers on tap (including a gluten free option!) and wines.
Very dog friendly, so if the mutt is part of the family, then bring him or her with you. They are always ready to welcome puppies with a fresh bowl of water.
And their little secret? If there are fireworks going off over the Harbour Bridge, then this is the place to watch them 🙂

Ye Olde Rose & Crown

Posted: January 24, 2017 in Drinking at the local hotel
Tags: Local, Local Hotel, Local pub

Visiting a former neighbour of ours, we had a quiet ale at his local, Ye Olde Rose & Crown in Greenwich.

Lots of heavy timber, dark bricks and leadlight, this is a traditional London pub with a great range of beers on tap.

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Dry Dock Hotel

Posted: January 23, 2017 in Drinking at the local hotel
Tags: Hotel, Local Hotel, Local pub, Pub

The Dry Dock Hotel is the oldest licensed hotel in Balmain in Sydney’s inner west. It’s built on land originally granted to the surgeon Dr William Balmain made in 1800 by Governor John Hunter.

This heritage-listed hotel opened in 1857 and was built to serve the shipbuilding and associated industries of the local area

Mort’s Dock, from which the pub takes its name, is a former dry dock, slipway, and shipyard. It was the first dry dock in Australia and opened in 1855. A plaque near the dock commemorates the corvettes that were built for WWII there before it closed in 1959.

A local hotel? We think so… it’s tucked away, surrounded by housing, accessible only via very narrow, winding streets, and it has a lending library tucked away in the corner for the regulars.

Formentoren (Copenhagen)

Posted: January 2, 2017 in Bars, Drinking at the local hotel
Tags: Beer, Beers, Local pub

A cracker of a start to 2017’s theme, sharing a beer with Keith Gumery at his local, Fermentoren in Vesterbro, Copenhagen.
A locally brewed IPA, a great beer and beautiful company… have made the classic mistake of setting a high bar to start.

The Bay Run

Posted: December 11, 2016 in Inner West, Sydney Harbour
Tags: bicycle, Sydney, sydney harbor, Sydney weekends, Things to do in Sydney, this weekend in Sydney, what to do in Sydney, What to do in Sydney this weekend

So, our last weekend in Sydney for the year and, perfect timing (luck, not design) we finished walking all the water west of the Harbour Bridge.

The iconic Bay Run at Drummoyne was the perfect place to finish up, too. A 7 km loop, it’s one of Sydney’s most well known and well used walkin/running/riding/training/fitness loops.

And so ends the year. Now, on to 2017 and a year of drinking in local hotels! Woohoo!

Tempe to Alexandria

Posted: November 27, 2016 in bicycle, Cafe, Inner West
Tags: breakfast, cafe, Coffee, cycle, cycleway, lunch, Sydney, Things to do in Sydney, this weekend in Sydney, walk, weekend, weekends, what to do in Sydney, What to do in Sydney this weekend

An early morning ride along the Alexandria Canal from Tempe to Alexandria.

Enjoyed breakfast at The Grounds cafe.

Not really what could be described as a scenic ride… it is along a canal and beside an airport after all, but still, a bit of blue on the map to fill in, and breaking at an institution such as The Grounds… well, any excuse will do!

South Strathfield to Homebush

Posted: November 20, 2016 in bicycle, Walking
Tags: olympics, Sydney, Sydney weekends, Things to do in Sydney, this weekend in Sydney, weekends, What to do in Sydney this weekend

This weekend we finished the link from the Cooks River to the Parramatta River (Sydney Harbour) by riding from the Cave Road shops at South Strathfield (where we finished one day in August) near the end of the Cooks River through Strathfield to Homebush.

The excellent bike path peters out unfortunately and isn’t great all the way through to the Olympic site where we rode in March but still, a lot of paths and quiet streets.

Only a few weeks left to complete the “West of the Bridge” year 🙂
Need to do The Bay Run at Drummoyne/Leichhardt and maybe a bit of Duck Creek near Auburn, or follow the beautiful (!!??) Alexandria Canal to breakfast at The Grounds and we’re done. #timing

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Cave Rd shops

Hurlstone Park to the Airport

Posted: November 14, 2016 in bicycle, Walking
Tags: bicycle, cycle, cycleway, Things to do in Sydney, this weekend in Sydney, walking inner Sydney, what to do in Sydney, What to do in Sydney this weekend

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The local councils have done a terrific job building a great bike path along the Cooks River from near Strathfield down to the airport.

We’ve walked and ridden bits of this before, but not some of today’s route, and not this year.

Here and here.

And THIS we saw on the way home. What a fabulous idea!

A great day… until we broke down driving home 😦

Lane Cove River

Posted: November 6, 2016 in Sydney Harbour, Walking
Tags: Sydney, sydney harbor, Sydney Harbour, Sydney History, Things to do in Sydney, this weekend in Sydney, walking inner Sydney, what to do in Sydney

What a beautiful spring morning for a walk from the bottom of Mowbray Road along the northern shore of the lane Cove River towards Fullers Bridge Road.

This part of the Great North Walk takes you through the historic Fairyland Pleasure Grounds, made famous by the Swan family in the 1920s. It’s an easy walk in.

The Council has done a good job of identifying what used to be there, quite extraordinary to imagine women with parasols and man in boater hat’s and blazers picnicking and going on Ferris wheel and merry-go-round.