Maurine is John’s mother; 88 and still going (fairly) strong.
Her name is spelt unusually, so we were really pleased to find her street in Melbourne’s west.
We walked it with Wendy, Robyn’s aunt.
Nice to see they were tennis courts in Maurine Court. Maurine loved her tennis; I have fond memories of mum enjoying tennis with a group of ladies every Wednesday at Northbridge.
Behind Newport Beach there’s a considerable hill which rises up to Bilgola Plateau. Over the crest and down the hill towards Pittwater is Joanne Place.
So… after breakfast at Newport, by the time we walked down Joanne Place our legs were feeling it!
Pretty little street in a lovely area of Sydney.
A gorgeous early spring day for a walk in Sydney this weekend. Sun’s out, blue sky; just perfect.
Georgia and Anthony are my brother’s children and it was nice to find that Anthony Road in Castle Hill and Georgia Terrace in Kellyville are both fairly close to each other so it made sense to walk the two of them in the one go.
Lots of large McMansions in Kellyville; new houses are are the first ones built on new sub-divisions.
Anthony Rd, though, totally different. Older weatherboards that will not be there for much longer as the suburb changes markedly with the building of the new rail connection.
A gorgeous early spring day for a walk in Sydney this weekend. Sun’s out, blue sky; just perfect.
Georgia and Anthony are my brother’s children and it was nice to find that Anthony Road in Castle Hill and Georgia Terrace in Kellyville are both fairly close to each other so it made sense to walk the two of them in the one go.
Lots of large McMansions in Kellyville; new houses are are the first ones built on new sub-divisions. New parks being built to cater for the increasing number of children who have nowhere to play in their own backyards – a lot of these houses have a huge footprint and sit on smaller blocks.
Very different to Anthony Rd, which has a lot of older weatherboards that will not be there for much longer as the suburb changes markedly with the building of the new rail connection.
Kate Street is near Kissing Point Road and is a dead end street set amongst houses that are very similar to my grandmother’s house, all built probably around the early 1900s. Lots of huge gardens, huge trees, and a distinct lack of lawns owing to the shade and leaf letter.
At the end of Kate Street is Mimosa Oval and National Park or Forest that runs the whole way to Avondale Dam which is near Pymble ladies’ College.
There’s lots of Fox baiting going on in the area so Bailey didn’t do too much exploring.
Cameron is one of nephews who is getting married to Eliza next week, so a good time to walk Cameron St. on a glorious winter morning.
Birchgrove is a fabulous suburb, so close to the city with a wide range of off-leash dog parks with harbour access. We could very easily downsize to here.
As we’ve found in previous years, a great variety of little pubs and cafes too.
The Dudley at Paddington is a busy local between Paddington and Rushcutters Bay.
BUSY on Christmas Eve, but each year we always go a park at Rushcutters Bay right next to the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia where we picnic and wander among the boats before they start the Sydney to Hobart.
The Grand National Hotel at Paddington is in a fascinating residential area among the backstreets of Paddington where there’s a surprising number of bars and pubs. One of these is the iconic Grand National Hotel, which has been kicking around Paddo for ages.
“The Nash” sits outside the Sydney CBD lockout zone so is a pretty busy pub of a weekend evening
The venue is interesting. The walls are painted with faded pastels, and there’s are booths like an old milk bar.
Best of all, your dog is more than welcome. Before we’d even ordered a drink, the bar staff brought over a water bowl for our dog. No pups in the bistro, but that’s understandable.
Paddo’s a great place for a wander… narrow streets, interesting architecture and a few examples of real community like the honesty box for the home made jams and the hoses that have gone waaay over the top with their Christmas decorations!
Annandale. Go for a walk and you easily get the sense of what used to be. On just about every single corner is what could have been a former hotel.
Historically, suburbs like Annandale, before the gentrification, were very working class, and very much like Balmain or Rozelle, hotels proliferated.
The Victoria Hotel in Young St Annandale is a great little local tucked away amongst houses just off the main drag. Cold beer, great food and while the beer garden’s not leafy, it’s a good space to enjoy any time of the year.
Saturday was a beautiful late winter’s Sydney day. Perfect for a walk around the foreshore facing the city.
A great local, trading since 1937, the Kirribilli Hotel, right next to Milsons Point station, has a good range of domestic and imported beers on tap, and plenty of screens for the sports nut.
So, this weekend, we... 