The first day of Spring

Today is the first day of Spring. The season's off to a spectacular start. The day dawned sunny and bright with temperatures reaching a high of 28C. Garry and I decided to make the best of the unseasonably warm weather. We spent the afternoon exploring some of Sydney’s new landmarks. By the time we were done, we’d walked more than 12km.

Our circuit began with a walk to Waterloo station on the city’s new metro line. This driverless train system offers a classic London Underground experience with trains arriving every 4-5 minutes. Each of the metro’s new stations is identified by a unique artwork. In the case of Waterloo station, it’s a towering floor-to-ceiling engraved mural of an Aboriginal child.

The new metro opened two weeks ago on 18 August. Construction of the new line began in 2017. It involved drilling a new tunnel under the ocean floor beneath Sydney Harbour linking the city’s first metro line between Rouse Hill and Chatswood with the city and onwards to Bankstown.

Network tests of the driverless trains and stations began in April 2023 and have since included more than 11,000 hours of testing along the 51.5km line. Testing has paid dividends. The new line is impressive and runs like a dream. I think we’ll get.our money’s worth from its staggering $21.6 billion construction cost.

Garry and I got off at the new Barangaroo Station. From here we walked along the city’s new foreshore park, following the harbour toward Walsh Bay, under the Harbour Bridge and around Circular Quay. The new Wulugul Walk is stunning. This foreshore track is beautifully landscaped, offering uninterrupted views of Barangaroo’s new glass towers and across the water to Balmain.

The path gets its name from wulugul, the local Indigenous word for kingfish, a highly sought after catch for Aboriginal people long before Europeans arrived. It's a living masterpiece. The shoreline is skillfully framed by terraced layers of multi-coloured sandstone blocks, while the path offers gravel or paved walkways shaded by native shrubs and trees. Despite its recent opening, the park feels like it's been here for years.

On the spur of the moment, we decided to continue past the Opera House and follow the water's edge as far as Mrs Macquarie’s Chair, before following the coastal pathway into Woolloomooloo. From here it was literally a straight line back up Bourke Street to home. Although the home stretch was 3.3km, with a leg-aching uphill stride to Taylor Street.

We'll be back at the Opera House a few more times this Spring. Next Saturday we're off to see Sarah Brightman performing in Sunset Boulevard.  We'll return in November to celebrate Garry's birthday with dinner at Bennalong.  Garry revealed this afternoon that he'd never dined there so I promptly booked us a table.

All in all, our excursion involved two solid hours of walking, plus 10 minutes and four stops on the metro. The crowds were also out in force everywhere we went. I can honestly say Sydney is genuinely transforming itself into a leading world city. The city we explored today feels very different to the one I first encountered in 1998.

UPDATE: 8 September

Sunset Boulevard was a bit of a disappointment.  The staging was impressive and the Opera House proved a wonderfully intimate setting for the show.  However, the much-acclaimed Sarah Brightman was a real disappointment.  We found her dictation hard to understand whenever she sang - not a great outcome given how much of the production's dialogue is sung rather than spoken.  In fact, the supporting actor, Ashleigh Rubenach, was far more impressive. I'll pay to see her perform again any day.