Breakky in the park

Between days of rain and forecasted days of rain, we had a brilliantly sunny Saturday morning. I made the most of it by meeting up with some friends at the Sydney Park west of the CBD. The Sydney Park has just been redone recently, and now it seems to be the go-to place for Sydney doggies. So between seeing friends and seeing dogs, it was a great morning!

 

 

We met up by “the chimneys,” which are actually old chimneys from when the area was the main brickworks in Sydney. The brickworks was set up in the 1870s and stayed in production until the 1980s. Since then, the old kilns and chimneys have somewhat fallen into disrepair, but the city is now trying to keep them somewhat maintained, since they’re such an important historic part of the area. 

 

 

 

From the chimneys, we headed into the little area of St Peters to get some breakky. This is a super trendy area to live in, so the cafe was cute & quirky, complete with a car inside. 

 

 

Then we headed out to the park. It was a lovely day, so sunny and with just a little breeze. It’s starting to turn cool, so it was perfect for sitting in the sun. 

 

 

The hills of the park are mostly built on the torn-down parts of the brickyards, and covered-over rubbish mounds from the landfill that also used to be there. (Fun fact, landfills are called “tips” here - as in “I’m taking my rubbish to the tip.”) So under those lovely hills are the remains of an old tip - covered over with dirt and now a park!

 

 

 

When the park was redone, they added in some wetlands features to provide a home for some of the birds & other creatures who have been pushed out with all the development in the city. There are some rain gardens and ponds where lots of birds seemed to be having a good day too.

 

 

 

If that bird looks giant, it’s because it is. It’s an Australian Pelican and like so many other things here, they get really big. They are pretty intimidating up close - I think one could take me in a fight. 

 

My favorite part of the park was how many off-leash areas there were! The dogs were going nuts and having a blast playing with each other! Too fun!

 

 

It was just a lovely day to be outside and enjoying a nice part of Sydney!