My new commute

Since we've moved, I walk to work basically every day. Our new apartment is about a 15 minute walk from the train station, and to get to the station, it's an uphill walk. So since I have to walk either way, I just walk the extra 15 minutes to skip the train entirely. 

There's a tiny little park with a nice view of the city where I start out my walk. 

Potts Point was developed quite early in Sydney's history as a city, so there are some beautiful old buildings and lots of cute styles. Potts Point was one of the "gentrified" areas when Sydney was being built up, and it shows with the types of buildings here. 

Lucky for me, I get to walk by the dog park too: one of the best parts of my morning! The dogs go nuts, and I often pass dogs not on a leash that are running ahead of their human to the park to play with their friends. 

My commute takes me on McElhone Stairs, which is the longest staircase in Sydney. 112 steps! Luckily, on my way to work I go down them, otherwise the prospect of climbing all the stairs AND going to work would be too much to overcome. Every morning there are crazy people running the steps. 

Next I come to the Finger Wharf area in Woolloomooloo. The Finger Wharf is the longest timber-piled wharf in the world, as I learned when I looked it up to write this post. I'm not exactly sure what timber-piled means, but the wharf is really, really long. It was originally built for exporting wool, but now it's been refurbished inside with a really nice hotel and fancy apartments. We went to an apartment inspection a year or so ago, just to see inside, and we timed how long it took us to walk out of the building: it was seven minutes just to leave! So the wharf is really long, but it's also a beautiful structure. 

In the war, the wharf was also used for naval activities because it's right beside the navy base. But now it's just a neighbor to the ships. 

Lots of beautiful sculptures along the wharf...

Then I skirt pass Woolloomooloo, before I head up the hill to the Domain. 

Once I climb the steps up, the CBD is in sight again. 

The Art Gallery of NSW is a lovely building. Lots of cockatoos hang out here in the mornings, and they are NOT quiet. So it's a lively part of the walk. 

Then I cut through the Domain. The Domain connects Hyde Park and the Royal Botanic Gardens, which makes a huge green swath alongside the CBD. At the end of the Domain, I come to the Sydney Hospital, which is the oldest hospital in Australia. When it was built in the early 1800s, the governor of Sydney at the time said that the contractors who did the work could have convict labor and a monopoly on importing rum, which was supposedly enough to recoup their costs. Even though the hospital didn't start out so auspiciously, it's really a lovely building these days, and still operates as a hospital. 

It's all downhill after the hospital! Just a quick walk down the length of Martin Place...

After the hostage crisis at Martin Place, the city took pictures of all the flowers left in honor of the victims and put them alongside the railings at the train station entrance. I believe they are planning a longer term memorial, but in the meantime, it's a nice tribute to the victims and the people that were so terribly affected by that day. 

Then I pass the fountain at the end of Martin Place, which I've learned since living here is famous for having been in The Matrix movie. 

And then I'm at work! 

As a bonus, sometimes I get to see the dogs coming in to work for the day. Rufus rides in a cart when he comes into the office. 

It's a lovely walk to work every day!