Sydney

Post war in the 1950’s and 60’s there was a wave of mass migration from Italy to Australia, and specifically from the lesser-known hillside town of San Fele (located in the southern region of Basilicata), to the then Drummoyne Municipality of Sydney, Australia. Thousands of men and women arrived to this new land, and bandied…

On a recent wander through the city one quiet evening my wife and I stumbled upon a small bird sitting still on a railing within Macquarie Park. The dull light of the evening dusk obscured our view and we thought that this small bird was such a brave little thing, standing ever so still as…

If you never liked school, you may have just been attending the wrong one. Located in Mosman with views of Sydney Harbour you will be the lessons you have been looking for. But no one is looking out the window during these lessons, they’re too busy mixing huge bowls of melted chocolate or sprinkling on…

For decades, Sydney locals would plunge the depths into Wynyard Station by using the wooden escalators in York Street. Terribly nostalgic with a rhymical rattling sound, over time these would become more of a problem than they were worth. With great sadness they would be replaced. So, what to do with the four tracks of…

The Australian Monument to the Great Irish Famine (Great Hunger) is located on the southern wall of the Hyde Park Barracks, on the site of the former convict-era kitchen and mess halls The monument was inspired by the 1995 call of Irish President Mary Robinson to remember the famine of 1845–52 and those who died…

This major artwork located in Hyde Park South honours Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women who served in our nation’s military and their families. Sydney-based artist Tony Albert created the work, inspired by the story of his grandfather Eddie Albert’s narrow wartime escape. The work is also based on research by family historian Trisha Albert. The artwork YININMADYEMI Thou didst let fall depicts four standing bullets…

Il Porcellino, meaning ‘the little pig’, is a larger than life-sized bronze wild boar, anatomically realistic and resting on its left haunch and front legs. It is located outside the Sydney’s oldest hospital, Sydney Hospital, facing Macquarie Street. The sculpture is an exact replica of an original by Pietro Tacca which has stood in Florence,…

Located across Sydney are fine examples of public art. They inspire, some even confuse but they all celebrate living in one of the world’s greatest cities. One such fine example is found on Pitt Street. The Dobell Memorial sculpture commemorates one of Australia’s most celebrated landscape and portrait artists. Australian painter William Dobell was born…

Today’s Australia has been shaped by migration. We’ve come from all the lands on earth to build this great country. The National Maritime Museum collects the stories of migrants to Australia, and the National Monument is one of our most important and visible ways of recognising the people behind these stories. Over 30,000 names already…

Nothing says warm weather in Sydney like the full bloom of purple jacaranda trees. For six or so weeks (usually from mid-October before a peak in mid-November) the streets become filled with beautiful purple flowers gently falling on the footpaths like purple rain… it’s just stunning. Here are a few places you must check out. What better place…