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Sydney Insiders Blog

Unexplained Sydney

A Remarkable Love Story 100 Years In The Making

When a masked and cloaked bandit robbed the bank at a small gold town in 1869, little did anyone know that it would give rise to the legend of Andrew George Scott, or “Captain Moonlite”, one of the most intriguing figures in Australian history. A charismatic man of God who enthralled and appalled the nation…

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March 2, 2023

Silver Shish Kebab

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…

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October 27, 2021

Sydney’s international travelers

If you’ve ever peered into the murky waters of a pond in Centennial Park chances are you’ve seen one of their long, slimy occupants flopping about. The long-finned eels seem pretty content in their picturesque sludge, but apparently, they migrate as far as New Caledonia or the Solomon Islands to lay their eggs. Autumn is…

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October 20, 2021

The Brigadoon of Sydney seaside

Just like the mythical Scottish village that disappears and reappears again, Sydney too has a seaside spot that can vanish for years on end. This secret spot in Sydney is so secretive, it’s not even around for most of the year! This picture-perfect beach is around 100 metres north of Tamarama is actually hidden for…

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September 9, 2021

Spend a penny

Poking through the top of flower beds is the spire of the old underground public toilets located in Hyde Park at the North-East corner of the intersection of Park and Elizabeth Streets in the CBD. These facilities were one of several underground facilities built during the early years of the 1900s. During the 1800s the…

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August 27, 2021

The Principality of Wy

This lounging royal is in fact the Monarch of the Principality of Wy, a self-proclaimed micronation located right here in Sydney. A micronation is defined as “A small area or political entity that claims national sovereignty but is not recognized by other sovereign states.” The Principality of Wy was created after Prince Paul Delprat (pictured)…

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August 19, 2021

There’s a bear in our school!

This is what is left of one of Sydney’s first zoos. This is a bear pit within the grounds of Sydney Girls High, at Moore Park. The Moore Park Zoological Gardens opened in 1884. Prior to that, Sydney’s main zoo was positioned in the Botanic Gardens. The Moore Park Zoo was created after the NSW…

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August 13, 2021

The Sydney Sphinx

That’s right! Sydney has its very own Egyptian Sphinx. It was carved by WWI veteran William Shirley, “The Sphinx” can be found near the entrance to Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park at Bobbin Head Road and forms the centerpiece of a WWI war memorial. Private Shirley carved this piece while a patient at the nearby Convalescent…

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August 12, 2021

The mystery of the Pittwater pyramids

It may be easy to overlook these pyramids around Bayview in Sydney’s north but they are in fact some of the last remaining structures from World War II. From 1941 to 1942, the Federal Government aimed to protect mainland Australia and ensure that they had adequate defenses in place to defend the area from Japanese invasion….

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August 10, 2021

Room 8 in the Russell Hotel…sleep there if you dare

This is known as the most haunted hotel room in Australia, said to be inhabited by the ghost of a sailor murdered by a prostitute. The ghost supposedly only appears to women sleeping alone, recreating the circumstances of his death. Employees have said they felt like they were walking through a cobweb, like they were…

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December 10, 2020