Afternoon at Barangaroo
Oct. 5th, 2015 02:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranSydney has a brand-new headland park at Barangaroo, in what was a commercial shipping area. It's only just been opened to the public, so we went there with some friends yesterday for a look around.
As you can see, the old wharves have been replaced by sandstone and trees, in an attempt to recreate the original headland that was once carved away. That large recess on the right is called The Cutaway.
Inside is a large public space, which has instantly become one of Sydney's largest exhibition halls. While we were there, there was a group of performers singing sea shanties and the whole enormous space was filled with sound as the echoes rebounded back and forth.
In each of these shipping containers was a multimedia installation depicting some aspect of the area's past. People telling stories of growing up there, or of arriving in Sydney by ship. One had an endless projection of rolling waves at sea
Looking back out of The Cutaway towards the city. To the right, you can see the new office buildings being constructed as part of the project.
Strolling along the foreshore, we saw the James Craig heading out. This ship has an amazing history, which I'll save for another post. In short though, not only has it sailed around Cape Horn over twenty times in the age of sail, it also spent forty years half submerged in Recherché Bay in Tasmania before finally being restored (and sunk at least once more along the way).
At the top of the hill is the old maritime control tower, now slated for demolition. This was a familiar part of the Sydney skyline as it had to be tall enough to see ships approaching from all directions.
The new artificial hill is a great place to sit and listen to jazz on a warm day. It will be even nicer once those trees have had a few years to grow. We saw one tree that looked like a young Moreton Bay fig, that will probably be wonderful in about fifty years time.
Heading back up the hill on our way home. A great day out and we'll certainly be back again...
As you can see, the old wharves have been replaced by sandstone and trees, in an attempt to recreate the original headland that was once carved away. That large recess on the right is called The Cutaway.
Inside is a large public space, which has instantly become one of Sydney's largest exhibition halls. While we were there, there was a group of performers singing sea shanties and the whole enormous space was filled with sound as the echoes rebounded back and forth.
In each of these shipping containers was a multimedia installation depicting some aspect of the area's past. People telling stories of growing up there, or of arriving in Sydney by ship. One had an endless projection of rolling waves at sea
Looking back out of The Cutaway towards the city. To the right, you can see the new office buildings being constructed as part of the project.
Strolling along the foreshore, we saw the James Craig heading out. This ship has an amazing history, which I'll save for another post. In short though, not only has it sailed around Cape Horn over twenty times in the age of sail, it also spent forty years half submerged in Recherché Bay in Tasmania before finally being restored (and sunk at least once more along the way).
At the top of the hill is the old maritime control tower, now slated for demolition. This was a familiar part of the Sydney skyline as it had to be tall enough to see ships approaching from all directions.
The new artificial hill is a great place to sit and listen to jazz on a warm day. It will be even nicer once those trees have had a few years to grow. We saw one tree that looked like a young Moreton Bay fig, that will probably be wonderful in about fifty years time.
Heading back up the hill on our way home. A great day out and we'll certainly be back again...
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Date: 2015-10-06 08:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-06 09:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-11 10:24 am (UTC)Oh - I've just read your reply to the comment above. Now glum at the thought of the constant perfidy of governments, especially in the matter of public ownership of public land.:(
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Date: 2015-10-11 07:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-13 11:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-13 06:38 pm (UTC)