Tempe House from Mount Olympus

This historic house is very near where I live. You can read more about it in my previous blogs.

Welcome to Rockdale

The area of the Cooks River along the Princes Highway that marks the northern boundary of the City of Rockdale, where is adjoins Marrickville Council is pleasantly landscaped, and a popular cycleway. From here you can cycle west toward the Olympic precinct at Homebush and east towards Botany Bay.

Ryde to Botany Bay cycleway map

Boats

Sunny winter afternoon

Along the Cooks River at Tempe . A stand of beautiful Port Jackson fig trees.

Lights on Cooks River

Lights on Cooks River, Arncliffe

Fatima Island

This tiny island in the Cooks River is a haven for waterbirds. It's called Fatima Island. A nearby sign says that once there were three tiny islands in this part of the river, where Fatima Island now stands alone. In 1951 hundreds of Catholics made a rosary crusade to the riverbank in homage to the Portuguese pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima. The island has been called Fatima Island since.

The birds for which it is a haven include pelicans, ibis, common silver gull, little pied cormorant, little black cormorant and the occasional crested tern.

Tempe House - then and now (Tempe House Tour Part 8)

To finish this series about Tempe House I was keen to take some photos from similar vantage points from which 19th century artists depicted it. These were taken from Kendrick Park in Tempe, across the Cooks River.

Many people and heritage organisations argue that the Wolli Creek development has ruined the context and setting of Tempe House, and I agree. Others say that, sadly, it was the only way the house could be preserved at all. That is probably true too. In the 1990s the state government was lobbied to buy the site and restore the house, as the only one of its architect, Verge, still in its original setting, with no bulk behind. They declined.

I think it is such a shame that a development of this size and bulk was presented as the only option. Sadly, in Sydney, developers are allowed to extract every cent they can. Promises were also made that there would be public access, including the parkland sweeping down to the river, but it has never been open as far as I know, and the house, while beautifully restored by renowned heritage architectures is sitting unused and inaccessible (other than to curious bloggers who scramble up rock faces, scale walls and straddle fences...and to the owners of the apartments who have private access through electronic codes on gates.)

Postscript: This afternoon I went into the city to see an exhibition at the Museum of Sydney called Lost Gardens of Sydney. The garden of Tempe House is one of those featured.

Below: Taken 18 Sep 2008

Below: Cooks River Tempe House by Conrad Martens, 1838

Below: 18 September 2008

Below: Tempe House by Samuel Elyard, 1836
Below: Cooks River with Tempe House by James Clarke. I couldn't get a similar vantage point because the railway bridge now runs at the right, and the river is obscured by trees in the park

From Tempe House to Cook's River (Tempe House Tour Part 7)

One of the positives of the development at Wolli Creek is the rehabilitation of the parkland sweeping down to the Cook's River. Alexander Brodie Spark once had a bathing pavilion on the river.

Unfortunately we have heard nothing about this space being publicly available, as was promised to the communtiy.

The suburb across the river is Tempe, named after the house.

Tomorrow: looking across the river from the other side.

Sun reflected

Yesterday I was driving home down the Princes Highway at about 5pm when I looked left (eastwards) and saw that the setting sun from the right was hitting these buildings at Sydney airport. They were glowing gold, and reflected in the Cooks River. As well, there were patches of blue sky, and some quite heavy cloud cover, to create a happy convergence of such wonderful colours. I found the next available parking spot and rushed before the sun disappeared (about 10 minutes later).

I had a hard time deciding which picture to post, and decided (with the help of my son) on the one here. But maybe there's another you like better. Have a look here if you want to see the others.

Wolli Creek

Not all of city life is hustle and bustle. This is Wolli Creek, near my home. It is about 6 kms from the centre of the city. It runs through one of the last stands of bushland so close to the city. Community activists over the years have had to fight to preserve the area, and the battles continue. It's been pretty polluted, but in recent years has been recovering.
Wolli Creek Preservation Society. The website allows you to take a virtual walk through the area (see on right hand side of their site)

Rhapsody in Blue

Boats on the Cooks River at Tempe

Under The Bridge

Here's a shot from under the bridge yesterday's train was on. Oozy mud! In half an hour after pressing "Publish Post" I'll be on a train crossing here.

I have put up more photos around this bridge HERE

Sydney Airport

Today I went to Hobart and back for the funeral of a very dear colleague. This is a photo of the International teminal at Sydney Airport, taken from atop a rocky cutting on the Princes Highway, looking over the Cooks River.

Despite what some people think, flights to The Apple Isle (Tasmania) do not leave from this terminal - Tasmania is a state of Australia and flights are domestic! (On a certain travel site I frequent, there are often requests for help from people announcing they are going to visit "Australia and Tasmania")