Green grocery, Kogarah

We really are spoiled with fresh fruit and vegies in this country. This is a typical suburban fruit and veg shop. And it's apricot, plum and cherry season - my favourites!

Mural, Kogarah

Seen on the side of a now-closed shop (former music shop?) - corner Gray St and Railway Parade.

Jacarandas

Two days ago, in the aerial shots of southern Sydney I pointed out the abundance of jacarandas. The second shot here is cropped from one of those aerial shots, and shows the line of jacarandas along Fry Reserve in Warialda St, Kogarah.

This morning I went down there just before dawn and took some shots in the early morning light.

These Brazilian natives have found a very happy home in Sydney.

Aerial Sydney again - this time the south

My previous aerial shots of Sydney have tended to be from the north or west. Yesterday we flew in from the south, then (for those of you who know these things) landed from the western end of the east-west runway - not used as often these days. The approach afforded great views of the Sutherland Shire and St George areas, and the bridges across the Georges River, Como railway bridge (closest), Tom Ugly's and Captain Cook, and all the way across to Cronulla.

I've previously posted quite a few pictures around both Tom Ugly's and Captain Cook bridges, and around the shores of the Georges River. I think it's always fun flying into a city you are very familiar with and recognising large parts of it!

There were two things that were immediately obvious to me as we got lower: southern Sydney still has a prevalence of red rooftops (originally terracotta Marseilles style tiles, now not so much terracotta), and that the jacaranda tree is almost 'naturalised' - look closely or click on the photos to make them larger - and there are vast swathes of beautiful purple blooms.

Vintage cars

Model vintage cars for sale at the monthly market in the grounds of St George Hospital.

What annoys me most in my city

Bad, low-quality development that is designed to make a fast buck for the developers, and does nothing to enhance the quality of life of the residents. And the councils and governments that allow it to take place.
At the bottom of this entry is a pic I have published before (on October 15th 2006), which typifies this. Sometimes it is called the "meritonisation" of Sydney, after the chief culprit, a company called Meriton. Link.

But I am not opposed to change and development, and acknowledge it is necessary to build high rise in places where once there were single family houses. This development, in the suburb of Kogarah, is an example of an attempt to do the right thing - and to enhance ecological sustainability.

Kogarah is a southern Sydney suburb dominated by a few large organisations - a large public and private hospital, the corporate headquarters of the St George Bank and a large technical college. This area was recently re-developed using passive design principles to maximise the use of natural flows of light, energy and heat.

85% of rain and storm water is collected and re-used on site, including in town house gardens, toilet flushing, car washing and the water feature seen below.

Most of the living spaces are north-facing (the ideal in the southern hemisphere) , and most of the apartments are cross-ventilated, eliminating the need for air conditioning. As well, solar cells are built into the fabric of the building. Apartments include screened clothes drying balconies and areas, aimed at reucing the use of clothes dryers by apartment dwellers.

In this dry country, in the grip of the effects of El Nino, in a city running out of water, where global warming means energy use is going to have to be cut, but where huge downpours of rainwater run straight into the oceans, and airconditioning is fast becoming a "fact of life", this kind of development is going to have to become more prevalent.


A reminder of a meriton travesty: ugly buildings built without adequate infrastructure (like narrow, already traffic clogged-roads, lack of electrical capacity, no recycling or water saving measures...)
There's lots of stuff to love about Sydney, and there's other things that annoy me: like police sniffer dogs, racism, dodgy public transport, people who chuck rubbish around, sewerage being pumped into our beautiful ocean...but development without aesthetic quality or environmental concern tops my list!

Have a look at what other Daily Photo Bloggers around the world say annoys them in their cities. Due to world time differences, the theme photo may not be displayed until later in the day:
1 (Porto (Portugal) ) -2 (Stayton, OR (USA) ) -3 (Albuquerque, NM (USA) ) -4 (Tenerife (Spain) ) -5 (Greenville, SC (USA) ) -6 (Dubai (U.A.E.) ) -7 (Evry (France) ) -8 (Jakarta (Indonesia) ) -9 (London (UK) ) -10 (Sequim, WA (USA) ) -11 (Buenos Aires, (Argentina) ) -12 (Seattle, WA (USA) ) -13 (Minneapolis, MN (USA) ) -14 (Stavanger (Norway) ) -15 (Joplin , MO (USA) ) -16 (Nelson, New Zealand ) -17 (Milano, Italy ) -18 (Singapore (KeropokMan) ) -19 (La Antigua Guatemala (Guatemala) ) -20 (Nottingham UK ) -21 (Singapore by Zannnie (Singapore) ) -22 (Budapest (Hungary) ) -23 (Not Strictly Seattle, ) -24 (Bandung (Indonesia) ) -25 (Vantaa (Finland) ) -26 (Hyde (UK) ) -27 (Madrid by Dsole (Spain) ) -28 (Oulu (Finland) ) -29 (Saarbr?cken (Germany) ) -30 (St. Paul [Carol] ) -31 (Sydney (Australia) ) -32 (Tokyo (Japan) ) -33 (Kyoto (Japan) ) -34 (Trujillo (Peru) ) -35 (Shanghai (China) ) -36 (Rotterdam (NL) ) -37 (Chicago, IL (USA) ) -38 (Nice, (France) ) -39 (Naples, Florida (USA) ) -40 (Hong Kong ) -41 (Santa Clara, CA (USA) ) -42 (Quito, Ecuador (South America) ) -43 (Cottage Grove, MN (USA) ) -44 (Paris, (France) ) -45 (Manila (Philippines) ) -46 (Brussels (Belgium) ) -47 (Auckland (New Zealand) ) -48 (Newcastle upon Tyne(England) ) -

Car park, St George Hospital, Kogarah

These colourful panels make the car park outside St George Hospital at Kogarah quite a local landmark.