The Glebe Festival

This Saturday was the Glebe Festival. It looked like a huge street market.

There was nice swinging music

And colours everywhere

More music...

And more colours...

Many funny hats enjoying the party

And, the best of the best: Real Dutch Poffertjes!

I would never have thought I could enjoy my favourite dessert so far away from home.

An afternoon in the Botanic Garden

It was pretty sunny this afternoon, and the shadow of the Botanic Garden was quite tempting.

The Garden is right opposite the Opera House. Each time I pass in front of this monument, I cannot help from taking pictures of it. Everybody does, and about 80% of all the postcards that you can find in Sydney feature the Opera House. How boring! So, I am not being original at all. But it is really beautiful, and it always changes according to the light...

I liked the sign at the entrance of the Garden.

"Please walk on the grass... You are also welcome to smell the roses, hug the trees, talk to the birds..." Talk to the birds!!?! I felt so happy! You feel really welcome in here!


This is a beautiful park, right in the centre of the city.

On one side, the skyscrapers...

... on the other side, the Opera House and Harbour Bridge...


The park is a real collection of amazing trees and colours.

It is also the memory of the city.

It's a paradise for ferns...


and for bamboos

for cactus...

And looking up into the trees, I saw "THEM".

They were everywhere!

On every single branch...

They were a bit scary, much bigger than the ones I've seen in Europe. And they were making so much noise! This was a real bat colony...

Watch this one's fingers!

I decided to follow it and see where it was going to... This was the end of my little visit to the Botanic Garden.

From Manly to Spring Cove

Manly is one of my favourite beaches in Sydney. This morning, it looked very quiet, but because of strong undercurrents, you couldn't go for a swim.

I followed the coast path leading to Spring Cove, a calm walk away from the crowd.

After a few meters, I got welcomed by this beautiful octopus.

But this was only the beginning. In the next little wood, I suddenly heard something big moving... I thought I was back to prehistory!


Waterdragons can get quite big. This one was about 60 cm. But he didn't seem to like getting his picture taken very much.

Anyway, I was the only one being amazed by his presence. Everyone else was just passing by, without even watching it. And later on I understood why... There were dozens of them sunbaking!

This part of Sydney seems to be quite rich in wild life... But I haven't seen any of those cute bandicoots.

After about two hours, this was Collins Beach. A magnificent wild little place, still in its virgin state.


A bit further in Spring Cove, it seemed that everything had stayed untouched...

It is hard to imagine that in the 1920s, this place was chosen as a gasworks site.

But the factory closed in 1964 and some years later, the whole area was cleaned, becoming the perfect place to spend a day out.

A little walk brought me to the wharf, and after a ferry ride, here I was again, in the city.

The old tram depot

Walking around the other day, I passed in front of this old building. A great example of industrial heritage.

It was easy to get inside. And it was huge! It may have stayed unused for quite some time, and little by little, nature is coming back.

I decided to explore the place further. You feel so small sometimes!

Obviously some people did explore before us...

The roof structure was quite impressive

But obviously not very solid anymore...

So I ended my visit...

I walked in the colorfull back streets...

through an over-painted tunnel...

saw a beautiful Illawarra Flame Tree...

I almost walked on a banana... WHO in hell left that there?

Sydney is a highly multicultural place, and for some seconds, I thought I was somewhere else in the world.

I stopped to play a bit...

And then it was time go get back home... Everybody was preparing for the night...