Amy and Christina get ready for Christmas

at our work Christmas party.

Bedford St, Surry Hills

Yesterday's photo subject, Cleveland House, is over your left shoulder from where this photo was taken. This looks along Bedford St towards Chalmers St, with the swimming pool at Prince Alfred Park visible at the end of the street. (More pics of the pool here). The sandstone building on the right at the front is an old Presbyterian church.

Cleveland House

A heritage-listed colonial Georgian house built about 1824 by Captain Cleveland of the 73rd Regiment of the NSW Corps. It is in Bedford St, just off Chalmers St in Surry Hills. In the early 19th century Surry Hills was on the outskirts of the city and the ideal place to build a mansion. There were farms and market gardens. In the past century, Surry Hills has seens a mix of light industry and warehousing, most notably associated with textiles and clothing - 'the rag trade'. Now it is a rapidly gentrifying suburb right on the fringe of the city, with many warehouse conversions.

I'm not sure or what the house is currently used for. The land surrounding it has been developed with apartments, some sympathetic, some not. The pretty park in front contains a jacaranda tree (the blossoms have now finished and the leaves are developing), and plantings of agapanthus and plumbago.

Red sky at night, sailor's delight

Sunset tonight from the front of my house (I don't have fancy programs for removing power lines). Can you see the aeroplane?

Footbridge across Johnston's Creek Storm Water Channel

The same channel as show yesterday, looking in the opposite direction towards its outlet at Rozelle Bay. This was originally a natural waterway which provided fresh water to the earliest settlers in the area.

I found out at this website, where there are some good historical pictures, that the aqueduct shown yesterday was a sewer aqueduct.

"Before 1890 the watercourses which served to carry stormwaters were almost entirely in their natural state. These were receptacles of the sewerage of the large population and led to health problems for the community. By 1900 numerous stormwater channels had been constructed, causing the mortality rate to be greatly decreased in these constructed drainage areas. The Johnstons Creek trunk drainage system was constructed during the period of 1895 to 1900 by the Public Works Department."

It is listed as a heritage item. Most storm water these days is carried underground, of course (although Sydney gets such huge downpours from time to time that sometimes it just doesn't cope, especially as development becomes more intense and population density increases)

Johnstons creek channel and viaduct

A stormwater channel and the old goods railway viaduct at Jubilee Park, Glebe, which now forms part of the Sydney light rail (tram) line.

Pottinger Street, Millers Point (Walsh Bay)

WOW, bridges....where do you start in Sydney, a city with stacks of bridges. I've posted lots before, Tom Ugly's and Captain Cook over The Georges River; the soaring Anzac Bridge; Gladesville over the Parramatta River; Sydney oldest bridge the convict built one at Lansvale; and even have a page on Sydney Daily Photo Extra dedicated exclusively to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I've done railway bridges and footbridges, and even the little bridge we call 'Pooh" Sticks Bridge' at my home away from Sydney. (If you don't know what Pooh sticks are and what it has to do with bridges, well, AA Milne can help...or Wikipedia.)
So, I agonised over what to go and photograph, as I like to go out and do something specific for each theme day. Then I got sick (see yesterday's blog), and had to dive into the reserve stack for inspiration....and I guess it's back to the bridge with a zillion images, and I thought - here it is without any water, just like any old suburban bridge really.... (though rents round this gentrified part of inner Sydney can be $2000+ a week!)

Here's links to bridge pics in 128 different places:

Boston (MA), USA - San Diego (CA), USA - Stayton (OR), USA - New York City (NY), USA - Portland (OR), USA - Montego Bay, Jamaica - Inverness (IL), USA - Singapore, Singapore - Stockholm, Sweden - Setúbal, Portugal - Brussels, Belgium - Phoenix (AZ), USA - Seattle (WA), USA - Hyde, UK - Manila, Philippines - Fort Lauderdale (FL), USA - London, England - Austin (TX), USA - Toulouse, France - Weston (FL), USA - Sesimbra, Portugal - Selma (AL), USA - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Saarbrücken, Germany - Cleveland (OH), USA - Crystal Lake (IL), USA - American Fork (UT), USA - Seoul, South Korea - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Norwich (Norfolk), UK - North Bay (ON), Canada - Arradon, France - Paderborn, Germany - Durban, South Africa - Philadelphia (PA), USA - Cypress (TX), USA - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Prague, Czech Republic - Portland (OR), USA - Greenville (SC), USA - Boston (MA), USA - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Wichita (Ks), USA - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Petaling Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia - Grenoble, France - New York City (NY), USA - Nottingham, UK - Hobart (Tasmania), Australia - Arlington (VA), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Miami (FL), USA - Cheltenham, UK - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Saratoga Spgs. (NY), USA - Las Vegas (NV), USA - Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Nashville (TN), USA - Toruń, Poland - New Orleans (LA), USA - Port Elizabeth, South Africa - Melbourne, Australia - Moscow, Russia - Trujillo, Peru - Château-Gontier, France - Quincy (MA), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Port Vila, Vanuatu - Joplin (MO), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Brookville (OH), USA - Chateaubriant, France - Chandler (AZ), USA - Stavanger, Norway - Baziège, France - Auckland, New Zealand - Wellington, New Zealand - Ocean Township (NJ), USA - Subang Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia - Detroit (MI), USA - Riga, Latvia - Nelson, New Zealand - Budapest, Hungary - Cape Town, South Africa - Sydney, Australia - Dunedin (FL), USA - Sofia, Bulgaria - Radonvilliers, France - Turin, Italy - Montpellier, France - Kansas City (MO), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Haninge, Sweden - Wailea (HI), USA - Lubbock (TX), USA - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Terrell (TX), USA - Mexico City, Mexico - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Budapest, Hungary - Montréal (QC), Canada - Sharon (CT), USA - Le Guilvinec, France - Jefferson City (MO), USA - Saigon, Vietnam - London, UK - Crepy-en-Valois, France - Orlando (FL), USA - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Paris, France - Mainz, Germany - Newcastle (NSW), Australia - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Darmstadt, Germany - Naples (FL), USA - Torino, Italy - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Bogor, Indonesia - The Hague, Netherlands - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Anderson (SC), USA - Melbourne (VIC), Australia - West Sacramento (CA), USA - Christchurch, New Zealand