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This stroll through
the city from Central
Station to Circular Quay
covers a distance of
approximately five kilometres
and lasts about two hours,
not allowing for any
major stops. At the rear
of Central Station, a
tunnel connects Chalmers
Street with Railway Square.
Notice the artwork in
the tunnel and also on
the bus shelters in Railway
Square. Then turn along
George Street, which
follows the route of
an aboriginal track to
the fishing grounds and
has always been the main
thoroughfare of the city.
Turn left when you reach
Hay Street and then almost
immediately right into
Dixon Street. This is
the Chinatown area of
the city. If you turn
left when you reach Liverpool
Street and walk one short
block to Harbour Street,
you will see the Chinese
Garden donated by the
Local Government of Guangdong
(Canton) in China to
commemorate Australia’s
200th birthday in 1988.
Chinese tea is available
here in the Tea House
Courtyard.
Go back along Liverpool
Street, to change from
Chinese to Spanish. This
is an area of Spanish
restaurants and shops,
where the Spanish food
is often accompanied
by Spanish music. Soon
World Square is reached,
a redevelopment on the
site of the former Anthony
Hordern Department Store,
which is why the 45-storey
tower is named Hordern
Tower. Turn left into
Elizabeth Street and
walk one block to the
obelisk at the corner
of Bathurst Street. What
can this impressive Egyptian-style
sculpture be? In fact,
it is a ventilator for
the major sewer running
beneath the street. It
was erected as long ago
as 1857 and nicknamed
Thorton’s Scent
Bottle, Mr. Thorton having
been the mayor at the
time.
Now turn right into
Hyde Park, in and around
which there are several
of the attractions the
Anzac War Memorial, the
Australian Museum, St.
Mary’s Cathedral,
Hyde Park Barracks Museum,
and then, continuing
along Macquarie Street,
Sydney Mint, Sydney Hospital,
Parliament House and
the State Library of
New South Wales. As you
pass Sydney Hospital,
you will see a statue
of a wild boar, Il Porcellino,
a copy of a statue in
a seventeenth-century
fountain in Florence.
If you rub the shiny
snout of the pig, as
it is apparent that several
others have done before
you, and make a wish,
good luck is sure to
ensue, especially if
you donate an appropriate
amount of money at the
same time. The money
goes to the benefit of
the hospital, not of
the pig. Almost opposite
is Martin Place, a plan
of a house which once
stood here is marked
by black paving stones
and by a misty spray
which will catch you
unawares as it issues
unexpectedly from the
ground just as you walk
over the spot.
At the State Library,
divert right, enter the
Royal Botanic Gardens and walk though to the
harbour at Farm Cove.
Then turn left and continue
to the Opera House, round
the promontory and to
the ferry terminal at
Circular Quay.
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