Stressed and tense after an unfamiliar hour-long drive from my home to Cabramatta I breathe deeply as I walk through the station to our meeting place. People of South East Asian background and a couple of African background stream down…
With a white scarf tied around her head, a smiling Nonna looks out from a family photograph on the wall of Café Vero. Holding four large loafs of freshly baked bread she’s surrounded by other photographs. There’s a butcher, a…
“That will put hairs on your chest” exclaims the woman opposite me. She’s taken a sip of thick black coffee from a finely decorated cup. “It’s called Syrian coffee in Syria and Turkish coffee in Turkey” says Ali standing nearby…
In the 1920s and 30s crime bosses lurked here where I am standing in Sydney’s Central Station Grand Concourse, looking to recruit young runaways into a life of crime or prostitution. Slums, Slashings and Sly-Grog I’ve joined a “Slums, Slashings &…
When the First Fleet arrived in Sydney Harbour over 230 years ago, the crew faced a harsh and unfamiliar environment. Unlike the Indigenous people who had lived here for 1000s of years, they had no idea of how to survive…
When Mark Bundy applied for a grave digging job at Sydney’s Rookwood Cemetery, he was asked three questions. “Are you married?”, “Do you have children?” and “Do you have a mortgage?”. After answering “Yes” to all three, he was told…
“What’s it like staying in a Youth Hostel for us oldies who’ve never been brave enough to do so?” asked a friend. A bit like my friend, I haven’t considered a YHA as an accommodation option. But to write about…
“It’s nice to be back” smiles Margaret Monger as she starts her Fullerton Hotel heritage tour. The GPO, No.1 Martin Place We’re standing in the large light filled courtyard of No. 1 Martin Place. Previously Sydney’s General Post Office, this…
“I know as much as you do” says the Staff member showing us around the Powerhouse Museum. A few days ago, the State Government announced that The Sydney Powerhouse Museum is staying. In what form is anyone’s guess. Rumour has…
There’s not much reason to hang around Sydney’s Central Station. It’s a place to pass through on the way to somewhere else. A Transport Hub However, occasionally you may have to spend time at Central Station. Perhaps, like me, you’ve…