Australia Study Trip – Part Two
Wendy
Brewin
Introduction
In the first part of this report, I wrote about the people and
places I had visited in Perth, Fremantle and Melbourne. This second
and final part covers my trip through Sydney and Brisbane with my
travel companion, Phil Hunter one of our Trustees.
As usual, I could spend a long time writing about everything that
I saw on my journey, but I will try and keep it to the highlights.
Let’s just say that phrases such as ‘Christmas Bumper
Edition’ could strike fear into your hearts!
Sydney
We had decided to take the train from Melbourne to Sydney, as a
break from flying and also in the hope of seeing some of the Australian
outdoors and rural areas. Having almost missed the train and a near
panic of not being able to find the tickets (my fault!) we settled
down for a 10 hour journey. We arrived in Sydney, tired and ready
for food. I hadn’t seen a single kangaroo on the entire journey,
something I was hoping to do, but we had covered some amazing countryside:
vast areas of scorched brown open lands turned into scorched brown
mountains, interspersed with communities such as Wagga Wagga. It
doesn’t sound impressive, but coming from Cornwall where it’s
very green because it rains for 6 months of the year, it was a whole
new landscape I hadn’t seen before.
So, there we were in Sydney – the Opera House, the Harbour
Bridge, Darling Harbour, The Rocks, restaurants, cafés, bustling
streets and so on – everything that I had expected. We were
on our way to the Royal Botanic Gardens when we came across an oasis
of green called Hyde Park, close to St. Mary’s church (more
like a cathedral really). It was a very popular place; people were
playing ball games, exercising (jogging, kick-boxing) lounging on
the grass, sitting by the magnificent fountain at one end of the
park, or the Pool of Reflection near the Anzac memorial at the other
end, having lunch, chatting with friends, reading books and newspapers,
watching the world go by, or just using it as a pleasant short-cut
to work or the shops. I particularly liked the added touch of providing
sloped kerbs onto the grassed areas to allow access for wheelchairs,
pushchairs and buggies. The contrasting low kerb also helps visually
impaired people navigate the park.
The Royal Botanic Gardens stretch down to the water from the heart
of the city. We spent hours exploring the site (about 74 acres in
size), discovering art trails, Rose, Herb and Oriental gardens.
There was an amazing sundial in the Herb Garden (see picture below),
cast in bronze with plants such as spoonwort, wormwood and dandelion
all the way around the bottom ring; a wonderfully tactile object.
The gardens don't just contain one of the best collections of native
plants in Australia. They host all kinds of activities too. We saw
an outside area being converted into an open-air concert, with music
bursting out of large speakers on either side of a temporary stage.
As the gardens are so large the sound didn’t carry across
the whole site, leaving plenty of secluded spaces for quiet contemplation
or large lawn areas for picnics and socialising. Several weddings
were taking place that day, I saw at least four different brides
with their entourage of bridesmaids, ushers and of course the grooms.
Coaches of tourists arrived to have their photos taken on Mrs. Macquaries
Chair – carved into the rock face at the water’s edge
of the gardens by her husband who was the Governor in 1816 (a bit
of history there for you). Unfortunately, the tourists managed to
disturb one man who had been meditating quietly under the shade
of a huge tree hoping to find some tranquillity!
Before leaving the cold, wet shores of my homeland, I had arranged
to meet with Prue Rheuben, in Sydney. Prue is the Project Officer
for the Redfern Community Gardens project in the Redfern area of
Sydney. The area surrounding the community gardens is dominated
by high-rise flats. People of all nationalities live in this area,
the largest group being Russian Jewish immigrants. I was interested
in finding out more about the project, how it had come about, its
success rate, the people involved and so on. Prue is an instantly
likeable person: her enthusiasm for the project is very evident
as is her ability to get things done.
The project is a joint initiative between the University of New
South Wales and the Department of Housing which owns the land where
the gardens have been developed. They receive a small grant from
the Council each year and have been given some money by the Community
Waste Education Officer. Plants are donated by the Royal Botanic
Garden in Sydney. Students from the university assist Prue in the
project, carrying out practical work with the residents.
The three community gardens in the project are Cook, Marton and
Solander. Cook was the first garden to be developed, as the pilot
project, from an old playground. The concrete was dug up and soil
put down. Marton and Solander community gardens were developed later
in the 1990’s and made use of raised beds, wider paths and
installed composting waste bins. The gardens are managed as allotments
and each garden has a Volunteer Co-ordinator; one of the local residents,
who assists the plot owners and helps to organise events.
Prue took me around the three gardens, talking about the benefits
and issues relating to them. She said that as well as tending the
plots, growing plants and vegetables, residents shared recipes and
held events in the gardens bringing together the various cultures;
cookery classes were also held. The gardeners visit other community
gardens for inspiration as well as host other community garden group
visits to Cook, Solander and Marton.
Problems included disputes concerning one neighbour planting a
tree that would eventually overshadow the plot next to it, and boundaries
marked by planks of wood that would mysteriously move several inches
into the next plot overnight! There was also some evidence that
the composting bins were being used as somewhere to dump unwanted
household items.
I also had the opportunity to talk to one resident, John Kenane,
who had lived in the area for 20 years. John was a wheelchair user
and had been involved since the early days with the development
of the first garden, Cook. He was still active in the gardens and
worked mainly in Marton Garden, where there were raised beds.
Brisbane
There was plenty of time for me to explore Brisbane and its green
spaces. I visited the City Botanic Gardens on my first day, which
has an interesting boardwalk trail which takes you through a mangrove
swamp. The main areas of the gardens were as you would have expected
of an urban botanic garden. Large lawns, ponds, lakes, well laid
out flowerbeds, places for people to sit and enjoy their surroundings
were abundant and created a relaxing atmosphere.
Fortunately, my hotel was only a few minutes walk from one place
I had marked down to visit, Roma Street Parkland. If you’re
ever in Brisbane don’t leave this place off your list.
Roma Street Parkland is an open space that offers surprises around
any corner. It feels fresh, inviting and is very clearly a sociable
space. There are interesting views at all angles, at ground level
and higher up on the forest boardwalk as well as all the spaces
in-between. Flicking through my photos, I’m reminded of the
open-air theatre, surfaces that offer interesting artwork, wheelchair
access to all levels and interesting geometric shapes. Water features
are many and varied in the park, ranging from a series of spouts
that cascade down three levels of ponds, each creating an arc of
water in mid air, to a large wall of water split by a path which
takes you through to another area of the park.
Art is in abundance; I discovered a wall that had been covered
with small metal rectangular plates, each one displaying individual
graffiti that had been copied from the walls of local train stations
accompanied by another plate that describes the graffiti and where
it was found. An interesting (and quite challenging) way to connect
community to place.
The large cube accompanying the wall displays a song about all
the small train stations in the area.
Other forms of art included ‘fossilised’ bugs set into
walls, a colourful tiled picture of an aerial view of the park,
semi-hidden sculptures amongst the plants and a large steel ‘trellis’
shaped like the sail of a ship which rose out of a flowerbed within
the Celebration Garden.
Wandering around the gardens I walked through so many landscapes.
From the ordered area of the café that overlooked a large
empty space surrounded by the ‘graffiti’ wall, a large
grassed area and the wall of cascading water, I passed through to
a barbeque area with the water arcing between the ponds and wandered
around the edge of a large lake into a wetland area navigated by
a boardwalk. Waterfowl and dragonflies accompanied me along this
stretch. I was then led along through the Fern gully by the sound
of a small stream, climbing slowly until I found myself following
the route through the Forest area several feet in the air, at times
above the trees. As expected, there was a viewpoint at the top from
here I could see most of where I had already walked. I also noticed
this part of the park was surrounded by high-rise flats and office
blocks which made me think of Ulrich’s investigations into
views from windows – I admit I was envious of the people inside
the buildings.
I feel I’ve waxed lyrically enough about Roma Street Parkland
and ought to move on before this turns into the epic I was hoping
it wouldn’t! I would like to briefly mention the South Bank
area of Brisbane. It’s had both good and bad press relating
to this regenerated area. My own feelings about it are that it provided
a place where I could sit and watch people and the river traffic
go by; a place where I felt perfectly safe on my own; one of the
most interesting accessible entrances for wheelchairs that I’ve
ever seen – I’m referring to the Nepalese temple built
for the Expo in 1988. With steps up to the front I wasn’t
hopeful that it was an accessible place. But at the back on the
left hand side I spotted the ‘Wheelchair access’ sign
that pointed off towards a boardwalk. I followed and found myself
on a winding boardwalk, which wound its way around a small wetland/mangrove
area and eventually reappeared out on the South Bank further along
– very pleasant!
Finally, I want to extend a huge “Thank you” to the
Sensory Trust for enabling me to make this trip, particularly to
Phil Hunter for putting up with me and being my travel companion.
I hope I haven’t bored people too much with my account of
the main parts of the trip and that if you get the opportunity to
visit any of those places, you find them as interesting and inspirational
as I did.
See also:
ReDiscover | Index
| New Ground
|
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