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Where to Eat in Picton – 4 of The Best Places
Picton is a great escape if you’re looking to get out of the city for a few hours. And they have some pretty fab places to eat at as well. After spending a full day exploring the town of Picton; sight-seeing, exploring, walking and of course drinking and eating. I fell in love with four cafes/restaurants who were serving up some great dishes, brewing some of the best coffee I have had in a while and served all meals and drinks with a smile and a good chat. I was incredibly surprised what Picton had to offer, and although I am only mentioning my top four, the streets are lined…
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Exploring Sydney: A Photo Diary of Cockatoo Island
Exploring Sydney’s amazing ship building history on Cockatoo Island. Cockatoo Island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site at the junction of the Parramatta and Lane Cove River in Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest of several islands that were originally heavily timbered sandstone knolls and was once our central shipping building industry for many decades. Located in the heart of Sydney Harbour, just a short ferry ride from the CBD, Cockatoo Island is an extraordinary place where you can either spend the day exploring its remarkable history, spend a few hours having lunch at the many great eateries, or spend a few nights in their beautifully…
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Exploring the Old Parramatta Lunatic Asylum
Founded in 1847, the Lunatic Asylum was purpose built for Invalid Convicts who were coming into Australia. It remained largely a female institution until 1852, and by 1855 with the introduction of males, there were approximately 187 male patients and 92 female. Over the years from 1855, the increase maxed to capacity the facility then housing around 675 males to 384 females by 1885. Most patients were declared criminally insane, and soon after the Criminal Lunatic Act was passed in 1861, work started on a new ward to accommodate them. There was much criticism to the treatment of patients in these new wards which resulted in many of them being…
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Finding Peace Away from the City at Cordeaux Dam
I’ve lived in Sydney my whole life, and I had no idea we had so many dams surrounding our amazing city, like the historic Cordeux Dam. Located around an hour and a half south of Sydney, somewhere in the middle of Campbeltown and Wollongong is one of Sydney’s most historical locations called Cordeaux Dam. It’s heritage listed and provides water to the Macarthur and Illawarra regions south. Construction of the dam began in 1918 and was completed in 1926 at a cost of 945K pounds, with walls consisting of large sandstone blocks, which were quarried onsite and cemented together and hold approx. 93,640 ML of water in the reservoir. It’s…
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Exploring Sydney’s Old Waterfall Sanitorium
Located only an hour south of Sydney, lies an abandoned building surrounded by acres of natural bushland and serene silence. It’s the old Waterfall Sanitorium which opened in April 1909 as New South Wales’ first purpose- built Hospital for tuberculosis patients. It closed it’s doors in the 1950s and has since laid in disarray, abandoned and left to be taken back by Mother Nature. It was purposely built next to Royal National Park, which is acres of natural landscape, as it was believed fresh air and sunshine were the best cure for TB, before antibiotics came about. Though many patients went willingly to the hospital for treatment, there were many…