Sydney - Day 4 - Chinese Garden of Friendship

Tuesday 23rd October - My last day in Sydney, and my flight back to Perth was only at 5.30pm, so I still had time to do some sightseeing before taking the train to the airport.
My husband had taken my carry-on bag to work with him in the morning, so I was "hands free".
At around 10am I alighted from the bus at Elizabeth street, across from Hyde Park, and walked towards Darling Harbour.

DARLING HARBOUR

The revamped area of Darling Harbour was looking bright and beautiful.
After a bit of a twirl around the area and some photos I walked towards the Chinese garden, right next to the harbour.










CHINESE GARDEN OF FRIENDSHIP

I had visited the garden a few years ago, but a Gardening program I watched on TV about the Chinese Garden made me want to revisit it.

The walled garden occupies about 1 hectare of land, and you have to pay an entry fee of $6 (adult) to visit it.

Beyond it's walls you can see Sydney's high-rise buildings, but once inside you are in a little oasis that recreates the philosophy and harmony of traditional Chinese gardens, with waterfalls, exotic plants, pavilions, hidden pathways, bridges, sculptures, koi fish...it's all so graceful and peaceful. 

The garden was built to symbolize the friendship between Sydney and the sister city of Guangzhou in the province of Guangdong, China, to mark Australia's bicentenary in 1988.

The art of Chinese garden design was started during the Shang Dynasty 3000 years ago, and this garden is just a small version of a typical private garden, and it's design follows the "Yin and Yang" Taoist principles incorporating the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal and water.

There is a traditional Chinese Teahouse by the entrance to the garden and you can enjoy the peacefulness of the garden while you drink a cup of tea.

THE BONSAI GARDEN

At the entrance is a tiny garden with lots of bonsai plants. I've always admired them and the art and patience it takes to create such marvels.

THE DRAGON WALL

Next comes the Dragon wall with two flying dragons, a symbol of majesty and perfection.

The brown dragon represents the province of Guangdong and the blue dragon represents the state of New South Wales.

WOOD, WATER AND METAL

There are beautiful views wherever you turn to, with pavilions, waterfalls greenery and koi fish swimming around.

Pond and waterfall

One of the pavilions with a big lake below


Statues scattered through the garden

Pavilions and water ponds

Throughout the park there were small metal statues depicting the 12 Chinese Zodiac signs -   but I only found 6 - Rat, sheep, dragon, horse, rooster and dog. 

WILDLIFE

Turtles (which I didn't see) to birds, koi fish and water dragons, inhabit the Chinese gardens.

I was most excited to see the water dragons of course! They have powerful limbs and claws to help them climb, a muscular tail for swimming and a row of spikes at the base of the neck (nuchal crest) that get smaller towards the tail.

The females can reach 60cm and males can grow up to 1 metre! I think I just saw females as none of them were that long.

They are very shy but have adapted to human presence in suburbia, seeking cover in thick vegetation or in the water if they feel threatened. They can be submerged for up to 90 minutes.

An Ibis collecting twigs, a water dragon and koi fish

Various water dragons

 CHINESE DRESS UP

Visitors can rent traditional Chinese dresses, and I saw a few young girls and some older women parading around with beautiful kimonos.

The photos probably don't do the garden justice, but I loved the time I spent in this amazing and beautiful garden in the center of Sydney!

Sadly it was time to leave the garden, and I walked back towards Hyde park via George Street where I saw a few interesting buildings, with architectural details like the one below.

Interesting detail in building on George street, and Chinese quarter near the Chinese Garden

When I reached Hyde Park I called my husband and he met shortly on the corner of Park street with my hand luggage.

We chatted for a little bit and it was then time to say goodbye and he returned to work while I walked just down the road to Museum Station and caught the train to Sydney airport, just a couple of stations down the track.

And about 2 hours later we took off to Perth, where I arrived 5 hours later at 7,30pm.

On the flight I watched the movie "The book club" with Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen, which I found very entertaining and I think I might have laughed a bit, as once in a while the lady travelling next to me would look at me and my screen to see what was going on 😁😁.

I then watched 4 or 5 episodes of the series "The Bold type" which was inspired by the life of former Cosmopolitan editor in chief Joanna Coles . I had seen the first 3 episodes on a flight a few months ago and thought I would follow up as I liked the 3 spunky girls that play  the main characters.

Flying over Sydney, the sun going down gives the sky a purplish hue

Map of my walking route from Hyde Park to the Chinese Garden and back to Hyde Park