Lady Macquarie’s Chair sits regally at the point of the Domain/Royal Botanic Garden Sydney peninsula. I love that Governor Lachlan Macquarie celebrated his wife this way, naming the road they’d built after her and inscribing as such on the back of her sandstone-hewn chair.

Some treasured memories from this corner of Sydney:

❖ My daughter danced at a studio in Darlinghurst. I’d drop her off at class and walk. Sometimes I’d walk toward the harbour, other times I’d wander around Darlinghurst, one of the oldest parts of Sydney. I can’t get enough of Sydney’s old buildings, especially anything from the early convict era. Those sandstone bricks the convicts made for the Darlinghurst Gaol, with their marks to track quota and to earn privileges. I stared at them for hours, and filled my camera! My imagination had a field day time traveling.

❖ Walking toward the harbour is a bit more dreamy, with crystal-clear, sun-soaked water lapping the sandstone, ribboned white and caramel next to you. That is, until you get to the west side of the peninsula, and a cold wind wakes you up, making you zip your jumper to the top!

❖ The OpenAir Cinema with Lil on a beautiful Autumn day. Though a gentle reminder to oneself, it’s a good idea to pack a jumper if you’re heading harbourside for the evening in Autumn, no matter how lovely it feels at home!

❖ A rainy evening at the Phantom of the Opera at the open-air theatre with the Munros & Chloe. This evening has put a smile on my face as I think about it!

❖ Christmas Eve picnic by the harbour with work friends and then up to St Mary’s Cathedral in the hope of getting into an evening service. Upon arriving, we found the cathedral grounds packed and buzzing, with a huge, mesmerisingly beautiful and colourful animated projection of a Bible story filling the face of the cathedral, along with food stalls and music. It felt a bit like Disneyland. The queue was too long to get into a service, so no stories and carols in church for us this Christmas Eve. Even so, we traveled home with full hearts.

Sydney’s Crown Jewels

Acrylic on canvas 30.5cm x 30.5cm (12×12 inches) by Arwen Munro, March 2024. Painted at The Music Box, Ambleside, West Vancouver, Canada.

Beautiful Sydney Harbour and its crown jewels, the Sydney Harbour Bridge & the Sydney Opera House.

Have a wonderful day! 🌱