My Australian Journey #9: The small and mysterious discoveries around Sydney

Whilst working in a new city it can be hard to see it in the same way you did with fresh tourist eyes. It takes more effort to take the same walks and keep an eye out for new things.

This is one of them. A statue of a young boy in a hoodie on the corner on George Street. Does he look vulnerable or troublesome to you? Depends on the perspective. Linked here is my original post on this, and with that I talk about the plaque that can be seen on the wall to the right of the boy.

It reads:

“Lest we forget them”

“Children seeking asylum in Australia are kept in detention as part of a government policy which inflicts harm on refugees fleeing violence and persecution.

Their suffering is our shame.

Here at this site we remember them and together call out for change.”

This wasn’t the words of the artist Caroline Rothwell⁠, it was in fact added anonymously later on. This picture was taken in October of 2017. If anyone knows if it is still there, please feel free to let me know!

Some finds are a little more joyful, such as this little library outside a home in the northern suburbs. I love that this has been added by a friendly neighbour, especially in an area that won’t have many tourists walking by. I was staying with family nearby and happened to go for an afternoon walk when I found it. It seems to be for the local community to always have a new book to read. A lovely gesture for sure.

After blogging about this little library in Melbourne it seems like a few of you have seen these in your own neighborhoods or on new adventures. It was fun to read and if anyone else has seen something similar it would be nice to hear about it.

I find plaques to be fascinating, mainly because we are looking back in time, often to the day something timeless was implemented. I am not sure what the one above says, but it will have some large significance to the Sydney Harbour Bridge of course. Just imagine being around at the time it was built, being excited about this brand new project and how it will change the views of the city. How long will it stand for? How popular will it be? How many horses, cars and trains will ride over it? If only they could see how times have changed, yet how proudly the bridge still stands… lucky for the locals that would have been able to see it go through some significant eras.

Thank you for reading, let me know if you made some interesting discoveries this week!

 

---

 

Thank you again to all my followers and regular readers, and hello to you if you are new to my blog!

New to this site? Click here to visit my About My Blog section and Travel Diary

Follow me @samest89 on Instagram and @octstw on Twitter

Want to introduce yourself and your blog and discover new ones? Click here for my meet and greet page.

Cheers!

Sam