Sydney 2014 day 2

Sydney 2014 day 2

Micheal Hutchence

Today was cloudy, but warm and while it was trying to rain there was no need for the brolly at all. The sun did come out, but spent most of the day under cover. My plan for the day was to travel up to the North Ryde station where there were several cemeteries I wanted to visit though on the map it looked pretty simple and easy to find though I was really going by Google maps and not the street directory I bought with me.

The day started really easy and I had a small wait for the bus before taking it to Central and ending up at North Ryde. The only problems I do have is reading the train timetables on the screens while wearing my sunnies as it could be the polarisation that is in my glasses. I just take them off and wear glasses to read everything. It only seems to be in Sydney this occurs and I don’t notice it elsewhere. I was happy to see train going over the bridge and head out to somewhere I had not been before. North Ryde station was like some of the tube lines I had been on with the escalators going up on several levels before getting up to the ground level. The fact the place was nearly deserted was something else entirely.

Once I was upstairs I knew where I wanted to go and was going off my street directory. According to the sign outside the train station it was a 20 min walk to the Northern Suburbs crematorium where I was wanting to find Banjo Patterson’s headstone marker. I did start walking, but found the footpath ended and there was a narrow bath along the side of the road that ended with nothing to walk on and not knowing the area I thought I better find another track. My street directory did have an alternative path that took me a little longer than I thought it would take. I took a road that stopped for traffic beside the Macquarie cemetery that ended up taking me through the Lane Cove National park. I had assumed it was an off road thing, but it was an actual roadway and luckily very quiet except for the cyclists and the runners. It was actually a really nice walk even though I was sticking to the road. A bit of bush outside of the city that I had not expected at all it was a shortcut that was longer than expected. Once at the entrance to the park I knew I still had a little way to find my way into the cemetery and had to cross under a bridge that took me over the road that was extremely busy. Then I did get caught in another set of winding streets until I found a series of fences with the cemetery on the other side. Before the fence became tall, I was able to climb over to enter the grounds.

Once I was in the crematorium grounds I wanted to find the office where they would have the map to the grounds. What I was not expecting was to find someone else on the grounds who I knew of. Micheal Hutchence from INXS was there also. I ate lunch and then became lost looking at the map as to where to go until I realised I was standing in the wrong area. It took a little bit to find Andrew Barton Patterson aka Banjo, but he was there. Micheal was found too and pretty easy as I had nearly discovered him while lost as I kept on finding a mosaic wall with a sundial and pond. Time was slowly slipping away and I found there was a bus stop outside the crematorium. Only problem was I didn’t wave the first bus down and had to wait around 20 mins for the next one as the drivers only respond to hand signals apparently. I had made the decision to head to Field of Mars cemetery, where a family member was buried. The bus got me over the main roads, but I wanted to walk to the location past Macquarie hospital as it was easiest for me. Could have gone another way, but at least I had a good walk. I found the grave pretty quickly too though Google wasn’t going to tell me where. All the walking was taking up a it of time and I had made it back to North Ryde and even a short walk into Macquarie Park cemetery, but the map gave no clues to who was buried so I decided it was off home I go.

Next time I will head back to the cemetery and find out who resides there and stop at the cafe too. Cafes in cemeteries seem to be something Sydney does well as I have not seen any in other cities. The train back was full of people and I started wondering if I had the right train as it had slowed down. Seemed like there was a problem with another train and its doors had jammed. That was the reason given and other trains stuck waiting. I was happy to be off and then waited for the bus, which marked the end of my day. My brain wanted to keep going, but my body was saying no and laughing at me especially as I was feeling aches and pains from the walking. I didn’t realise how much time I would take up with getting to my destination, but I still have time to get everywhere else. While in the Northern Suburbs Crematorium I did make a phone call to one of the museums called Susannah Place in The Rocks and made a booking for Friday for two people as I am dragging a friend along who is another lover of history and a uni buddy.