Kapital Tour Day 9 Prowling Parramatta

Kapital Tour Day 9 Prowling Parramatta

The plan for today was to head out to Parramatta by ferry this morning and then head back by train after I was done for the day.  I had found that the boat couldn’t go up steam on low tide though just after 8am the boat was not particularly busy at all as I thought like all ferries in Circular Quay they would be busy. I sat on the bow watching the world go by though wondering about the worker who kept walking off though he left his bags nearby.  Had always thought stuff like that was an issue in todays world though I was not bothered. There were a great many things to see along the trip and I did take plenty of photos well before I reached Parramatta. I could see why you would end up taking the bus at low tide as the channels right up to the city were narrow. Although I was feeling chilly, I stayed where I was on the boat as I wanted the experience. Once we came to the end of the line we could not go any further as there was a weir and I became worried when the boat began turning around as I thought the captain hadn’t realised I was there and there were no passengers. They were turning around so they could leave in the other direction plus there were several other passengers on board too.

The sign welcomed me to Parramatta and I was happy for that though I needed to have a pit stop before I went anywhere at all or else I might have problems and I had no idea where I wanted to go. Once in the loo I was told I had 10 mins, which was alright and then the toilet claimed there was no one inside and to move. I moved, but it couldn’t detect me and said some fateful words... Unlocking! I locked the door though it was weird as I did not want the door to open or unlock on me. After I escaped I went walking for the information centre that had maps for me though I became lost as usual looking for the building, which should never be surprising, but I did find it after looking up the information on my phone. I really misinterpreted the sign and wandered in the wrong direction back the way I had gone. The information centre was next to the Lennox Bridge that was built on the foundations of the Goal Bridge and has tunnels that have now been blocked off. Both bridges are meant to be really old as in from back in the colony with convicts old though don’t quote me on that. I didn’t actually go check it out as I had ran out of time at the end of the day. I did have a look at The Prince Alfred Park that had a war memorial and I later found this park was used to hang people though I was in a hurry to visit the Parramatta Stadium while walking along the river. The map I had gained showed me where the historical sites were, but never gave much information about how to get there. I wandered around the stadium though next door was the leagues club.

I was actually going to check out the site of the Female Factory which housed women during the convict era though I soon found out I could not enter the location as there were people around and it looked busy so being unshaven they would know that I did not belong. I decided to Google on my phone outside the Cumberland hospital to see if there were tours or anything. A nice lady started chatting to me letting me know they were filming there and one of the shows was Lovechild. I was surprised about this and told her I was not a local and I surprised her as she told me it was good for a tourist to be interested in stuff like that and up the road was the old Parramatta Goal.  Googled that too though I had to check out the buildings inside the hospital as there were some nice sandstone ones there. The hospital had to be one of the oldest in the country. The New South Wales Institute of Psychiatry was a lovely sandstone building though there was a bell outside that made me think it had another use once in the past. I did wander towards the old goal though decided to head towards the cafe across the river from the leagues club. The walk to the cafe was not too bad an there was another weir along with bats that were in the trees.

Once I stopped and had something to eat, I was off to the area that was called the Dairy Cottage that had something to do with early crops and the dairy that helped the colony. Salte I think the guys name was though it was interesting to see the wire animals seem to be a big hit on the tourist sites these days. I have no idea what the attraction actually is, but they are there and I am playing tourist so cant really knock it. From there I was wanting to visit the Boar war memorial and Old Government House. I soon found the memorial to be blocked off as they were doing some building in the park to make it pretty. I was looking at what in the distance looked like part of a cemetery only to find that it wasn’t a cemetery, but several blocks and a monument to the old observatory in Parramatta Park that had been built by governor Brisbane. There was also a bath house that had been turned into a bandstand nearby too that was one of Australia’s oldest recreation building. I wandered over to the Governor house to find I was allowed to take a wander through the grounds though there would be no tour on the Monday as it was all to do with school tour groups. It was a UNESCO heritage site long with a few other convict heritage locations. The barracks had a fire several times and was a school as well though the stables were knocked down to make the Parramatta train line so thats progress and I never realised just how close that train line runs in the city.

After the Old Government House I wanted to check out the Tudor arch though got the wrong exit as I chose the closest one and then found the right one with yoga people doing their thing in the gardens. They might have been wondering why I was taking photos of them, but I wasn’t and nor could I hear them over the music I was listening to. There was a memorial to Lady Fitzroy who had hit a tree in the park while she was in a carriage, but I don’t know the story. The next location with a very cloudy sky was St John’s Cemetery which is one of the oldest as it was established in 1790. When I walked up to it I seen that there was a closed fence with a padlock and I thought well damn just my luck. I tried to open the gate and it opened so I could gain access though I would never have been able to jump the brick fence. It had been in the news recently about how the cemetery was very overgrown and unsafe to walk through though I did find that the cemetery was easy to walk even though half of it had been maintained. There were many notable residents in the cemetery with Reverend Samuel Marsden, Lady Fitzroy and Wentworth. There are a few First Fleeters in the cemetery though one of the graves was covered in a big blue tarp and I think that was the Wentworth grave though I could be unsure. I think it was William Wentworth’s father or William himself though I cannot remember, but they are both prominent in Australian history. I did enjoy wandering the cemetery, but knowing it was starting to get later I was wanting to get back to the city before the hordes of commuters get the idea of catching the train at the end of the day. To get to Lady Fitzroy I found the grass to be very long and it was lucky it was not summer as there would have been snakes too. So it had been half maintained, which wasn’t too bad.

The wander to the town centre was really interesting as I thought I could get there and then there would be easy signage to tell you where the train was so that I could catch it. The first thing I really noticed was St. John’s Cathedral, which was built around 1803 and is still around today. Across from the cathedral was the old Town Hall and a sign that said it used to be an old market place. By this time I really wanted to get the train so started off in a direction before realising I was going the wrong way as I should have the church to my back and not heading towards the park. I turned around and found the Parramatta Library where I thought I was on the right street only to find I was wrong again. I did eventually find my way to the station and there viewing board that tells you the services were not working and I couldn’t hear the announcements as three were talking over the top of themselves. I made my way to platform 1 and an announcement told me Platform 3. I raced to the platform and made a perfect jump onto the train that was 10 points before the door closed. I was not sure if I was actually on the right train, but I looked up several stations on my phone and found I seemed to be going the right way. It was also raining so I had to be careful once I got off. I got off at Town Hall with the intentions of taking pictures, but never did that though it was wet and it was busy. I got an early tea before heading back to the hostel via Circular Quay though I had to figure out what train to catch there as I wasn’t familiar with the lines. I knew the City line took me there, but I ended up on a Central Coast line, but luckily I got off. I was damp when I wandered through The Rocks though it will be slippery if there is more water around.

Tomorrow is the day I head home and was a good short trip away from everything. One thing I need to get sorted is a buggy netbook, but that is no huge problem since I wasn’t on a long trip.