Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Millers Point
OBSERVATORY
SYDNEY OBSERVATORY
1850s, Sydney's copper-domed, Italianate observatory squats atop
Observatory Hill
,
overlooking Millers Point and the harbour. Inside is a collection of vintage apparatus, in-
cluding Australia's oldest working telescope (1874). Also on offer are AV displays, an in-
teractive Australian astronomy exhibition including Aboriginal sky stories and modern
stargazing, and a virtual reality
3D Theatre
(adult/child/family $8/2/22;
2.30pm & 3.30pm daily,
plus 11am & noon Sat & Sun)
.
Squint at galaxies far, far away during
Night Telescope/3D Theatre sessions
(adult/child/
family $18/12/50)
; bookings essential. Or, if you're feeling more earthly, Observatory Hill is
great for a picnic. Studded with huge Moreton Bay fig trees, the grassy hilltop buzzes with
sweaty hill-climbing joggers, lunchtime CBD escapees and travellers taking time out from
The Rocks below. The hill was the site of the colony's first windmill (1796), which
ground wheat until someone stole its canvas sails and the structure collapsed.
SH ERVIN GALLERY
( 9258 0173;
www.nationaltrust.com.au
; Watson Rd, Observatory Hill; adult/child/under 12 $7/5/free;
11am-5pm Tue-Sun; Wynyard)
High on the hill inside the old Fort St School (1856), the SH
Ervin Gallery exhibits invariably rewarding historical and contemporary Australian art.
Annual mainstays include the Salon des Refusés (alternative Archibald Prize entries,
CLICK HERE
) and the Portia Geach Memorial Award. There's a cafe here, too.
GALLERY
ARGYLE PLACE
(Argyle St; Circular Quay)
A quiet, English-style village green lined with terraced houses,
Argyle Pl offers the sacred appeal of the Garrison Church and the more secular delights of
the Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel. Both the Lord Nelson and the Hero of Waterloo hotel, a
block north, lay claim to being Sydney's oldest pub. It's said that any Australian has the
legal right to graze livestock on the green.
SQUARE
