Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Exploring the vast open space within the gated grounds of
Centennial Park
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Screaming yourself hoarse at a Roosters game at
Sydney Football Stadium
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Hopping between galleries, both commercial and altruistic, including the
Australian
Explore: Paddington & Centennial Park
Paddington, also known as 'Paddo', is an elegant, expensive area of beautifully restored
terrace houses and steep leafy streets where fashionable folks drift between designer
shops, chic restaurants, art galleries and bookshops. Built over an ancient walking track
used by the Cadigal people, the suburb's pulsing artery is Oxford St, extending from
nearby Darlinghurst. The best time to visit is on Saturday, when the markets are at their
most effervescent.
Rugged bushland until the 1860s, Paddington was built for aspiring Victorian artisans,
but following the lemminglike rush to quarter-acre blocks in the outer suburbs after
WWII, it became Australia's worst slum. A renewed passion for Victorian architecture
(and the realisation that the outer suburbs were unspeakably boring) led to Paddington's
resurgence in the 1960s. By the 1990s real estate here was beyond all but the lucky and
loaded.
In contrast to Paddington, monocultural Woollahra was never a slum. This is upper-
crust Sydney at its finest: leafy streets, mansions, wall-to-wall BMWs and expensive an-
tique shops. Maybe this is your bag; maybe it isn't - either way, an afternoon here is so-
cially enlightening.
South of Oxford St, the Centennial Parklands cut a giant green swath, enclosing a
cluster of sports venues.
