Little Feet Round the World: Eastern Suburb of Sydney, Centennial Parkland

It was 26 November 2016, my second weekend in Sydney. The weather is getting warmer and the sun is shining tad brighter. I had another exploration planned for the day.

Previous days before, I was glancing some magazines in my apartment and I saw this small column of event advertisement. There is pop-up market somewhere at the eastern suburb of Sydney , called Big Design Market.

Big Design Market was established a few years ago in Melbourne to showcase the creativity of local Australian designers. In 2016, Big Design Market is held in both Melbourne and Sydney. There is an entrance fee of AUD 2 to attend this event.

Sydney Big Design Market 2016 was held in Royal Hall of Industries at Centennial Parklane. Royal Hall of Industries is an exhibition venue of 5,400 square meters with high ceiling and huge cathedral window.

Entering Centennial Parklane

Royal Hall of Industries

The entrance

The exhibition space

One of the stall selling handmade potteries

Fashion stall

Creative keyholder, founded in Melbourne

Almost everything were sold here, from dresses, socks, hats, leather stuffs, gadget accessories, home decorations, bicycles, stationeries, and many other things. I was quite interested in a few things since they were all quite unique. But to be honest, the price was a bit steep, probably because the production was still small scale.

There were some stalls for foods and beverages too, but again, the prices were higher than what you could get outside.

I spent a few hours circling around and considering whether I should buy anything, but in the end decided not to. I walked out and crossed over to the other side of the road to Sydney Entertainment Quarter.

Entertainment Quarter is an area full of shops, eateries, bowling arena, ice skating ground, two cinemas, function centre, comedy store, children playground, Fox studio, etc. At the back of Entertainment Quarter is Sydney Cricket Stadium.

I wandered cluelessly until I reached somewhere at the back and I found a Saturday market. This farmer market is held here every Wednesday and Saturday. I walked around the fresh vegetables and fruits but did not buy anything since I was not in the mood to carry groceries back home.

The Farmers Market nearby the cricket ground

The honey almond is sooooo good!

Inside the market

I bought falafel pita and had my lunch at the kids' playground

I continued my journey after filling in my fuel with a cup of coffee from Gloria Jeans. I walked towards Centennial Park and enjoyed a few hours inside.

189-ha Centennial Park was opened in 1888. However the history stretched back to early 1800 when the swampy area was designated as the second Sydney Common by Governor Macquarie. In 1825, an aqueduct was built from this area to Hyde Park in order to supply water to Sydney. Only in 1888, this place was declared as a public space and the landscaping works were carried out to turn the swamp into a public space with features of formal gardens, ponds and statues.

I did not walk the whole park because it was just too huge. I think Centennial Park is suitable for picnic and bbq with bigger group of people. There are so many spacious area with well-taken-care grass around the area. I suddenly longed to have a picnic blanket.

Entering Centennial Park from Lang Road

Picnic in front of Busbys Pond

There are many benches around the park too, in case you don't have any picnic blanket. But, you can't choose where you want to be seated. You might be getting too much sun or too much wind. I sat at one of the bench facing Busbys Pond for more than 1 hour. I just watched people, watched the ducks, watched the serenity, and read my book.

Three ducks approached me

And they posed in front of me

I continued walking along the Grand Drive and I exited from another side of the park. Apparently, it is Oxford Street entrance and it's Paddington again! I took bus home from Paddington.

The parkland area

I don't what this is, but it just looks fancy

One of my favourite captions of the day

Statue

My legs were too weary to cover the whole park, but for sure I would get back to Centennial Park. Next time, with my picnic blanket, for sure.

Update

I finally had a chance to revisit this place when my man was still in town. We walked here from the Paddington Markets on a fine Saturday, entering from Oxford Street Entrance and exiting from Randwick.

We did walk around almost every pond in the park. We did some bird watching, sit and enjoy the summer time, watch other people feeding the birds, etc. We had a great time.