Hyde Park is Australia’s oldest park, and a luxuriously big patch of greenland right in the busy Sydney CBD. It’s where city workers do their lunchtime sun-baking, and a convenient meeting point where the people of Sydney gather for various events and festivals.
Oh, and you guessed it right, it was named after the original Hyde Park in London.
Let me take you on a virtual tour of this iconic Sydney park through my collection of photos that I have taken over the years.
Archibald Fountain
The Archibald Fountain is the centerpiece of Hyde Park. It’s a big water feature decorated with sculpted ancient mythology standing on the north of the park.
To find it, walk towards St James train station’s Elizabeth Street exit and the direction of St Mary’s Cathedral – it’s big, you wouldn’t miss it.
A busker hypnotising the children with his giant bubbles near the Archibald Fountain.
The walkways surrounding the Archibald Fountain are very spacious. Apart from buskers, you might even see an ice cream truck on a sunny day.
The Archibald Fountain is on the north side of Hyde Park, it’s the side closer to the St Mary’s Cathedra and St James train station.
There is a life-sized outdoor chess set at Hyde Park North that offers a different kind of public entertainment.
Fig-lined Avenue
This magnificent fig-lined avenue is what connects Hyde Park North and Hyde Park South. The depth-of-field of the trees, the interaction of light and shadow of the leaves and the breeze, make it a popular set for wedding photos.
Want that golden tan but don’t have time for the beach? Just put on your swimmers do it at your local park. It’s a common occurrence in Sydney parks, you can easily spot a dozen of tanning ladies in Hyde Park on a sunny day.
Keep walking towards Hyde Park South, you will see the Sandringham Gardens. It also has a small water feature but it’s a lot smaller than the Archibald Fountain (when people refer to “the fountain” as the Hyde Park meeting point, they usually mean the Archibald Fountain, not this).
The park is so big that the North and the South is separated by a busy street (Park Street).
Lake of Reflections & ANZAC War Memorial
The main features of Hyde Park South are the Lake of Reflections and the ANZAC War Memorial, both constructed to commemorate World War I.
I didn’t find out the name of this lake until recently (in fact, not until when I decided to write a blog post about Hyde Park). I always just thought that this is a really peaceful corner of Hyde Park to do some quiet thinking and, well, reflecting.
It is also known as the ‘Pool of Remembrance’, in memory of the fallen soldier of WWI.
The ANZAC War Memorial was built as a memorial to the Australian Imperial Force of WWI, and it was completed in 1934. The design of the inside of the Memorial is solemn and dignified, with a domed ceiling adorned with 120,000 gold star – one for each of New South Wales’ military volunteers during WWI. To keep the promise of remembering the falling soldiers, every visitor is invited to place a paper star (with a fallen soldier’s name and details) into the Well of Contemplation. The paper stars are regularly collected, cremated, and passed on to history students for them to scatter onto battlefields where Australians have fallen. What a wonderful gesture – may all the fallen soldiers rest in peace and may the world has peace. Make love, not war!
{ANZAC War Memorial} Website: http://www.anzacmemorial.nsw.gov.au/ Hours: 9am-5pm daily Free Entry.
Toilets
There are public toilets on either sides of the park. In any event, finding a toilet near Hyde Park isn’t hard given its prime location in the Sydney CBD (close to Sheraton, Westfield Sydney, and various shopping complex with clean and free toilets).
Events in Hyde Park
Many Sydney events take place in, around or from Hyde Park. Here are a list of the major ones that I have been to over the years:
Art and about
Click [here] to see my blog post on this Sydney’s annual outdoor art exhibition.
Sydney Zombie Walk
Click [here] to see more bloody zombie photos and this unique event dedicated to the Brain Foundation.
Noodles Market
Click [here] to see how Sydneysiders do their night markets.
Mardi Gras
Click [here] for the annual Mardi Gras parade – Sydney’s most extravagant party.
City2Surf
Click [here] for a glimpse of what the 14km City2Surf run from Hyde Park to Bondi Beach is like.