Since New South Wales employers were required to urge their employees to work from home (except in cases where it is not practicable), people are finding it more challenging to relax and de-stress whilst being required to stay at home.
Good thing there are plenty of beautiful places for walks along the Balmain Peninsula, from the Balmain to Birchgrove walk to the ever-popular Balmain heritage walks offering some variety. Even with lockdowns, people continue to walk or hike to combat cabin fever, which comes with extended confinement at home.
As we write this, we’re restricted to a 5-kilometre radius. This sounds like it isn’t much but when you map it out, it’s a fairly large area. Even when we aren’t restricted, most of us aren’t going to walk much further there and back. All of the Sydney walks below are within a 5-kilometre radius from Balmain.
When you head out to relish these lovely sights, it’s important to know how far you can go and what you’ll get to see to make your walks more interesting. Also, by knowing how far you’ve walked, you can ensure you don’t break any lockdown guidelines.
Useful apps
Where there’s a need, there’s an app. You can use the app KM From Home – which is also useful even without distance restrictions. You can use it (and other similar apps like Map My Walk) to measure how far you’ve gone whilst walking or cycling, or simply to see how far you could go if you just keep moving in a certain direction.
You’ll even find some of the walks below have their own app. The City of Sydney has developed its own Sydney Culture Walks app. If you’re interested in the history of Jewish culture in Sydney, there’s an app, ‘A Walk of Jewish Sydney’, you can download free.
Sydney Sculpture Walk
If you’re a lover of art installations and sculpture, the Sydney Sculpture Walk is ideal, as it provides sightseers with a one-of-a-kind artistic experience of the city.
The route begins at Art Gallery Road and leads all the way to the harbour via the Royal Botanic Gardens. There’s public art comprising 10 artworks commissioned by the city from renowned Australian and international artists, such as Viva Voce, Wuganmgulya and Tied to Tide. This Instagram-worthy walk will take you through the city’s main streets, parks, plazas and waterside promenades.
Sydney history walk
If you’re mad for history and architecture, you can also go on a self-guided Sydney history walk. You can start your walk from the city’s oldest official park, Hyde Park, where you’ll find historical buildings like the Anzac War Memorial and St Mary’s Cathedral. You can then head to Macquarie Street, the Royal Botanic Gardens, and on to Circular Quay.
Chinatown
Aside from being steeped in history and culture, a walk to Sydney’s Chinatown also means you’ll be going on a culinary adventure this side of the city. However, you may need to be ready to buy takeaway food instead during the lockdown.
Old Irish Sydney
For the Old Irish Sydney walk, you can use The Dictionary of Sydney Walking Tours app. This walk would take you through some of the historic sites covered in the Sydney history walk, with the addition of sites relevant to the Irish, such as Martin Place and William Wallace’s Musical Repository on Hunter and Pitt Streets.
Walsh Bay Sculpture Walk
The Walsh Bay Sculpture Walk celebrates contemporary Australian art. Here, you’ll find various fascinating sculptural pieces, including Michael Snape’s ‘The Change’, Brett Whiteley’s ‘Black Totem II’, and Phil Price’s ‘Tri’ at the pier.
Happy walking!
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