burning koala

Angela and I took the opportunity to walk over to the Fish Market two Sundays ago. We headed off to Ultimo, which is on the other side of Darling Harbour on a rather warm hazy day. We hadn’t been over there before and soon became a little disoriented. ‘Course we neglected to bring a map with us, as we are seasoned Sydnians by now, right? Well, we got there eventually, but got to see more of the city than we had planned – and that’s always a good thing! Ultimo is a quaint section of the city and had great row houses and fragrant gardens. It was very picturesque.

Victorians all aligned in Ultimo

Just one of the beautiful gardens on our walk

Since we got a little lost, we found ourselves crossing under the lowest bridge I have ever encountered. I couldn’t believe that they allowed traffic under it. It was almost as low as Angela, and I can practically put her in my pocket, so that’s low!

Angela almost touching the bottom of the bridge

Under the bridge…, which was kinda neat and kinda spooky

It was interesting underneath. You could see where many cars thought they were low enough to make the clearance, but ultimately were proven wrong – unfortunately their paint job paying the price. It was kind of neat in there, almost surreal.

Anyway, we made it out from under the bridge and reoriented our bearings. Then it was just a few minutes before we stumbled upon the Fish Market. It was bigger than I had imagined. I guess I assumed it would be a bunch of stalls lined up along a street, rather than some huge complex. The market nestled a small, New England-esque bay. It was really quite quaint.

The Sydney Fish Market

Small harbour next to the market

Once we found our way in, it was packed. I don’t know if Sunday is the worst time to go there, but I can’t imagine it getting any busier. The place was mobbed by people wandering about, buying fish, and eating among the plethora of tables set out in front of all the mongers. Each place not only sold fresh fish, but also prepared meals as well. It was really muggy outside and it would have been nice to find a spot inside to eat, but the place was just too crowded. So we ventured out the other end to see what there was there.

Bustling fish market and the Fish Mongers

Holy Mackerel, if that’s a mackerel…

There was a few more shops situated out along the side of the market. One of these was a traditional Fish & Chips shop. Luckily there was seating to be had, so we order up some food and waited while it was prepared. Once it came, we were pleasantly surprised by the amount of chips and the tastiness of the fish. It was relatively cheap too. Can’t beat that with a stick. I gave Angela my lemons, as she is pretty much a lemon nut. Oddly, they charged $0.30 for each packet of ketchup, and it wasn’t even the good kind of ketchup. So we went au natural, with regards to the chips that is. Still, it was yummy.

Tasty Fish & Chips – lots of lemon and no ketchup

After lunch, we made our way back by way of Darling Harbour, coming at it from along the top. There was some kind of tall ship event going on and we got a chance to see some cool old sailing ships. It’s amazing that much of the world was discover in ships like these.

The “James Craig” on display. Arrr.

Harry the gull enjoying the harbour

The heat and the long walk was beginning to take its toll on us, so we started heading back. Our route took us past a “Welcome Wall” that listed names of people who had emigrated to the country. It was an interesting monument to the diversity of who makes up Australia.

Plaque on the the Welcome Wall

Artistic shot (rotated) of the names on the Welcome Wall