Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney

We are heading straight to Circular Quay, the starting point of our walk. This is the beating heart of tourist Sydney with icons like the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.

The walk takes us directly to the nearby Royal Botanic Gardens. The park lies along the impressive coastline of Sydney Harbour. This is an absolute prime location. These gardens overlook a total of three beautiful bays. From West to East: Sydney Cove, Farm Cove, and Woolloomoloo Bay. Guess which bay has retained its original Aboriginal name?

The site of the botanical garden was already used by the first colonists to grow crops. With limited success, as many seeds brought from Europe proved difficult to thrive in Australian soil. The state farm, which the Royal Botanic Gardens originally were, has since become a leading botanical institution. Nowhere in the world does anyone know better how to cultivate plants in the most bizarre conditions.

Today, nothing remains of the original farm. Instead, we find beautiful and varied gardens. Here we encounter the most special plants, growing against the backdrop of spectacular bays. One of the most impressive views is Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair, a must-stop for photos. In 1810, Governor Macquarie had a bench carved out of a rock. His wife enjoyed the beautiful view here. Nearby lies one of the most famous viewpoints in Sydney overlooking both the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.

About halfway through the park lies the futuristic greenhouse The Calyx. Regular exhibitions take place here. During our visit, the greenhouse was taken over by an expo on carnivorous plants. At the entrance, movie posters of monster films from the '50s scream at us. However, in the greenhouse itself, relatively innocent little plants like Venus flytraps and sundews are on display.

A little further on, our hearts melt. In a grassy area between some tall trees, we encounter a colony of our favorite animals. A whole bunch of white cockatoos forages among the grass. These large parrots, which occur only in the wild in Australia, are only found in captivity elsewhere. They have something very human about them. Somehow you can see that they are in a good mood today. They are very curious and social birds. When we stop for a moment, they enthusiastically come over to play with our shoelaces. Not being able to say goodbye, we bond with this colony of friendly animals for an hour.

We continue our walk towards Woolloomoloo Bay. You could almost forget it amidst the modern skyscrapers of Sydney. This name is a reminder of the original inhabitants of this continent: the Aboriginals. We pass by a path flanked by long information boards. These chronologically tell the story of the Aboriginals. We read in amazement how the first colonists tried to negotiate with the original population. It was a process filled with ups and downs. Emphasis on downs.

From time to time, they kidnapped an Aboriginal. They would put them in an English suit and put a wig on them. Aboriginals managed to survive for centuries in a hostile environment (dangerous animals, unbearable heat, prolonged drought, ...). Yet, contact with Westerners nearly became fatal for them. Since the first colonists arrived, their numbers have been decimated. This appears to be mainly due to the import of diseases and societal problems caused by integration into Western culture.

We become completely silent when we read about what happened between 1910 and 1970. In an attempt to integrate the Aboriginal population, the Australian government then removed 100,000 children from their Aboriginal families. They were raised in foster homes or by missionaries. They are now referred to as the Stolen Generations, as these children ended up completely displaced.