Market Day

Many of Sydney’s finest and most popular markets take place on a Saturday. Today was also my last full day in Sydney (and in Australia) – so this would be my chance to find some local souvenirs and gifts to bring home too.
Saturday’s market at The Rocks had been recommended to me by several people as the best place to go. The Rocks is one of the oldest areas of Sydney, situated below the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It was first developed soon after the colony’s formation in 1788 and many historic buildings still remain in this area, including one known as Cadman’s Cottage, which is the oldest surviving residential building in Sydney (it was built in 1816).
It takes its name from John Cadman, who lived there from 1827 to 1845. Cadman had originally been transported to Australia as a convict, for allegedly stealing a horse. After being pardoned by Governor Macquarie, he fared much better and was made Superintendent of Government Boats and occupied the cottage, which was for the use of coxswains and harbour masters.

The market at The Rocks was well worth the visit. It was full of fresh, local produce and, in another section, there were several arts and crafts stalls, a wide range of Aboriginal art and artifacts on offer and jewelry stalls, dealing primarily in opal. Opal is an Australian specialty and is the national gemstone of Australia, as it is responsible for the production of about 97% of the world’s opal. It was a lively, thriving market in a wonderful location – surrounded by well maintained (and restored) nineteenth century buildings. I certainly came away with a good stash of gifts and souvenirs to bring home!

Then it was on to Paddy’s Market, which is near the Chinatown area I had visited on Thursday. This is a market for bargain hunters and tourists and the majority of stalls deal in clothing or toys. There is also a fruit and vegetable market here every day. I successfully picked out several t-shirts emblazoned with the words Sydney or Australia and quite a collection of cuddly koalas and kangaroos, a boomerang, and even a didgeridoo! I felt I now had a decent collection of ‘Australiana’ to bring back to DC to share with my family – and my students next year, too.

Sydney, like Melbourne, has also maintained some superb nineteenth century shopping arcades. Most famous, is the ‘Strand’ Arcade, which dates from 1892. So many original features remain that you walk through feeling transported back to the Victorian era of Sydney’s shopping district. The stores were all very enticing and – yes - I found yet another wonderful coffee shop!
The main shopping street in Sydney is George Street. You could spend hours here (which I did!) and there are some wonderful buildings from the 1800s here too. Most prominent, is the Queen Victoria Building – locally known as the QVB. This is filled with many individual stores and a large statue of Queen Victoria sits regally outside keeping a watchful eye on shoppers. This statue has a wonderful story behind it, because it was once the statue that stood outside the Irish parliament in Dublin. It was taken down in 1947 (several years after Ireland became independent) and it was then, remarkably, lost for several years. Years later, the Sydney City Council announced that they were on the lookout for a statue of Victoria, to place at the front of the QVB. The Irish heard about this and the famous statue was, somehow, tracked down to a field in a small Irish town called Daingean! It was then sent to Australia as a gift from the people of Ireland, “in the spirit of goodwill and friendship” (this is inscribed on the statue now) to mark Sydney’s bicentennial in 1987. Like so many before her, this ‘Victoria’ had left behind her previous life on far-away foreign shores and come to Australia for a new start, where she was welcomed with open arms. And there you have it – the Australian Dream.