I consider myself to be "from" Western Sydney. I'd choose a kebab over a meat pie, a bowl of pho over a smashed avo and a jalebi over a macaron.
That's why I'm so excited to leave the South for now, and post my first Western Sydney post.
Today, I came with a buddy! My travel companion and I came into Auburn by train. Auburn station is your typical suburban train station, and is right in the middle of the "city centre". Like many stations in Sydney these days, you immediately see the aggressive growth in apartments by the train line.
Auburn's city centre hosts, as you might expect, many ethnic stores for the discerning shopper, such as Good Fortune Co. Migration Agency, and a surprising amount of tax accountants.
At the east end of the station, and running along the rail line, sits a great little urban park. This looks like a great place to sit with some lunch and enjoy a bit of winter sun.
I knew I wanted to go check out Auburn's huge "Gallipoli Mosque" so we started walking through the suburb to get to it.
Ramadan Pharmacy, must be getting warmer.
Old pedestrian unfriendly Sydney struck again. I could see the mosque poking through these houses, but a very busy main road blocked the way.
We did the whole "3 pedestrian traffic lights to cross the road because they for some reason didn't put a crossing at the light you want to cross at" once again to get to some older weatherboard houses and these bin chickens.
Continuing along lead us back to the rail line. At this point I realised that I'd taken us on a bit of a "scenic route". I guess Ramadan pharmacy was a false omen.
The mosque is quite a grand building. Built by Turkish Australians through the 80s and 90s, there was definitely some deliberate symbolism in invoking the Gallipoli name.
We continued on from here back towards the station, passing this Turkish centre.
And this multi-lingual sign serving a reminder that in humanity, no matter your ethnic background, nobody wants kids to get squished.
Auburn's not all ethnic though - it does have both your good old fashioned suburban pub, and your good old fashioned suburban strip club.
One interesting thing I did notice is that there are a fair number of "backyard businesses" set up in apartment buildings all over the residential streets in Auburn. This is usually in the form of a nondescript sign glued on the side of one of these older style brick apartment buildings.
From here we went to check out an event that was being held called "Refugee Camp in my Neighbourhood". Auburn has a very large number of residents who are in Australia on humanitarian grounds, and this is a yearly event which seeks to educate on the refugee experience, providing tours of a simulated refugee camp.
We just ended up buying some Somali food to eat. This was meat, veggies, rice and samosas (and delicious).
But Auburn is home to more than a mosque, pub and refugees.
Auburn also has something very special.
You see, when you drive west down Parramatta Road, as you pass into Auburn, there is something you cannot miss.
This is the Krispy-Kreme-McDonalds-Megaplex. I call this place the "welcome gates to Western Sydney".
Of course, donuts and coffee were had.
We needed dessert after our Somali lunch after all. (And yes, I realise the irony of leaving a "refugee camp" and going to eat donuts).
Bonus: Hey Hey Kebabs - Open 7 days. Back in highschool I wrote this kebab shop into one of my HSC creative writing assignments. The story was called "Follow the Subwoofer".
The final stop in my Auburn escapade involved a bus ride to the other side of the suburb. Unlike some of the other tiny suburbs I've visited, Auburn is actually kind of huge.
We hopped out of the bus at Salam Supermarket and walked through a couple of residential streets...
To reach the Auburn botanic gardens.
This place is great.
It's got Japanese gardens (we realised that there's dye in the water to get it to that turquoise colour - cheating).
It's got peacocks.
It's got a waterfall or two.
It's got wallabies.
It's got (a kind of lame) hedge maze and a rose garden which was apparently in its off season.
We were told that this is a sundial - we couldn't confirm because it was cloudy.
And it costs $4 (free if you live in the local council area). That's good value by me.
Bonus geese.
After this it was time to make our way back to the station and head home.
This is by far my most "in-depth" post so far and that's because Auburn really has a lot to see and do, you should go check it out.
Auburn: Cooler than Inner-Westies would want you to think.
That's why I'm so excited to leave the South for now, and post my first Western Sydney post.
Auburn
Auburn's a great candidate to start going West. Like a lot of the West, it's got a crappy reputation (apparently it wins the proud award of the most drive-by shootings in Sydney) but what I found here was a thriving mini-city with a surprising amount to see.Today, I came with a buddy! My travel companion and I came into Auburn by train. Auburn station is your typical suburban train station, and is right in the middle of the "city centre". Like many stations in Sydney these days, you immediately see the aggressive growth in apartments by the train line.
At the east end of the station, and running along the rail line, sits a great little urban park. This looks like a great place to sit with some lunch and enjoy a bit of winter sun.
I knew I wanted to go check out Auburn's huge "Gallipoli Mosque" so we started walking through the suburb to get to it.
Ramadan Pharmacy, must be getting warmer.
Old pedestrian unfriendly Sydney struck again. I could see the mosque poking through these houses, but a very busy main road blocked the way.
We did the whole "3 pedestrian traffic lights to cross the road because they for some reason didn't put a crossing at the light you want to cross at" once again to get to some older weatherboard houses and these bin chickens.
Continuing along lead us back to the rail line. At this point I realised that I'd taken us on a bit of a "scenic route". I guess Ramadan pharmacy was a false omen.
The mosque is quite a grand building. Built by Turkish Australians through the 80s and 90s, there was definitely some deliberate symbolism in invoking the Gallipoli name.
We continued on from here back towards the station, passing this Turkish centre.
And this multi-lingual sign serving a reminder that in humanity, no matter your ethnic background, nobody wants kids to get squished.
Auburn's not all ethnic though - it does have both your good old fashioned suburban pub, and your good old fashioned suburban strip club.
One interesting thing I did notice is that there are a fair number of "backyard businesses" set up in apartment buildings all over the residential streets in Auburn. This is usually in the form of a nondescript sign glued on the side of one of these older style brick apartment buildings.
From here we went to check out an event that was being held called "Refugee Camp in my Neighbourhood". Auburn has a very large number of residents who are in Australia on humanitarian grounds, and this is a yearly event which seeks to educate on the refugee experience, providing tours of a simulated refugee camp.
But Auburn is home to more than a mosque, pub and refugees.
Auburn also has something very special.
You see, when you drive west down Parramatta Road, as you pass into Auburn, there is something you cannot miss.
This is the Krispy-Kreme-McDonalds-Megaplex. I call this place the "welcome gates to Western Sydney".
Of course, donuts and coffee were had.
We needed dessert after our Somali lunch after all. (And yes, I realise the irony of leaving a "refugee camp" and going to eat donuts).
Bonus: Hey Hey Kebabs - Open 7 days. Back in highschool I wrote this kebab shop into one of my HSC creative writing assignments. The story was called "Follow the Subwoofer".
The final stop in my Auburn escapade involved a bus ride to the other side of the suburb. Unlike some of the other tiny suburbs I've visited, Auburn is actually kind of huge.
We hopped out of the bus at Salam Supermarket and walked through a couple of residential streets...
To reach the Auburn botanic gardens.
This place is great.
It's got Japanese gardens (we realised that there's dye in the water to get it to that turquoise colour - cheating).
It's got peacocks.
It's got a waterfall or two.
It's got wallabies.
It's got (a kind of lame) hedge maze and a rose garden which was apparently in its off season.
We were told that this is a sundial - we couldn't confirm because it was cloudy.
And it costs $4 (free if you live in the local council area). That's good value by me.
Bonus geese.
After this it was time to make our way back to the station and head home.
This is by far my most "in-depth" post so far and that's because Auburn really has a lot to see and do, you should go check it out.
Auburn: Cooler than Inner-Westies would want you to think.
I love the botanic gardens there. The little animal are there is quite a surprise. Is the albino peacock still there? I like the chinese gardens there. Nothing as good as the garden of friendship in the darling quarter, but still a worthwhile visit.
ReplyDeleteYes, I love these botanic gardens. I want to say that I did see a white peacock but you'd be testing my memory as this was a few months ago now.
Deletelove this! thank you for showing Auburn in all its glory. Such an underrated city and super glad for it to be shown in a different light.
ReplyDeletePart of my job in this blog is to give Western Sydney it's fair rep!
Delete