Eye Candy: Balmain East

We're currently enjoying a beautiful Sydney summer. One of the best ways to take advantage of this is by utilising our city's ferry network to check out a fantastic waterside suburb like the one below.

Balmain East

Balmain East is a funny little suburb. It's technically in the Inner West, but it's literally a few hundred metres from Sydney CBD. The most scenic way to get in is by ferry (9 minutes from Barangaroo, 17 minutes from Circular Quay).

The ferry wharf is in an idyllic spot, sitting in a park with panoramic views of The City, The Harbour Bridge and North Sydney.

As you might imagine, very expensive looking houses sit along the water here.

I'm not one to pretend that Sydney does not have problems, but on a day like this, in a spot like this, you can't help but gush over our city.

Even the fish are happy to be caught here.

Once I was able to stop gawking, I left the park to explore the real suburb.

I headed uphill towards the centre of the suburb through a beautiful tree-lined street full of ornate terraced houses.

I also noticed a generous use of sandstone in the area, hinting at the fact that Balmain and surrounds has had European settlement since the 1800s.

This new house here has tried to blend in with the older terraces rather unsuccessfully, and as a result is a little bit more Kellyville than colonial.

I reached the start of the suburb's small commercial centre, marked by this furry bridal store and something called Oddfellows Hall. As an odd fellow, I felt right at home.

A peek out to the harbour reminds you of exactly where you are.

Rather than continue straight through the commercial centre, I decided to check out a little more of residential Balmain East first.

Heading down the leafy street, I saw a handful of points of interest, including this sandstone heavy primary school which proudly features giant pencils,

this beautiful old-style duplex,

and this sleepy dog.

I backtracked back to the suburb's modest commercial quarter which contains not much more than a handful of cafes.

As quickly as it started, the shopping quarter ended, leaving me back in the beautiful sandstone valley.

In case you weren't sure if Balmain East is really considered the Inner West, here's a dinosaur protesting against Westconnex, as well as a free street library.

I took a turn off the road down an alleyway to take a look at another park on my map.

Scenic.

From here, I was at Balmain East's border, so I continued on to my next suburb.

Balmain East: Very pretty to look at, albeit without much else to do.