Palm Trees and Paint: Chiswick

It's time for yet another Sydney suburb named after some place in London. 

Chiswick

Chiswick is a waterside Inner West spot. This means that I was able to come in via a scenic, government subsidised harbour cruise, albeit on a slightly gloomy day. 

Chiswick wharf is a low key affair, sitting by a rocky Parramatta River beach,   

and with a set of stairs to take you to ground level. 

From here, I could head straight onto the street, or follow this path through this waterside park. I chose the latter. 

This leads to a bit of an obstructed scenic spot,

which is fine if you didn't want to sit down,

as well as Blackwall Point Reserve, 

a waterside patch of grass by the water. 

There are also some older apartments here. Perhaps due to the plants or the location, I found these otherwise plain units to actually be quite nice. 

They also host a pathway by their back garden, which I continued along. 

Here, the river views are nice (but not mind-blowing).

I was soon here.

This is Chiswick Baths, 

a riverside beach for people who for some reason would want to swim in Parramatta River. Does the murky water look more appealing under a blue sky? Maybe, but when Sydney has endless amazing swimming spots, I think I'd pass on this one. 

With that checked off the to-do list, I said goodbye to the baths, and headed onto the street. 

being greeted by the unnotable sight of more mid-twentieth century apartments.

A few steps up the street are the local shops - also entirely unnotable apart from their unusual design. 

I continued on, vaguely uphill. 

This very soon took me into some more conventional suburbia,

with more apartments, 

this house made entirely of arches, 

and a surprising amount of new houses too.

I'm not sure how many times you need to hear "and I looked at a house", so I'll keep moving.  

I did, however, see the most fun front yard in the history of child-rearing, which is worth calling out. 

After not too long, I reached this intersection into a modern town house complex, 

which I followed inside. 

This is a place that loves paint and palm trees, 

and is apparently named Riviera. 

But I wasn't here to trespass on questionably public streets, 

I was here to pass through and head to the waterside (Chiswick is actually a small peninsula). 

This led to a small but well-kept waterside park, 

but more importantly for me, the park has a pathway hugging the water, which I was able to follow, 

past some expensive looking waterside apartments, 

some tranquil spots to walk or sit, 

and eventually, a very distinct marker into the next suburb. 

Chiswick: About as adequate as a peninsula on Parramatta River has any right to be. 

And if you haven't already, don't forget to vote on where I visit in August - click here to vote.