City Lights: Barangaroo (3rd Anniversary Special)

Finally, we're done with the suburbs that you all voted into equal-fifth. That means this next suburb had the fourth most votes right? Well, no, it was equal third due to my poorly thought out polling.

Still, I always enjoy an urban walk, so thank you for sending me to  

Barangaroo 

Barangaroo is technically a suburb, but really we all know that it's just part of the CBD. 

Luckily, my job is based nearby, so I was able do a bit of after-work suburbsing courtesy of daylight savings. 

This walk starts at the base of Barangaroo Reserve, a surprisingly large urban park sitting at the northern end of this suburb. 

Here, there is an event venue with a fancy screen outside showing things like pelicans. 

There is, of course, construction and a skyline, 

along a waterside walking path. 

We'll get to that soon, but the real meat and potatoes of Barangaroo Reserve is the actual reservey bit, which you get to by climbing a bunch of stairs. 

Tada. 

After being welcomed to (Gadigal) country by this friendly sign, 

I was able to appreciate this surprisingly large bit of parkland,

and right by the urban environment. 

While the more known bit of Barangaroo is the bit I'll be heading to soon, it's difficult to dislike Barangaroo Reserve, with its generous green space, 

water views, 

paths to traverse, 

and did I mention the views? 

Head down hill and loop around, and you'll get onto a waterside path (the same one we saw earlier). 

Naturally, this is a very pleasant place for some afternoon sun, as long as you don't mind seeing the unlicensed casino (affectionately known as Packer's Pecker) wherever you look,

and that's a small price to pay, if you ask me. 

I continued up the path until the rest of Barangaroo's skyline revealed itself, 

and where I'd ultimately return to the construction I started at. 

At this point I had to return to work for an evening call, but that's okay, because it means that this next section of the post where I continue heading south through Barangaroo gets to enjoy some excellently setting sun. 

Dramatic. 

As I alluded to earlier, rather than the reserve, Barangaroo is better known for its shiny new buildings. 

These look pretty good this time of day.

Rather than immediately continue along the water, I figured I'd go look at the unlicensed casino from the front, as I'd only ever seen its aggresive stabbing of the horizon. 

 
This meant looking at this patch of grass that people bring dogs to, with more dramatically lit city buildings, 

the casino's logo, 

and car drop off area, where they had one of those abstract melted sculptures that fancy places have to help you launder money. 

A lot of people don't like the building, but honestly, I don't mind it when considering that Barangaroo is full of new and shiny buildings. And I think these pointy bits at the bottom are pretty swell. 

Much of the rest of Barangaroo's tenants are ultra-modern office buildings, with some ultra-fancy apartments mixed in too,

and importantly, a good number of bars and restaurants. 

This time of day, and midweek, the restaurants here are well visited by the after work crowd, and certainly most of the places here are slightly on the fancier side, clearly expecting their clientele to have a bit of disposable income.  

While I was here, a thing called "Bloom" was on, 

which, as far as I can tell, is just a bit of floral decoration around the place. 

This venue was also covered in plants. I cannot tell you if it is always like this, or if it's been decorated as part of this Bloom business, but regardless, it goes well with its basket-like design. The amount of folks having a drink here suggested that other people seemed to like it too. 

After strolling along, I soon reached this point where the ground changes to using different tiles. That line marks the end of Barangaroo.

Barangaroo: Ooh, shiny.