Walk and a Half: Concord

Still in the Canada Bay mini-region, this next suburb is a little bit gigantic, so strap yourselves in for

Concord

Although I feel like Concord is fairly well known by name, it's not a suburb I really ever step foot in, probably due to its slightly awkward location, transport-wise. That's no matter though, because I came in by foot from my previous suburb of North Strathfield. 

Immediately, this suburb decided to open up its bag of tricks, with this mural of identical looking folks lining up behind a quote about the diversity of the area,

and this pleasingly tall structure. Is this one of those mind-control towers those "Plandemic" conspiracy folks go on about? 

With that fun out of the way, it was time to descend on residential Concord. 

Life here is mostly focused on houses in this type of older style which probably has a name, 

but I don't know it. 

The streets here are fairly green and quite straight (which turns out to mean a lot of loud cars zooming past),

but aren't without charm. Here's a little art gallery, 

a house I found cute, 

and a park going by Central Park, despite not being anywhere in the centre of the suburb, nor being in New York. 

I suppose it's more of a conceptual centre, as next door is Concord Library, which has one shiny, glassy side, 

and one side so plain that they had to paint a leaf on it to spice things up a little. 

I carried on, 

reaching Concord's main commercial drag after not too long. 

Concord CBD seems to be all about dining options, 

with restaurants running all down the main street,

and wide footpaths and outdoor seating for most of the restaurants. 

One thing I don't like so much about this place though is the fence running along the middle of the road, forcing you to only cross the road where the council wants you to cross. A bit of a dampener for what is set up to be somewhere with plenty of foot traffic. 

At least they have this herb garden reminiscent of any time I try to grow something on my balcony. 

I did eventually cross the road at a designated spot and found this side of the street to be quite pleasant too, especially on a sunny day like this one. 

Iconic. 

Anyway, from here it was time to leave the commercial strip and head deeper into Concord, 

passing plenty old old-school brick along the way, 

and this house in a very fetching baby-pyjamas yellow. 

Carrying on, 

past this sports fields roughly in the direction of Rhodes, 

and some more pleasant Canadian suburbia. 

On this walk, I passed by this one street full of ostentatious houses,

nearby this golf course, 

with a public pathway to the water. 

This is the Bay bit of Canada Bay, an offshoot of the Parramatta River, 

and it's quite pretty. 

Concord has a walking track hugging the bay, which I would use for the final legs of this suburb. 

My walk on this path begins at this evil looking building, 

this seagull, 

these ibises,

and a needlessly mean sign.

Nevertheless, a nice place to walk, despite the unfriendly vibes. 

This path follows on, 

through to a public park, 

with, of course, water frontage, 

and space for picnics and assorted recreational activities. 

I kept moving though, along the waterside path,

and this wharfy platform thing. 

There are definitely worse places to spend an afternoon. 

Eventually, the path veers away from the bay and along a canal, 

where you can see these ducks, 

as well as the exit from Concord and entry into my next suburb.

Concord: A pleasant environment, with less-than-ideal access for those who don't want to drive everywhere.