Tasmania to the Bay: Lilyfield

After a reasonable absence, we return to our old friend the Inner West with some Lilyfield adventures. 

Lilyfield

Lilyfield is just a few km west of the city. Getting in means taking a bus that drops you off here,

in front of this shop, 

this sandstoney shelter, 

and this pile of crap. 

Anyway, having successfully disembarked, I headed this way to see what I could find. 

Firstly, I found that Orange Grove's green space (and some children's futures) needed saving,

and secondly, I found this side street which seemed appropriate to go down.

This turned out to be a fairly standard Inner West residential street, with cute old houses, 

pirates, 

giant spiders, 

and this being. Ok so I may have made this visit just before Halloween,

because otherwise things aren't so whacky here. 

Except they kind of are. 

For instance, for some reason there is the University of Tasmania here,

as well as a former psychiatric hospital (or The Callan Park Hospital for the Insane, as this one went by at the time), 

with lovely grounds that you can freely stroll around. 

Highlights here include these letters, 

a human-encouraged beehive, 

and this little garden bit,

with a stone lake, 

a fire pit, 

and a reliable bench. 

How quaint. 

From here, I carried on through the grounds, 

past some heritagey looking condemned buildings, 

and of course the cane room, 

to reach the waters of Parramatta River along the Bay Run. 

Today wasn't an ordinary day at the Bay Run however, as this seemed to be the finishing point of a charity run, 

complete with food trucks,

and a couple of Kath and Kim impersonators doing a musical performance. 

Nice view anyway. 

After collecting my share of imitation look-at-mois, I carried on, 

following the path eastwards, 

past some more old buildings, 

including this sandstone piece, 

with a wonderful door,

and a no trespassing sign attempting to make its escape.  

It turns out that this way actually leads to plenty of other interesting sandstone pieces, 

such as this one, 

this one, 

and this one, 

not to mention some delightfully whacky trees. 

Okay one more good one. 

From what I can tell, these buildings seem to belong to the University of Sydney, although I'm not sure if that extends to the rest of the grounds, or even all of the buildings here. 

Regardless of its use, this slice of Lilyfield turned out to be remarkably pleasant, and I followed it through, 

to find myself back on the street again. 

Not only does this bit of public space emerge at this mural of horses baking, 

it also emerges onto a more build up bit of the suburb than the areas we've been to so far.

Sadly, it also leads into the next suburb. 

Lilyfield: The only place in Sydney to stroll through the University of Sydney, the University of Tasmania, a psychiatric hospital, and a performance by Kath and Kim.