You may be wondering how it is possible to walk on water. I am certainly not powerful, well-connected or clever enough to literally walk on water, but my skills do extend to strolling a meandering route taking in a large number of water features in and around the Sydney CBD.
Grab your hat and watch out for the crazy traffic. We are off on a self-guided tour of a few unique water features.
If I wasn’t such a technological Luddite, I would have downloaded the Sydney Culture Walks app and navigated through Sydney’s streets with one eye on my phone. Instead, I had a copy of ye olde paper map “Walk on Water – A guide to Sydney’s water features”. Talking to the lady at the Visitor’s Centre down at Circular Quay, apparently these printed maps are as scarce as hen’s teeth and she expressed how lucky and privileged I was to still have a real, live map. It made me hang onto that piece of paper even more firmly.
Call me old fashioned, but I would much prefer to wander along looking up and around me with a quick glance down at the paper map as required, rather than continually squinting at the small screen on a phone. Yes, my real name is Ms O. Fashioned.
Here are the Nuts and Bolts of this little walk:
- Official Distance: 5.6km Garmin Distance: 10km (Yes, I wobbled around a lot)
- Location: In/around 4-5 large city blocks of the Sydney CBD.
- Time: The map says to allow 2hours for the full path, but it took me closer to 3hours as I visited water features marked on the map and not included on the official route.
- Rating: Grade 3
- Terrain: This is an easy walk and doable by anyone with a basic level of fitness/mobility. There are some steps/stairs in places and often, ramps are also located close by.
- What to Pack: All you need is your hat and a camera. Take a water bottle (if you are a lousy camel) and refill it at one of the many bubblers along the way.
General Comments:
- Map: The Map highlights 25 different water features, but as mentioned above, not all of them are on the prescribed walking route. Head ‘off piste’ if you want to include them in your stroll.
- While the description ‘water features’ may sound pretty mundane, I actually found it quite fascinating as we delved (not literally) into the history of public toilets or pissoirs and the mechanics of early water supply. Yes, my brain is a tad weird.
I have always taken for granted access to public toilets and struggle a bit when traveling overseas to find that this sort of infrastructure is not readily available or in an even remotely hygienic condition. I had never thought about what early public toilets looked like and whether they were accessible by women. It wasn’t until 1916 that the first female public toilet was established in Sydney! Where did the ladies go before that? Part of my brain leaps to conspiracy theories about wanting to keep women at home, but surely that can’t be it!?
- Fountains: It turns out that the walk represents the passage of time through water features. There are fountains aplenty and pools of reflection – starting from the Gothic period to Art Nouveau and finishing in the Swinging 60’s. We don’t seem to create fountains so much these days. It’s more about sculpture or abstract art installations.
Unfortunately, many of the water features were dry or under renovation/restoration. I had to resort to my imagination (yet again) to fill them with sparkling, burbling water.
- The path leads us through large parks, across city streets and down by the Harbour’s edge. Some of the ‘features’ marked on the map do not actually exist anymore and there isn’t even a sign to highlight its location or role. Picturing them in place was a bit of a stretch even for my imagination! Why lead us to a spot and find there is absolutely nothing there? A bit disappointing.
- Bubblers: I never really thought about how bubblers would be essential to the lives of Sydney’s residents. Apparently, these public bubblers were often the only source of clean drinking water as many houses were built with no water infrastructure at all. Residents used to walk to Hyde Park (in the centre of Sydney) to buy their water for 3pence per bucket. How lucky are we to have precious, clean water to drink at the turn of a tap? I acknowledge that even today, not everyone enjoys this privilege.
- This walk would be ideal for a visitor to Sydney as it takes in many of the city’s key tourist features – Sydney Opera House, Harbour Bridge and The Rocks – as well as taking you past a few historic buildings you may not normally visit.
- I liked how the walk blended both early colonial history and indigenous history – constantly referencing the lives of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation – the traditional owners of the land the path meanders over.
Walking on Water is a really pleasant way to spend a couple of hours. The trail purposefully takes you through parks and away from the hectic streets and commuter rush. Clever street art and sculptures are dotted through the parks and trees, and through the same trees you glimpse the gorgeous Sydney Harbour – the most stunning water feature of all.
Life is good.
Do you have a favourite water walk?
#sydneywalks #travelinspo #shortwalks #historywalks #circularquay #historictoilets #botanicgardens #greatoutdoors #plumbinghistory #publictoilets #waterworks #daywalks
Life...one big adventure 
Thanks for the tour. Very pretty and very interesting.
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Glad you enjoyed it. Have a good day and thanks for commenting and following along… Mel
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I love that you call them bubblers. That’s what we call them in the area of Wisconsin where I grew up, but not in other parts of Wisconsin, nor in Minnesota, nor in any other part of the US that I know if. It’s all “water fountain” everywhere else around here.
I also love seeing the swimming/lap pools right on the edge of the water. You can bet we’ll be swimming in a few of those when we’re in Sydney (I hope they’re open and swimmable in your wintertime).
Really enjoyed this preview of Sydney!
P.S. Confused as to why the lifeguards by the pools are dressed in long sleeves and long pants. Isn’t it boiling there right now?
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Over here, fountains are actual fountains as in big bubbling structures/sculptures and definitely not for drinking out of…Yuk! I am not sure you will be doing much swimming here when you come as I am guessing these pools are not heated. I could be wrong and maybe our Winter water temperature will actually feel heated to you. 🙂 And well spotted, many of our lifeguards do where long sleeves etc and that is for sun protection. You know how I keep ranting on about wearing a hat in my walking posts and this is why. Our sun is fierce – even in Winter. I think Australia has the unenviable status as the country with the highest incidence of skin cancer in the whole World. These days it is also a legal requirement for businesses/employers to provide protective equipment for their staff and that includes appropriate clothing. Here endeth the skin cancer lesson… 🙂
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Duly noted – I have very fair skin. And yes, I dare say your winter temps will feel blissfully warm to us. Today, with wind chill, it feels like -30 F outside!! MINUS 30!!
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OMG! That’s a but fresh!
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You might have meant “a bit fresh” or you might have meant “butt fresh.” Either way is accurate – haha!
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Or I was channelling a New Zealander! 🙂 Sorry for the fat fingers – I meant a ‘bit’ fresh.
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Stunning the first image. Long time walking those Sydney streets. Thanks for sharing, Mel.
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My pleasure. A bit drier than your streets of late…my sympathies go out to you…
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If the water laps at our door then the world is in trouble 😉 All good here though for others further north it is more challenging.
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We are getting some amazing footage on our TVs. Very damp for some. Makes me glad I live on top of a hill too!
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Nothing like weather drama to get the media excited. We would never buy a home at sea level, nor near a cliff to much of a risk now.
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What a great idea for a themed walk, and you passed so many different types of water features. I had expected maybe only a dozen or so. The toilets are quite funny, and is the second one an open-air outhouse with a birdcage style roof? Maggie
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The second loo was actually an underground one, so I guess the decoration on the top made it look pretty AND, more importantly, allowed the circulation of air! 🙂
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Fabulous notion, Mel! I could spend hours following this. My kind of watery heaven 😇. And absolutely with the paper map. We dinosaurs 🦕 have to stick together ❤️
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Dinosaurs of the World UNITE! 🙂
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🦕🦕🦕🦕🦕💕
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A really enjoyable walk around Sydney’s water features and a great idea for a post 🙂
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Many thanks for wandering along with me. I can’t take credit for idea though. I simply followed the piece of paper. 🙂
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I love a good walk when there’s water around, the sound is calming and peaceful. Lovely photos and looks like a great stroll around Sydney 🙂
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It certainly was Sydney at its best. Have a good day. Mel
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What a fascinating experience. Sydney looks like a great city. Cheers!
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As far as cities go, it is a good one! 🙂
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I’d be up for this sort of walk. I do have a bit of a thing for photographing fountains of all types. Switzerland has a lot. I haven’t done a water walk, but the idea of seeking the 100 or so sundials or the 108 drinking fountains in Paris appeals to me. And yes, maps every time!
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I would be up for a Parisian stroll too! Let me know and I will join you! 😉
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What a brilliant idea for a walk, especially as a good way of seeing the city’s other notable features too. 🙂
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Many thanks. I love how these maps take you to parts of a city you would not normally venture to or simply stroll past. Always an eye-opener. Have a good day.
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