A pleasant stroll around Balmain

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A two-hour walk around Balmain

The last walk in our book took in the historic Balmain village which was named after William Balmain, a ship’s surgeon on the First Fleet.

Today grand colonial and Victorian buildings stand side by side with tiny worker’s cottages, adding variety to every street.

We took the ferry from Pyrmont Bay alighting at Balmain East - from there we headed toward Darling Street Wharf where we saw a sandstone building which was a watering hole for sailors and ferrymen.

We walked through the Illoura Reserve for views of the city and Darling Harbour. On leaving the park we climbed the hill which took us past an old Colonial residence and the home of the band INXS!!

We continued on to Mort Bay Reserve where ship’s propellers stand as monuments to the area’s working past. We then followed a path which lead up to The Avenue’s timber worker’s cottages.

Across into Ewenton Park we saw Hampton Villa which was once the home of Henry Parkes, the state premier.

We passed by The London Hotel (1870), where the balcony stools are made of old-fashioned tractor seats!

We also saw St Andrew’s Church before arriving at Balmain Market which is held weekly in the churchyard. We had a stroll around the market before making our way to Snails Bay. Here we stopped for a rest and to take in the marvellous views of the bay.

We retraced our steps but not before a loo-break (these were public loos - clean but amongst foliage - here is where we saw our first big spider!!).

A short ferry ride back to Pyrmont and we were back where we started.

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