We have lived in Sydney for almost 3 years and there are still places that we have not seen. Claire has recently been reading our Sydney guide book to make sure that we have not missed anything that is a MUST SEE! During her reading, she discovered that we have not spent any time on Macquarie Street home to some of the oldest buildings in Sydney. These sandstone and brick buildings (the NSW State Library, Parliament House, Sydney Hospital, The Mint & Hyde Park Barracks) were built by the convicts and are absolutely breathing taking. We spent some time admiring their architecture, history and elegance. We finished the morning inside the Hyde Park Barracks where many of the convicts lived out their sentences. It has been turned into a museum filled with artifacts that help you to understand just what a challenge it was for some of the early convict settlers of this country. It was a fascinating museum and the top floor of this three story barracks was complete with a room that held 70 hammocks where the male convicts slept. These hammocks hung from a very sturdy timber scaffold. We are quite excited to be able to climb in and try it out. It was quite tight and we determined that we would not LOVE it long term.
Many of the convicts worked their guts out in physical labour for years just because they may have stolen a loaf of bread for their starving family. Times were quite HARSH back then and it was nice to remember just how blessed we are. Human beings are resilient and can do HARD things. The challenges that we face shape our character and impact generations to come. Macquarie Street is a MUST SEE - here are some fun photos!
