Daily Detours for the Week of June 12
Featuring a street art tour of the inner west — after a steaming bowl of breakfast ramen.
Daily Detours for the Week of June 12
in partnership with
Featuring a street art tour of the inner west — after a steaming bowl of breakfast ramen.
When your nine-to-five plays out like a well-oiled machine, it can sometimes feel like each week is a little same-same. But Sydney is brimming with a fine bounty of things to experience and explore each and every day. So aside from casual laziness and a little lack of inspiration, there's really nothing stopping you from squeezing some adventure and spontaneity into your schedule.
We've teamed up with Mazda3 to celebrate the landmark 40th anniversary of their iconic small cars, and in turn, help you celebrate the little things that bring that sense of adventure to life. Shake things up, as we give you seven different detours to take each week in Sydney. From Monday to Sunday, enrich your everyday with one completely achievable activity that inspires you to take the scenic route as you go about your daily routine.
This week, spot some doggos at Camperdown Memorial Park, eat pasta from a wheel of cheese and climb the largest bouldering arch in the Southern Hemisphere. Plus, we've got your future detours sorted for the new few weeks here.
All require no more effort than a tiny break from the norm — what's your excuse for not trying them all?
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Sometimes, getting out and doing something is really just an opportunity to get out and do nothing, and that’s perfectly fine on a public holiday. For those trapped in loveless leases that don’t allow even the tiniest (and cutest) of puppies, doing nothing can very easily involve checking out other people’s doggos in a park. Kick off the Queen’s Birthday with some mates and a trip to Mary’s for a takeaway classic cheeseburger and fries, then take your stash over to Camperdown Memorial Rest Park to get serious about some dog spotting — you may even spot a few of the Queen’s fave. We’ve even heard tales of owners letting you pat their dogs if you say nice things to them beforehand.
Image: Kimberly Low.
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You’ve probably heard that iconic American street artist Shepard Fairey has come to town for Vivid Sydney. This week, he’ll be installing his first Australian mural — visit 309 George Street from today until Saturday to see him do his thing — and giving a talk on his body of work and global street art at Sydney Town Hall on Saturday as part of the Vivid Ideas Game-Changer program. What you may not know, is that he’s also exhibiting 16 of his large-scale music-themed artworks at aMBUSH gallery’s outdoor public art space, OPEN, in Darling Quarter. Showcasing his passion for music (Fairey DJs, is in a band called Nøise and has crafted album cover artwork for Led Zeppelin and The Smashing Pumpkins, no big deal), each artwork is printed on wood panels using his signature style. You can visit Revolutions 24 hours a day, seven days a week and best of all, for free.
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The temptation with a lot of Australian Italian food is to go way over the top with ingredients. Not so at Buffalo Dining Club, where the ingredients in the classic Cacio e Pepe are as follows: cheese, pasta, end of list. Perfecto. “Cacio e pepe” translates to “cheese and pepper” in central Italian dialects. The Buffalo Dining version of this classic pasta dish involves salt, pepper, olive oil and parsley chucked into a massive, hollowed-out wheel of pecorino. The pasta is then tossed around in the tasty mess, creating a dish that’s simple, and delicious. Instead of picking up a jar of Woolies bolognese sauce on the way home, step out and get the authentic stuff.
Image: Kimberly Low.
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The Strand Arcade is so much a part of Sydney’s streetscape that you kind of forget it’s there. Put it back on your radar and set aside an evening to properly explore it this week. The building’s spectacular Victorian architecture — including luxurious cedar staircases — are worthy of a stare, but there’s much more to see. Slip into Italian restaurant Pendolino for a quiet glass of wine or a decadent Italian feast, then explore the wine and olive oil shops next door. After that, head to the third level to check out the tinted roof that keeps the place cool even on sweltering days, and, if you’re cashed up, get yourself a pair of custom-made shoes.
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Sydney Film Festival has a massive lineup for its 64th year, complete with 288 films from 59 countries, including 37 world premieres. Oh, it features Aussie legend Ben Mendelsohn chatting about his career too.
Standouts on the schedule today include The Go-Betweens: Right Here, a film from Red Dog filmmaker Kriv Stenders chronicling the career of one of Brisbane’s greatest bands, the Julian Assange doco Risk and a look inside the world of competitive poultry breeding — yes, really — in Chicken People. Armie Hammer smoulders on screen in the swoon-worthy Call Me By Your Name, and several of the SFF official competition nominees are on show today including Una and the Berlinale‘s Golden Bear winner On Body and Soul, and other trophy recipient Félicité. Check out the full schedule and book some films in for today.
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Start your Saturday early for a change and go for delicious breakfast ramen at Rising Sun Workshop (it’s made with buttered toast broth, bacon, egg and tomato). While you’re at it you can grab a Single Origin coffee, and if need be, get your motorbike adjusted (they offer that service). Once you’re fed and your bike is fixed, join Culture Scouts for a street art tour of the inner west. Pop on your comfy shoes and prepare to see parts of the city you’ve never seen before. You’ll be surprised at how many artists have been busy bee-ing in laneways about the place. There are works by Beastman, JUMBOist, Bafcat, Skulk, Phibs, Numskull, Nico and David Cragg among others. Your journey finishes with local beers, cocktails, wine and nibbles.
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Make sure you get your proper Sunday morning sleep in, because today you’ll be dominating one, or many of the 13 bouldering courses at Nomad, a new bouldering gym that’s popped up in Annandale. Home to the largest bouldering arch in the Southern Hemisphere, Nomad has 980 square metres of wall surface for you to climb all over. The somewhat terrifying difference between bouldering and normal rock climbing is that you’ll be doing this activity without a harness. After you’ve finished working up a sweat, wind down with an arvo session at Wayward Brewing just around the corner. Check out who may be dishing out eats this weekend, cosy up on the vintage couches surrounded by friendly people and enjoy some Sunday live music from 4pm to 7pm.
Personalise your next adventure via The Playmaker, driven by Mazda3.
By James Whitton, Jasmine Crittenden, Lucy McNabb and Sarah Ward.
