Wendy’s Secret Garden

Where: Lavender St, Lavender Bay

Wendy's Secret Garden is a small testament to heartbreak hidden amongst the skyscrapers that line the city's foreshore. The garden was created by Wendy Whiteley, the wife of one of Australia's most celebrated artists, Brett Whiteley, noted for his depictions of Sydney painted from the wastelands of their Lavender Bay home.

After Brett's death of a heroin-overdose in 1992, Wendy got hold of the derelict land belonging to the NSW Rail Corporation adjacent to their house. The land was tangled and broken, choked with lantana, scattered with broken bottles and rotting mattresses and an occasional sleeping spot for the city's homeless. Channelling a lifetime of artistic endeavour and all her grief, Wendy restored the grounds, transforming it into a beautiful, secluded space laced by winding paths, fig trees, native plants, a flurry of bird life, antiques and esoterica all against the backdrop of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.

While the garden marks the spot where Brett Whiteley and their daughter Arkie's ashes are buried, the space is always open to the public and is accessed between Clark Park and the Lavender Bay rail-shunting yard. Wendy says "People like to come and eat a sandwich or sit and think or read or even do a little bit of work, but they love to be in it because they feel that they can be part of it, and any kind of creative activity needs to be shared otherwise what's the point?"