![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHxEczPsAgTD-XcPDC8BA5soI578Z-dgJHouMPya9I0cHcC1nvmO8pGFNcWahfIW0_phPTwB4s0xO1BbQuXlCdOUPAQ1vRlPjNUeK5UW7QwkERXlA5x_zRFA2mPMOvQZIYHfII/s320/1a.jpg)
Instead, this is Homebush. I don't know if this used to be a toxic waste dumping ground or an industrial area, but it is now block after block of fairly expensive apartments. Friends of ours used to rent there - they were a "sort-of power couple" pulling in something around the quarter million mark between them. The apartments are large and fitted out very well - the exact opposite to what Renter Girl has been experiencing - but then you can pay $1,000 a week to live here.
Note the mature palm trees and the precisely manicured hedges - of differing colours, so that they contrast nicely.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRQZuDgxG3QsYUkofbdO_afCuw7eZsX5jW38kMSAeTMa_9YqZgDHzWjg8-OKlOt9Gq9UWeFNXdKnTksfOMXuOvsmwsj06fBhr9p3gfceSzEcIHztFvJjqBv7q7eZT1wprxYUDv/s320/1.jpg)
There is plenty of room between apartment buildings, so you don't get issues with shading, neighbours peering into your kitchen and noise from across the road. You could fly a small Airbus down this road without fear of clipping a balconey.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGy66NPQiRYZ_jirvsrEdhbCBJafV4OXuTQ5vANujBkNf-eMNnnyF75lGXYj-LwPrf6hebYGlrHkGQwiRo8Q9esBeUu7cWVz1wRN2u9OA0A5CQL7rjTyyOdVQYWIbId48EvoRy/s320/2.jpg)
Most of the parking is underground, so visitors don't have much trouble finding a spot on the street. Even the parking bays are manicured. The corporate body fees alone for gardening must be vicious.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqvaqC6j_eADG_dVAFgv5oSB88WyqZ_oXXrO_QHmZ5IILfFfxnvAZTl4Zl6U02dWsU9HLUnBSDYa-RPuDN2QfnFcDq1k2o-51RetU8B8kGUx3iPvyHIWAr8K2gselpVRescBYG/s320/3.jpg)
Each block has a silly name, like "Napoli". And an "ooh-ah" designer entrance, making a statement.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD1sX98IzVQ-K4Wr49k3hGm6w0s9VzmahT7Ua2d-JDiVE-ehZyFjSVKGlGcLFGVi7nONhwuOa6pg9AarB1H0eDUYtPeOF5-5nXd1ltnq1DZOFt9FfOErLEfVHmqYXIJYX5cZ5q/s320/4.jpg)
Roundabouts and the ends of streets have sympathetic botanical treatments as well. I'm not big on this modernist architecture, but the whole place is reasonably pleasing on the eye.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu3-4R_0Ulb4ODfBFv9yg47UZty1otLe84hfq9IjD-XcI2diJoOcSS7-KTLMdnP6BuNNWbe0A4nrienhw7P_JwgNYQNDaN2vQ61Rx4UrZJrfO6yGR21ji4ykZUiz6aZa-Bobqe/s320/5.jpg)
Even the small things are taken care of - there are stands every so often dispensing plastic bags for collecting dog turds (and I imagine that if you are caught leaving a dog turd behind, they crucify you and your dog on the nearest date tree).
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh3QAZsyD66sT8rM1uuXOM4VWsIZsjwOGTsNQj3ezl00l03IrRspJBRhaRDDQ_ln7FYuOt-Srol3yw4RyAgiI9jhIs-Swy8lehYxvRzXrZob8JFoZWHaKA-3wVKmRTtOy8JGsw/s320/6.jpg)
"Pulse" - another one of those funny names developers dream up. Written in a fancy font too. I can't imagine how hideously dated this will look though in say 2019.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZl9namL2KgZi6MFZh-AIVP1byzlrSOTcZlmtJ9lxuLctUhDedOxl8o7CeVh5k9sF6wGXNahcKhuAJ_sqbObD0xOQsttmyYzvK5uENHBgiSrFtNtkwOO12w7SU8Vz74YqedSvD/s320/7.jpg)
The outdoor gym equipment is immaculate as well - no peeling paint and rusting bars and splintering steps within this lot.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2aKG5-mf9bEy_TOnA6lmvzl13hh9oWYg84O4M5l6H96_bfcSWNYnqcW1H85rv7t_3LpxyJI4MjE2gJdYinOoLawPoa2DG26uVbvqWkDt71nGl0eE-Yur2Q3KFHtH8V4nnbSwq/s320/8.jpg)
I'd never noticed it before, but there is some sort of half-sunken wreck just off the shore at this point. It seems to be broken into three bits - the bow is on the far left, then two other bits over towards the mangroves on the right.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYjPmtt4AYibozvTG91p5SOsTCV1mrxak8J7i30rdfCvlLHNdgU5SZSJqZVW1C5vXSt6d5rkWqd2-nmUtiUi80PVljttNExa4UVflhk0tXDl5QoQcCZsITin2wQU6b_2HrKe5G/s320/9.jpg)
A closeup of two bits of rusting something-or-other.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnI2YXiiz5lL8FjgF0gZKfEB8Ui5bO86WhuzXokPt61Lc1yohJZ_p3UP01TZBzui9-H5tMjAo-ODI-i_UOUNhIIbI_h-oUhzbU7X4LCj4KuxAFYK3RgT2kNdqF5S1qjIIQeiw-/s320/10.jpg)
And another bit. This bit has collected enough dirt to actually support some plant life - and a few thousand seagulls. The "dirt" could of course be 50 years of built up seagull poop.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSGf6bIuRA_7JKwMrs_14L9w_rAVo4mPb3oDkPpRUm-OX6Cp3cIdaptrCNmyuh_32jV-YnZEgvYC6eQlhr-IG0w67hUmjfLWJnuZPCVc2OTtoY_sJNbpoi0MohbDrsvg1g7kJw/s320/11.jpg)
After seeing that bloke in the kayak, I spotted this. I didn't stop for a close look, but I presume you can rent these for a spin around the harbour. Just the thing for a bit of shark watching.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXrINpJZtjJ3GoXOA7wvienBIoNg0TYHQG2o0SOhQuaFnS9AKG9_fd9kLpAdm5MpQ2rx9sngGc8Lvnk3PF-TDF2VclxfW43wQnH6inJuJlppROJqSVKJDhz1y6SE8pXFpR_5QS/s320/12.jpg)
Someone went all out when they designed these light fittings. I can imagine seeing these things walking down a catwalk in Paris. It's the little touches like these that set the place apart.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifsZS5DVXGwGcoyDcR-h4PO5BPBZz-NOM4ha5RyvhUrZb_JBdcs1cZxDEHb-9EFc_7MLY3oVuogV1cn6ryf5OxG6Dz3_Wbx0LWsZ-Xwt-YlU7TOBuTdW3t5aHhNtAQcyzOuAqu/s320/13.jpg)
It also has a few of a particular designer feature that shits me to tears - the "quality statement" that is functionally useless. These are scattered all around one building in particular. They are like the skeleton for a covered walkway, except without the useful bit - the roof - that keeps the rain off in winter and the sun off in summer. And notice that it doesn't even cover the path - it cuts across a lawn. I hate these things.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBHRR9NVRdVY_qrLpz8V14a-Iu5OLG7T442DDOhzzLhjkdi5RyITY0Tiolhu0hnQWDGB63olQrgDoGYUUvxfmZXyR8ELcxrJzfOWW08RRrfZazgH1nnEuNBjS-VU8PzYxOytxv/s320/14.jpg)
So, back to more enjoyable plants, and a rock feature. Yes, the rock feature is functionally useless as well, but at least it is partly "natural".
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAdSw-ZMFPbQjZSQvbFfa11p6GSFukpz_lrpKHWhXIz-leApY8pxVst1hP4Aq7Si99qGARB4YABulDgp_R_bWTkHOv0WZU6XcEtYfiNn2m5DOoojOabB9XJKjRtZ7rY4NflEeL/s320/15.jpg)
My favourite - the big wobbly glass entrance plate to "Mariners cove". Real estate agents must have wet dreams when they see things like this.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL23IF7619xL7Ac7OkDmvBs4o2D6GbLUiF9SzXIxsDa2obsHiCLLTYZepff3HWguM9MOAm7VOVmUhxu5pJ3oKHyUSgyMxhid7YbX5aiJqgxCtTwhEnQDagsMAcIZoHzY8ycWZN/s320/16.jpg)
In summary, this place is way too sterile and planned for me, but I can appreciate how nice it must be to live here if this is your thing.
And that's how the other half are living. For the moment at least. I haven't heard of any throwing themselves off the roof as a result of their share portfolio cratering, but anything is possible.
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