Suburbs of Sydney II

Surry Hills and Chippendale

Away from the glittering CBD and harbour Sydney’s inner suburbs offer a glimpse into the real life of Sydneysiders, at least of those rich enough or fortunate enough to live there. Two suburbs lie on either side of Central Station in defiance of the usual close-to-station-seediness rule of cities: Surry Hills (note no “e”) and Ultimo/Chippendale.

We stayed in Surry Hills. Really it could be called Surry Hill as it is just one hill, but a decent one at that. Off the vertiginous Foveaux Street, lanes and alleyways contained cramped but wincingly expensive Victorian housing, hipster cafes and bars. Stepping into one cafe, breakfast contained ingredients such a bacon crumb or bacon custard, charred banana, foam or “scram on rye” (in plain English scrambled eggs on toast).

Four pubs characterised the area: down at the foot of the hill near the station the Keg…