Across the Border: Kings Cross: People: Black Cockatoo Man

Just one of those chaps that wanders about the neighbourhood. If you live in the area, you must have seen him: The Black Cockatoo Man. A man who always wears black to match his pet Black Cockatoo. 

This picture was shot at the Saturday Kings Cross Markets by my dear friend John Webber, because I was too scared to go too close to the bird. 

Across the Border: Kings Cross: Retailers: Kings Cross Saturday Markets

About four or five years ago Fitzroy Gardens in Kings Cross became home to a Saturday Organic Food and Farmers Market. Since then the Saturday markets have become a little town square where locals can go along, socialise and catch up on the area's gossip. 

I try to go every Saturday, even when I don't intend on buying flowers or food, because I know that I will probably bump into friends or end up talking to complete strangers. I have met many interesting people there over the years, not least, the stall holders. 

Some people even go along to the markets to pay a small fee to sit around and play board games (see picture of "Garden Games" below).

The markets is also the place overrun by politicians in the lead up to elections; was the scene of a protest against Mayor Clover Moore's plans to demolish Fitzroy Gardens; and has also become a regular busking scene. 

There was even a busking ''incident'' recently. 

The buskers actually have to apply to the market organisers to play in Fitzroy Gardens on Saturdays.

One weekend, the featured buskers were a group of poets who read aloud their work. They were at first situated near the children's playground, but some parents complained when one of the poets started reciting a verse about sex, menstruation and masturbation. It probably wasn't the ideal location or time for those sorts of topics. 

So the following week the organisers moved them to a more central part of the markets, right near the plant-dealer. 

I walked past them that day, but didn't realise they were busking. The poet's voice was barely audible and I figured it was just some woman talking to herself. 

When the poets's allocated time was up, a male guitarist took over. The guitarist played for his given hour but still hadn't finished a song when his time was up. 

The poets, who were due to start reciting again, became angry that they were losing valuable time and rudely told the guitarist - mid-song - to quit playing. 

This in turn angered the guitarist who accused them of having no respect for his art. 

The poets then became fired up and allegedly started yelling abuse and throwing coins at him - not in to his money-hat, but at his face and chest. 

A full-on coin-brawl was only stopped when one of the market organisers intervened. Needless to say, the poets have not returned. 

Here is one of the market organisers posing with the lovely Louisa from the Parker's Organic Juice stall:

The markets are run by Choulartons Australia, who also manage markets in the Sydney suburbs of Auburn, Chatswood, Hornsby, Double Bay, Frenchs Forest and Gladesville, as well as the regional centre of Newcastle, north of Sydney. 

Stalls at the Kings Cross Saturday Markets used to cost just $60 for the day but stallholders now pay between $110 and $125, which has become unaffordable for many. 

In the past few months the markets have lost some long-time stallholders, including Francis the Fish Monger, a cheese-dealer, a butcher, a mushroom seller (below) and a Malaysian cafe. 

Some stallholders also cite the recent arrival of a nearby Harris Farm green-grocer as halving their business. 

But they will get little sympathy from the shopkeepers of Potts Point, who in turn believe the markets have stolen business from them. 

Whatever you think, I hope the markets remain, because I could not live without my $6 Saturday morning bacon and egg roll:

Or my iced-tea from Louisa and Hamish at the Parker's Organic Juice stall:

Naturally, Parker's Organic Juice also sell a range of fizzy juice drinks and juices, including the yummy Blood Orange Juice:

While consuming the aforementioned treats I like to look at Ronnie's plants:

Ronnie is a specialist in balcony plants, indoor plants and succulents:

 

I then might grab a lemon slice from the cake stall. I don't have any photos of the cake stall, but the woman who runs it is really lovely and bakes all the cakes and slices in her domestic kitchen - it must be huge. Cake demands a soy flat white from the Toby's Estate stall:

I always stock up on essential oils from Gabriel's Amphore stall (below). I have had a major mosquito problem in my apartment recently and Gabriel's lavender oil has been the only thing that has kept them at bay. I also put a few drops of lavender oil in to a spray-bottle of water and then use it to mist my clothes - it somehow take the crinkles out, so I don't have to bother with ironing. Gabriel only sells 100 per cent essential oils and they are really well priced. He always gives you a freebie too, if you spend above a certain amount. 

Before I leave, I always buy some blooms from the flower stall. The female stall-holder can sometimes be a bit snappy, but who cares when they are the cheapest flowers in the district:

Only $10:

These yellow flowers are only $6, but I can't say I am a fan; they look like little brains. The orchids last up to ten days, look beautiful in a vase and only cost $10 for two bunches:

I have also recently become fond of the quinoa and vegetable pies sold by the Nourishing Quarter stall. The NQ has a eponymous cafe in inner-city Redfern, which I am now keen to visit:

*

Kings Cross Organic Food and Farmers's Market

8am to 2pm every Saturday

Fitzroy Gardens

Kings Cross NSW 2010

02 9999 2226

www.organicfoodmarkets.com.au

*

Parker's Organic Juice

www.parkersorganic.com.au

*

Toby's Estate Coffee

www.tobysestate.com.au

*

Amphore Essential Oils

www.amphore.com.au

*

Nourishing Quarter

315 Cleveland Street

Redfern NSW 2016

02 8399 0888

www.bnourished.com.au

Across the Border: Kings Cross: Retailers: Russell Sharp the Flower King

For the past 30-odd years, Russell Sharp has been the self-styled ''King of Flowers'' or ''Friend of Flowers'', surrounding his working life with bloomin' colourful and fragrant buds. What a marvellous life to have.

I have always been a big fan of flowers and one of my earliest and happiest memories is of burying myself in a large patch of freesias that grew beside my first childhood home. I would hide in there for hours, breathing in the flowers' sweet peppery fragrance and pretending no one could see me.

As a young adult, my friends and I, armed with scissors, would trawl the roadside around our neighbourhood picking enormous bunches of freesias, which grew like wildflowers.

Now, when I am rich, my apartment is filled with cut flowers and when I am poor, there is always still at least one small vase of gorgeous blooms. As I see it, flowers are a cheap and harmless form of anti-depressant (but to this day, I have never been able to bring myself to actually pay for freesias).

When I asked Sharp about how he has managed to stay in the same business for over 30 years, he said it was because he loved flowers and liked talking to people and his job combines these two simple pleasures.

Russell Sharp doesn't actually have a retail shop but operates out of this customised truck, which transports him, his market tables, umbrellas and stock between various market locations around Sydney. So if you happen to see this truck cruising by, just imagine the petalled jewels contained within.

When I visited Sharp on Sunday at Kings Cross Markets in Fitzroy Gardens, he took me across the road for an inspection of the truck, which is fitted out with all kinds of contraptions to transport his stall safely. That big square pipe in the middle is used for holding his umbrellas. 

But he wasn't happy that the truck was empty and sent me this photograph of the fully-stocked mobile flower vehicle:

You may have seen Sharp selling flowers from the back of this truck on Friday afternoons at Foveaux Street in Surry Hills, but he only sells from there occasionally and usually sets up a stall at markets in neighbouring Kings Cross and north of Sydney at Kirribilli, Crows Nest and North Sydney. 

I often visit him on Sundays at the Kings Cross Markets in Fitzroy Gardens to pick up my weekly dose of floral medication. This week I was heading off to a party and stopped to buy some white dahlias for the host. 

But there was also these freakishly enormous sunflowers.

As well as river lillies, roses, lysianthus (above), oriental lillies and these hyper-coloured, black-centred flowers for $5, which I don't know the name of:

Because Sharp is such a top bloke (check out his business philosophy on his website) he has generously offered a special freebie for readers of My Darling Darlinghurst. All you have to do is purchase some flowers from his stall at the Kings Cross Market on a Sunday, mention My Darling Darlinghurst and he will give you one of his lovely hessian flower-carrier-bags, worth $5, for free! 

The bags are designed to carry flowers and have a plastic lining to stop water seeping through. But they are also a generous size and I have found them perfect for carting groceries or other baggage around the neighbourhood. 

The straps are long enough to fling over your shoulder and the cream cotton alongside the hessian with the aqua-blue logo print is tres French market chic.

*

Russell Sharp - The Flower King

Sundays: 7.30am to 5.30pm

Kings Cross Market

Fitzroy Gardens

Macleay Street

Kings Cross NSW 2010

0410 503 039

www.friendofflowers.com

Darlinghurst: Food: Tigerbakers Cafe

With gale force winds hitting Sydney and Plane tree dust hazard-alerts issued by the Bureau of Allergies, I ditched my usual Saturday morning food trip to the Kings Cross Markets yesterday for the safety of indoors at the cosy and colourful Tigerbakers Cafe.

It was a well-timed visit too, because the cafe at 292 Victoria Street only reopened a couple of weeks ago following a mini-renovation and makeover.

I'm not a regular at Tigerbakers so it is hard to notice the changes, but it seems cleaner and more comfortable. The outdoor tables have been upgraded, the inside bar has been redesigned, embroidered cushions appear new and the walls are now lined with little boxes containing curios. There's also a chainsaw sitting on a top shelf, just in case some rogue Daleks should make an appearance.

I suppose it could also come in handy for night-time Plane tree removal.

On this Saturday morning Tigerbakers was packed with a diverse range of people, from modellish-looking young trendies, to older men in love, mothers with their daughters and lone women with laptops.

Tigerbakers recently introduced free wi-fi. It also now has a liquor licence and offers bar food and drinks in the evenings, when previously it was closed.

Tigerbakers is not just about the food and drinks though, art takes a starring role: a brilliant tiger leaps across an emerald blue backdrop on the cafe's roller-shutter and the same beast can be found on an inside wall:

There's also a mural decorating the ceiling and canvases and framed paintings lining the walls from the front door, all the way to the bathrooms out back. Tigerbakers's website features profiles of the artists, which include Justin Feuerring, whose chalk, pavement illustrations of men's faces were once a regular part of the Darlinghurst street-scene.

Despite all these great visual distractions, the chef hasn't forgotten to take care with the food, which is lovingly prepared. My friend, Hildred Moore, had hotcakes with berries and maple syrup, which she described between mouthfuls as ''really good''.

I ordered a BLT, which came within a hot, crispy round bun:

It was a perfectly balanced sandwich and a bit of a bargain too at only $8.

On top of everything, Tigerbakers's waiters were very friendly and super-efficient. I was so happy and comfortable on my cushioned bench that this could easily become my new brunch haunt.

*

Tigerbakers Cafe

292 Victoria Street

0415 200 474

www.tigerbakers.com

Darlinghurst: Plant Life: Plane Trees

To most people this tree appears harmless, some might even say it looks beautiful, but for me, and thousands of other Sydney-siders, the Plane tree is evil.

The London Plane tree, or Platanus x Hispanica as it's known to horticultural geeks, is a deciduous tree that grows to 30-50m in height and is native to the northern hemisphere.

Because of its drought tolerance and hardiness in harsh urban environments the City of Sydney Council decided it would be a fine idea to plant hundreds of the bastards around Darlinghurst, Potts Point and Surry Hills. And they continue to do so.

When I see Plane tree saplings, newly planted in the area and propped up with wooden stakes - like this recent arrival on Craigend Street - I have the urge to snap their trunks.

How does a tree inspire such hatred?

Because every year around September, the Plane trees decide to dump their load of pollen and hair into the atmosphere, creating a war-zone for allergy sufferers.

After inflicting their initial damage, the pollen and fine yellow hairs then hide in crevices, gutters and footpaths laying in wait for stray wind gusts to launch them back into the atmosphere for further lethal missions:

This goes on for about two months, maybe three, and despite managing to avoid their deadly assaults this year, today I wasn't so lucky.

I had just left home and was walking along Darlinghurst Road in Kings Cross, on my way to a lunch date and in high spirits when, without warning, they attacked. On what was a supposedly fine day, a cruel wind gust, loaded with Plane tree ammunition, launched itself towards me. There was no time to duck for cover before it struck me in the face and along my body. It was like being shot at by a pellet gun. Then, just as quickly as it arrived, the wind and its nasty master disappeared around the corner down Roslyn Street.

The effects were felt immediately. First I tried to pluck the dust from my eyes, then my nose became clogged, my throat felt sore and my arms and legs grew itchy.

Over lunch, I continued to rub my eyes, blow my nose and drink lots of water to calm my throat, but the symptoms did not abate. It didn't matter what I did, because the pollen was in my hair too. Then it brought upon a headache.

It is only now, hours later, and since I have returned home, had a shower and shampooed my hair, that I am starting to feel clean again, and a little better.

I'm having a beer too, in a bid to lift my mood.

This year the Plane trees also dust-bombed my car, infecting the glove-box and boot, despite the windows and doors being shut tight. That time I had a friend clean the dust out for me, so I could take her on a drive, but I worry about when the next attack will occur.

I worry too about the people who are actually allergic to the trees, because strangely, I am not.

About four years ago I was at Kings Cross Markets (located right near the Macleay Street Plane tree district in the photograph above) and there was a little desk with a sign that said, Free Plane Tree Allergy Testing. The testing was being undertaken by Euan Tovey of the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research in a bid to find allergy sufferers to take part in an 18-month study.

I wasn't really interested in becoming a guinea pig because it involved clipping a nasal sampler inside one's nose to catch dust and pollen particles.

But I was keen to know if I was allergic to the dreaded Plane tree. And as it turned out, I wasn't. Dr Tovey said I merely suffered from Plane tree irritation.

But I already knew that.

So if I have such a terrible reaction to Plane tree pollen, just imagine what life in Spring is like for true allergy sufferers.

Yet the City of Sydney Council continues to plant Plane trees and appears to be in denial about their public health risks, posting this on their website:

''In response to some residents raising concerns about the allergenic properties of Plane Trees, Council has received independent advice from medical and horticultural experts, including allergy specialists. Allergy experts at Royal North Shore and Concord Hospitals have advised that Plane Trees are not generally recognised by either of their allergy clinics as a particular problem.''

When the City of Sydney Council invested dollars in a beautification of William Street in 2005, their plans included an avenue of Plane trees, prompting University of NSW Professor Mike Archer, Director of the Australian Museum and Dean of Science at the University of NSW, to declare the idea ''disastrous''.

"It's like putting in rabbits and saying they're pretty,'' Prof Archer told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"It's like planting brick statues. Nothing eats them, no native birds go to them.''

The Asthma Foundation also opposed the council's plans but the Plane trees went in regardless:

Gardening Australia devotes a page on its website to Plane tree allergies and highlights their risk to public health. Wisely, Gardening Australia's Jerry Coleby-Williams also lists half a dozen or so native trees (the Plane tree is not indigenous) that have proven successful in urban environments, but which don't cause allergies or irritation. City of Sydney Council take note: these trees include the Illawarra Flame, Blueberry Ash, Water Gum and Broad-Leaved Paperbark.

The Gardening Australia page also contains this interesting point:

''Plane tree pollinosis sufferers can also develop food allergies. Once the immune system is activated by Plane tree pollen it will recognise similar plant proteins in foodstuffs.

Hazelnuts and celery have similar proteins in them, and so eating these foods can also cause an allergic response but can happen at any time of the year.''

It's frightening stuff. And as the City of Sydney Council continues to carry on planting in ignorance, I can only recommend allergy sufferers follow the techniques used in the following instructional video:

And if that YouTube link doesn't work, click here to learn How to Kill a Tree in 15 Minutes.