We also went to Elizabeth Bay House on the same weekend as we went to Cockatoo Island and Vivid. We had stayed the night at our friend's house and then I dragged the kids (Charlie, Erin, Natalie) back across the Harbour Bridge, through the city, to Elizabeth Bay.
After getting a bit lost in the narrow, winding streets (this is an old part of Sydney, one of the first suburban areas) we finally made it ... and well worth it it was as well. We were all a bit weary and I'm sure the kids would have been happy going straight back up the coast to home, but I was determined as I have been wanting to go there for a while. And they said to me afterwards that they were glad we went.
This is part of the beautiful public garden at the front of the house, once part of the large estate belonging to Elizabeth Bay House.
The beautifully grand entry staircase. It was interesting for the kids to compare this to the servants' staircase at the other side of the house.
The builder/owner of the original house was an avid insect collector.
The drawing room
And in the library (which has also been a ballroom at times) there are many different animal collections
Here are the cellars - very interesting to the kids. They were quite vast.
Here's Erin standing in the original kitchen fireplace (the kitchen was later moved to a separate building - a common practice in Australia to try and combat the risk of fires).
Natalie found this beautiful beetle hiding at the top of the cellar steps.
This is a grotto which was also once part of the original gardens and is now just tucked away behind the footpath (note Natalie's new pink "high heels").
