Centennial Parklands Walk

Originally a swamp and then set aside as land for the water source for Sydney, Centennial Park was reconstructed as a public park and opened in 1888. Sir Henry Parkes’ vision was to create a ‘People’s Park’ in which the citizens of Sydney could ‘take in the air’ away from the Sydney town centre.

On Australia Day 1888, the opening day, Sir Henry Parks said:

“In the course of the next few years, this park will be converted into a place of beauty and joy forever. It will be yours and so long as the land shall last it will be for you, and it is a great obligation that rests upon you as free people to see that no power, no combination, invades your right in the enjoyment of this great boon. It is emphatically the people’s park and you must always take as much interest in it as if by your own hands you had planted the flowers; and if you take this interest in it, and if you thus rise to the full appreciation of its great beauty, and your great privileges, the park will be one of the grandest adornments of this beautiful country.”