Sunday, March 27, 2011

Sydney Markets

If you know me, you know I *love* markets.

For some time now I have been meaning to visit the Sydney markets in Homebush and I finally got around to it last week.

The markets open at 6am (5am for flowers) and I wanted to be there then, so I woke up at the unreasonable hour of 5 on a Thursday morning, to hop on a train for the markets (flemington station, on the inner west line).

The first thing you will notice when you arrive, is that it is quite loud for how early it actually is. There are lots of trucks moving around and unloading produce, innumerable and loud-beeping-reckless forklifts everywhere. There are huge crates of fresh vegetables all around you and it looks a little something like this:


And that's just the parking lot.

My first stop was the Sydney flower market. There was so much variety and the prices were fantastic! Even better, you didn't have to buy a truck load of flowers to get that price, almost everything was sold in bunches.


And just like there were people specializing in flowers, others specialized in greenery, wild flowers, and succulents (all personal favorites).


And of course you couldn't miss the orchids.


I also visited the growers and produce markets, which consisted mainly of big hallways with big farm names on both sides selling fruits and veggies. Beautiful and plentiful fruits and veggies, like the ones you see here:


But unfortunately the market itself was less romantic and looked more like this:



Everything was neatly packed in stackable crates and boxes, which suggests that people don't come here to buy just one apple, they come here to buy several kilos of apples, so mainly restaurants and retailers I guess. There were also no prices anywhere to be seen, so perhaps the prices change throughout the day and/or vary according to quantity?

I was a happy girl among so many flowers and veggies, not so much around the vicious forklifts and noises, but it was an interesting visit overall.

And on the way out, I ran into this:


...

(and then I went home and took a nap)

4 comments:

Meder Kydyraliev said...

naps FTW! great snap of the sky!!

Asirap said...

Ooooh... white egg plants and dragon fruit. I wish I could find dragon fruit around here :(

Nina said...

Nice pics. You know if you go on a Saturday morning you can buy your fruit and veges by the kilo, best to get there before 8am though, the flower market is also open then too. It is more friendly than 5am!

L said...

Thanks for the tip Nina! I would also love to check out what Swap n' Sell is all about. I love other people's junk!
Unfortunately, more often than not I have to work on Saturdays, but hopefully that will change soon!