5: Bristol on Sinclair

Arrival

I moved into "Bristol on Sinclair" on April 2, 2012. The building was
built as an extension to the Mater Hospital in
1929 in the art-deco style, and has a heritage listed facade.

View of the staircase from the loft

The apartment is a loft style apartment with a galley kitchen, a laundry-in-a-cupboard, and a small eating/sitting
area. There's a spiral staircase leading up to a loft with a queen bed, built in robes, and an ensuite bathroom.

Cost

$425 per week - a tad more than our budget but worth it!

First Impressions

	It felt wonderful to be moving into a place of our own; a place with a secure parking space for our car and a lift up to our door. And our own laundry facilities, including a dryer. Bliss!
	It being a loft apartment, there's no bedroom door, so light and sound spill over from the lounge room to the bedroom. There's no privacy when visitors are present, and they are forced to walk through the bedroom to get to the bathroom. Also, there's a construction site next door, and the jackhammers start around 7am on weekdays - but the noise is not usually too bad.
	The first night I slept in the apartment was quite hot, and I left the windows open. Unfortunately a mosquito found me, and I was awake half the night boxing my own ears trying to stop the whining.

The Neighbourhood

What I really love about this place is the neighbourhood. It seems like you can walk for a few minutes and get to anything you need. We're five minutes walk from the heart of Crows Nest with hundreds of restaurants, cafes and bars. 15 minutes takes you to North Sydney, where I was working from January until September - lovely to be able to walk to work after the hour journey I had from Allawah!

Wollstonecraft, St Leonard's and North Sydney train stations are all within walking distance, but the easiest way into the city is by bus. The buses run every few minutes straight down the Pacific Highway, with a stop less than a block from our building. They'll get you into town in 10 minutes if the traffic is light.

What will I miss?

This has been a wonderful place to live, and I'd recommend it to anyone. We have a wonderful view of the city
lights, and can just see the Harbour Bridge peeking above the trees. 

The area is fairly quiet, with some lovely walks down to the harbour. I've been pleasantly surprised by how green and leafy North Sydney is; I had always thought Canberra had the monopoly on green space in cities.

Departure

Despite my plans to try as much of Sydney as I could in my first year there, I fell in love with this place and have not been able to bring myself to move... yet...