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John Baptista arrived in Sydney from Portugal in 1823 as a teen.

His name was anglicised to Baptist.

He was responsible for a food garden in what is now Redfern. Flowering plants were added.

Boronia Lane was name after his work.

There are many tributes to John across the city.

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Seagulls are still sleeping on the roofs of the ferry wharfs at Circular Quay.

As the days get shorter and cooler, sunrise moves further north. In high summer it is much further around to the right.

I love tracking Sydney’s seasons by where the sun comes up.

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I opened a book, it read “Darlinghurst Years”I snapped it shut but out came some tears

I didn’t have to read it, it all came back

Dragging my fingers through my hair

Hiding behind her back

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While Sydney has greyed over now, dawn at the Bogey Hole at Bronte Beach was a delight and tempting to these three. They decided against a dip.

The construction of the hole pre-dates white arrival and is a must visit when the water is warm and the tide favourable.

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Late last century, the bakery scene in Sydney’s Surry Hills was bleak.

Our first taste of good artisan bread was when a very nice fellow bought a shipping container and had it delivered into the garage on Collins Lane here on the right.

He set up his oven inside and baked overnight.

All was grand until rules enforcers arrived and shut him down.

Thankfully we are now rich with choice.

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Fifty one years old, and never ages.

Cool start on a pristine Sydney autumn dawn.

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Many Sydneysiders will have a tale to tell of a beer or two at the Lord Nelson Hotel in Millers Point.

The sandstone blocks were said to have been quarried from the base of Observatory Hill, just 100m away.

Pouring ales since June 1842, a pub to remember.

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I thought on ANZAC Day, in memory of The Light Horse, I would go back to my south coast sojourn for previously unpublished pics of dawn at Horse Rock.

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Before the time of too many rules in Sydney, there used to be an Australia Day ritual in Surry Hills called The Golden Bone.

Locals would block off Fitzroy Street between two pubs and dogs would race down the road from one pub to the other. The owner of first past the post got shouted beers.

This was the midway point.

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I don’t often turn my back on a Sydney dawn, but the symmetry of a light pole, a set of tinnies and Malabar Beach off to the right caught my eye.

As for the weather, light clouds should burn off to a clear warm day. Autumn is dropping leaves, but not temperatures.

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The Rocks and Millers Point used to highlights of trips to city when I was a kid, I wandered the higgledy-piggledy lanes and alleyways finding Sydney’s past and a great contemporary community.

Too much has changed, but not this vista on Rodens Lane.

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Looking to 27C later today, so while it was cool at dawn on a crane infested Blackwattle Bay, Sydney’s autumn continues to feel like summer.

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The song by The Cure, Charlotte Sometimes came out in 1981.

It was around that time that I ventured up Charlotte Lane in Darlinghurst (this area was dodgy back then), and at that time I worked as a radio DJ on Triple Jay, and happily played The Cure to the youth of Sydney.

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If you look closely you’ll see a fellow sitting on the rock waiting for sunrise on the southern side of Sydney’s Clovelly Beach.

Cool and clear, a peaceful start to the day.

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I like old grocery / general stores in Sydney, the trend last century was to convert them into houses, these days they often become cafes.

This one is seen before opening on the corner of Selwyn Street and Albion Avenue in Paddington.

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The famous Finger Wharf in Sydney’s Woolloomooloo has seen a range of uses from shipping wool, sending soldiers off to two world wars, sitting inactive and in decline, a failed venue for an illegal dance party (I was to DJ there), and now glamorous accommodation and dining.

At dawn, after rain has cleansed the city, all of that seems possible.

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Posting a random urinal is not my usual style, but this one has some history and gender politics.

The Eveleigh Locomotive Workshops in Sydney date back to when steam was king, and workers were all males.

So it makes perfect sense to save on time and construction to have the urinal outside.