Victoria Street, Flora Street, Amy Street, Erskineville on Monday, 5 May 2020

Victoria Street has very old gum trees and a couple of old warehouses, now converted into flats. After the underpass the new residential estate starts at the left with a terracotta tiled footpath and some metal sculptures, security tapes wound around them. Don’t touch them as they could have coronaviruses on them. 

Flora Street has a pretty corner building with a filigree balcony. A woman with a long telephoto lens on her camera is taking shots of someone in the courtyard, giving instructions. She is oblivious to me taking photos of her house. There is a faded advertising panel on the side wall of the house for the food brand Rosella: ‘Australia’s Mealtime Favourite’ it says. The brand started as a family business in Melbourne and soon gained a reputation for its tomato sauce. I am paraphrasing Wikipedia here. It was taken over by Unilever in 1963 but in 2013 the private family company Sabrands Australia bought it and is restoring the original visions of the founders, as they say. This is amazing, a move from global corporate back to private family-owned. It gives hope for the future. There is no history of any factories of this brand in Erskineville. It could be that this house here was a grocery shop in the past.

Amy Street has quite a big park with a lawn, trees and benches. The park is empty, except for a lonely children’s bike at the gate to a backyard. 

It is very peaceful on this golden autumn day. People are out in the streets in a quiet way, trying to walk around each other in wide circles. I am surprised by how many people have dogs in this urban area. Maybe you can hire a dog to have a reason to go outside? I have the impression that more children are playing in the streets than before, often without an adult in sight. There is less traffic, and street life feels more relaxed. Not many children are attending school now, but the ones who need to can go There is a slow ‘return-to-school’ plan, starting with one day a week.

When finishing my tour I come past the same house from where I started. I notice a small scrap of paper taped near the front door with a tiny coloured cardboard piece attached. “Whoever took the jigsaw puzzle, here is the missing piece.”