Visiting Sze Yup Temple in Glebe with my photography meetup group

Tucked quietly into Edward Street in Glebe, the Sze Yup Temple is one of the oldest surviving Chinese temples in Australia. Built in 1898 by migrants from the Sze Yup region of Guangdong, it stands as a living link to Sydney’s early Chinese community and their determination to maintain cultural and spiritual traditions far from home. When we visited, the air was gently scented with incense and thin curls of smoke drifted upward as visitors burned joss paper in the courtyard — symbolic “spirit money” offered to honour ancestors and seek blessing or protection.

Dog memorial in Glebe

I visited the Glebe Dog Memorial, located beneath the railway bridge near Jubilee Park, and found it quietly moving. The memorial consists of a wall where local residents have attached photographs, dog tags, plaques and short notes remembering dogs that were part of their families. It isn’t an official monument but a community-created space that has grown organically over time, reflecting how common and important dogs are in people’s lives. Seeing dozens of individual tributes in one place makes clear how strong the human–dog bond is, and how people feel the need to mark that loss publicly.  The memorial made me think of Mackie, Tina, Meg, Scamp and Cindy.  What a blessing to have so many beautiful dogs in my life.

Stroll in Glebe

A fun morning with my Photography Meetup.