21 April 2023
By Hannah Wilcox
Blues Point Bookshop
131 Blues Point Rd
Since opening its doors in 1996, the Blues Point Bookshop quickly became ‘the centre and hub of a very diverse community’.
The independent bookshop, tucked away in an old terrace house on Blues Point Road, houses a trove of classic, non-fiction, fiction and childrens books. Owner Helen Baxter even leaves friendly notes and recommendations around the store for budding readers.
She also prefers to face her books cover-out to make it look more like an art gallery. Decked out like a classic European bookseller, the store has homely Persian rugs and a snug reading corner to escape into the world of words for a while.
In recent years the McMahon’s Point institution has become a bit of a tourist attraction, with a tour guide telling Ms Baxter her store looks a bit like The Shop Around The Corner in the ’90s romcom, You’ve Got Mail.
Blues Point Bookshop also runs regular author event programs, with the likes of Wendy Whiteley, Craig Silvey and Wendy McCarthy amongst thousands participating in meet and greets over the past 22 years.
The Antique Bookshop
and Curios Crows Nest
Lvl 1, 328 Pacific Highway
Peter Tinslay established The Antique Bookshop and Curios in 1976 and has continued to ‘delight customers with wonderful rare books’ ever since. The bookshop, on Pacific Highway in Crows Nest, is stocked full of old, fine, rare and out-of-print novels from all corners of the globe.
The store is a part of the International League Antiquarian Booksellers and has continued to appeal to loyal customers from all over Australia and the world for almost 50 years.
Each year, owners Peter and Sean also exhibit at the Sydney Rare Book Fair with a hand-picked selection of unique books for those with a passion for antiquity.
Last year some of the special items displayed at the fair included: a good collection of finely leather-bound books, a large number of books with signatures or inscriptions, many volumes on printing, typography, lettering and books about books, various editions of Izaak Walton’s “Complete Angler”, including the rare set illustrated with 54 photographic plates by Emerson and Blankhart and stunning illustrated books with illustrations by Eric Gill, Edmund Dulac, Robert Gibbings, Rayner Hoff, Pierce Egan and others.
Each month the owners put together a catalogue of novels under a variety of different genres and subheadings, including specially chosen books of the month.
The Antique Bookshop is a snug store tucked away on the main street. Unbeknownst to many, behind the big green signage on the wall is a trove of dark wooden shelves, old-fashioned chairs, an abundance of natural light as well as the opportunity to hold a piece of history in your hands.
May Gibbs Nutcote
5 Wallaringa Ave
The harbourside home of renowned children’s author and illustrator May Gibbs is a museum, gift shop and cafe in remembrance of Gibbs and her loveable characters.
Nutcote was the fondly-coined name for the Neutral Bay property, which was designed for Gibbs and her husband James Ossili Kelly in 1924. Built on the shores of Sydney Harbour, it was to have ‘compactness, convenience and charm’ and was completed in 1925.
A carefully maintained example of Spanish mission architecture, the homestead is filled with cosy mid-century furniture and littered with trinkets.
Following Gibbs’ death in 1969, the author had left her home to UNICEF – which was unable to hold property. Concerned family and friends in the late 80’s formed a nationwide campaign to ‘Save Nutcote for the Nation’, and the May Gibbs Foundation was successful in saving the property which had remained largely unaltered due to conservation orders.
In 1990, North Sydney Municipal Council purchased Nutcote for $2.86 million before renting it back to the foundation to restore it to its original 20s/30s state based on old photographs and diary entries; Nutcote opened to the public four years later.
Open Wednesday to Sunday 11am-3pm, the recognisable characters of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie can be found in watercolours, postcards and prints scattered throughout the mini-museum.
In November, the foundation hosts the annual Gumnut Fair which includes Christmas gift shopping, cake, lemonade and garden stalls, Devonshire tea, sausage sizzle, face painting, craft and a May Gibbs raffle.
Visitors are able to take a bookmark on their way out to remember their special day as Gibbs bequeathed the copyright from her characters and stories to disability charities.
Traffic Jam Galleries
41 Military Rd
Now here’s a traffic jam you’d want to get stuck in!
With a philosophy of ‘appreciating and acquiring contemporary art, Director Rebecca Pierce opened Traffic Jam Galleries in 2011 in order to bring new, fresh, dynamic and highly desirable pieces to Sydney.
The Gallery now represents over 45 Australian and International contemporary arts practitioners, with the likes of Paul Trefry, Miranda Summers and Megan Barrass regularly displaying.
Located at 41 Military Road, Neutral Bay, works are presented through a mix-up of exhibitions, initiatives, art fairs and digital platforms as well as offering dinners, talks and pop-up shows. The space was previously used as a busy call centre but now has been purposefully converted back to bare concrete and had areas of render removed, with the 3.2m ceilings and all utilities exposed.
A mixture of two and three-dimensional works are displayed throughout the year, with up to ten major exhibitions curated.
The ideas and goals behind Traffic Jam Galleries come to the forefront in their annual ‘untitled’ exhibition, which presents the works of up to 14 artists not currently represented by the gallery.
It aims to celebrate different approaches, processes and results of artistic endeavours.