My night out with the transport minister: 12km, three bars, one new metro line

Cross the bridge, you say? I do not do that. Sometimes I have little choice when I am required to be in Nine’s North Sydney HQ, but as a rule I am not someone who ventures over the harbour for fun. Of course, that was before metro mania swept the city, and took me with it.

After a long week for Transport Minister Jo Haylen, which started at 3am on Monday when she woke up to ride Sydney’s newest and favourite toy, she suggested I join her for a metro bar hop. If anyone deserved a wine by Thursday evening, it was Haylen. The least I could do was accompany her for a champagne or two.

Herald state political editor Alexandra Smith (left) and Transport Minister Jo Haylen at Victoria Cross station at the start of their metro bar crawl.Credit: Rhett Wyman

I started the bar hop at Martin Place metro station and was over the bridge, or rather under the harbour, in five minutes flat. Add a few minutes to account for the time it takes to reach the platforms in the depths of the earth via very steep escalators, and I still emerged in a chic wine bar faster than it would have taken me to walk across town to a CBD watering hole.

Haylen and I met at 4.30pm at Sol Bread and Wine, a European-inspired coffee-to-cocktails bar on Walker Street, a three-minute walk from the Miller Street exit of the new Victoria Cross station in North Sydney. I would never have dreamt of heading north from my Macquarie Street office for a glass of wine, but here I was – and, dare I say, loving it.

Haylen and Smith ride the metro.Credit: Rhett Wyman

The minister’s staffer ordered her a cocktail (the gin-based Queen of Hearts would look fancier on Instagram than a glass of wine, he tells us) but Haylen and I prefer sparkling so we had a glass of Chandon Blanc de Blancs. Ours was not going to be a leisurely bar hop because the minister had a Labor Party event later in the evening, so we had our one drink and moved on – each with a loaf of sourdough pumpkin bread under our arm. By day, the bar is an artisan bakery.

The metro, Haylen stresses as we walked back to Victoria Cross, is not just for moving commuters and students between work and school. It is also about changing how Sydney has fun.

“There are so many new and exciting journeys you can take on the metro and people who would have never dreamt of crossing the bridge for drinks or dinner will be able to in a few minutes from the city. It is a complete game changer,” Haylen says.

We take the lifts at Victoria Cross (it is lift-only access from Miller Street because the platforms are so far below the surface) and travel one stop to Barangaroo in time for sunset. Haylen gets a rock-star reception as we emerge from the station. Three Sydney Metro staff have spotted her and race over to ask for a selfie with the minister. “Of course,” she beams.

The headland park is buzzing with runners and city workers on an unseasonably warm August evening and our four-minute walk takes us to Henry Deane, a rooftop bar at the historic Millers Point Hotel Palisade. The view is stunning, and our table looks straight to Luna Park.

Henry Deane Bar at Millers Point near Barangaroo station. Credit: Rhett Wyman

Cocktails are still required for the minister’s Instagram feed and the bar manager delivers a brand-new, yet-to-be-named concoction inspired by the classic Aviation cocktail. The manager points out that you can see the Barangaroo station from the bar, so I suggest the new absinthe-heavy cocktail could have a metro-inspired name. Not sure why there was laughter. I meant it.

Henry Deane has an extensive drinks list but Haylen and I again opt for sparkling wine. This time we order two Bianca Vigna proseccos. Down the hatch. We have one more bar to get to and time is ticking before Haylen needs to be at her ALP branch meeting.

The end of the line: Gasoline Pony, Marrickville, near Sydenham station.Credit: Rhett Wyman

Our third and final bar is in Haylen’s electorate of Summer Hill, and walking distance from Sydenham station, the end of the line for the metro, although it will be extended to Bankstown to complete the south-west section. We finish the bar hop at Gasoline Pony, a live music venue on Marrickville Road. A Fuzzy Red Socks cocktail for Instagram, and a glass of riesling for Haylen, and a rosé for me.

It is not even 7.30pm and we have travelled 12 kilometres across town, visited three venues and spent a fraction on fares compared to a taxi or Uber ride. “The metro opens up so many new opportunities,” Haylen says. Next time, she says, we will do a food crawl.

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