Purple posers: The Novermber Jacaranda blooms in Sydney's McDougall st has become an annual frustration. Photo / Screenshot; Mitchell Luo, Unsplash
Purple posers: The Novermber Jacaranda blooms in Sydney's McDougall st has become an annual frustration. Photo / Screenshot; Mitchell Luo, Unsplash
Every year as Sydney hurtles towards summer and the sweet scent of Jasmine fills the city, one suburban street turns into an Instagrammer's heaven and they are on a mission to get the perfect social media snap.
Lined with blooming Jacaranda trees, McDougall Street in Kirribilli on the city's NorthShore turns into the famous 'Purple Tunnel' each spring, creating a picturesque spot just moments from Sydney Harbour.
November is a purple patch for photo-hunters in McDougall Street, Kirribilli. Photo / Instagram
But despite the beauty, residents in the street are less impressed as they face a month of crowds as tourists and Instagrammers fill the streets in an attempt to get the perfect social media snap.
From wedding photos, to posing solo – locals say the popularity of the street during Jacaranda blooming season means they face difficult trying to access their properties, with photographers blocking traffic especially on weekends.
Despite no inbound tourists coming from overseas this year there are still plenty of people coming to the leafy suburb to pose in the middle of the street, with photographers on their knees or stomach to get the best angle.
A local Facebook group said the number of visitors on Sunday, when Sydney experienced a perfect spring day, turned the street into a nightmare.
"I live in McDougall Street and it was awful with big crowds all weekend, rubbish littered everywhere, horns beeping, frustration, no additional rubbish bins and general unsafe behaviour from visitors and motorists," one woman posted on Kirribilli Good Karma Group's Facebook page.
"Parking has also been an absolute nightmare!" another added.
It's not just the blooming Jacaranda's that have drawn a crowd this spring.
Country towns renowned for growing canola have also been bombarded with tourists hoping to get a social media snap while basking in the rolling golden fields where the flowers grow.
Wedding photographers and amateurs swamp the residential Sydney burb. Photo / Instagram, Supplied
Tourists have been jumping in their cars and flocking to places like Cowra in the NSW Central West, and Berrima in the Southern Highlands, to get their next display picture.
But farmers of the golden crops have begged visitors to take pictures from afar – because their crops are being destroyed by tourists climbing fences and trampling the flowers.
Local resident Douglas Houston told the Canberra Times that some groups travelled for at least four hours from Sydney to take photos of his crops before turning around and making the trip home again.
