Sydney doesn't come any sleazier than Darlinghurst Road, Kings Cross, a strip of strip joints, porn and pawn shops, flophouses and adult bookstores that don't stock much in the way of literature. But walk past the El Alamein Fountain (where a signpost helpfully indicates it's 7,371km to Hong Kong) and - hey presto! - you enter Macleay Street, which runs gently downhill straight as an arrow through Potts Point.
The smartly residential Potts Point is the antithesis of Kings Cross: refined and decorous. Macleay Street is the suburb's central axis, lined with eucalyptus trees and sprinkled with one-of-a-kind boutiques and cafes, whose customers dally over backgammon boards before wandering off to sunbathe in a nearby park - and that's midweek.
A little way past the fountain, Dan's Treasures (No89, tel: 61 2 9358 2460) is one of a row of converted houses and contains idiosyncratic items whose allure isn't solely in their reasonable prices. An embroidered handbag goes for A$35 (HK$205), outsized silver earrings are priced at A$15 and a gauzy top in striking lime green costs A$30.
Plum Interiors (No87B, tel: 61 2 9368 0547) deals in furniture and decorative pieces. A small painted Tibetan box costs A$300 and an entire latticed window A$690.
It's worth mentioning the friendliness of the owners, managers and shop assistants along Macleay, not just compared to those in Hong Kong but by world standards. Most introduce themselves by name and seem inclined to chat rather than pitch. As a soft sell it's remarkably effective and perfectly in
character with the area's genteel mansions and swish blocks of executive apartments.