Instagram-inspired tourists swarm Sydney street for selfies with jacarandas

“I love the look of the lavender colour and it has become the counterpart to going to Japan to see the cherry blossoms – everyone in Manila has told us about it,” said Mrs Chu, who returns home on Thursday.

New immigrant, Elvin Esmaeili, brought his nine-month old son Ali, and let him crawl on the street and threw him in the air, for some purple-backdropped happy snaps for his family in Iran. “We saw it on Facebook first and drove from our home in Ryde for this,” he said.

But the sea of people coming to see the sea of lilac has raised the ire of local residents, some of whom believe it is only a matter of time before there is a serious accident.

“It is becoming quite dangerous – and you often see enraged locals honking their horns as they drive through the arch,” says Benny Brooks who lives on the jacaranda-lined street.

“Yes, it’s a harmless tourist attraction but it’s annoying sometimes when you are trying to find a park and people aren’t watching where they are going because they are framing a photo.

“I feel for the other residents – Sunday morning is especially busy and the street is becoming hazardous with babies and children on the road … people need to slow down to make it safe,” Mr Brooks said.

With the window of opportunity for photographs as narrow as the street’s purple canopy, the local precinct committee has suggested that North Sydney Council either make the street one-way in blossom season, or block it off for a jacaranda festival.

The council released a statement last year saying it was working closely with the relevant authorities regarding safety on the street that has become a social media celebrity, in much the way as Melbourne’s graffitied Hosier Lane.

The flowering jacaranda, a Brazilian native, is now as much a part of the lower north shore as Ted Mack and Luna Park. As the streets of the area are shrouded with the purple blooms, the story of how they got there is also shrouded with mystery.

One story is of a hospital matron who sent newborns home with jacaranda seedlings to spread the lavender haze around the city. But a search of the archives at the Mater Hospital, Royal North Shore and Mosman Private Hospital cannot confirm this practice.

Legend has it that young mothers and war widows would plant the saplings in their backyard as part of a seedling giveaway by local councils, and watch the trees grow as their children grew, hence the proliferation of purpleness from late October through November.

For the first time this year the Camden Jacaranda Festival will take place next weekend, from November 23-25.