Ferry from Sydney to Manly and back

Our last full day here - we hadn't been on the water yet so took the ferry over to Manly.

The Opera House from the harbour

The Opera House from the ferry

People doing the bridge climb - just specks going up to the top...

Zooming in on the bridge climbers

We fly home tomorrow. It's been a great trip full of adventure. Thanks for following along!

Sydney monsoon, or a good day to be indoors...

By the time we arrived at the Sydney Opera House this morning for a tour, we were soaked! The gusty wind was the kind that tries to turn your umbrella inside out, and the rain was just pouring, or as they say here, bucketing down.
The tour was really interesting: we saw shorts films on how the design was chosen, and on the construction of the building with the 10 sails. Though the sails look white from a distance, up close you see that the ceramic tiles on the outside are really a cream colour; we were told they were made in Sweden. The window glass is from France, and is specially designed to withstand changes in temperature.

Harbour bridge through the big Opera House windows

When we went into the Joan Sutherland theatre, dancers were practising on the stage, for tonight's performance of Giselle. The last space we went in was the big concert hall with over 2000 seats; workers were busy onstage setting up for the symphony. The grand piano there is one of 28 at the Opera House; every time a piano is moved it has to be tuned - they have a full-time piano tuner.

Ceramic roof tiles on the left

Next up was a visit to the Australian Museum - the special exhibit of wildlife photography was stunning. There was a big section upstairs devoted to the wildlife of Australia, and an informative film about the Crown of Thorns starfish that's eating coral north of Cairns on the Great Barrier Reef, and what the Museum research scientists on Lizard Island are doing.

The room I liked the most was called Indigenous Australians; in the room were two huge soft sculptures - one a large fish about 20 feet long hanging from the ceiling, and a colourful crab on the wall - both made from "ghost nets," - lost or abandoned fishing net that fish and birds can get caught in.  Up in Queenland people pick up this netting and use it for art projects, and the museum has been purchasing some of them.

Giant fish sculpture

Crab made of netting

The Rocks

The oldest part of Sydney is an area downtown called the Rocks; a wonderful facility that tells the story of the neighbourhood is the Rocks Discovery Museum. We were in time, after touring the exhibits, to join a "walk around the block," led by a museum guide. In the 1850's there used to be 50 pubs in the area! We were told that watermen, as water taxi drivers were called, would hang out in the pubs until someone needed a ride across the harbour.
The sandstone blocks used for buildings were all cut by hand from the rocky shore.

We met up with Graeme and Rebeka, and walked through the Sunday market stalls.
Tied up at the wharf below the Rocks was a massive cruise ship:

Exploring Surry Hills

With the intermittent misty rain, it was warm and humid for our walk to Surry Hills and the Bourke Street Bakery, a tiny place that maybe holds ten people at most.  While we sat outside to drink our flat white coffees and eat our delicious snacks, a drama unfolded nearby: an undercover policeman pulled over a couple in a small car, two mounted police arrived, presumably as backup, then four more officers, in two more vehicles, to search the people and the car.  while the man was placed in a paddywagon and driven away, the woman was let go, and walked away.
Later we looked for an art studio we'd read about, and after several tries, finally found it down a narrow lane.The exhibit was called Alchemy/Pop and was quite interesting.

Tiny Bourke Street Bakery

Drama unfolds outside the bakery

Down a lane, the hard to find Brett Whiteley gallery

Harbour views, Bondi to Bronte and back

We were at the Art Gallery of New South Wales when it opened in the morning, to see the Yiribana Gallery of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art. From bark painting, works on canvas large and small, to ashark dance mask, it was amazing. From there we walked down to the harbour for our first glimpse of the Opera House and the bridge.

In the shade of a large tree in the Royal Botanic Gardens, we stopped for a picnic lunch on the grass.  This little bird came by to see if we would share some bits of our sandwiches.

We caught a bus east to Bondi beach and watched the surfers and swimmers:

We saw three pools like this today

On the walk to Bronte beach we stopped to admire the sandstone cliffs, the houses and the wildflowers.

Sydney Australia

Due to headwinds, our plane was 45 minutes late, so our already long 15 1/2 hour flight was actually more than 16 hours. Graeme was waiting and it was so great to see him for the first time since he left on June 30th!
Though it's Autumn here now, it's warm and sunny, and we enjoyed walking through MacKey Park beside Cooks River.  Unfamiliar birdsong, hibiscus and Bird of Paradise flowers confirmed that we weren't in BC anymore.

An Ibis beside the river

School kids are on a break at the moment so we saw quite a few on scooters and bikes on the path.  We had to remember to stay to the left, not the right as we would at home.

A happy looking Cockatoo

The next sight was an unusual tree full of Lorikeets eating red berries - we'll have to see if we can find out the name of the tree.

One of many colourful Lorikeets in the tree

Then it was time to take the train to downtown Sydney, or as they say here, to the CBD, or Central Business District, and find our apartment.

Brad and Graeme in front of the heritage apartment building