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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Giant fish sculpture |
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| Crab made of netting |
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