Last night, before I went to bed, I discovered that a strange blue
goop was seeping out from under the cleaning supplies under the sink.
😨 I had to remove the bucket of supplies, dispose of blue-goop-thing
(don't know what is was) and clean up the blue stuff. So, while I was
already busy doing that, I did my laundry in the world's noisiest
washing machine (sorry to JQ, who was already in bed).
There's no dryer, and of course, I did not want to go out into the night where I might fall prey to a wild bilby, so I draped the clothes over furniture in my room. All of this to tell you that when I got up this morning, I went out and put my slightly damp clothing on the line. They will dry in approximately 23 seconds, by my estimations of the current temperature (it's warm).
Anyway, the plan is to be out the door by 9 a.m. this morning, meaning we should be up by 8 or so. I was up at 8, hanging my laundry, making my breakfast, washing the dishes. Princess Delicate Moonbeam Orchid is still snoozing in her royal chamber upstairs. Perhaps she wasn't sleeping well, due to that pea I sneaked in between her 12 mattresses. I wonder if I am supposed to wake her or not? Unfortunately, with all our blathering about what we were going to do, that part of the plan has escaped me.
Hmm, I wonder if she's dead. 😱 That would be awkward. Maybe I should go check. Be right back.
It's okay - she's alive, just lazy. She made up some sad story about her mom calling her at 2 a.m. Whatever. Don't blame your mom - just admit that you're feeling lazy.
Newsflash: There are creatures outside in the back yard. I did not see a bilby, but when I went out to collect my laundry, I saw multiple lizards scurrying away, and some sort of tiny rodent which might be a bilby. I put some water out for them. Back to our regular programming...
Okay, today we're going to tour the Sydney Opera House. We walk down to the harbour, and wow - it's already steamy today. The forecast is for +30C, which is why we decided on the Opera House (because air conditioning, that's why). I am mildly disappointed to see that it's the Victor Chang picking us up at Pyrmont today, and not my preferred boat, the Catherine Hamlin. Oh well, it's the weekend - I guess Catherine deserves some time off. 😉
Did I mention it's hot? It's hot! With my hat on my head, I take my spot at the front of the boat, where the breeze at least serves to cool me off a bit. Looks like a lot of people are headed out to the beach today - they are toting around baskets with blankets and picnic lunches, and they're yelling at me, "Geddout of the way, beach!" I presume this is picturesque Aussie slang for "why don't you go to the beach."
When we get to Circular Quay, we see the cruise ship Queen Mary 2 is docked in the harbour. That is a really big ship. And that's 2700 extra people wandering around Sydney today. Should be fun!
We head straight to the Opera House, flash our iVenture card, and book a tour for 12:30 p.m. One hour from now - not bad. While we're waiting, we walk around the shoreline in front of the opera house - first time seeing it so up close and personal. But there is no shade here, and it's hot, so we keep moving, and head towards the Royal Botanic Garden.
Lots of shade here. There are so many big and beautiful trees to shelter under. We start with a huge, expansive, sheltering tree - it is a picture-perfect tree. Once we have rested a bit, we walk further on to view a gazebo. The gazebo is actually a piece of art entitled 'A Folly for Mrs MacQuarie', playing off the idea of garden follies from the 1800s, and what we would consider literal follies these days. We admire it for a few moments, then retreat: too hot in the sun. We take shelter under a massive tree that looks like it could have come from Middle Earth - it is a Moreton Bay Fig.
There are the ever-present White Ibises picking their way through the greenery. And these black and white birds, which we realize are Australian magpies. (The eyes don't work! 😆) Much smaller than our magpies, and - fortunately for us - it is not swoop season, so they are not feeling aggressive. Hello there - along come two very noisy cockatoos! While these are very pretty birds, no one would describe them as melodious.
Perhaps drawn by the bird pandemonium, a couple from Canberra joins us under the tree. They confirm that our bird identification is correct - those are magpies, and yes, cockatoos are noisy little buggers. And the man tells us that they will rip apart pine cones and rain them down on you, and they also like to chew on plastic. We have a little Australian/Canadian information exchange, as they are planning to visit Toronto and Montreal in September., then will head down into New Hampshire to see the autumn leaves. We suggest that they bring a jacket. 😉
All of a sudden, I glance at my watch and realize that JQ and I have to run off back to the opera house - we've only got 15 minutes to our tour! We say goodbye and hotfoot it back to the starting point for the tour. On the tour, we're all given a set of headphones so we can hear, and then we wander off after our tour guide like obedient little ducks.
While I am familiar with the iconic look of the Sydney Opera House, I didn't know too much about its construction. Apparently, it was a long and arduous ordeal, with the lead architect, Jorn Utzon, coming into conflict with government officials, resigning before the project's completion, and saying that he would never return to Australia (and he did not). Then, of course, they were struggling to complete it without him, and it took something like 7 years for them to finish? Anyway, had no idea there was so much drama around it, and feel bad for the architect, although he was eventually properly recognized.
What's interesting to me about the building is that it is all about shapes and lines and angles. The "shells" or "sails" that make up the roof. Long lines inside, with the sunlight and shadow casting more patterns. A lot of the interior structure is quite stark, just bare concrete, but it can intersect in interesting ways with other design elements. The tour guide called it neo-brutalism, where the supporting structures are not hidden but are part of the effect.
Interesting note: the roof is actually made up of beige (not white) tiles. They were afraid white might glare too much. The tiles are self-cleaning - just need a bit of rain, which is handy, because that means no one has to go up there and slide down with a squeegee. That wouldn't go well: Wheee! - clunk! - aarrgh!
In the interior, we got to view some smaller performance venues, and we did actually get to view the orchestra hall, which is the larger of the two auditoriums. (Oddly enough, though it is called the Sydney Opera House, the ballet and opera wing is the smaller auditorium.) The hall is built for acoustics, from the ceiling design, down to the mix of wood and wool in the chairs to provide a damper effect.
When the tour ends, the guide tells us to hold onto our tour stubs, as the box office will give us substantial discounts on shows if we've been on a tour. Unfortunately for me (and perhaps fortunately for JQ), La Traviata is not showing until after we go, and there are no ballets at the moment. 😢 We do ask about tickets for Limbo, a cabaret-type performance, but they are standing room only, which doesn't really appeal to us. We may check back later in the week.
JQ and I walk out into the sunshine. Next on the
agenda for today is the Hyde Park Barracks Museum. As the name would
indicate, it is located next to Hyde Park. To get there, we can walk
through the Royal Botanic Garden. As it is a large and sprawling park, we
just head down the central pathways. That works for me, but the lack of
specificity bothers JQ, and she wants to check her map and draw charts
from the sun to ensure we are in the right place and on the most
efficient trajectory. I offer to loan her my protractor. And then I
spy a lovely field of wildflowers, so I run over there and leave her to
her trigonometry. My wildflower cavorting episode only lasts for a few
minutes; it is so hot today!
Once JQ has determined our lines of latitude and longitude, we continue down the central pathway (told ya!), and see a building called "Calexa." Inside is a free flower show called "Pollination". It is nice and cool inside. And free! Now it is only a few blocks to our museum.
The Hyde Park
Barracks Museum is a Unesco World Heritage site, and it is well worth a visit. The barracks is one of the few original buildings
left from the 1800s, and gives all kinds of information about life at
the time, about the origins of the penal colony, the people who were
sent, and what their lives were like. Australia became a colonial
priority for Britain after the Americans revolted and Britain could no
longer ship their undesirables there. But there was a dual purpose to
it - getting rid of undesirables, and expanding their empire through
convict labour. And the convicts? Some were legit bad people, such as
murderers. But a lot of them were sent for theft and fraud, and the law
at the time made no distinction - stealing was stealing, even if you
were stealing to survive. So it was a horribly unfair enterprise, and
while Australia is much closer to paradise these days, it was brutally
hard to survive for the first colonists. All of this to say: "Boo
Britannia of yore! You suck."
The museum talks about the barracks itself, about crime and punishment in the colony, the meager rations convicts were given, and in the later 1800s, how many Irish orphans arrived in Australia.
In keeping with the solemnity steeped in the background, JQ and I record a heartfelt message from prison for you.
Okay, so we're idiots. What else is new? But is it a crime to be an idiot? Is it a crime? In Australia, perhaps it is. One of you start a Go Fund Me to bail us out of colonial prison, please.
Anyway, moving on. Once we've finished the tour, JQ looks up her family history on the computer in the admissions area. Bang - she immediately gets a hit. I knew it; those Quails are convicts through and through. Although what her family did to be exiled to the frozen gulags of the north instead of Australia, I don't know.
I try every family name in my background that I can think of, and can't get a hit. Dammit. My people don't belong in Australia - they were too crafty to get caught. I guess I'll just have to go back to the hinterlands in Canada where I belong. 😩
We're right next to Hyde Park
when we leave, so we cross the street to pay a visit. The trees here
are huge, and so there is a lot of shade, which is a relief. There is a
big fancy fountain at the center, and as it is the weekend, there is
all kinds of activity going on. I stop for a moment, watching the
children playing at bubble blowing. All around, there are families and
kids and dogs - lots of life in this park!
Since the Sydney Tower is looming above us, and since our pass gives us access to the observation deck, we head on over there. We have to wade through several floors of shopping mall before we find the entrance to the Sydney Tower Eye. Our pass gets us in, and it also comes with a "4D movie." This is basically a 3D movie that we watch, and then some spritzing water for ocean spray and some bubbles come down on us. That's it - that was the fourth dimension. There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man... but that's a story for another day. 😉 The Sydney Tower Eye halts at the fourth dimension!
We squeeze into a tiny wedge-shaped elevator, and
come out on the observation deck. It's pretty analogous to the Calgary
Tower, if you've been there. The scenery is different, but the concept
and layout is the same. My favourite part is the sky, because we had a
tiny wisp of rain this afternoon, barely enough to wet the pavement, but
you can see a band of rain that passed by.
JQ can't stand the noisy children and wants to go. Down we go, in the wedgie elevator, and back at street level, we hoof it across town until we get to Town Square. There, we stop in at Woolworths for some food supplies, then catch the bus home. A guy gets on the bus with his surfboard. As far as I could tell, the surfboard rides for free. 😄
Did I mention it was a hot day? The place we're staying at is old and doesn't have air conditioning, and the house is hot when we arrive. We open all the windows and doors, and there is a decent breeze coming through, so that helps.
For supper, I eat my sushi that I bought from Woolworths. (Yes, I know that sounds funny. But it's actually really yummy.)
There's no dryer, and of course, I did not want to go out into the night where I might fall prey to a wild bilby, so I draped the clothes over furniture in my room. All of this to tell you that when I got up this morning, I went out and put my slightly damp clothing on the line. They will dry in approximately 23 seconds, by my estimations of the current temperature (it's warm).
Anyway, the plan is to be out the door by 9 a.m. this morning, meaning we should be up by 8 or so. I was up at 8, hanging my laundry, making my breakfast, washing the dishes. Princess Delicate Moonbeam Orchid is still snoozing in her royal chamber upstairs. Perhaps she wasn't sleeping well, due to that pea I sneaked in between her 12 mattresses. I wonder if I am supposed to wake her or not? Unfortunately, with all our blathering about what we were going to do, that part of the plan has escaped me.
Hmm, I wonder if she's dead. 😱 That would be awkward. Maybe I should go check. Be right back.
It's okay - she's alive, just lazy. She made up some sad story about her mom calling her at 2 a.m. Whatever. Don't blame your mom - just admit that you're feeling lazy.
Newsflash: There are creatures outside in the back yard. I did not see a bilby, but when I went out to collect my laundry, I saw multiple lizards scurrying away, and some sort of tiny rodent which might be a bilby. I put some water out for them. Back to our regular programming...
Okay, today we're going to tour the Sydney Opera House. We walk down to the harbour, and wow - it's already steamy today. The forecast is for +30C, which is why we decided on the Opera House (because air conditioning, that's why). I am mildly disappointed to see that it's the Victor Chang picking us up at Pyrmont today, and not my preferred boat, the Catherine Hamlin. Oh well, it's the weekend - I guess Catherine deserves some time off. 😉
Did I mention it's hot? It's hot! With my hat on my head, I take my spot at the front of the boat, where the breeze at least serves to cool me off a bit. Looks like a lot of people are headed out to the beach today - they are toting around baskets with blankets and picnic lunches, and they're yelling at me, "Geddout of the way, beach!" I presume this is picturesque Aussie slang for "why don't you go to the beach."
When we get to Circular Quay, we see the cruise ship Queen Mary 2 is docked in the harbour. That is a really big ship. And that's 2700 extra people wandering around Sydney today. Should be fun!
We head straight to the Opera House, flash our iVenture card, and book a tour for 12:30 p.m. One hour from now - not bad. While we're waiting, we walk around the shoreline in front of the opera house - first time seeing it so up close and personal. But there is no shade here, and it's hot, so we keep moving, and head towards the Royal Botanic Garden.
 |
| Royal Botanic Garden - perfect shade tree |
Lots of shade here. There are so many big and beautiful trees to shelter under. We start with a huge, expansive, sheltering tree - it is a picture-perfect tree. Once we have rested a bit, we walk further on to view a gazebo. The gazebo is actually a piece of art entitled 'A Folly for Mrs MacQuarie', playing off the idea of garden follies from the 1800s, and what we would consider literal follies these days. We admire it for a few moments, then retreat: too hot in the sun. We take shelter under a massive tree that looks like it could have come from Middle Earth - it is a Moreton Bay Fig.
|
|
There are the ever-present White Ibises picking their way through the greenery. And these black and white birds, which we realize are Australian magpies. (The eyes don't work! 😆) Much smaller than our magpies, and - fortunately for us - it is not swoop season, so they are not feeling aggressive. Hello there - along come two very noisy cockatoos! While these are very pretty birds, no one would describe them as melodious.
|
|
Perhaps drawn by the bird pandemonium, a couple from Canberra joins us under the tree. They confirm that our bird identification is correct - those are magpies, and yes, cockatoos are noisy little buggers. And the man tells us that they will rip apart pine cones and rain them down on you, and they also like to chew on plastic. We have a little Australian/Canadian information exchange, as they are planning to visit Toronto and Montreal in September., then will head down into New Hampshire to see the autumn leaves. We suggest that they bring a jacket. 😉
All of a sudden, I glance at my watch and realize that JQ and I have to run off back to the opera house - we've only got 15 minutes to our tour! We say goodbye and hotfoot it back to the starting point for the tour. On the tour, we're all given a set of headphones so we can hear, and then we wander off after our tour guide like obedient little ducks.
While I am familiar with the iconic look of the Sydney Opera House, I didn't know too much about its construction. Apparently, it was a long and arduous ordeal, with the lead architect, Jorn Utzon, coming into conflict with government officials, resigning before the project's completion, and saying that he would never return to Australia (and he did not). Then, of course, they were struggling to complete it without him, and it took something like 7 years for them to finish? Anyway, had no idea there was so much drama around it, and feel bad for the architect, although he was eventually properly recognized.
What's interesting to me about the building is that it is all about shapes and lines and angles. The "shells" or "sails" that make up the roof. Long lines inside, with the sunlight and shadow casting more patterns. A lot of the interior structure is quite stark, just bare concrete, but it can intersect in interesting ways with other design elements. The tour guide called it neo-brutalism, where the supporting structures are not hidden but are part of the effect.
|
|
Interesting note: the roof is actually made up of beige (not white) tiles. They were afraid white might glare too much. The tiles are self-cleaning - just need a bit of rain, which is handy, because that means no one has to go up there and slide down with a squeegee. That wouldn't go well: Wheee! - clunk! - aarrgh!
In the interior, we got to view some smaller performance venues, and we did actually get to view the orchestra hall, which is the larger of the two auditoriums. (Oddly enough, though it is called the Sydney Opera House, the ballet and opera wing is the smaller auditorium.) The hall is built for acoustics, from the ceiling design, down to the mix of wood and wool in the chairs to provide a damper effect.
|
|
When the tour ends, the guide tells us to hold onto our tour stubs, as the box office will give us substantial discounts on shows if we've been on a tour. Unfortunately for me (and perhaps fortunately for JQ), La Traviata is not showing until after we go, and there are no ballets at the moment. 😢 We do ask about tickets for Limbo, a cabaret-type performance, but they are standing room only, which doesn't really appeal to us. We may check back later in the week.
 |
| Cavortable wildflowers |
Once JQ has determined our lines of latitude and longitude, we continue down the central pathway (told ya!), and see a building called "Calexa." Inside is a free flower show called "Pollination". It is nice and cool inside. And free! Now it is only a few blocks to our museum.
 |
| Hyde Park Barracks Museum |
The museum talks about the barracks itself, about crime and punishment in the colony, the meager rations convicts were given, and in the later 1800s, how many Irish orphans arrived in Australia.
In keeping with the solemnity steeped in the background, JQ and I record a heartfelt message from prison for you.
Okay, so we're idiots. What else is new? But is it a crime to be an idiot? Is it a crime? In Australia, perhaps it is. One of you start a Go Fund Me to bail us out of colonial prison, please.
Anyway, moving on. Once we've finished the tour, JQ looks up her family history on the computer in the admissions area. Bang - she immediately gets a hit. I knew it; those Quails are convicts through and through. Although what her family did to be exiled to the frozen gulags of the north instead of Australia, I don't know.
I try every family name in my background that I can think of, and can't get a hit. Dammit. My people don't belong in Australia - they were too crafty to get caught. I guess I'll just have to go back to the hinterlands in Canada where I belong. 😩
 |
| Bubbling in Hyde Park |
Since the Sydney Tower is looming above us, and since our pass gives us access to the observation deck, we head on over there. We have to wade through several floors of shopping mall before we find the entrance to the Sydney Tower Eye. Our pass gets us in, and it also comes with a "4D movie." This is basically a 3D movie that we watch, and then some spritzing water for ocean spray and some bubbles come down on us. That's it - that was the fourth dimension. There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man... but that's a story for another day. 😉 The Sydney Tower Eye halts at the fourth dimension!
 |
| The rain seems to be heading for the plains |
JQ can't stand the noisy children and wants to go. Down we go, in the wedgie elevator, and back at street level, we hoof it across town until we get to Town Square. There, we stop in at Woolworths for some food supplies, then catch the bus home. A guy gets on the bus with his surfboard. As far as I could tell, the surfboard rides for free. 😄
Did I mention it was a hot day? The place we're staying at is old and doesn't have air conditioning, and the house is hot when we arrive. We open all the windows and doors, and there is a decent breeze coming through, so that helps.
For supper, I eat my sushi that I bought from Woolworths. (Yes, I know that sounds funny. But it's actually really yummy.)
"Princess Delicate Moonbeam Orchid" loveee it!!! hahahahaha
ReplyDeleteFeel free to call her that at work. ;-)
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