Exploring Sydney..
One bag found and delivered, one to go. Still no clue as to why the poster decided not to proceed farther than London, but hopefully Qantas will shed some more light on the current situation when I can tomorrow. Either than or they're going to be coughing up the $80 or so to print a new poster.
My eyelids crashed & burned by 10pm last night, but so far the jet lag has been very tolerable. I think that by the time you travel half way around the world, your body is so confused that it doesn't know that it should be distressed. Today I went into Sydney, taking the morning express bus with my friend and her husband. The buses are efficient, but public transportation here is not generally a bargain. Tickets tend to be point to point with no free transfers, so the cost for a trip requiring multiple stops quickly escalates. So, as in Scotland, walking is the most practical and cost-effective method of getting around.
I started out with a quick trip to Darling Harbor to see a well-reviewed exhibit on the Great Wall of China at the Powerhouse Museum. First thing on a Monday morning the museum was relatively quiet, and the exhibit was fabulous. A nice selection of artifacts on loan from the National Museum of China were used to illustrate the history of the wall, tracing it from it's early beginnings to the present day. The museum pieces were complimented by videos of the wall and a well designed website, available to view on a huge computer screen. My only complaint would be that the descriptions of the artifacts were sometimes a bit sketchy. There's no need to overwhelm people with facts, but I think that a label should at least specify what material(s) an artifact is made from.
From the museum, I proceeded by bus and foot - not always in the right direction - back down to Circular Quay to meet my cousin who is staying with his grandparents near Manly. The two of us wandered through the center of Sydney, stopping off in the gorgeous Victorian era shopping center, the Victoria Building. It's a multi-level masterpiece full of wrought-iron detailing, twisty staircases and very posh stores. We poked our noses into several stores and then spent some serious time in an antique print shop drooling over hand coloured Gould animal prints. And one of us didn't walk out empty handed.
Down in the basement we had an inexpensive and very satisfying lunch at a great Thai/SE Asian cafe. It's the kind of food that sticks to the ribs and cleans out the sinuses. With any luck, the spices blew the last of the stale airplane air/germs out of my system.
After lunch, we proceeded back to Darling Harbor to see the Sydney Aquarium and the new adjoining Wildlife Center. The aquarium is definately the stronger of the two, full of tanks containing everything from massive crocs to tiny reef fish. Several of the large tanks can be viewed via underwater tunnels, allowing a panaromic view of the marine inhabitants. The highlights included some huge rays, some delicate baby sharks and the little penguins. But the best of all was the 'fish ballet', a tank where huge schools of fish glided by accompanied by excerpts from Saint-Saen's "Carnival of the Animals". It was as if the fish were swimming in time to the music, and the effect was positively mesmerizing.
The Wildlife Center contains a selection of typical Australian animals & insects in sparkling new exhibits. Not nearly enough birds for Duncan's taste, but it was fun to see animals that don't normally make it into zoos outside Australia. I sure hope I don't meet any of the insects or snakes in the wild - the very name rhinocerous cockroach gives me nightmares! The cassowary was fascinated by the little girl looking through the class and vice versa. And of course, there were the koalas who were holding a clinic in the various ways to sleep in a tree. Not even a twitch of a paw - these beasties take sleeping seriously. Apparently because their diet of eucalyd leaves is very nutrient poor, they sleep in order to preserve their energy for necessary things like eating.
After some more window shopping, Duncan headed back to Manly via ferry and I ambled over to the opera house. I've seen it so many times in photos and movies that it was quite a thrill to finally see it in person. With time to burn, I got a ticket for the final tour of the day. With just five of us (two Americans, a Swede and a Dutch couple), the tour was very intimate. The story behind the building is fascinating - the Danish architect who created the building has never seen the finished project, though his son - who is helping with work on redesigns to the interior - has been to Sydney. We were lucky enough to see the Sydney Symphony Orchestra rehearsing on the theatre-in-the-round stage of the concert hall. It's an immense complex containing two theatres with 1500+ seats, plus at least three other smaller performing spaces and several rooms for public or private events.
The day ended with an entertaining dinner with my friends at a local German restaurant. It's Oktoberfest time, so our hearty German fare was accompanied with German music, dancing and lots of leiderhosen. After a quick stop for tasty ice cream, it was home to rest the tired feet.
Hopefully the weather will improve tomorrow so I can start on the outside explorations of Sydney. And perhaps even squeeze in a surfing lesson at Bondi Beach!
Kate
One bag found and delivered, one to go. Still no clue as to why the poster decided not to proceed farther than London, but hopefully Qantas will shed some more light on the current situation when I can tomorrow. Either than or they're going to be coughing up the $80 or so to print a new poster.
My eyelids crashed & burned by 10pm last night, but so far the jet lag has been very tolerable. I think that by the time you travel half way around the world, your body is so confused that it doesn't know that it should be distressed. Today I went into Sydney, taking the morning express bus with my friend and her husband. The buses are efficient, but public transportation here is not generally a bargain. Tickets tend to be point to point with no free transfers, so the cost for a trip requiring multiple stops quickly escalates. So, as in Scotland, walking is the most practical and cost-effective method of getting around.
I started out with a quick trip to Darling Harbor to see a well-reviewed exhibit on the Great Wall of China at the Powerhouse Museum. First thing on a Monday morning the museum was relatively quiet, and the exhibit was fabulous. A nice selection of artifacts on loan from the National Museum of China were used to illustrate the history of the wall, tracing it from it's early beginnings to the present day. The museum pieces were complimented by videos of the wall and a well designed website, available to view on a huge computer screen. My only complaint would be that the descriptions of the artifacts were sometimes a bit sketchy. There's no need to overwhelm people with facts, but I think that a label should at least specify what material(s) an artifact is made from.
From the museum, I proceeded by bus and foot - not always in the right direction - back down to Circular Quay to meet my cousin who is staying with his grandparents near Manly. The two of us wandered through the center of Sydney, stopping off in the gorgeous Victorian era shopping center, the Victoria Building. It's a multi-level masterpiece full of wrought-iron detailing, twisty staircases and very posh stores. We poked our noses into several stores and then spent some serious time in an antique print shop drooling over hand coloured Gould animal prints. And one of us didn't walk out empty handed.
Down in the basement we had an inexpensive and very satisfying lunch at a great Thai/SE Asian cafe. It's the kind of food that sticks to the ribs and cleans out the sinuses. With any luck, the spices blew the last of the stale airplane air/germs out of my system.
After lunch, we proceeded back to Darling Harbor to see the Sydney Aquarium and the new adjoining Wildlife Center. The aquarium is definately the stronger of the two, full of tanks containing everything from massive crocs to tiny reef fish. Several of the large tanks can be viewed via underwater tunnels, allowing a panaromic view of the marine inhabitants. The highlights included some huge rays, some delicate baby sharks and the little penguins. But the best of all was the 'fish ballet', a tank where huge schools of fish glided by accompanied by excerpts from Saint-Saen's "Carnival of the Animals". It was as if the fish were swimming in time to the music, and the effect was positively mesmerizing.
The Wildlife Center contains a selection of typical Australian animals & insects in sparkling new exhibits. Not nearly enough birds for Duncan's taste, but it was fun to see animals that don't normally make it into zoos outside Australia. I sure hope I don't meet any of the insects or snakes in the wild - the very name rhinocerous cockroach gives me nightmares! The cassowary was fascinated by the little girl looking through the class and vice versa. And of course, there were the koalas who were holding a clinic in the various ways to sleep in a tree. Not even a twitch of a paw - these beasties take sleeping seriously. Apparently because their diet of eucalyd leaves is very nutrient poor, they sleep in order to preserve their energy for necessary things like eating.
After some more window shopping, Duncan headed back to Manly via ferry and I ambled over to the opera house. I've seen it so many times in photos and movies that it was quite a thrill to finally see it in person. With time to burn, I got a ticket for the final tour of the day. With just five of us (two Americans, a Swede and a Dutch couple), the tour was very intimate. The story behind the building is fascinating - the Danish architect who created the building has never seen the finished project, though his son - who is helping with work on redesigns to the interior - has been to Sydney. We were lucky enough to see the Sydney Symphony Orchestra rehearsing on the theatre-in-the-round stage of the concert hall. It's an immense complex containing two theatres with 1500+ seats, plus at least three other smaller performing spaces and several rooms for public or private events.
The day ended with an entertaining dinner with my friends at a local German restaurant. It's Oktoberfest time, so our hearty German fare was accompanied with German music, dancing and lots of leiderhosen. After a quick stop for tasty ice cream, it was home to rest the tired feet.
Hopefully the weather will improve tomorrow so I can start on the outside explorations of Sydney. And perhaps even squeeze in a surfing lesson at Bondi Beach!
Kate
posted by Scottish Missy at 4:42 AM
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