Gallivanting Grandma

Saturday – November 17, 2018

We’re having a great time in Sydney we and love exploring this dynamic city. It’s too bad Australia is so far from home. It’s a wonderful city to visit. Our hotel is located in the historic “Rocks” district so we learned about the redeveloped waterfront neighborhood. High-end modern shops and restaurants in the old buildings:

“The Rocks” was the original 19th century port of Sydney filled with commercial sailing ships, whaling vessels, and ferries.  It flourished with warehouses, chandleries, and houses for dock workers.  One side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which was built in 1932, is anchored in the Rocks.

Everyday, we saw people climb the steps to reach the top of the Bridge in all kinds of weather. There are 1,332 steps to the top. Climbers wear special suits and harnesses. It must be a fantastic view!  We were NOT tempted to do the climb.

Climbers are not allowed to take any personal belongings with them, including cameras. Guides take photos of the adventurers at the top of the bridge. I would be very frustrated not to have my camera.

On Saturdays and Sundays the end of George Street was closed to traffic and a fun weekend market was set up.  They sold everything from jewelry, masks, juice, food, soap products, craft beer, tee-shirts, corn on the cob, clothes, and tourist souvenirs.

Face painting at the market:

It was spring in Australia so the beautiful blue Jacaranda trees were in bloom everywhere.  This one was in a narrow alleyway between buildings in the Rocks:

There were many good restaurants, cafes, and boutiques in the historic buildings:

Warm weather brought out musicians working for donations:

People rested on comfortable bean-chairs on the ground while they enjoyed the music:

This fellow always attracted a crowd:

This is a birds-eye view of the Rocks along the approach to the bridge:

Sunset beyond the Sydney Harbour Bridge:

Friday – November 16, 2018

People told us that Australian weather was unpredictable and it changes quickly, so I carried an umbrella & rain jacket in my daypack. This morning was a lovely 68 degrees with large puffy clouds rolling against a bright blue sky.  We really like Sydney and are having fun exploring. We’re gradually working down our list of “Things to Do in Sydney.”

We passed Sydney’s Public Library:

We walked through the Royal Botanical Gardens.  I love botanical gardens and I could spend many days exploring the beautifully landscaped scenery and reading the signs that identify Australian plants and trees.  This goes back to my youth in the Bronx because my grandparents lived within walking distance of the N.Y. Botanical Gardens.  My brother and I spent many summer days wandering around the Gardens, admiring beautiful native and non-native trees and plants.

A gorgeous Banyan tree:

Australia has an incredible diversity of unusual vegetation.

This was the entrance to a special exhibit of carnivorous plants.  It was called, “Plants That Bite!”

On the other side of the Botanical Gardens is the Art Gallery of New South Wales.  This is Sydney’s major art museum with exhibits from around the world, including Aboriginal art.

Neither the Botanical Gardens or the Art Gallery charged an admittance fee.  All public museums in Sydney were free, but sometimes there was a charge to see special exhibits.

The exterior of the Gallery was neo-classic Australian sandstone, but the interior of the building was quite modern.  Contemporary art was displayed next to classic works.

It was a treat to see Aboriginal art and learn that recognition was given to the artists.

We spent several hours exploring the Art Gallery and saw a variety of artistic works.

On our way out of the Gallery, we saw a pair of colorful birds perched on a wire.  They’re native to the state of New South Wales and the city of Sydney.

Thursday – November 15, 2018

My alarm chirped at 5:00 AM this morning and we were showered, dressed, and walking to the Sydney Opera House by 5:45.  The sun was rising over Woolloomooloo Bay and cast a warm glow on the CBD buildings.

A single ferry moved in the bay, but otherwise the harbour was deserted.  A few days ago we made reservations for an early morning Backstage Tour of the SOH (Aussies shorten everything) so here we were enjoying an early morning stroll around Circular Quay.

We arrived at the Stage Door in plenty of time for the 7:00 tour. Our small group of seven people were given bright green security vests and I.D. badges with our names printed on them to wear during the tour.

The first place we visited was backstage of the Joan Sutherland Theater.  Today the venue is primarily used for operas, ballet performances, and contemporary music concerts.  It was named for the “dramatic coloratura” Australian soprano Dame Joan Sutherland. We started in the orchestra pit.  I stood on the box where Richard Bonynge and other famous conductors directed the pit orchestras.  It was a tangle of music stands, chairs, wires, and ropes.

This was the view the musicians see of the Joan Sutherland Theater from the orchestra pit:

We passed Joan Sutherland’s dressing room, currently being used by the Prima Ballerina of the current ballet.

It was ballet season at the SOH and the stage was set for that night’s performance of Spartacus.  Nonetheless, here’s a view of the theater from the stage.  This was the view seen by Joan Sutherland, Kiri Te Kanawa, Luciano Pavarotti, Paul Robeson, Brigit Nilsson, Sammy Davis Jr., Ella Fitzgerald, and President Nelson Mandela among other famous people.

This is my photo of “The Green Room” where performers relax, grab a snack, play a game of pool, or chat with each other between acts.

I did a double-take when passing an office.  Queen Elizabeth officially opened the SOH in 1973, but she wasn’t there on the day we visited!

We also saw the magnificent Concert Hall where large musical events are held for 2600 people.  The Australian Orchestra plays here and contemporary musicians play concerts regularly.  Jeff got a chance to conduct:

Jeff stood next to the gigantic case of a Double Bass.

Since it was still early when we finished the Backstage Tour, we hopped on a ferry and rode out to Manly Beach.  Manly looked like any beach town: tacky souvenir shops, stores selling surf boards, towels, & bathing suits, also restaurants, cafes, and bars.

The beach was lovely.  It was windy and the surf was up!

We had fun watching the surfers.  They seemed to glide on the water. The wind picked up and more surfers appeared.

Eventually, we walked back to the ferry dock.  The city of Manly put up their Christmas tree although it’s only the middle of November.

Manly is a suburb of Sydney and a 30 minute ferry ride away from the city.  What fun it must be for surfers and other young athletes to live and work here.

Wednesday – November 14, 2018

There was a light rain falling this morning – misting really, 63 degrees.  Just enough rain to clear the streets of the Central Business District (everyone here calls it the CBD) of tourists and office workers.  We walked up George Street, the main street in Sydney to explore and learn more about the city.

Construction is everywhere!  New tall modern buildings are being built wherever we look and George Street is torn up because of construction of a new light-rail system.  A shop keeper who was complaining about the “never ending” disruption, said Sydney “has the second highest number of construction cranes, after Abu Dhabi.”  We walked to the famous Queen Victoria Building:

The QVB (Aussies shorten everything) was built in 1898 and takes up a whole city block.  It was built of Sydney sandstone and proudly stands among modern skyscrapers as a reminder of Sydney’s past.  Originally a marketplace, today it houses high-end shops and boutiques on three floors.

There is a Tea Room tucked away on an upper floor which serves High Tea daily.  I was told those are Baccarat crystal chandeliers:

There were cafes and coffee shops:

And Santa was having a conversation with a young dad and child:

Later we walked down Market Street to explore Darling Harbor.  It had stopped raining by the time we crossed Pyrmont Bridge, but was gray and overcast.

This is the area of Sydney’s huge Convention Center so there are theaters, hotels, restaurants, bars, cafes, a shopping mall, a ferris wheel, and 2 ferry docking stations.  Modern apartment buildings line the harbor all around.  There are also several museums and attractions nearby and the Australian National Maritime Museum.  It’s a happening place!

The Maritime Museum had an array of sail and power boats as well as a submarine and a war ship.  Below is the Carpentaria Lightship that was in service from 1917 to 1985 in the Gulf of Carpentaria on the northern coast of Australia.

We used our Opal Cards to ride the ferry back to our hotel near Circular Quay.  It was a fun day!

Tuesday – November 13, 2018

We woke up to a beautiful sunny day in Sydney with the temperature about 67 degrees Fahrenheit.  During the week we traveled around the interior of Australia, we never saw any wild animals.  Australia is known for its exotic only-place-in-the-world animals and we wanted to see them before we left the country.  So today we went to Taronga Zoo which is a short ferry ride across the harbour from the CBD of Sydney. That’s another cruise ship tied up at the dock in the photo below.  There seems to be a new one every other day.

After a 10-minute ferry ride, we boarded an ariel tram-way to the top of the steep hill where the zoo is located.  It’s a fun ride because the cars float over the zoo and travelers can look down on the animal’s pens.

The first exhibit we saw was the “Koala Walkabout.”  We did the walking.  The koala, which are known to sleep for 18 to 20 hours a day, were dozing off.  But cute anyway!

We heard very loud squawking and followed the sound to a peacock who was strutting his stuff:

On our way to the Aviary – bird enclosure, I spotted a “wild” animal.  I guess this Australian water dragon lives in the zoo on his own and easily finds food.  Or he escaped from one of the tanks in the reptile house.  I did a Google search to find out that this lizard is common in and around Sydney and New South Wales.  It was about 10 inches long.

My photos in the Aviary weren’t very good, but here is a picture of an Eclectus Parrot:

We went into the building that houses nocturnal animals and I tried to take photos but none of them worked well.  Too dark.  Outside the building I saw an echidna and took a picture.  They’re also known as spiny anteaters and are one of four mammals that lay eggs.  We saw several platypus inside a building, as well as wombats, bandicoots, quokkas, quolls, and Tasmanian devils.

We followed signs to the “Kangaroos” and were surprised to see a sign near the entrance that read “Hop In.”  So we entered the kangaroo enclosure and saw kangaroos, wallabies, and emus “up close and personal.”  All the animals totally ignored the people walking along the path through their cage!  The kangaroos were resting and the wallabies were eating.  Unbelievable!!

Some kind of pelican:

A Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo asleep in a tree fern:

Komodo dragon lizard – also sleeping:

Australian brushturkey aka bush turkey picking up crumbs on a table in the snack bar of the zoo:

It was fun to finally see Australian animals!  We rode the ferry back to downtown Sydney: