Sydney Sights

Iconic view of the Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Opera House

From Melbourne we flew next to Sydney in New South Wales, the largest city in Australia.  What comes to mind when you think of Sydney --  the Opera House, of course.  And it did not disappoint with its unique soaring sails architecture. We walked through the large Royal Botanic Gardens, a sweeping green expanse in the center of the city, to get to the harbor front where the opera house is located. 

The Sydney Opera House was designed by Jørn Utzon, an architect from Denmark. Construction was begun in 1959 but encountered many delays and cost over runs before finally opening for performances in 1973. The architect, who had quit the project in disgust partway through the construction over political interference, never actually saw his finished work in person before he died in 2008.

 
Even though the grand arching white sail structures look white from a distance, closer inspection reveals that they are in fact made up of over a million small textured tiles--sort of like a quilt that has a lot of small pieces that make one overall grand design.

The Sydney Opera House was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.

 

We took a harbor ferry from the Circular Quay to get a better sense of the city layout, see the sights, and enjoy a glorious day on the water.  Along the way we saw:

 Replica of Captain James Cook's HMB Endeavour

 

Modern city skyline from the harbor

World's largest steel arch bridge

People climbing the bridge (with safety harnesses), after paying a hefty fee

Also in Sydney, we enjoyed viewing an art exhibition at the Public Library of New South Wales entitled PLANTING DREAMS.  I thought of Opa and his love of a garden!

             In Hyde Park, we stopped to reflect at the pool in front of the ANZAC War Memorial and then went to the Art Museum to see an Australian aboriginal collection.  This was my favorite stop as I was so inspired to design a quilt pattern from some of this work.  Although, as you can see, this piece of art was bigger than a quilt would be--but I loved the earthy tonal colors.

A collection of Aboriginal spears

Wall art showing various cultural motifs

I was so engrossed in the display that I stayed till closing time

This piece of art even seemed to have "large stitch" quilting on it!

                      We also took a long hike along the shores of Sydney harbor to Watsons Bay.

                    Yes, the water IS cold, even though it is summertime in December!!!

Next we drove along the coast to a world famous surfing spot called Bondi Beach. During the winter waves here can reach spectacular heights-- just like in Hawai'i (and I wondered if Lindsay's nephew, Kirk, had ever surfed here?)

However, the waves weren't up today -- water was calm and beach was empty.

On another day, we went to the Royal National Park outside of Sydney and hiked the coastal trail. 

Don't get too close to the edge at Lookout Point !!

Part of the hike was in shady forest

And part of the hike was along the beach

Wave crashing on tidal pools

wildlife

and ME!!  These figure 8 pools have eroded into the tidal basin and

they were just large enough and deep enough for a DIP!!

After my swim, we headed back toward the trail head on this nice boardwalk as the sun set --

                             Come follow us as we climb up to the Blue Mountains of Australia next!