Sydney Opera House -- Tues afternoon 12/06/16

A very full and special day -- morning at Taronga zoo, and an expert-led guided tour of Sydney's Opera House in the afternoon, followed by an evening performance in the Joan Sutherland Theatre of The Australian Ballet's, Coppélia.  Can it get any better?  I don't think so.  Way to go, Road Scholar!

Yes, it is iconic, a veritable celebrity in its own right, the Sydney Opera House.

From the ferry, our RS group walked around Circular Quay to the elegant Opera House, where we'd meet up with our tour guide.  I was amazed, more like appalled, at multiple tour groups, thronged with loud people crowding the entry, strident voices all seemingly trying to outdo each other.  We were jammed slap in the middle.  What else would you expect, I suppose, when today it's one of the world’s busiest performing arts centres and Australia’s number one destination, with more than 8.2 million visitors, 363 days a year -- that's a whole lot of people.  Our tour tickets purchased, we waited our turn to enter.  A few groups followed ours, but the Opera House is large enough that, once inside, there's room for everyone. 

Above, we're checking out one of the large foyers which had installed a regal-looking purple carpet, perhaps to make the room look majestic.  A quirky story is on the Internet about Luciano Pavarotti refusing to step on this purple carpeting because, "in Italy, purple is an unlucky color, and it would be bad luck for me," tho I don't know if it's true.

Layered roof lines!  They look like sails.

Apart from glass curtain walls in the foyer, the building's exterior is largely clad with aggregate panels composed of pink granite quarried at the small town of Tarana in NSW, and interior surface treatments also include off-form concrete.  For the life of me, I studied and I looked and I simply cannot figure out how the inside is put together.

Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, the building was formally opened on October 20, 1973 after a prolonged gestation beginning with Utzon's 1957 selection as winner of an international design competition. A long story between the initial stage and the final stage can be found all over the 'net.  Handsome native Australian white birch plywood and something called brush box glulam are used to good effect inside.

I wish I could fill you with technical detail, but I discovered this link that you can copy and paste in another tab, which gives a wonderful, brief overview, accompanied by the lilting music of Scheherazade.  From there you can go in any direction to explore further, and it's well worth the effort, IMO.

Of course, this fantastic building is on UNESCO's World Heritage Site (2007) and the Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks added in 2021, plus several other distinguished lists.  Rightly so.

The Opera House isn't just one particular venue -- it hosts seven flagship performing arts companies: Opera Australia, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Sydney Theatre Company, The Australian Ballet, Bell Shakespeare and Bangarra Dance Theatre.

Tonight we sat in stellar seats to watch the Ballet's performance of Coppélia.  Mind you, we knew nothing of Coppélia beforehand, but it was a delight, and we had such a great time watching this family-oriented, comic ballet that premiered in France in 1870 ... so while we've been napping, it's been around a long time!

Standing between two of the largest shells (as they're called),

you can see why this section is affectionately known as "the cleavage."

I believe I mentioned in a previous post that the roof tiles actually feature a subtle chevron pattern, composed of more than a million tiles in two colors: glossy white and matte cream.  The cream tiles keep the roof from becoming blinding in direct sunlight (tho it can be bright), and the mix allows the roof to take on the shade of its surroundings.  The tiles are very striking seen in person.

Our tour took us all over the Opera House, up and down stairs, even into a theater where rehearsals were being held (very quiet, please), but as we entered, the troupe left for lunch.  When the tour was over, we returned to our hotel for dinner and to change clothes into something a little more suitable for "going to a ballet."  Since everyone is living out of a suitcase for a month, we didn't have fancy finery to wear, but we fit right in.  Dress codes have relaxed!

Jimmy is waiting for our evening performance to begin.
Of course, no photos were allowed in the theaters.

Not easy to get a nighttime shot of the Opera House because of all the extraneous lighting. 

The show ended after 10pm, and we joined the departing crowd inching along toward the exits. Our coach was waiting coach for us on a nearby street, and we strolled along the quay into the lit-up and still warm Sydney night. This would be a late night for us. Wow.

Even the Harbour Bridge takes on a new persona at night.

So ended our superb day, almost.  Back at the hotel, we had to pack and be ready for tomorrow's departure.  Although we've seen only a fraction of Sydney, it has been smashing.  Where to next, you wonder?  Melbourne, and new adventures on Australia's south coast.

Sydney Harbor Cruise, Sunday, 12/4/16

For our first morning in Sydney, Road Scholar had us out for an introductory walk to the harbour beneath the Big Bridge, exploring the area known as "The Rocks," led by our site coordinator, Brian, and gaining insights into Sydney's colonial past.  Haha, something Brian said initially was that Sydney was full of cranes, and I whooped with joy, so to speak, thinking Whooping or Sandhill Cranes ... till I realized he was speaking of giant building cranes.  Oh well!  We did see plenty of them, like a city stretching its neck up and up.

We covered quite a bit of ground, eventually ending up at Scarlett's for a pretty darned good lunch.  I enjoyed the delightful fresh table flowers.

After lunch our Road Scholar group walked to Circular Quay (pronounced key), where we boarded the John Cadman II for our two-hour Captain Cook harbour cruise, an activity everyone was looking forward to.  The weather was warm with intermittent clouds and sun, and the boat had plenty of roaming room.

Motley crew?

None of us sat for very long before we were up and ogling the scenery.

Once aboard and under way, I can tell you we didn't have to listen to a canned spiel that couldn't be heard under any conditions, no matter where you might be, inside or out.  I'm happy to report we had a live, "champion MC" (with a great sense of humor) to provide the commentary about what we were seeing.  Very cool.

Ibby, Bernice and me in front of (or behind?) the Opera House.

1816-2016 [near the water line]

Celebrating 200 years of the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney with a year-long party.

Fort Denison Lighthouse, with its Martello Tower.  Sydney Harbour has roughly 150 miles (240 km) of foreshore, of which the city claims 37 miles (60 km) -- that's a huge harbour.  It has a number of islands:  Shark, Clark, Goat, Rodd, and the rocky island, Mattewai, that means "touch the sky," aka "Pinchgut."  Up until 1857 the common practice was to maroon disobedient convicts on this island.

The skyline is already high and apparently reaching upward.

I've never seen so many boats of every size, style and description in a harbor, ever.

This appears to a sailboat race.

One of the racing sailboats.

Apparently a rite of passage for high schoolers at the end of year -- leaping off the rocks into the water.  I'm not sure how chilly this water is, but they're young ... they'll survive and laugh it off!

Hornby Light.  Beyond is the Tasman Sea!

Um ... it was actually fairly good, kinda.

Admiralty House on the harbour northern foreshore is the official Sydney residence of the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia.  Once known as "Wotonga," it has commanding views across Sydney Harbour to the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.  The original building on the site was completed, as a private dwelling, in mid-to-late 1843.  I think it's open to the public once a year, usually in spring, though security concerns may not allow this anymore.  Too bad, it'd be grand to see inside.

Some of our group mixed in with other passengers, looking up at the bridge walkers. Truly, about four supports to the right of the flags, you can see maybe six or eight people, all but invisible to the naked eye (they look smaller than ants).  You'll have to enlarge the photo once or twice to see them.

Part of Darling Harbour fanfare.

Sailorman is in hog-heaven!

Harbour ferries go back and forth.

I'd rate this cruise an A+ for anyone who wants a good overview of big, beautiful Sydney and its environs, plus a fair amount of history while on board.

* * * * *

We surveyed our hotel after the cruise, and I spied an indoor swimming pool on the seventh floor, down one from our room on the 8th.  Woo-hoo, maybe in the morning .... 😤

The group sauntered along the western fringe of Darling Harbour to rendezvous for a dinner at Blue Fish.  The day was still so fine we sat inside, but the restaurant was all open to the outdoors.  Very nice. You might recognize those two at the back left with their arms in the air.  Uh-huh, me and Jimmy.  Fun to be a part of this great group.

Jimmy:  Fish and chips, left.  Nickie:  Grilled Lemon Sole.

How'd I do?

I think I did a good job cleaning my fish -- it was delish!

Walking back toward our hotel along the waterfront.

Never saw a graceful water fountain like this one.

It worked, and the water tasted fine.

I whispered my "wish list" to the scariest-looking Santa ever!

And then got the heck away from him!

An enjoyable first-full-day in Australia.  Look at these city lights!  Arm-in-arm, Jimmy and I weren't in a hurry and took our sweet time returning to our hotel.  It was a relaxed ending to lovely, lovely day.

Holy Moly, we're in Sydney! Sat, 12/03/16

Pinch me!  How many years ago did I dream of going to Australia?  Way more than I care to admit. And now ... here I am, me and Jimmy together on an Australian adventure with our Road Scholar group.  We'll have two weeks to scope out this Downunder continent, including four days in Sydney. Two weeks that will fly by like a boomerang that'll carry us back to the Sydney airport and home.

Our base in Sydney is Novotel Rockford Darling Harbour Hotel, in the heart of Darling Harbour, within walking distance to Chinatown, and adjacent to the city centre.  Darling Harbour is a large recreational and pedestrian area, a spot I'm sure we'll frequent.

This striking mural of Aboriginal Activist elder, Jenny Munro, by street artist Matt Adnate, is painted on the far side of our white 10-story hotel, looming over the busy intersection of Harbour and Goulburn streets near the Chinese Gardens.  Framed by dripping blue, black and red paint, Ms Munro looks into the distance with a mountain sunrise painted in her irises.  Hers is a face filled with reflection and strong resolve.  It's a wonderful visage and looks even more impressive in person.

Did you know you can climb to the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge?  For a hefty price, that is, and it's one whale of a hefty climb.  No one in our group wanted to spend most of a whole day doing this.

One side of Darling Harbour.

(The harbour is named after Lieutenant-General Ralph Darling, who was Governor of New South Wales from 1825 to 1831. The area was originally known as Long Cove, but was generally referred to as Cockle Bay until 1826 when Governor Darling renamed it after himself.)  Why not?

Well, you know, it's a requisite to have your picture taken with the Opera House as a backdrop!  It's nice and warm in Sydney, and those clouds will dissipate.

I loved the look of this old Australian Steamship Navigation Company (ASNC) brick warehouse at The Rocks in the midst of modern Sydney.  It was completed in 1884.  It seems to fit right in.

Me and Albert posing in front of a handsome Sydney Sandstone wall (on the Hilton, I think), which we'll see all over the city. The quality of the sandstone known to Sydneysiders as Yellow block became well known early on and was used extensively. Many of these early sandstone buildings remain, including cathedrals, public buildings, colleges, and so on. Really attractive stone.

We didn't see much smoking while in NZ.  I spotted this empty pack on a Sydney quay and thought it shockingly apt.  And get this:  The price of a pack of smokes here is $24.00.  One pack!  Geez.  Who could afford to eat AND smoke?

At the outdoor market:  These two guys -- Father and Son -- were so good that Albert bought their CD. After listening awhile, so did we, both "Beginnings" and "The Bridge."  They even personally autographed each one!

This old post box is still used, and not just as a leaning post (pun intended). 😀

Our little group was joined by two lively New Yorkers, Carolyn and Larry, who will tour Australia with us before moving on to Perth to visit their son. They may be in their early 80's, but they won't be easy to keep up with! With their addition, we are now 17 intrepid spirits looking for kangaroos (but probably not in Sydney!). On our first evening here, the group will have a buffet dinner in the hotel, with "Welcome to Australia" wine.  We're easy to spot with our black and red backpacks on (above).

This is a big city -- nearly five million strong, Australia's largest city.  Not bad for a remote spot on earth that began as a prison colony a couple hundred years ago.  With a temperate climate, it's very easy to see why it grew.

Can you find the Noisy miner (Manorina melanocephala) in the tree fronds above?  It's a bird in the honeyeater family endemic to eastern and south-eastern Australia.  Look closely or enlarge the pic.

Nope, the roof tiles are not white.  Though they appear uniformly white from a distance, they actually feature a subtle chevron pattern composed of 1,056,006 tiles in two colors: glossy white and matte cream.  We'll have a guided tour of the Opera House on Tuesday. Wow!

The Australian white Ibis (Threskiornis moluccus) is widespread across much of Australia. It has predominantly white plumage with a bare, black head, long down-curved bill and black legs. What the Aussies say, is:  If you want to find one of these dudes, look for a rubbish bin.  They are real pests.

Innovative!

We are very excited to be in/on this huge country/continent.  Tomorrow we'll be up and going, seeing much of iconic Sydney.  Oh boy!