Sydney for Two

Well, I have finished with the first phase of my trip (work), and with the arrival of the lovely lady Rachel, have officially entered playtime! We had a week together in Sydney, which was mostly a cloudy one. But we had a relaxing time, and found some interesting things to do.

it's me, rachel, in the italics. leaving floyd was bittersweet--i was sad to leave it, but so excited to get here to see luke again. honestly, i was a little nervous to see luke again--would i still feel the same? would he? yes. and yes. it was a wonderful feeling to get back to him, and to be in such an amazing place together. sydney is a beautiful city, and the apartment that luke acquired for us (through work trade, bless his heart) was cozy and in a great location.

Here is a photo of the Eveleigh Farmer's Market, which was right next door to our apartment. We tasted all kinds of local food and wine, and left with bellies full, arms loaded with produce, and smiles on our faces. our apartment was in an area of the city called newtown--very vibrant and bustling. lots of interesting restaurants, op shops (thrift stores), art galleries, coffee houses, and pubs. the farmers market was in this huge building that looks like it used to be some kind of forge--there are three old steam hammers still in there--connected to the carriage house across the courtyard. there were so many amazing stands--beautiful fruits and veggies, wines, meats, cheeses, prepared foods, and more--all locally grown and produced. the close location was invaluable to our stay-at-home dinners and breakfasts.

Saturday we visited the Chinese Gardens of Friendship in Darling Harbour, downtown Sydney. the gardens are in the middle of this busy public space, but you get inside and it is calm and peaceful and you can't even hear the city. the paths wind around and around, so this small, one hectare garden feels much bigger. many of the rocks, plants, and animals (birds, lizards, etc.) were brought over from china. the big pond and waterfalls made for a cool break from our hot day in the city.

Sydney was quite a spectacle Saturday night. The Harbour was bustling with lively crowds, and the lights shimmered in the water. After attending a symphony performance at the the Sydney Opera House on Friday, we decided to have a look at the REAL cultural center of Sydney... Luna Park. While we were there, I took some photos of and from the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge. It is quite an impressive structure up close.

the smoky, cloud-like wisps floating by the bridge is actually smoke from a fireworks display that surprised us as we left luna park. we still don't know what they were for, but they were beautiful. we didn't get the camera set up in time to capture the fireworks themselves, so the next best thing is the smoke, i suppose.this was taken from the harbor bridge. we walked back across after visting luna park. it's a long bridge with impressive ironwork. the curves of the structure above us, and the beautiful city below us made for a lovely evening stroll...even with the rumble of the cars speeding by.
Well, there you see us posing in front of the opera house, naturally. it took us a few shots to get this decent one. luke was enjoying fiddling with his tripod, exposure settings, and self-portraits. we had to sit still for several seconds because of a long exposure time. i guess i don't sit still very well (who'd have guessed?) because i was alwasys blurry. i don't know how people stood stone still for minutes on end to get some of the pictures you see from 100 years ago! On Friday afternoon, we toured the interior of the complex, including its 5 main venues and striking lobby spaces. Architect Jorn Utzon and his engineer solved an array of unsolvable problems and defeated unfathomable odds (not without some drama) to complete the structure, and only went about 1500% over the original budget. I think everybody now agrees it was worth it. look at luke's last post to see some photos of the opera house from the outside that he took before i arrived.

Here she is, my lovely date to the symphony... enjoying a meal on the Harbour before heading into the concert hall.

Our last day in Sydney, we rode a bus out to Bondi Beach to have a look at the annual exhibition called "Sculpture by the Sea." It was a nice 2km walk along the coast, on a clear and windy day, with sculptures sited dramatically along the path.
this was the most amazing installation; the favorite of both luke and i. it was a bunch of flags positioned to catch the constant wind coming off the sea and up the cliffs. the bright fabrics flapping in the wind created a hypnotic show of ceaseless movement and sound.
So many of the sculptures were wonderfully concieved, beautifully executed, and well positioned in the landscape. But I think Rachel agrees with me that the true winner here was the sandstone cliffs... sculpted by wind and rain and time into an intricate lacework of niches and ridges reminiscent of some of the microscopic sea life which undoubtedly lives just beneath the waves breaking on the rocks below.

our week in sydney was really lovely. we have been in melbourne a couple of days now, and are actually getting ready to head to hobart, the capital city of tasmania, tomorrow morning. we will spend the weekend there (yay, beer festival!), then pick up our rental car for a week's drive around the island. we are both looking forward to getting out of the city for a while...