Sydney - The Last Full Day & On Our Way Home

It looks as if the master plan, devised over months of hard work, has been brought to a successful conclusion. This portion is being written on the plane as we prepare to leave Sydney.{and posted on the return to New York}

On the last full day we again went through the Botanical Gardens on our way to the shopping arcades of central Sydney. Once again we saw the cheeky cockatoos and some horticultural extravagances. Emma managed to find yoga pants at David Jones department store but nothing was found at the famous Strand Arcade aside from its antique beauty.

Note: I can boast that I made it through two weeks in New Zealand and five weeks in Australia without a single dollar in my pocket. Emma handled the money and all transactions, thus insuring there was no carelessness in financial matters.

The day finished with a stunning preview performance of Brecht's "Arturo Ui." It was mesmerizing both in the acting and the production. Hugo Weaving, one of Australia's leading actors, who I recall as Agent Smith in "The Matrix" and Elron in "Lord of the Rings,"played Arturo UI.

The staging was noteworthy because it combined conventional stage performance with live video taken by four cameramen moving about on stage and projected on a large screen at the back of the stage. The details shown by the video closeups greatly enhanced the dramatic effect.

Locations in green, hotels in orange, flights with NZ or QF prefix, some restaurants circled.

Except for taking one day away from Bundaberg and adding it to Sydney in the last week, we kept to our original plan.

This does not do justice to the flower displays. They were still in summer bloom. Intermittent showers did not interfere.

The cockatoo's yellow crest has many feathers which can make a splendid display but usually look like a single horn.

This wall used plants to beautifully spell "pollination," the theme of a special exhibit.

Magnificent tree.

The Strand Arcade

Civilized touch: Construction site has screening printed with plant imagery. We saw this practice in many places.

Some products provide the frisson of eating shit with Australian ecological connections. I can confirm the accuracy of the shape of the kangaroo poo and the koala poo because we saw them on some of our hikes.

Souvenirs

The cast takes a bow after an electrifying performance of Brecht's "Arturo Ui." It's full title is "The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui." It was Brecht's 1941 depiction of Hitler's rise in the tale of a vicious, charismatic gangster taking over the vegetable trade in two cities.

Final view of the opera house on the walk back from the theater.

For the last breakfast in Sydney I eliminated the chorizos, the cheese, the avocado and the tomatoes. I just had scrambled eggs (to which I added baby capers) toast and baked beans. In addition I had honeycomb, kiwi fruit and lychee.

The Sydney airport, like many others, has been turned into a shopping mall obstacle course. I saw some monks practicing the contemporary version of Buddhism at a souvenir shop.

Sydney - The Penultimate Full Day

It was finally cloudy and rainy, for which I was extremely grateful. We started with a walk through the Botanical Gardens which is just opposite our hotel. That walk showed us a flock of cockatoos with no more fear of humans than NY pigeons. It eventually led us to the Sydney Opera House from another angle and gave us time to look into some of its external details, including the tiles we did not know covered it. (Some critics have referred to them as "bathroom tiles."

Next stop was the Sydney Aquarium. At first we were sorely disappointed. It was a highly controlled series of passages and nooks, somewhat shabby, overcrowded and claustrophobic. The last quarter was good, dealing with the Barrier Reef, the rooms opened up and the tanks were much larger. Observation of the endangered dugong was a highlight as was the final panoramic window full of colorful corals and the penguin section.

After that we took a taxi to Balmain, a classy internal suburb.
There, Emma bought a summer dress and we walked a few kilometers down Darling St, its main thoroughfare. When we asked a woman who was leaving a shop how far it was to the ferry (our intention being to take one from Balmain to Circular Quay near our hotel) she said "Hop in, I'll drive you there." And she did, about a kilometer on. The rain came down heavily as we waited on the covered barge which serves as a ferry stop. The $7.20 price asked by the automated ticket machine for the 20-minute ride to Circular Quay seemed high. But transit prices are generally high here. A bus ride can vary from $3.50 to $5.50 depending on the time of day. (Australian dollars)

After a short rest we took a taxi to the Paddington inner suburb for a much-anticipated dinner at Saint Peter, a young chef's restaurant which has collected a lot of buzz. It was disappointing, not bad but lacking true hospitality and not at the level we look for. And so, we walked a bit on Oxford St. the main drag and took a taxi back. So ended the penultimate full day in Sydney.

Going to bed at about 8:30 a brief but spectacular burst of fireworks sounded out, drew us to the window and lit up the park across from us. I was too slow to get a photo. 

Once again the photos have uploaded out of order and I am pressed for time so I will leave them out of order.

Calamari at Saint Peter in Paddington. There was an ink sauce underneath which the waiter didn't tell be about until I was a third into it.

The woman who gave us a lift in Balmain.

Proof that Balmain is upscale.

Darling St., Balmain

Proof that Balmain cares for dogs.

Sawfish

Coral

Coral with large clam and anemones

Feeding time.

Penguins swimming

Ray moving overhead in viewing tunnel.

Dugong - aquatic, air-breathing mammal, vegetarian.

Rockfish, master of camouflage, highly poisonous spines.

Touching the tiles on the Sydney Opera House.

Seabird

Art in Botanical Gardens.

Cockatoo in Botanical Gardens.

Seen from the Botanical Gardens, our room in the Sir Stamford Hotel is second from the left on the top floor.

Sydney 2

First came the Rocks, an old neighborhood of Sydney with some narrow lanes, small shops with some temptations, ibises with the nerve of city pigeons and disappointing aboriginal art. Then, Surrey Hills, a somewhat tony section with a store that sold me a t-shirt printed with koi fish and wrapped it in the Japanese style. Next the Victoria Building, a fancy shopping mall with a piano player playing classical music and some odd shops aside from the usual suspects. Late lunch at the Fish Market before returning for the by-now regular late afternoon nap. Finished the day with a lavish, first-class performance of La Traviata at the very impressive and civilized Sydney Opera House. The Australian soprano Nicole Carr gave a wonderful performance as Violetta.

Lane in the Rocks section of Sydney.

I could see myself in this.

Urban ibis

Aboriginal craft store, alas, no better than MOMA's application of Matisse to coffee mugs.

Old and new in the Rocks

Old

More old and new.

How a t-shirt is wrapped in a shop in the Surrey Hills section of Sydney.

A luxurious shopping mall is inside the Victoria Building in central Sydney

Impressive, complicated clock. Three levels of shops, cafes and restaurants.

Clock detail with scenes from Australian history and ship moving around notable bays.

Mosaic tile floors

Glass dome.

Store selling exquisitely detailed toy soldiers, each in the multi-hundred dollar range. This window displayed the 1917 charge of the Australian Light Horse against the Turks at Beersheva, Palestine.

Live classical music of a high quality.

Stained glass window

This represents the lunch we had at the Sydney Fish Market

Two Divas

Upper bar at Sydney Opera House with wonderful panoramic view of the harbor.

Pre-opera drinks were enhanced (aside from the Japanese snacks thoughtfully provided by Emma) by the departure of a cruise boat.

The opera bar has a very accommodating procedure by which you can start a bottle before the opera and finish it during an intermission - or "interval" as they say here.

For early arrivals the opera also has a photographer offering free photos and posting them on line for you to download.