Back to Sydney now after the Canberra excursion. I was locationally challenged at first what with staying in Paddington, shopping in Oxford Street and hiring a car in Kings Cross! But it is a place that lives up to its billing. The Opera House/Harbour Bridge site is well known but fabulous when seen from different angles and perspectives. I was particularly surprised by the roof which is hardly ever seen in the tourist photos. It has a tiled, herringbone look that is distinctive [see photo]. We walked across the Bridge, didn't do the climb over the top, and I found out lots of info about the building of it from a display in one of the stone pylons, eg, that 6 million rivets were used in its construction, completed in the early 30s.
But there are other wonderful sights too. The contrasting City and Botanical Gardens, lots of idyllic little bays and beaches, ferries scuttling backwards and forwards across the Harbour {we went to Manly in one} and some great coastal walks; the photo is the lighthouse at the end of one of them, Watson's Bay which also boasts a favourite suicide spot!
We ventured down to the City centre on Australia day,or Invasion day if you're one of the first Australians! It was noisy and busy and not wholehearted I didn't think perhaps because many are troubled by what it is celebrating.
We have been in Sydney for a week now, staying with old friends of Gilly. Mike and Coleen, in the posh Paddington district which is central and very handy for all sights. 2 to be going on with: the famous Bondi beach, engorged with beautiful and young, people, sorry cynical just jealous! And the old member's pavilion at the SCG ( Sydney Cricket Ground for the non cricketers) where we went to see the Aussies thrash Pakistan-BOO. I was interested to note that the behaviour of the supporters was worse than in UK resulting in many being thrown out.
More Sydney sights later. We went to Canberra for a couple of days; an amazing place, built to be the capital of the Commonwealth of states that makes up Australia.I still haven't quite got the relationships between the States and each of theirs with the Capital which is also a State itself. States seem fiercely independent which makes for lots of legislative bodies, commissions, assemblies etc. They say that everyone in Australia is an elective representative to some body or other! It is true that it is per capita the most governed country in the world. The photos taken in Canberra are of the National Library where we went to see a Ballet Russes exhibition and which I thought typifies in its structure the clean and symmetric lines that is like the rest of the City. The other photo is part of the Conciliation,between the Aborigines and the non-indiginous population, instalation: the 'Bower bird', but where are the bits of blue to attract a mate!
