Sydney

Sydney is Australia’s largest metropolitan area. Though, Melbourne is expected to surpass it next year. Situated around an incredible natural harbor, the region was one of the first settled by Europeans. Despite its best intentions, Sydney has a so-so mass transit system. Regardless, the only way to visit for us was by train. Being unable to park in most parking garages, and annoying to park on small street-side spots, it is rarely worth the effort to drive into central business districts. So, we opted to spend a day wandering the waterfront around the harbor bridge and opera house.

It is really tough to get the scale of the bridge. If you look closely, you might see a tiny spec on the upper arch. That is a person, climbing to the top. Note the ubiquitous ferry in the foreground.  The city surrounds the harbor on all sides, and the easiest way to get around it is often by ferry.


One thing I like about early 19th century construction is the incorporation of art into everyday functional pieces.


Australian cities are generally very keen on public works and the arts.  Sydney is no exception. The quite photogenic Sydney Opera house is right on the water. It is a strange building to look at.  Made from reinforced concrete sections.  It was partially made off-site, and built here.
 







All of the building sections are actually sections from the same sphere.  A very original idea.


Unlike the shiny metal appearance from photos, the exterior is covered with off-white shiny glazed ceramic tiles.  Several of the sides are set up as outdoor projection screens for art displays and whatnot.  Quite impressive.


One of the wharfs adjacent to the Opera House has its own resident seal. 


Continuing on, we climbed Observatory Hill.  On the way up, we found this interesting art exhibition. These drums were somehow all internally controlled, with no visible wires etc.  It was called The Last Resort., and showed how Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A Major can be affected by location and the weather.


The next stop was the observatory itself. Some really cool stuff in here. Built in the 1800s, this was the hub of astronomical observation in the southern hemisphere. Some of the instruments contained therein are nearly priceless. The observatory also served to keep time for the whole city. At the time, naval navigation depended on highly accurate clocks.  Even these clocks needed calibrated however.  Using telescopes, the astronomers would calibrate their clock.  At 1PM every day a large yellow ball would drop from the top of the observatory. This allowed all the ships in the harbor to recalibrate their clocks.


They really took style seriously back then.






Can you imagine watching the transit of Mercury on one of these?  Or catching Halley's comet?


We also visited the  Museum of  Contemporary Art.  Most Australian capitals have an excellent art museum that is free.




Notice the cruise ship in the background?  Even though we are on the fourth floor?  It was a real challenge to keep this monstrosity out of every photo.