Sydney’s landscape is a cubistic study of intersecting lines and framed spaces brightened by glistening dots of light.
We walked onto the footpath of the colossal 1, 650 foot-long Harbour Bridge, a monumental engineering feat when it was built in 1932, and were enveloped in its giant iron grids that formed a canopy over two sets of railway tracks, eight road lanes, a bikeway, and a footpath on both sides.
We stood in awe, from every possible angle - gazing at the glistening rind-like slices of the Sydney Opera House rooftop.
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| Sydney Opera and Harbour Bridge |
We delighted in the colorful patches of its China Town, the specialty shops on the Pitt Street Mall, and the open market at the Rock Square. We saw glistening glimpses of water from the Bondi waterfront and enjoyed a ferry ride from the Circular Quay to Manly Beach. We smelled the intoxicating flora and followed the rainforest walk in the Royal Botanic Gardens.
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| "Chandeliers" at Royal Botanic Garden |
We enjoyed the reunion with long-time St. John’s friends, Evelyn and Ben Liquete, now residents down under, and celebrated friendship with stories at a memorable dinner of signature dishes of beef rendang (Indonesian-style curry), Singapore noodles, chicken curry, and sticky-sweet and crunchy Szechuan eggplant that was so good it may just be the food of the gods.
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| With professional tour guides Ben and Evelyn Liquete |
An ultimate treat on our last night in Sydney, one of the items off a bucket list, was to revel as an audience to the performance of Mozart’s opera Le Nozze Di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) at the opera house. We re-lived the bawdy atmosphere of a philandering count, the merry chase of a maid, the finale of restored relationship, and the triumph of love and marriage in a melange of much-ado-about-nothing, comedy-of-errors, all’s well that ends well sort of way.
This afternoon, we depart for the Polynesian paradise that is New Zealand!
I also noticed how the topography of Sydney was so incredibly varied with cliffs, oceans, mountains, dry desert like patches, and then lush vegetation. The mix of all these harsh and seemingly wild landscapes also remind me that this country is incredibly young in comparison to many others. This could be partly why so much of Australia still appears untamed,and still similar to how it must have appeared to the British settlers. I wonder how this country will change as it ages? Have Australian people come to appreciate the landscape and its features or is there still part of them that fears the Bush? I'm unsure.
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Australia landscape