So now it's Thursday evening and it's raining. Has been for most of the day, on and off. I even put my rain jacket on to go out. Anyway, winding back a day or two, I've been having fun.
Tuesday found me inside the Museum of Contemporary Art. Not only is it right on the doorstep but it is also the backdrop to one of the big light installations. Pretty good and there were some interesting things. No issues with my 'backpack' or taking photos. The cafe is at the top and has amazing views out over Circular Quay, taking in both the opera house and the Bridge. Also, lots of school children enjoying their visit. I find it's much more fun when there are people in a place who aren't embarrassed to ask questions or state the obvious (or say what you thought but wouldn't say out loud) and those people tend to be small.
Where I'm staying is The Rocks area of Sydney, one of the oldest areas settled and inhabited by the white people. As such there is a lot of history to the area. The YHA I'm staying in is built over an archaeological dig, not on it, over it. The building is on legs. It helps to find your way home if you know you're staying at The Big Dig! The Rocks Discovery Centre is located in some old buildings, restored, and gives a lot of information about who used to live in the area and how it has changed, been rescued and lovingly restored. I really enjoyed it as local history of a part of Sydney.
After the overtly cultured bit of the day, I dashed home to feed myself before going to find the Events cinema on George Street. I had booked a ticket to see Maleficent in 2D, only $12. And it was very good. I won't spoil the story but the Angelina Jolie character refers to a junior person as "Beasty" which some of you may know is also how I referred to my beautiful daughter in her younger years ;-)
Wednesday found me on a boat to go whale watching. This brought a whole new meaning to the expression 'snap happy'! And it was nothing to do with crocodiles. When you don't know how the experience is going to pan out, you snap every plume of water, every pectoral fin, in case that is it. But it wasn't. We found four humpback whales swimming together, who cooperated by surfacing quite often and in formation, and even swam across the bow (front if I've got the wrong word) a couple of times. It was absolutely amazing to see these huge creatures so close by. I do have some photographs which give a hint of the wonderment and hopefully I shall be able to show them to you. I wanted to book another trip to go out again. It was one of those experiences where I was close to tears, it was breathtaking. And yet another reason to be grateful that I don't suffer on boats, although the journey was really smooth. I stood at the front of the boat, another catamaran, on the way back to Sydney, not quite Leonardo doing his Titanic bit but I definitely had the wind in my hair.
As we'd had such good whale watching our return boat was a bit late. I decided to explore Darling Harbour a little on our return. I've been there before but there's always something new to discover. I spotted a reference to 'fireworks this evening' and enquired. Yes, they would be at 7pm. Now, on Tuesday at some point (already the order is hazy!) I had visited Darling harbour and experienced the Aquatique show - a bit Bellagio but with a light show show thrown into the mix too. Fountains doing their thing in time to music but some very clever light effects on top. For example, using a wall of water as a screen on which to project images. Incredible! Lasers wiggling their way through water plumes and making patterns. Damn fine stuff. So putting fireworks on top of that meant I dashed back to make sure I got a good view. Well, after I'd enjoyed a wondrous ice-cream.
On Tuesday night, I'd really taken the scenic route back to the YHA (no I didn't get lost). So on Wednesday I had more of a plan. The fireworks and fountains combined were spectacular but early, so I traversed town on my way to Circular Quay. There's so much going on you just trip over stuff. Martin Place was full of things - a laser show above your head, a screen of animation films (while people sit and eat their street grub), some things you climb inside, a tree that grows before your eyes...... One thing, among many, that is really good with the light part of Vivid Sydney is the way they use the shape of buildings as part of the projection. The 'tree' is a structure that is tree shaped but the way the light show matches its shape exactly is brilliant and so clever. I went up to the Opera
House side of the Quay to see what else is happening over there. Well yes, more weirdly shaped experiments in light and form with people exploring them. Approaching the Opera House itself it just got more and more crowded, with a forest of phones held on arm branches facing the mecca, the centre of it all. The view was not as clear and unimpeded as from my house (the YHA) but, there was more detail in the projections and, more importantly, there is an audio stream to the show of music and words which really pulls the whole thing together. A completely new dimension missed if you're further away.
I walked home, swerving through the crowds, observing the fact that so many families are out enjoying all of this. Children react in a very honest way and it's heartening to see them dance and run around and interact with their environment, unfettered by what should be according to grown up 'rules'. It's interesting how children learn and adapt naturally, without question. There's a dance floor with lights and the children expected the floor to react to their footsteps, like a big touch screen. They enjoyed it anyway, even though it didn't.
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