This will be my second to last post, and the last one with any real new content. I am writing this from the airports and the planes back to the US and home (Sydney to Brisbane to Los Angeles to Dallas and home). I plan to write one more post after this, but that will just be a map showing all the places we have been on this trip with links to the various blog posts about each place - a kind of index into our stories. So for my last trip post, let me wrap up with a few details about what we saw in Sydney.
Sydney Wrap Up
What else did K and I see in Sydney? There is a lot to see and do in Sydney - so much so that it is hard to cover the city in a month, much less a week as we did, but below are some of the places we saw that I haven't already mentioned in the previous blog posts on Sydney.
Art Galleries
The Art Gallery of New South Wales was astounding. K is the art student among us and she said it beat all the other art museums we visited hands down. Again, the concentration of this art gallery was on Australian artists and the world artists that influenced them. It covered early to modern art of the country. However, they also had a number of special exhibits, aboriginal art and even art by young people of the state (which was truly outstanding).
Here were some of my favorites.
John Russell (the last two below) - influenced by Monet (the first two below) who also had some representation
Aboriginal artist Uta Uta, Biljabu, and Namitjira
Some international art that I liked included those by Monet (shown above), Picaso, and Kessoff (somebody new that I had not heard of, but very interesting)
As with all the art galleries in Sydney, admission was free. K and I attended the gallery on Wednesday night when they stay open late ('til 10pm). This is a great time to go and I recommend to all going to Sydney to use your time wisely and attend the gallery at night. It was quite a sight to see so many people enjoying the gallery this late. They also had a number of special speakers and musicians on hand, and as we understand it, this happens each Wednesday during what they call "Art After Hours". Amazing support for the local artists and art gallery.
There are other art galleries in Sydney (to include the Museum of Contempary Art which I already provided info on in a prior post). We also saw a special exhibit by an American on whale pictures at the Maritime Museum (pictures of the pictures were not allowed however).
Art in the streets was popular in Sydney as it was in other cities we saw in Australia. Plenty of fountains, bronze statues, and funky art all over the city. "Waiting man" and a copy of "Il Porcellino (a famous statue of a pig in Florence that K and I have actually seen), a statue of Queen Victoria's dog (that actually speaks when the fountain he sits above is fed money) were a couple of my favorites. K is rubbing his nose - as is customary on this copy and the original- for good luck.
Historical Buildings
As Sydney is the oldest (from a British perspective) city in Australia, there are a number of older/historical buildings in the city. Here were a few we visited. [Side note: we took the Sydney Free Walking Tour with the owner/guide Ross. That is where a lot of the information listed below was pointed out to me. Great tour and I highly recommend it. The tour is "free" but a tip is expected at the end.]
Customs House - the original offices that imports/exports came through. Today, it holds a restaurant, Opera House offices and uniquely a free library (with reading room) containing recent copies of newspapers from around the world - a great place to catch up on what's going on at home if you are in Sydney. They also have a model of the city under the glass floor in the lobby.
Parliament - New South Wales Parliament House is actually part of the old Sydney Hospital (which still functions and remains next door and shown below). Of all the Parliament Houses of all the states, this one was probably least impressive. Interesting given the fact that it is the oldest and the stature/importance of NSW in all of Australia.
Hyde Park Barracks - Originally, Hyde Park Barracks served as the house for convicts when originally built in the early 1800's (designed 1818-1819). However, as one of the largest and oldest big buildings in Sydney, it served many purposes over the years - to include court building, government building, asylum, and orphanage for Irish girls deported to Australia during the mid 1800's. It now serves as a museum to the convict era and the reason K and I took a tour of this building. It is a visit I highly recommend to anyone coming to Australia and Sydney.
The convict history was well documented and covered from this museum - better than anywhere we had seen. Australia is only recently coming to grips with its convict history past. The plight of the convicts and others deported to Australia by the British Empire is a sad one, but with some rays of light given all that was ultimately accomplished by the lot. Convict origins and history of the country was quietly discarded until a few years ago. Now, having convict lineage in your family is somewhat of a mark of distinction in Australia (much like tracing your ancestry to the Pilgrims in the US).
Unfortunately, not as much is known about the convicts and their efforts. It was interesting to see the database of convicts that have been kept and what information was kept. A lot of the surnames associated with the ancestry of K and I are in the list (Irish most of them). It would not surprise us to find some of our early ancestors were among some of the people shipped here - it didn't take much for that to happen (stealing a sheep or loaf of bread were high crimes in those days and got you a one way ticket to Australia).
Fort Denison - This little island sits in the middle of the harbor and was used to provide protection in colony and even World War days. It never really had to serve its full purpose, but today a cannon on the island fires once a day from the island to mark 1pm for the city.
Government House - This is the house that now serves as the residence of the Governor of New South Wales. It sits in the middle of the Royal Botanical Gardens.
Sydney Hospital - Governor Macquarie felt a proper hospital was needed for the Sydney area once he arrived to govern the colony in the late 1700's. The British crown was not interested in spending the money to build a hospital for convicts. So, Macquarie was quite ingenious - he provided a monopoly rum license to an organization provided they build him a hospital. By 1811, Sydney had a fine and grand hospital - Sydney Hospital. In fact, it was so large that two sections were repurposed - one part for parliament (already shown above) and the other for the town mint. Today, the hospital still stands and functions albeit with the assistance of many other hospitals in the area.
The original hospital south wing and then the old mint
The Sydney Hospital (middle wing of the original building)
General Post Office - Built between 1866 and 1891, the post office was meant to rival buildings of the world - most importantly Parliament House in England, inclusive of Big Ben's clock tower. Not sure that was achieved, but it is an impressive building that still stands. Only a small part of the building serves as the Post Office however.
The Post Office sits on Martin Place - one of the great squares (and pedestrian only) in Sydney. Along Martin Place are many big Australian financial institutions, several fountains and tributes to the ANZAC troops. Also notable is the fact that part of the Matrix was shot there.
City Hall - was built on top of the shallow graves of the original cemetery. According to our tour guide, as they are doing updates/repairs (some going on right now) they still find buried bodies. How about that, a government building where there are real buried skeletons.
Shopping
Sydney is the unofficial economic, fashion, and cultural capital of the country. As such, you can expect lots of shopping. Two places of distinction - largely because of their age and grandeur - are the Queen Victoria Building (or QVB as the Sydneysiders call it) and Strand Arcade. These shopping "malls" date 1898 and 1892 respectively. You don't see modern shopping buildings with the tiles, wood work and glass ceilings like these places today.
The QVB has two enormous clocks with mechanical animation that works on the hour. In one (the Royal Clock), you see British King Charles beheaded! Nice show for the kiddies?! I am not sure how you explain that.
The QVB and its clocks
Strand Arcade - and a shoe/sneaker store that our nephew Alex would love
Churches
Like all big cities, Sydney has its share of famous churches. However, nothing like those you see in Europe. Still, St. Mary's Cathedral (Catholic) is perhaps the most impressive (size and interior). The church was started in 1868 but not finished until 2000 (that is not a typo - only 14 years ago). No pictures were allowed inside the cathedral, but they have a mobile app that provides pixs - really!
St. Andrew's is the big Anglican cathedral - started in 1838 but completed on St. Andrew's Day in 1868. Sorry for the poor picture. The church was built to be seen and approached from the other side - which is now completely blocked by an office building. So the back side is really the only side that can be shot.
St. James is the oldest church in Sydney - consecrated in 1824. It sits right across the street from Hyde Park Barracks forming Queen's Square.
Lastly, is a unique landmark in Sydney. It is called Mrs. Macquarie's chair. Elizabeth Macquarie was the wife to Governor Macquarie. She used to sit on a spot in what is now the Royal Botanical Garden overlooking the bay and loved to watch the British Ships roll in. Convicts hand carved a bench in the sandstone in this spot for her in 1810 - and it commemorates her to this day. What Mrs. Mac did not realize is that this would be the best seat in the house for hundreds of years to come. To this day, Mrs. Macquarie's chair has great views of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.
Other must-see places in Sydney are The Rocks, Darling Harbour, Opera House and Harbour Bridge, but I have already provided posts about them.
Food and Drink
Australia does have some of its own flair when it comes to food and restaurants. Not too many places serve kangaroo, crocodile, emu, and more and do them well. The influx of Asian, Spanish, American and other influences have culminated in some tasty foods. We ate at Italian, Mexican, Thai, Chinese, Japanese and Australian restaurants and found all fantastic. Fish and chips may be a staple, but you won't go hungry here. Each city has some specialties - especially when it comes to wine.
Australia - final thoughts
To put a label on or otherwise quickly summarize Australia and Australians would be like trying to summarize America and Americans. It can't be done well, but I'll give you my impression after a month in country.
I have never met a people that, in general, are so warm, helpful and genuine. There are always exceptions, but K and I found Australians to lack any pretense and they will immediately stop what they are doing to help you if they think you need help. They have a dry sense of humor that I really enjoyed. They are self deprecating and quick with a one-liner that will make you double over. They are a melting pot. Maybe more so than America today. British, Irish, Indian, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Kiwis, Americans, and more have made Australia home. Sometimes unwillingly - but that is an old story. They are a little sports nuts, but everyone needs hobbies - and as an American I can relate.
As a country, Australia is clean, neat, and tidy (generally). It has some stunning beauty. Like the US, it is a big country with a diverse set of geographies, climates and environments that provide for that beauty. Whereas I would go to NZ to see the natural beauty, I would come to Australia to see/feel the beauty in its people. I don't know if there is a nicer set of folks on the planet. That is not to say there isn't something to see in Australia - there is - I just find the real beauty here to be in its people.
Their cities are well designed, functional, clean (public bathrooms are an example to the world), and provide lots of green space/water access for the millions that live in the mostly coastal areas.
K and I would definitely return to Australia and hope to some day. It is such a large country, even a month was not enough time to see it all. Tasmania, The Kimberlys, Canberra, Kakadu, Hunter and Margaret River wine valleys, and Darwin are just some of the places we'd like to visit that we did not have time to on this trip. It's a long trip, but I would not hesitate to send anyone to Australia.
For K
This trip has been more than ten years (maybe more) in the making. Australia was placed on the bucket list of places to visit for K and I at least 10 years back. We were thinking ahead to our 25th wedding anniversary and wanted to pick a special place to celebrate 25 years together. We started collecting travel miles and saving a bit of money for what we knew would be a big and expensive trip. We fell into some extra money that accelerated our savings, and I got a job with a great company that gives its employees a sabbatical (2 months off) every seven years [note to any employers looking to land help - if you want to grab the attention of any prospective employee - think about a sabbatical program - it means a lot to the employees and can really separate you from your competitors). Two years ago, my seventh year with the company coincided with our 25th wedding anniversary year.
The die was cast. We now had the means and time to make the trip. Somewhere along the planning phases, we heard about New Zealand (mainly from Australians believe it or not that said we'd be crazy to skip it if we went all that way). So New Zealand was added to our trip plan.
Unfortunately, a few years back, we had some family matters that delayed our trip for two years. There was a point in our lives that I think we both wondered about our chances of making it on our grand venture. But this fall, the pieces came together and the formal planning, reservation making, and schedule was assembled and we were off. While it wasn't going to be in our 25th year of marriage, it was going to be a grand celebration of our being married for more than a quarter of a century.
What a grand trip it has been! Since high school or college, I have never had two solid months off from work - I reckon few have. The experience was incredible. I really don't know if it will inspire better or more work from me in the future - I hope and think it will but time will tell. I just know that I wish I could grant everyone the gift of thinking about nothing else but what each day brings for that stretch of time. It was freedom from the daily grind and concerns we all have swimming in our head each day. Thanks to my company and Tom (my boss) for the freedom.
In the span of 2 months, I have climbed mountains and glaciers, petted kangaroos, fallen 40 meters on purpose, been exposed to cultures/peoples as diverse as can be found on earth, come face to face with a turtle on an ocean reef, drank more wine that I thought possible by any human, and seen constellations and shooting stars in the night sky like man before there were artificial lights. And I did it all with the one person in the world I decided more than a quarter century ago was the only one for me - K - "my always."
Now, I am not going to say that the entire 2 months was wedded bliss. Few spouses have spent 2 solid months with each other - each waking minute, in some strange lands, tight quarters, under some long travel hours, and come out without a few spats. Frankly, I am not sure how K lives with me on a regular basis - let alone in a situation that binds us together 24x7x2 months without any escape (literally tied together in some cases). The spats were always small and usually trivial in nature - and never impacted our great trip. How many people can say they like spending that much time with their spouse? How many of us get the chance to spend that much time with our spouse? That too was worth the price of admission for me (and I hope K too). For that, I thank my lovely wife for her patience and love.
For those that know K and I, you know she is the battery that keeps the clock of our house working. I joke with people that she is the "Chief of Staff" from which all my orders come. It is more truth than joke. She drives the health and welfare of our home. Without her, I am the smelly, disheveled guy with no friends or social graces you pass on the street. True to form, she is also the one that orchestrated most of this trip (all of our trips actually). I did the work of trying to arrange our activities in each city (where to go, what to see), but she is the one that took care of hotels, meals, transportation and just about everything else. What a fantastic job she did! We had some great luck too, but I sit here on the plane heading home and marvel at the fact that we had no (as in
nada, zip, none) travel issues or glitches (let alone horror stories). Luck met some great preparation - that is what defines success. For that, I thank my lovely wife for her hard work, perseverance and caring.
[Side note: anyone notice that K is almost always on the left of all pictures posted. You will have to ask her why, but I was told we all have "good sides" and the right is hers - so she says. Funny she never asked about what was my good side :) ]
I hope these blog posts were entertaining for you - maybe even help you with your own Australia or New Zealand trip - I can't encourage you enough to make the journey. I hope for friends and family, they also helped give you assurances that everything was more than alright (Moms' job is always to worry and given no contact for several months we hoped these posts would help alleviate their concerns). However, and most importantly, these posts were/are also a gift to my wife K. They were and will always be a record of our great trip together. For I don't want her to forget a minute of it. I know I never will. Thank you and I love you honey.
The past 25+ years and two months have been the greatest of my life. I look forward to ... the next 25 years ... and next trip. What's next? Where do we head? Let's go!
