Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Sydney, Australia

The Sydney skyline


I arrived in Sydney a day before my other two mates. I turned up at our hostel and thought I had somehow been transported to Beijing. Our hostel was right in the middle of China Town. There were more Chinese people walking the streets than anyone else! It was great though. Cheap Chinese takeaway at every corner...

Once everyone arrived, the first stop in Sydney had to be to go and see the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. I'm not sure if it was because of the weather, but seeing these two famous sights was a bit of a let down. Maybe I was expecting too much.

Sydney Opera House. Maybe against a blue sky, it would have looked a bit more impressive...


Pretty, but it really doesn't compare to Tower Bridge...


However, most people I had talked to about Sydney before going, recommended going to see the Darling Harbour over a cup of coffee. Much more picturesque!

Darling Harbour


Darling Harbour


I'd really been wanting to go and see a concert while on our travels. We decided to check what was showing in the Opera House while we were there. There was a music festival taking place, so we bought tickets for Friday night. The music festival is like a competition for orchestral and choral groups. The night we decided to go was the semi-final night for the kids wind bands - it took me right back to school! There were five different groups - they all varied in their ages, abilities and choices of music. Some made me want to cringe (sorry parents for putting you through that!), but there were a couple of groups that I was pretty impressed with. The best band (in my opinion) was a Japenese group. I was absolutely astounded at their ability to play so well individually and as a group. It could easily have been an adult professional group. And they were so well disciplined... Absolutely amazed. Our school rehersals were always all over the place... people chatting, eating, not playing, giggling, all sorts... I hope they win!

The Japanese windband in the Sydney Opera House


You may have seen a picture of Mike from my Perth entry. Well, he decided to make the trip over to Sydney while I was there. The next two photos are of me and mike... I'll add another post in after this one of the transformation in progess!

Before...


...and after - even I look happier!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Nice photos thank you.