I am not entirely proud of what I will blog about. For it is only from an outsiders point of view, a third person's perspective of the stories within cities. But what choice is there when your mum and yourself decide to travel somewhere away from dear Melbourne in a stress-free, compact, 4 day tour?
We took a mandarin tour named Extragreenholidays (http://www.extragreen.com.au/) as mandarin tours are nearly half the price of english ones. Another remembrance to learn mandarin fluently from when young!
After a few stops along the 10 hour drive (including rest stops), we finally reached Canberra. Oh sweet land which my feet finally treads upon! Canberra is the captial city of Australia, a rather well-organised, spacious and deserted place where university students have nothing much to do during their spare time but work out in the gym. Thus, university students with fit bodies. Very fit bodies. Anyway, besides the point ;) here are a stash of pictures from the trip.
at Lake Burley Griffin. apologies for the unprepared jetlagged smile.
Keeping it comfy : Jeanswest shirt, Levi's jeggings, Rubi shoes, Aldo clutch
we stayed the night at the lovely Ibis hotel with an awesome huge screen TV.
Parliament House with its formal symmetry and axis
a play of light, shadows and scale at the foyer.
the hand-woven tapestry (not painting!) at the grand hall
The next stop was the War memorial in honor of the Australian soldiers who battled in war.
Six More by Seton. Breath taking marble sculpture treated to resemble cloth.
Following another 10hour drive to Sydney, we finally checked in Holiday Inn at Darling Harbor. Oh sweet comfy bed! My first impression of Sydney were nostalgic collections of PJ roads and Kuala Lumpur colours. Already missed the cosy Melbourne - Sydney is so large and alien, I feel small.
The hotel was very near the Darling Harbour where yes, the infamous gigantic duck sits. Its from Netherlands, travels from country to country. Somehow, its carefully designed curves fits compositionally against the harbour. Or isit mind trickery? Kudos to the artist for convincing clients to invest in a big duck!
The next day was a speedy one through tourist attractions.
A visit to St. Mary neo-gothic church in Sydney. Beauty and peace as you walk into it.
Next stop, finally saw the Sydney Opera house from Hyde's Park. Reminds me of the sketch of it in my first semester of architecture. Up close, the tiles forming the roof were not very clean or glamorous. But one's gotta admire the drama in achieving this architectural leaping stone. The shells of the structure were too difficult for construction technology during that time (1950s) that it had to be cut and fitted on site without proper construction drawings. Imagine baking a cake without a recipe! Many heated arguments revolved around this building. The initial $7 million budget was exceeded to become $102 million! The architect John Utzon was so angry with the reluctance of engineers to design the exterior (but eventually they did) and the crazy interior proposal (which they refused, and hired a different interior architect company) that he left Australia for good and refused to attend the building's opening ceremony. Well, it was worth the drama because the opera house boosts Sydney into world fame.
To end the tour was to end it in style. We hopped aboard the Sydney Showboats dinner cruise. The fine dining food were lovely, with fresh prawns for appetizers, fish as mains and tiramisu (the yummiest i've ever had!) as desert. Cruising the Sydney river for one and a half hours, it gave an amazing feel of the city from the waters! A definite must for a grand finale of Sydney tour.
Overall, I was bummed not to be able to explore the hidden gems of the city as the tour gave us only a short free time. Miraculously returned to Melbourne empty-handed (aka no shopping bags) but hey, Malaysia is coming up next week and I'm so gonna raid the malls and boutiques. Farewell Sydney, till next time (free and easy is the way to go) where I shall roam through your hidden treasures.
Sincerely,
Tracy Wish
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