How I love Sydney...the vitality of the waterfront, with the ferries going to and fro, the itinerant artists performing on didgeridoos, dancing, doing houdini-like contortions..every performer carving out his or her own space on the wide esplanade. The fragrant purple jacarandas dot the green spaces, and the Art Museum anchors one end while the Opera House anchors the other.
Cafes provide outdoor seats for watching the endless parade, and the Botanical Gardens lie just on the other side of the Opera House.
The old city Rocks neighborhood lies just to the north, between Sydney and Darling Harbors. The buildings are rich in history, and the architecture a living memorial to earlier times. A large sculpture shows off the intertwined histories of Australia - an Aboriginal, a Miner, and a Jackaroo.
As this is Sunday morning, a lively market of hand-crafted goods is displayed, and lots of dickering is occuring. Local artists are showing hand-painted silk made into dresses, floral 50s-style skirts, silver jewelry, windchimes, and carved wooden animals. Folks are also selling goods from other parts of the world, such as Hmong crafted bags, the sales of which benefit the displaced Hmong communities in Australia.
We spend the day enjoying all these sights, sounds, and aromas, and then the ship sails away at 6 o'clock, to begin the great Australian circumnavigation. First stop, Hamilton Island.
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