Day 47

Day 47 Sydney

The crowd

Groom on his horse

Well we got up and had breaky and headed off. On the way down to Circular Quay we came across a very noisy event. The first thing I heard was drums and I immediately thought of the Hari Krishna’s or one of those street bands, but no, it was an Indian wedding. There were people all

Me consulting Indian expert and dog trainer

The crowd

dressed up and yelling and banging drums and there was a guy on a white horse. According to my Indian traditional expert, or rather the young Indian lady standing next to me who I asked what was going on, they couple had been married and the bride was in the hotel being quiet (like a good wife should)

Reception

Get a way car

and the crowd had to make a fuss of the groom (as it should be). All went well and the horse behaved itself and delivered the groom.

I had checked out the web for the path to the harbour bridge and they had listed a lift from circular Quay up to a road over pass that would get us to the bridge and over to the other side to Kirribilli House and the markets. All was going well and we found the lift and got up to the overpass and along it to the

Up on the overpass

on the overpass

road that goes over the bridge. Got to within spitting distance of the bridge and stairs. I was stuck again. In the end we decided to split up. Maureen would go across the bridge and I would make my way back to the hotel.

On the bridge

The bridge from close up

Given maureen’s aversion to heights, I was half expecting her to not do it, but off she went. Not only did she go across to the markets, she walked back over the bridge as well instead of taking a taxi. I am most impressed that she did this without someone else to go with her.

Beep, beep backing up

Out on the turps again

Whilst Maureen was off marketing, I made my way back to town and went past parliament house and the mint and the Reserve bank. I wandered around town for a while before grabbing some lunch and going back to the hotel. I was not there long before Maureen appeared fresh from her adventure. We sat around and chatted until it was time to make our way to the harbour to watch another cruise ship back out of the Quay and have some dinner. We found a lovely little Italian café right on the waters edge and watched as the

Backstage for lft

Waiting for my special lift

ship, Voyager of the Seas, backed up and swung around all unaided by tugs. After dinner we walked to the Opera House and made our way in. there are three events there tonight, Ballet, Hamlet and the Opera. We wended our way through the crowds to the lifts to the foyer here we were ushered into another lift and taken up to the room. We were in the third row from the front and on the side.

We were right up close to the stage and the orchestra and the 400 odd member choir. We could not have asked for better. They not only had a choir, but they also had a signing choir as well for the deaf people. To see them act out the music and the songs was fascinating to say the least.

Close to the stage

We finished the event and wandered back to our little Italian café and had tea and cake and watched the locals out enjoying the night before wandering home about midnight to find ourselves locked out. Maureen got them to open the door for her and apparently she could have done that with her room key if she had known or there had been a sign, so she got growled at, and then they came over and unlocked my special side door to let the cripple in.

 

Getting some Kulture with a capital K

All in all it was a great day and the opera was lovely, mostly because of where we sat and the size of the choir, but a good time was had. The opera house is quite beautiful and surprisingly large. The room is long and narrow and we were lucky not to have been all the way back there, I thing I would have dozed off like the guy near us who obviously had had a long day and dozed off during the first part, or he was just closing his eyes and appreciating the sound. I know I did this once or twice during some of the performance and the sound was terrific without the visual distraction.