Sydney

The last stop on our holidays was in Sydney.  We were only there for one day so we didn't get to do or see a whole lot, but we did have a chance to see and tour the Sydney Opera House.  It is a very interesting building to say the least.  We had a private tour with a small group of about 20 people.  I would love to show you pictures of the inside of it and everything that we saw, but due to their strict rules, we were not allowed to take many pictures.  If there was a crew setting up a stage or if there was anyone else in the room,  we were not allowed to take pictures due to the confidentiality of the employees of the Opera House.  However, we did get to sneak a few from in there!!  Here are some pictures from Sydney!

There are many different explanations as to what this building was supposed to represent.  Some people say that it looks like sails, or fins of a whale, shark or dolphin.  But the architect, Jorn Utzon, designed it to represent waves.  In fact, the main focus around the building is the harbor.  On the far left side of the picture, the room on the end is all windows.  When you look in it, the reflection is of the harbor.  Then when you look up, the roof to is a reflective material that shows the harbor.  So basically wherever you are, it was built with the harbor in mind.   

This was the second biggest of all the performance halls.  If we remember correctly it holds about 4000 people.  On the back wall in the picture, is a pipe organ.  The smallest pipe was smaller than a pinkie finger, and the biggest was over three stories high.  It took longer to tune it, than it did to build it.  This was the the only hall that we could take pictures in.    

This was designed by Utzon himself.  It looks like a painting correct?  Well it is actually all woven wool.  It is pretty spectacular.  This was the only room that Utzon designed completely by himself.  Go figure that the room is actually named after him.  

The Sydney Harbor Bridge

Here is one of the Aboriginal People.  They would sit in the streets near the market and play the Didgeridoo.  These are VERY talented people.  We just stood in the street and watched them play for quite a while.  The Aborigines will play the instrument, and try to mimic the sounds of different animals and other sounds around them.  Here is a link to some examples of a Didgeridoo playing in case you are interested.