Sydney

July 27, 2012

SYDNEY, NSW, AUSTRALIA -- How did this happen so quickly? As they always do, suddenly our last full day in Australia arrived. Luckily for us, this was also our busiest (and I would therefore argue exciting) day of the entire trip! We had a quick breakfast and wasted no time going straight to the world-famous Sydney Opera House.

July 27, 2012 - A beautiful morning from the Opera House, in front of the Harbour Bridge.

Made it to the Opera House!

The Sydney Opera House is unique, to say the least. First of all, it isn't really an Opera House. Well, it is. But it is also many other things. The designers simply thought terming it an Opera House would get more attention and help bring Sydney onto the world stage. In reality, however, it's a huge performing arts center, and the biggest building within it is actually the Concert Hall. The smaller of the two is the Opera House itself, and there are many other stages below ground set for live-action musicals and plays, among other events.

However, like me, I would bet that you first heard about and remembered the Sydney Opera House for none of those things. What was it? The truly globally unique and instantly recognizable architecture. Did you know that the Sydney Opera House is the only building ever to be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site while the architect was still alive? Let that one sit for awhile - try to think of any other buildings that have that status. None of them were built more recently than the 1970s, when this was completed. 

Check out the amount of wood, and notice that the wood never actually touches the concrete.

The Opera House has commanding views of Sydney Harbour.

By building a "building within a building," the wood protects the acoustics inside.

Of the many things we got to see and learn on our private, behind-the-scenes tour, was that the entire complex was built for $102 million. In today's money, that would be about $1 billion. Worth it, sure, but they went just a tad bit over their original $7 million budget.

Looking at the actual Opera House, from inside the Concert Hall.

Inside the concert hall - there was nothing happening on stage, so we were VERY lucky to be able to take photos!

Inside the concert hall of the Sydney Opera House. Even the seats are made of wood.

Back outside, I really enjoy this photo of the tiles. Notice some are yellow. If they were all white, the building would blind people from across the water when the sun hits it. This helps dilute that just enough to appear white in the sun. 

After our excellent tour we headed over to the other side of Circular Quay for a walking tour of The Rocks, the oldest part of all of Australia. It was here that Australia was founded as a British penal colony in 1788, just a few years after the end of the American Revolution. While more than a century after the American equivalent, The Rocks are essentially to Australia as Jamestown and Plymouth Rock are to the United States.

Walking through The Rocks, dressed as convicts and British soldiers.

The Rocks

Following our tour of The Rocks, we had a quick lunch at Circular Quay, and then walked into the CBD to the National Opal Museum, where we learned about the various types of opals. Australia exports 95% of the world's opals, and they have quite the display. 

Students watching a worker cut and polish an opal.

We continued walking through the CBD and eventually arrived at the New South Wales Parliament House.

While currently the Parliament House for NSW, this was also the first-ever Parliament in Australia.

Interestingly, the Parliament House predates the founding of Australia as an independent, sovereign state. The building hosted the first Legislative Council in 1829, and the first elected Council in Australia in 1843. Today, it serves as Parliament House for New South Wales, the most populated of Australia's states, with Sydney as the capital. Do note, however, that Sydney is NOT the capital of Australia. That title belongs to Canberra, some 170 miles down the road.

Sitting in the Speaker's chair in the lower house.

Inside the Senate.

After meeting two different government representatives, one from each of the two houses in Parliament, we concluded our visit and walked through Hyde Park, over to our coach.

St. Mary's Cathedral from Hyde Park, Sydney.

We continued our day over at Darling Harbour, just a short drive away. It is actually a nice walk, but it was starting to get darker and colder, plus we had been walking all day, so we opted to drive instead. We first visited the Hard Rock Cafe, where I was able to get a collector's edition Australia PTP pin! Very cool that they had one.

Sydney CBD from Darling Harbour on a beautiful evening.

We finished our day with a nice dinner right at Darling Harbour. Some of the students tried kangaroo fillets, while I enjoyed a vegetable pasta. We retired back to our hotel, had our last group meeting together, and then started packing for the long trip home.