Making Eye Statements: Australia Blog #1

Irrelevant Australian Fact #1:

The performance by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra

at the 2000 Olympics opening ceremonies was actually a prerecording

– of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Greetings from Australia! Bill and I had a smooth flight from Toronto to Sydney, leaving Toronto at 8:00 pm on February 5 and arriving in Sydney at 9:30 am on February 7.

Four movies help pass the time:

• Crazy Rich Asians– great fun and eye-opening. Looking forward to more movies by its director, Jon M. Chu.

• Anthropocene– disturbingly beautiful documentary that accompanied the recent exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario of the same name by Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, and Edward Burtynsky.

• Fahrenheit 451– 2018 HBO Toronto-made remake of Ray Bradbury’s 1953 classic – even scarier now than when I first read it many years ago. Loved Michael B. Jordan.

• Mary Shelley– wonderfully told story about the author of Frankenstein. Critics didn’t much like it, but I thought the cast did a fine job, especially Elle Fanning in the lead role.

Between movies, I played Scrabble and Solitaire on my iPad and ate uninspired Air Canada food. You know, the usual survival techniques!

Being back in Sydney was a delight – as always. I love this city – my home for a year in the early 1970s – with a passion. Sunny skies and a temperature in the high 20s contrasted with the winter drudgery of Belleville.

Sydney pulsates with life and energy. Bill and I wandered Thursday afternoon, all day Friday, and all day Saturday. What a treat! A highlight was having lunch at the Graze restaurant in the Museum of Contemporary Art. Our outdoor table overlooked the Sydney Opera House – what a great combination: excellent food, beautiful location, and loving companionship! See photo above.

On Sunday, we flew to Hobart, Tasmania, and then we drove to our little slice of paradise in the Huon Valley. Actually, Bill drove; I helped navigate. We are comfortably set up for five weeks in the same cabin we stayed in for a week last year. At one end of the cabin, Bill has his sewing/quilting equipment set up, and at the other end, I have my photography and writing equipment set up. Welcome to the next five weeks!

Blessedly, the bushfire situation has improved from a week ago. Rain and cooler temperatures helped the fire fighters bring the fires under control. Vigilance is the watch word, however.

Next week, I plan to post photos and thoughts about our first week in Tasmania. For now, I hope you enjoy this selection of Sydney photos. I tried to avoid clichés!

As always, thank you for reading my blog.