Autumn cockatoos

Autumn cockatoos in our front yard from the end of April.

Uralla Rock Collection

A couple weeks ago we stopped in at the Uralla Visitor Centre, which I confess we have not visited since we first moved to the New England Tablelands two years ago. I did not realize at our first visit but they actually have an enormous rock collection on display in the back. It was incredible!

It was a surprisingly large assortment of rocks and minerals collected from all over Australia. Unfortunately it was kind of a dreary day and the room didn't have much (or any) interior lighting, so it was a bit dark in there. We will have to go back another day when it is sunny and we have a bit more time to appreciate the amazing specimens.

Garden of Friendship

A highlight of our trip to Sydney over the June Long Weekend was definitely our visit to the Chinese Garden of Friendship in Darling Harbour. Reid had visited on a previous trip to Sydney but I had never been. After a breakfast of almond croissants at a Redfern Bakery, we took the train to the CBD and walked to Darling Harbour.

The croissants were huge and heaps delicious.

Waiting for our train, a steam locomotive went by. Unfortunately I was a bit slow on the uptake and despite hearing it coming, did not have my camera ready. It was a bit surreal!

We were some of the first patrons to the garden that morning, so it was a quite serene walk through the beautiful garden.

After we had walked through the garden we decided to stop for a pot of tea. It was a cool day but it was nice to stop and sit in the sun. Then we decided to sit a bit longer and watch the daily carp feeding.

The cafe at the garden

Feeding the carp

Vivid Sydney for the June Long Weekend

Vivid Opera House

Last Monday, June 13 was a Public Holiday, so Saturday morning we left town and drove to Sydney for the long weekend. There's an approximately month-long event on in Sydney called "Vivid" -- and the photos of what that is describe much better than I can in words.

There was a light and fountain show, coordinated with some music we
couldn't hear very well from where we were standing.

The lit up wharf changed colors and cycled through the rainbow

One of a few floating light sculptures

There were a lot of boats in the harbour, but only one tall ship.

Harbour Bridge

It was absolutely packed--because of some pretty severe storms the weekend before, we reckoned a lot of people who couldn't come the weekend had to delay their plans; plus, a long weekend probably meant a lot of out-of-towners were around.

One of my favorite parts of the display on the Opera House

Contemporary Art Museum

There were light displays on buildings, on boats, on Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, plus many different kind of light sculptures and features. There were also some interactive light displays: an LED screen which reflected the people in front of it and we had a pretty good time playing a team game which simply required you to press a button when your designated light came on.

Rubik/Mondrian

Cathedral of Light. Despite the long queue, we probably
only waited about fifteen minutes for it (about the same
amount of time I waited for the ladies toilet.)

Saturday evening we walked around and enjoyed the sight, and Sunday we came back and took a ferry ride around the harbour. It was actually really nice! The only downside being you can't see the lit up bridge or the display on the Opera House at the same time.

Overall, we were really impressed! Some of the light displays were technically amazing, not to mention beautiful. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Rain in Armidale

Had a bit of rain last Friday and Saturday; Dumaresq Creek was overflowing its banks. We took a walk Sunday and the rain let up enough that we managed to not get too wet.

Around here you will often see signs near bridges: "road flooded--indicators show depth" and when it's dry it's hard to imagine the road ever being flooded, but we haven't been here in a non-drought year. After a weekend like last weekend, it's much easier to imagine why the creeklands are kept for playing fields.