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.

Lunar New Year Terracotta Warrior Lanterns

From the Sydney Chinese New Year website :

"Created by Chinese artist Xia Nan for the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, these larger than life lanterns also include women and children arranged in family groups. Fashioned out of fabric and wire, they have all the delicacy of a traditional Chinese lantern, on a scale that inspires awe. With 90 2.1 metre high warriors and two horses glowing in brilliant bursts of colour, this is a sight not to be missed.

The Lanterns of the Terracotta Warriors have previously only been shown in China and the United Kingdom, and are in Australia for the first time as part of the City of Sydney’s Chinese New Year Festival. Illuminated against the beauty of Sydney Harbour for ten days and nights only, this unique exhibition is an unforgettable experience."