Utzon at last!

If I'd known there was a bus to Sydney that takes only three hours, I'd have gone that way. As it was, the flight was uneventful, though I'd arrived miles too early thanks to the Quantas website saying it had a 90 minute check-in, and Canberra is such a small airport, amazingly for a national capital, that once you're through security there is nothing - no shops, no coffee bar, nothing except seats at the gates!

We landed at Kingsford Smith airport in low cloud, rain and wind: not my idea of an Australian summer! You'd never know there were water restrictions not that many miles away. But New South Wales is evidently different: one immediately obvious change is that whereas in South Australia and Victoria, every toilet I saw was dual flush, here I have yet to see one that is. So maybe water isn't so much of a problem here and I can have a bath tomorrow!

Because of the weather I did little except seek out an eating place in the evening: and the one I found was disappointing. There seem to be few places that do Australian food with vegetables, yet they grow enough of them here! I ended up with chicken and chips, all much too salty and no veg. in sight.

Tuesday morning found me walking up to the Meeting House, which I missed first time round as it is on the opposite side of the road from what I'd been told. They don't seem to go for details in Australia - I've had that much misinformation I check everything now. I collected the parcel which Kay, bless her, had brought up on the bus so as to keep my luggage within weight limits, and had a good chat: then walked back with it to the hotel - not that far - and then found some lunch nearby, as it was beginning to drizzle a little. After a good rest I ventured out on the free bus down to Circular Quay (which isn't circular any more, but was when they built in in 1844). I walked along the quayside... and there, round the corner, was what I'd come ten thousand miles to see: the famous Opera House. Oh, I could see the Harbour Bridge, but when you're used to Tyne Bridge it's nothing special! But the opera house.. I could scarely believe I was there, after so long wanting to be there. It's actually three amazing buildings: a concert hall, the biggest: then the opera hall, and then the little (relatively speaking) restaurant - at least, that's what it seems to be. I took dozens of photos, and got others to take ones of me. The one below shows the actual Opera House building, where I'll be going on Friday for 'La Traviata'. Expect a sentimental outpouring!!

I queued to collect my tickets that I'd ordered on the internet last November, and then wandered into the botanical gardens nearby: and then back along the quay for tea and a passion fruit tart. It doesn't get much better than that! I was just so full of contentment, I must have looked like the village idiot with such a broad smile on my face. Then I took the train back to the hotel, wrote up this, and now it's out for an Indian supper.

Yesterday, in the wet, I was feeling a bit negative about Sydney. Today that has totally changed, and I'm just over the moon! I think I'll take a harbour cruise, as well as an Opera House tour; and there is so much else to do I'll have a hard job to decide. The one thing I'm not doing here is any Quakering: I've not been asked to do a talk or workshop, so I'll just go to Meeting on Sunday and meet Friends then. I'm in a very pleasant hotel, for a little luxury, for three days, and on Thursday I'll move into the Meeting House which is very conveniently located on the edge of Chinatown - lots of good, cheap little cafes and shops. So I'm looking forward a lot to the rest of Sydney. The only snag here is that the hotel Internet costs $25 a day, so one day is enough: I'll post next on Thursday when I can have the Meeting House internet for free!