July 5, 2010 at 7:09 am
Two months ago, Hayley and I snapped some night photos in Circular Quay. We cranked up slowed down the shutter speed and closed off the aperture to get the elegant, glowing effect.
The Sydney harbour bridge spanning over the iconic Sydney Opera House.
The Opera House on a bustling Friday evening.
Circular Quay, the Circular Quay train station and the surrounding hotels, shops and office buildings. On the far right is the Overseas Passenger Terminal for large cruise ships.
Go to my Flickr page to see more!
Note: I once again remodeled my website. The last two posts were lacking in photos, hence this post.
December 23, 2009 at 8:49 pm
Our college friend Dana Facebook messaged me last Thursday with the exciting news that she would be stopping off in Sydney for twelve hours on her way to New Zealand. We chose the busiest tourist attraction possible as our meeting place, the Opera House, and took the obligatory jump-as-high-as-you-can-in–front–of-the-Opera-House picture before grabbing a quick bite at a nearby café.
Afterward, we walked around the sea wall up into the Royal Botanic Gardens where we encountered a flock of cockatoos. The first parrot we saw was drinking from a tall sprinkler head. I was amazed by his ingenuity; he had wrapped his legs around the tall pipe and was dabbing his beak into the sprinkler head. I snapped a few photos then walked back to Hayley and Dana, who now had more parrots walking casually around them. We fed them Dana’s trail mix and in came the whole flock!
It’s ok buddy, do what you gotta do!
We all took turns feeding the birds. After a while we gained their trust and they were eating straight from our hands. The birds then took this a step further by flying up to our shoulders and climbing on our legs. I’d be a liar if I said it didn’t freak me out, but I was also enjoying it immensely. The birds were surprisingly gentle. Not once did they snap at any of the food we offered; instead, they were very polite and relaxed. We took a few photos, set them back on the ground, and went on our way.
Hayley being attacked by wild parrots. See more cockatoo pics here.
Our tribute to the Jackson Family Route March continued as we meandered through the park, around the Opera House, through Circular Quay, and into the Rocks, where we settled for a mid day snack. Dana and I both ordered the chicken sandwich and Hayley had the veggie delight. We were all very pleased. We talked about everything from traveling to college buddies, and watched a few lorikeet scavengers pick away at leftovers on recently deserted tables.
A rainbow lorikeet on a red chair with fruity, colorful drinks behind him.
Afterwards, we walked back to the Quay, said goodbye to Dana, and boarded a bus back to Neutral Bay. Hayley and I rushed off the post office to mail out a package, which is probably still there due to postal strikes. Afterward, we shopped for groceries and prepared for the Carols in the Domain concert. We left at 3:30 pm and arrived to a completely packed event. We found a small patch of grass in the far back section between two other parties, and setup camp for the evening.
Our view… note the bats going mad in the top left corner.
The event featured the winners from both Australian Idol and Australia’s Got Talent, the full Wicked cast in costume, the Wiggles, Engelbert Humperdinck, and Kate Soprano. While none of these people interest me in the least (except maybe the Wicked cast), we were looking forward to Ronan Keating’s performance since his version of “When You Say Nothing At All” was the song we chose for our first dance at our wedding. Unfortunately his performance was recorded “live” from somewhere far away and projected on all the video screens around the venue. To make matters worse, it was a duet with Kate Soprano who was there at the venue, which made for a pretty awkward performance. We had a great time though!
Sunday morning I went surfing with Freddy and the Sydney Surf Group at Freshwater. Surprisingly we got a few good waves. We surfed an hour and a half and topped it off with breakfast at a nearby café. Thanks for the wrap, Freddy!
It was an hour or so later that I started feeling sick. For the last few days, I’ve been taking it easy. I’m eating Zicam Rapid Melts like candy in the hopes that I’ll squash this bug quickly so we can enjoy our holiday to the fullest.
Which is exactly what I wish for you- a full and happy holiday that is. And do something grand for New Years, will you‽
* Forgot to mention that I created a new, extremely simple theme for my website, http://mswebby.com.