Manly Beach (Sydney) and More Museums

I began my walk towards Circular Quay with the intention of catching a boat to Manly Beach. When I got to Art Gallery of New South Wales I decided to pop inside. I'm so glad that I did. Looking at their website just now I noticed they are open until 10 pm on Wednesdays with food and entertainment. Something to think about if we plan another trip.

As I drew nearer, I heard organ music. I never found the source of the music, but the sound led me through the different galleries.

Description of the videos

After passing the giant bunny rabbit in the foyer, I went to the left and saw a group of what looked like five old-timey photos blown up to 16x20 (or perhaps even larger). Instead of being still photos, they were 12:55 minute videos of people preparing to sit for formal portraits. You could see the children being told how to look in the portrait, a man straightening his tie, people being gathered, and all sorts of normal activities that take place just before the shutter is snapped. 

People preparing to be photographed

I was mesmerized!

Downstairs there was a group art project taking place. We were each asked to take some clay, roll it into a ball of the same size without mixing two colors of clay together, then set it aside to dry. The artist, Kimsooja, would later evaluate the balls and decide which ones were keepers and add it to the mosaic-like sculpture. The project started ten months earlier in December 2022 and will continue for a few more months. The project originally began with a few balls. The table was rebuilt because the clay was too heavy for it. It was calming to sit down and play with clay. The docent commented a lot of adults have told her they forgot how much fun it is to play with clay. To do an arts and crafts project. To create. When I searched for this piece, it brought up a 2016 piece called Archive of Mind, and in another space it says the participatory artwork called Making Worlds was started in 2016 and is ongoing. Still another place said it started on December 3, 2022 and will continues until this December.

My next distraction, I mean museum visit, was the Museum of Sydney. They had an excellent exhibit about the 50th anniversary of the Sydney Opera House. There were some tidbits, such as the time a possom ended up in the theater. There were a few costumes. On a circa-1970s television set they showed the news of Queen Elizabeth II dedicating the opera house in 1973.

There was a wall with small screens talking about different fun facts about the opera house. The one that amused me most learning that the working dogs that circulate around the tourists near the opera house are not sniffing for bombs or drugs, or any such problem we would need to be protected from in the United States. No, their job was to detract the pigeons from settling in and eating the tourists' lunches.

There were several models of the opera house on display. The one made out of LEGOs was by far the most impressive. There was also one made out of shells, and a woven one, but the LEGO one had details that are easy to miss when you are inside the real one.

The most fascinating tidbit I caught was in a video talking about the early days of British and Aboriginal contact. Captain Arthur Phillip was accepted by the natives as an elder statesman because in their culture's initiation ceremony a front tooth is removed. Captain Phillips was missing the correct front tooth, therefore the indigenous leaders assumed he had already been initiated, and understood their culture and customs. Despite being off to a really good start, relations quickly soured.

Knowing I had a ticket to see Miss Saigon that night at the Sydney Opera House, i figured I had enough time to take the boat to Manly Beach, have lunch, walk around, take a boat back, walk all the back to the room to shower and change, have dinner, and walk the half an hour back to the theater. Fate was on my side and I just caught the correct boat, the one that leaves every half an hour. It is always nice when it happens that way. The ride is about 30 minutes long. I felt as if I was being transported from the hustle bustle to a quiet oasis. The catamaran has a bathroom ("head") on board and lots of room to walk around. The ferry is included in the mass transit system meaning you pay by tapping your credit card and it counts towards the $16.80 daily cap ($10USD). 

When I arrived in Manly, I stopped by the information booth for advice on what to see and where to go for lunch. The guide suggested I dine at the Manly Sailing Club, the place he was planning to go for dinner that night. Then he showed me on a map where to see the island's highlights: the Corso pedestrian shopping area in town and walking on the path along the ocean side of the island. If I had an extra hour, I would have walked on the harborside, too.

Even though it was in the opposite direction, I went knowing I would get a good meal at a decent price and be eating with locals. I had a parma (parmi in Brisbane, parma in Sydney) in the arvo (afternoon) with a view of the water, while discouraging the birds. It was heavenly. It was the most relaxing meal I had in Sydney, and filling, too. The bird did not eat any of my food.

I walked back along the water watching families enjoy time together. The bay side of the island is not very wide. The sand was soft. The sky was blue. A perfect day to spend outdoors.

Back at the information booth I looked for the guide, but he had left for the day. I turned left and walked up the Corso passing many shops and cafés, stopping only at an ice cream parlor for a Dutch chocolate ice cream cone which I ate while walking along the ocean side of the island. I should have stopped and waited at the first ice cream shop, the one with the really long line instead as this ice cream was mediocre.

Reading up on Manly Beach as I write this blog I learned in 1964 this was the home of the first world surfing championship. I only planned to dip my feet in the water and enjoy the day.

There is a paved trail on the ocean side that appeals to people of all fitness levels. It is wide enough for people to pass, and to pause. 

I saw a fashion shoot taking place. In one spot, a swimming pool had been carved for those not as interested in being attacked by waves, or perhaps those interested in swimming laps. When I went by it had smaller children in it with adults on the edge keeping an eye on them. No riptide this way.

Eventually the paved path ends Shelley Beach, at a grassy cove surrounding a sandy beach popular with snorkelers. The path picks up on the other side of the lawn. When I saw a family with a stroller using the path, I figured it couldn't be too bad. At first it wasn't. My guide said to keep going uphill to Queenscliff headland, the lookout famous for its waves. From there he recently saw whales.

Loved the public art along the rocks
on the side of the path

Lots of small rocks in the water 

I paused a couple of times to enjoy a quiet moment sitting on a bench just looking at the water. I could hear faster, younger groups of hikers passing behind my hiding spot. 

Just as I was thinking I was so far off the beaten path most people don't go here, I saw this:

Yes, a parking lot. There was a simple, paved path to get to this point!

I crossed the pavement and continued further up. This was the only part of the path that reminded me of hiking on Cinque Terre. The only time I was cursing my decision to do this. Up at the top I saw a couple from the Czech Republic going further out on the rocks that I felt safe even watching them. I think I reminded them of their mom. We swapped cell phones to snap pictures of each other. Yes, the views were stunning and it was quiet. I did not see any whales or seals, but I could imagine at the right time of day, I would.

I made the return trip on the same path. It was fairly uneventful. The views were still stunning.

So that's where Tom the Turkey vacations

A relative of Glinda?

I didn't bring home any friends for Glinda

Fashion show

Setting up the shoot in paradise

As the sun was thinking about setting, I made my way to the boat. As with the ride to Manly Beach, I caught the return with moments to spare. Certainly beats waiting another half an hour for the next one.

I was antsy on the return trip knowing I had a 30-minute walk back to my room to change and get ready to go to the Opera House. Yes, I was a five-minute walk from the Opera House, but wanted to return to the room to clean up first.

Only to discover after "hoovering" my dinner at a local pizza place, that my ticket was for tomorrow night. 

Earlier I had asked Eileen for advice on what to see in Sydney. Compared with all of the other cities I had been to, Sydney felt expensive, expansive, and extremely tiring. She recommended going to Darling Harbour in the evening. With an unexpected free evening, I walked through the Central Business District (CBD) to Darling Harbour. 

During the walk back to the room, since I wasn't in a rush, I enjoyed taking night pictures.

While walking back I met a 20-something Australian gay man when I heard him gasp as a car was coming around a corner and I was looking in the American direction. Nearly four weeks into the trip and this was my first almost hit. I think I scared him more than I was frightened. We got to chatting. Max moved from Melbourne. He is looking into moving to Brazil with his boyfriend (where the boyfriend is from) and turning into "Tech Nomads," what a fun term! He agreed, unlike in his home city, there is not much to do in Sydney after 8 pm (with the exception of expensive restaurants). Fortunately Coles (a grocery store chain) was still open so I could restock my blueberry supply.

Only another 10 minutes from Harry's to my AirBNB, unfortunately I had to climb 107 stairs first, and two flights of stairs once I reached my room.

Museum Day in Sydney

I love that most museums in New Zealand and Australia are free. Though it was another beautiful day, I spent the rest of it popping in and out of museums.

First up was The Rocks Discovery Museum. Located in The Rocks district, this museum is housed in a former stone home. It is small and quaint. It also covers a lot of history from pre-European days to the present day. Much of it is told through videos of locals and experts in local history sharing stories. The main focus is from their inmate to immigration days, which is still a lot of history.

The ceilings are low. The stairs are wonky. It is subdivided into five rooms, plus an entrance room. There are artifacts retrieved from The Big Dig in glass cases without much context given. 

Fun hands-on activity

Also near Circular Quay is the Museum of Contemporary Art. A complete contrast to the last museum, the MCA has 30 foot ceilings and vast spaces. The first room is an exhibit on sound, though oddly everyone was silent. We were encouraged to touch everything except the electrical equipment. I left needing an explanation. 

I didn't feel a connection in that museum, so I left even more grateful I didn't have to pay for the experience.

Quick lunch at Betty's Burgers because even though I try to stay away from chains, I knew it would be my quickest cheapest option in the tourist district, and the bright 1950's décor was eye catching.

Walked to the UNESCO site Hyde Park Barracks Museum, which was just as amazing as I had read about in a blog post. It, too, was free, but would have been worth paying for. As you are about to enter you are encouraged to cross the courtyard and pick up an audio tour. I'm not usually a fan of audio tours, but decided to give this one a go. It uses voices to tell about different experiences. I learned on that morning's walking tour, this was built by convicts for them to live in because Sydney was becoming too crowded and they realized the inmates needed some controls. Prior to this, they were allowed to roam around because there was no where for them to go, and very few places to get into trouble. I learned on the tour fifty years later it became an immigration depot. It seems Australian history is similar to American history, just on a faster scale.

Stories of convicts

Where they slept

Things they brought with them

The biggest visual was the sleeping room filled with hammocks close to each other. Some men slept beneath the hammocks with the rats.

Men would bribe the guards to be allowed to scale the walls and get out at night to help fuel the local "economy." When they arrived they were issued two shirts with their initials on them to cut down on stealing. On laundry day they put the wet shirt on while washing the other to discourage stealing.

The audio had some glitches. You had to stand still to hear the story. Moving a couple of feet away to look at the item from a different angle often stopped the story, or even changed to a different story. 

As I handed in my headset, I had a great chat with someone on the way out and mentioned this. She said they thought about having footprints of where to stand, but was afraid that would detract too much from the aura. They renovated the museum in 2019. Then they were open, closed, open, etc. through the pandemic. They used to charge $24 a person ($15.50 USD), then they lowered it by half to either $12 or $12.50. They just received word that the museums will be free another four years. The government recognizes the benefit. More families, especially grandparents and little ones, are going to the museums, which means a generation is growing up being exposed to museums.

I returned to Hyde Park to walk through St. Mary's. It rivals European cathedrals for its scale. 

The inside

Live rose in Mary's hand

Earlier in the day I stopped inside the Australia Museum -- the oldest museum in Australia to see if it was worth a visit. Deeming it needing more time, I stopped inside to study their 200 Treasures in the stunningly restored Westpac Long Gallery.

The rest of the museum was like most natural history museums in the world -- skeletons and creepy taxidermic examples of animals. I did notice a map showing the hundreds of different indigenous tribes in Australia. This brought home the point someone made earlier in our trip about the difference between New Zealand and Australia when it comes to incorporating both languages and cultures into daily life -- New Zealand only has the Maori culture, whereas Australia and the United States have many. How do you do that without insulting other native nations?

After the museums closed at 5 pm I walked to the LEGO Store I thought was closest to the Central Business District. Google Maps said it was 25 minutes away via mass transit, or 34 minutes walking. I opted for walking rather than figuring out all the transfers. The path took me through a market that felt sad, like all of its good days were behind it and it would never ever be cheerful again. Most of the stalls were closed for the day, and the ones still open seemed to sell items that fell off the back of a truck. (I returned a couple of days later to see if the mood was better earlier in the day. The answer was a little bit, but only a little bit.) The path took me through Chinatown and way off the tourist path leading me to an alleyway between a parking garage and a warehouse-like building. I was most grateful it was still daylight.

In Melbourne we had issues with the GPS in Google Maps getting confused as the signals bounced between buildings. Thinking it was something like that, I walked around until I found a small entrance to what I thought was a small mall. Inside was a four story building filled with every type of store imaginable including an Aldi and a K-Mart, plus a basic food court. Yes, there was a LEGO store. I took a couple of pictures and left.

Next to the LEGO store was one with Disneyland
merchandise

  

Once again my options to go back to the room were 35 minutes walking vs. 25 minutes via mass transit. When I couldn't even figure out where to catch the first bus, I decided to walk. Along the way I did take out, which I ended up eating cold 40 minutes later. It was tasty, but still felt like a dining fail. Had a quiet night in the room texting Don and watching Netflix.