This is the one and only Kookaburra bird-When I was little my mom used to sing us "Kookaburra Sits in The Old Gum Tree" and now I sing it to my children. They all like it but Ethne especially likes it these days. This little guy was sitting in a tree in Hyde Park and I was SO excited to get to see him and hear his funny little calls.
This is St. Andrews Cathedral where we went to church on Sunday, and after attending the services there I have two words for the LDS church: CHOIR BOYS! I LOVED the choir boys singing. I could have sat there and listened all day. They were amazing. I was having thoughts of Enoch and Ezra in robes singing angelically. I wonder if they will let you join a boys choir if you don't subscribe to their beliefs and belong to the church?? We sure were wowed when we went inside and as Camilla pointed out "The Catholics sure know how to build a church". The building was so amazingly beautiful inside that we wanted to take pictures, but since we were in the middle of services that would have been rude and disrespectful in the extreme. And Camilla and I are not disrespectful and not usually rude ;)
It was really a beautiful cathedral done in the Gothic style architecture. We were however really disappointed that instead of mass they were having "services". It turned out that this church is now used by an Anglican congregation. I have nothing against the Anglicans but I did discover why every so often the organ would blare loudly and make us all jump-(it was to wake everyone up). It was a very boring sermon covering a wonderful chapter in John. The problem was that the pastor(if that is what they call him) repeated himself over and over and didn't add anything intuitive or personal. I really do love that in our services in the LDS church we have a lay ministry. I love that we have stories and personal experiences shared each week. It really touches the heart and allows the spirit to witness of truth. The one thing that I got out of church that Sunday (besides my love of the choir boys singing) was a quote that came to my mind "A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things, never has the power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation." -Joseph SmithThe quote hit me in a way it never had before. It was one of those times where the Holy Spirit spoke to my spirit and taught me something that I don't have the words to express. It was a sweet experience for me.
One of the best things about Sydney was walking down the streets and seeing the beautiful buildings it was wonderful. The architecture was wonderful and since the city isn't an ancient city it was a beautiful mixture of the new and the semi-old that looks very old :) It kept Camilla and I looking up and around everywhere we went and taking far more pictures that I have room to put up here.
The truth of the matter is though that you just can't capture in a photograph the feelings that the buildings inspire in you. The building above and below is the Sydney Town Hall.
I just thought this guy looked very picturesque
This is the statue of Queen Victoria in front of the Queen Victoria Building more commonly known as the QVB. The QVB is one of the most amazing buildings I have ever seen. The inside is like an architects dream. It is beautiful from the large clock in the center to the tiny tiles on the floors.
Here it is on the outside with the Jersey Boys banner. If Camilla and I had had lots more money to spend than we did we would have gone to see that show.
Beautiful stained glass windows-**sigh**
Here is a view of the 1st floor taken from the second. Isn't it nice?
The QVB is FULL of floors of shopping from Chocolate to art and clothes for the whole family (if you have a lot to spend). Camilla and I came in here the first time to take pictures and window shop. We ended up coming back twice more to take more pictures and buy Ethne a very cute dress that just happened to be 40% off of the already discounted price :) That is my kind of shopping.
This is the chair I am in love with. I am still dreaming of it at night and trying to decide how to I can get it. No I am NOT joking. I have decided I will have this chair. I just don't know how I am going to get it yet.
This chair was in the shop that I bought Ethne's dress at and the whole store was just lovely. The lady who owns it is a furniture designer from Paris and spends her time g0ing back and forth from Sydney to Paris to who else knows where. Isn't the chair just perfect for me??
This was a protest for violence against copts(Christian Egyptians) and not as openly against the Muslim brotherhood. These people are copts living in Sydney.
This picture says to me "The chicka wears Prada" What does it say to you?
This building is the State Library of New South Wales and the statue in front is Matthew Flinders who was "the first man to circumnavigate the continent during 1801-3, and the first to popularise the name Australia instead of New Holland...".
These were the Hyde Park Barracks that used to hold pardoned criminals. You are probably all aware that Australia was first the dumping ground for criminals in Europe or more specifically England. When they discovered that there were only aboriginal colonies in AU in 1770 England claimed it for their own. Then they began sending criminals and debtors there to populate it. I think it was King George III (is that right Camilla?) that would give them a choice to either be killed for their crime or sent to Australia. So when someone was given the choice to choose between "this world, the next world, and Australia" ("The Importance of Being Earnest") it was a very real thing.
This is the sky tower and it is the tallest building in Sydney. They(Australians) seem to be quite proud of it, but Camilla and I thought it was kind of ugly (Sorry Sydney).
In our opinion Sydney has amazing buildings but this wasn't one of them. It's OK it just isn't our cup of tea.
It was quite refreshing to see a monument filled mostly with naked men instead of naked women. I am thinking of using it in my naked man museum that I want to open (purely as a social experiment I must add).
This was the St. Mary's Cathedral and I would have liked to go inside. We didn't get to go in any cathedrals besides the St. James Cathedral. We seemed to find lots of things closed when we were there :( Honestly though that was OK since we only had 4 days to see it all anyway.
Camilla took this picture and she really liked it. Isn't it cool?
This walkway is so serene. You can sit down on a bench and just relax and enjoy the beauty around you. OR you can join in with the mad who goes there to do Tai Chi. The walkway is huge and the trees are even bigger.
Hyde park was our first experience with the White Ibis. Here it is on top of the three headed statue. We were quite taken with it because neither of us had seen it before. Keep it in your memory as you will see it again in one of my AU posts :)
This is a picture with St. Mary's Cathedral in the background and the Australian Museum in the foreground. This is the museum we were heading for.
Here is the dinosaur that was trying to get out of the museum
Here is his tail-Camilla took these pictures for my kids. We knew they would love these.
The main exhibit in the museum at the time was the "Rituals of Seduction Birds of Paradise". It was really neat to see birds with the most amazing feathers you have ever seen. Look at these crazy tail feathers. The birds of paradise are all different. Some have crazy colors, exceptionally long tail feathers, curly tail feathers, and/or crazy head feathers. We learned a little about the birds and a lot about the natives in Papua New Guinea who use the birds feathers to make hair hats. They grow their hair for three years and then cut it and make a hat out of the human hair. Then they adorn the hat with feathers from the birds of paradise that are so beautiful.
Some of these birds are really beautiful, but we just couldn't get good pictures because they were all behind glass and it was dark in there. This one has feathers that look like a heart on top :) Very cool. Aparently the female birds choose to mate with the male birds with the biggest, brightest, most impressive feathers. This keeps the gene pools exciting and looking good :) I have to say that after finishing that exhibit Camilla and I decided that any desire we had to visit Papua New Guinea was crushed. The birds are facinating but the people scared us a little.
This is for Enoch. When he found out that my trip to Australia didn't include him (or Ezra and Ethne) he was devestated. He said he had always wanted to go to AU and see a Koala :( He and Ezra threw a big stink about being left behind and Enoch made me promise that if I saw a Koala I would take a picture for him.
This was from the Australian Museum too. Camilla and I laughed pretty hard when we read the sign that was close by.
That book must be facinating since he never turned a page the whole time we were there.
The sign says "The trade in human skeletons is now banned in most parts of the world". Then the part under the flash says something about how that is why MOST of the "human bones displayed in this exhibition are replicas.
This is another part of Hyde park that was beautiful. When I saw this park I was thinking of how much my kids would have enjoyed this area. Such a fun place for kids to play.
More Hyde park garden area
So on our first day there we saw: Hyde Park and the barracks, Anzac War Memorial, The Australian Museum, Elizabeth Bay House, the QVB, the St. Andrew's Cathedral, St. Mary's Cathedral, the State Library of New South Wales, The State Parliament House, The state Theatre, The Sydney Mint Museum, The Sydney Tower and Sydney Town Hall. Unfortunately we were there on a Sat. and a lot of these things were not open to go inside. We saw them from the outside and enjoyed that but were dissapointed that so many things were closed. It was a great day though. At the end of the day we went to the grocery store and bought food for the next 4 days. We spent $30 AUD total so $15 each and we each got 3 breakfasts, 3 lunches and one dinner out of that. Not bad if I do say so myself :) Of course the lunches were a nice cheese with day old bread that got worse and worse each day until we were almost happy that Camilla's got stollen by the White Ibis on the last day ;)
One of the best things about Sydney was walking down the streets and seeing the beautiful buildings it was wonderful. The architecture was wonderful and since the city isn't an ancient city it was a beautiful mixture of the new and the semi-old that looks very old :) It kept Camilla and I looking up and around everywhere we went and taking far more pictures that I have room to put up here.
The truth of the matter is though that you just can't capture in a photograph the feelings that the buildings inspire in you. The building above and below is the Sydney Town Hall.
I just thought this guy looked very picturesque
This is the statue of Queen Victoria in front of the Queen Victoria Building more commonly known as the QVB. The QVB is one of the most amazing buildings I have ever seen. The inside is like an architects dream. It is beautiful from the large clock in the center to the tiny tiles on the floors.
Here it is on the outside with the Jersey Boys banner. If Camilla and I had had lots more money to spend than we did we would have gone to see that show.
Beautiful stained glass windows-**sigh**
Here is a view of the 1st floor taken from the second. Isn't it nice?
The QVB is FULL of floors of shopping from Chocolate to art and clothes for the whole family (if you have a lot to spend). Camilla and I came in here the first time to take pictures and window shop. We ended up coming back twice more to take more pictures and buy Ethne a very cute dress that just happened to be 40% off of the already discounted price :) That is my kind of shopping.
This is the chair I am in love with. I am still dreaming of it at night and trying to decide how to I can get it. No I am NOT joking. I have decided I will have this chair. I just don't know how I am going to get it yet.
This chair was in the shop that I bought Ethne's dress at and the whole store was just lovely. The lady who owns it is a furniture designer from Paris and spends her time g0ing back and forth from Sydney to Paris to who else knows where. Isn't the chair just perfect for me??
This was a protest for violence against copts(Christian Egyptians) and not as openly against the Muslim brotherhood. These people are copts living in Sydney.
This picture says to me "The chicka wears Prada" What does it say to you?
This building is the State Library of New South Wales and the statue in front is Matthew Flinders who was "the first man to circumnavigate the continent during 1801-3, and the first to popularise the name Australia instead of New Holland...".
These were the Hyde Park Barracks that used to hold pardoned criminals. You are probably all aware that Australia was first the dumping ground for criminals in Europe or more specifically England. When they discovered that there were only aboriginal colonies in AU in 1770 England claimed it for their own. Then they began sending criminals and debtors there to populate it. I think it was King George III (is that right Camilla?) that would give them a choice to either be killed for their crime or sent to Australia. So when someone was given the choice to choose between "this world, the next world, and Australia" ("The Importance of Being Earnest") it was a very real thing.
This is the sky tower and it is the tallest building in Sydney. They(Australians) seem to be quite proud of it, but Camilla and I thought it was kind of ugly (Sorry Sydney).
In our opinion Sydney has amazing buildings but this wasn't one of them. It's OK it just isn't our cup of tea.
This was part of a really cool fountain in Hyde park. I loved Hyde park and next time I go there I want to sit and eat lunch there. It was so beautiful.
It was quite refreshing to see a monument filled mostly with naked men instead of naked women. I am thinking of using it in my naked man museum that I want to open (purely as a social experiment I must add).
This was the St. Mary's Cathedral and I would have liked to go inside. We didn't get to go in any cathedrals besides the St. James Cathedral. We seemed to find lots of things closed when we were there :( Honestly though that was OK since we only had 4 days to see it all anyway.
Camilla took this picture and she really liked it. Isn't it cool?
This walkway is so serene. You can sit down on a bench and just relax and enjoy the beauty around you. OR you can join in with the mad who goes there to do Tai Chi. The walkway is huge and the trees are even bigger.
Hyde park was our first experience with the White Ibis. Here it is on top of the three headed statue. We were quite taken with it because neither of us had seen it before. Keep it in your memory as you will see it again in one of my AU posts :)
This is a picture with St. Mary's Cathedral in the background and the Australian Museum in the foreground. This is the museum we were heading for.
Here is the dinosaur that was trying to get out of the museum
Here is his tail-Camilla took these pictures for my kids. We knew they would love these.
The main exhibit in the museum at the time was the "Rituals of Seduction Birds of Paradise". It was really neat to see birds with the most amazing feathers you have ever seen. Look at these crazy tail feathers. The birds of paradise are all different. Some have crazy colors, exceptionally long tail feathers, curly tail feathers, and/or crazy head feathers. We learned a little about the birds and a lot about the natives in Papua New Guinea who use the birds feathers to make hair hats. They grow their hair for three years and then cut it and make a hat out of the human hair. Then they adorn the hat with feathers from the birds of paradise that are so beautiful.
Some of these birds are really beautiful, but we just couldn't get good pictures because they were all behind glass and it was dark in there. This one has feathers that look like a heart on top :) Very cool. Aparently the female birds choose to mate with the male birds with the biggest, brightest, most impressive feathers. This keeps the gene pools exciting and looking good :) I have to say that after finishing that exhibit Camilla and I decided that any desire we had to visit Papua New Guinea was crushed. The birds are facinating but the people scared us a little.
This is for Enoch. When he found out that my trip to Australia didn't include him (or Ezra and Ethne) he was devestated. He said he had always wanted to go to AU and see a Koala :( He and Ezra threw a big stink about being left behind and Enoch made me promise that if I saw a Koala I would take a picture for him. 
This was from the Australian Museum too. Camilla and I laughed pretty hard when we read the sign that was close by.
That book must be facinating since he never turned a page the whole time we were there.
The sign says "The trade in human skeletons is now banned in most parts of the world". Then the part under the flash says something about how that is why MOST of the "human bones displayed in this exhibition are replicas. 
This is another part of Hyde park that was beautiful. When I saw this park I was thinking of how much my kids would have enjoyed this area. Such a fun place for kids to play.
More Hyde park garden area
So on our first day there we saw: Hyde Park and the barracks, Anzac War Memorial, The Australian Museum, Elizabeth Bay House, the QVB, the St. Andrew's Cathedral, St. Mary's Cathedral, the State Library of New South Wales, The State Parliament House, The state Theatre, The Sydney Mint Museum, The Sydney Tower and Sydney Town Hall. Unfortunately we were there on a Sat. and a lot of these things were not open to go inside. We saw them from the outside and enjoyed that but were dissapointed that so many things were closed. It was a great day though. At the end of the day we went to the grocery store and bought food for the next 4 days. We spent $30 AUD total so $15 each and we each got 3 breakfasts, 3 lunches and one dinner out of that. Not bad if I do say so myself :) Of course the lunches were a nice cheese with day old bread that got worse and worse each day until we were almost happy that Camilla's got stollen by the White Ibis on the last day ;) 
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1 comment:
Love the post! Its fantastic! We really did have a wonderful time!!!
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