The One on Bondi...

H was out working today - painting a room in the hostel with Mike and Joe (I guess eating with those boys pays off!!) I decided to head out on a bit of sight seeing (which H had done when her parents popped out the other week!) so headed down to Circular Quay to meet Lincoln and his girlfriend Rachel to go for a tour of the Opera House.

Our guide was great and filled us in on the history of the opera house (in a nutshell it was the brain child of Eugene Goosens and designed by Jorn Utzon - although neither got to see the finished article as both were thrown off the project. The buck stopped with Utzon, as the architect, when the project went hideousty over budget. In the end a lottery was started and as Aussies like the odd gamble, the project was paid off within 10 years!)

We were shown around the various buildings - I'd always thought it was one building but its actually about 3. Including rooms such as the Symphony hall, the Utzon room and the Playhouse.

The best description of the Opera House that I have heard is that it's like a walnut. The roof is like the shell, and the buildings inside (the nut) are totally self contained within. The concrete structure of the roof looked, from the inside, like the inside of a piano, while the outside of the symphony hall reminded me ofa huge organ... maybe it's just my wild imagination but everything here seems musically inspired!

The symphony hall is fabulous - as a group we all clapped on 3 and the echo took a couple of seconds to die away. Amazing accoustics.

The Utzon room is a small room which can be used for functions like book lauches or cocktail parties or intimate concerts such as for string quartets and the like. What stands out is the large tapestry down one wall, which was designed by Utzon who tore up and stuck coloured paper on a big sheet. Apparantely if the thread was all unravelled it would reach to Darwin and back! It was inspired by a piece of music by Bach, and a painting (but not sure by who!)

Lastly, the playhouse - a small theatre all set up for what looked like a modern version of Shakespeare's Macbeth - what limited scenery there was had televisions in it!

Making the most of the nice weather we went for a wander, throught the Botanic gardens, round Mrs macs point (another million photos of the bridge and opera House - I am totally addicted) and through to Wooloomooloo.

Here we stopped for a pie - and not any ordinary pie - but one from the famous Cafe Harry de Wheels. I do not often take a photo of my dinner, (even my toad in the hole didn't make it photographically onto my blog) but this pie was so good it deserved this worthy recognition!

From here to The Old Fitzroy pub (a recommendation from Dermot Lavelle: Illusionist) for a cheeky afternoon beverage - if you are here, it's well worth a look - I loved the 70's style wallpaper!

Feeling a bit sleepy we jumped on the train to Bondi to meet H and the boys and to finally try out the boogy boards. I wasn't expecting much from Bondi, but still felt the need to check out the famous beach, and I was actually rather impressed! It was a tad busy but the sand was clean and white and there were big waves.

I'm not that fussed on being in the ocean, but am determined to love the surf by the time I leave oz. This was my first time in the sea here, and the first time ever in waves like this. They're huge, and can take you unawares knocking you for six and bringing you up not knowing which way you're facing, where you are, and desperately clinging to your bikini, with your hair across your face like Cousin It. I am certainly no beach babe (especially with my still whiter than white tummy, but brown arms!), and this is nothing like swimming off Brighton!

Plus, Boogy Boarding is not as simple as it looks.... and anyone who tells you otherwise is lying! I won't go into descriptions, you see the problems I had jumping the waves - giving me equipment just complicated the matter. My visions of being a fantastic surfer by the time I leave are fading rapidly. I will settle for just surviving in the water!

That aside, I did not need to be rescued, and actually thoroughly enjoyed my first experience on the Aussie beach - bring it on!