Hyde Park - Agapanthus

Walking across Hyde Park still and the Agapanthus stems are screaming to the vandals- lop me - perhaps it is an Australian thing - part of our 'Tall Poppy Sydndrome'

Hyde Park Cafe

A nice little cafe in the corner of Hyde Park - remember -no bill splitting allowed here

Victor Chang Institute

One of the sad stories of Sydney.
Victor Chang born in Shanghai of Australian born Chinese parents came to Australia in 1953, studied medicine at Sydney University and became a an intern and later became a famous Cardiothoracic surgeon at St Vincents Hospital (at the back of his eponymous institute). He was a pioneer of modern heart transplants in Australia. On 4 =July 1991 on his way to work he was shot dead in a failed extortion attempt. This heart research unit is a fitting legacy.

Remembrance Day 2010

At 11am, like many other places today, there is a service to remember the fallen in wars past (and present). This is the scene at the Cenotaph in Martin Place shortly before 11am today.

Hyde Park War Memorial

Today I start a series of photos based on a walk I did at lunchtime this week. (Thanks Joan from Blue Mountain Blog for the idea) It starts as you can see at the War Memorial in Hyde Park - fitting for Armistice Day.

Tea for Two = T2

In David Jones (department store) there is a food area which I recommend, here is a selection of tea.

Jacaranda Carpet

One of the best bits about Jacarandas is the purple carpet they produce when their flowers fall. This is one taken this morning looking to the Archibald fountain.

Sydney Hospital Fountain

This is dedicated to all the nurses at Sydney Hospital. The building behind is appropriately named 'Nightingale'. This is a frequently used shortcut between Macquarie Street and The Domain.

The day the sky turned red

A photo from the day the dust storm came to Sydney. This is the Northbridge - a wonderful old bridge on the northern approach to the city.

Sails and Sky

The sails of the Sydney Opera House. Dazzling in the sunlight.

Sydney Cove

The gateway to Sydney happens to be where the First Fleet landed in 1788. Lots of ferry traffic.

This post is supported by boating licence

Best Jacaranda in Sydney

This is my pick for the best Jacaranda in Sydney. It is outside the Cardinal's residence at St Mary's Cathedral.

Melbourne Cup Day

The race that stops the nation - even Sydney.
On the first Tuesday in November they run the Melbourne Cup.
Here are some desperate punters lining up in Martin Place to get a bet on.

Public Transport

At least the sign was appropriate.
City Daily Photo Theme: Public Transport

Jacaranda Time

Summer is almost here when the Jacaranda's bloom, they should be Sydney's tree - it is a shame they come from Brazil.

Q. Where is Sydney's best Jacaranda.
A. Stay tuned for my vote, and it is not the one in today's blog.

This one is in the main quad at Sydney Uni.

Ibis on a fence

One of Sydney's pesky birds, their long beaks can reach into rubbish bins.

Looking Through the Sydney Opera House

Looking towards Government House, apparently the gum tree on the left was around when Captain Cook sailed past Sydney.
Part of Skywatch

Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi

Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi starts today!
This is an old shot but it is one of Sydney's best walks along the cliff from Bondi to Tamarama - along with some great art.

Sydney Opera House Tiles

Looking up across the sails of the Opera House - some beaut Swedish tiles.

From http://www.utzonoperahouse.com/tiles.php

My father and the engineers had been working on the geometry of the shells for some years and at the same time he was looking into the ceramic tile question.
What kind of ceramic tiles could be used for cladding the shells?
He wanted a white tile and on his trips back and forth between Sydney and Denmark, among other places he visited, he was in Iran and especially Isfahan. My father was very much taken by the ceramic surfaces on the big domes of the mosques.
Even though the tiles were dirty with dust from the desert my father saw how they would still sparkle and shine in the sunlight.
He tried to emulate that glaze as if on ceramic tiles in Europe and he found a Swedish factory that made ceramic tiles for the paper pulp factories in Sweden and Finland.
www.skane.com

1.056 million Tiles were made for the Opera House and one of my father's employees at the office was actually staying in Denmark when the rest of the office went to Sydney.
He sorted out every tile for the Opera House!
So he was at the tile factory whenever the firing was done. He looked through all the tiles, rejected some and let others pass that were then sent to Sydney.
Therefore there is this wonderful surface of tiles that you see on the Sydney Opera House shells.
But before that they had to find a way to fix the tiles to the shells...
One day my father was walking in the town of Helsingborg in Sweden and by accident he met the famous Swedish architect Sigurd Lewerentz on the street and as a gesture he bent over and said
"It is an honour to meet you Mr. Lewerentz."
As his eyes looked down onto the pavement he was walking on, he saw that the tiles were set in a diagonal pattern rather than a straight checkerboard pattern. He thought to himself ahh if we set them diagonally that would be much better. So this is one reason why the tiles on the Opera House shells are set in a diagonal pattern. The other reason was to find a surface which allowed for the application of tiles in an orderly manner. He couldn't find that and the engineer had problems structurally in erecting the concrete shells that my father envisaged but eventually my father had the idea of using a sphere as the base for the geometry of the shells.

The Bennelong Restaurant

There is a very swish restaurant inside the Sydney Opera House. Here are some patrons enjoying the view.