Darling Harbour and the Opera

I awoke Tuesday morning to a constant drizzle and decided it would be an ideal day to tour the museums at Darling Harbour. I'm starting to adjust to life in a hostel, including its amenities like a kitchen for my use. For breakfast I had purchased myself cereal from a nearby grocery store and used the kitchen to store what I needed. After breakfast, I hopped on a train north to the Town Hall station and walked through to the QVB to avoid the rain before turning west to Darling Harbour. Once a commercial port, Darling Harbour is now a shopping/residential/museum district. Some see it as a bit tacky, but I found it to be a nice waterfront area on par with revitalized waterfront areas in the U.S.

My first stop was the Sydney Aquarium. After learning so much about Palau's underwater world, I wanted to see what Australia's is like and draw comparisons. The first exhibit showed a uniquely Australian creature, the platypus. Not truly a mammal, it has it own classification called monotreme. The aquarium had a tank with three platypus swimming around roots and occasionally surfacing for air. They are odd looking creatures like ducks, but without wings. Continuing on they has displays of river fish and then ocean fish. I recognized some of the fish, but others were uniquely Australian. The had a crocodile exhibit with a large saltwater crocodile ("saltie") and a few small fresh water crocs ("freshie"). The saltie was sunning himself with the heat lamp before giving a large yawn, slipping into the small pool, and swimming over to the other side. The next exhibit was a special seal tank where we could view the seals from above water then walk underneath through long tunnels. The seals were enjoying themselves swimming around in circles. The next tank was similar design, but contained different types of sharks and rays. It was neat having them swim right over the tunnels and having them so close. I've seen plenty of sharks diving, but I never want to get that close, but this time I could. The aquarium also had a tropical fish display that had a nice selection, but I have seen better in Palau. The final tank had really large leopard sharks and cod all types of massive fish. It was an interesting experience and a good Aquarium up there with some of the best I've seen.

The rain had slackened to a drizzle by the time I left the Aquarium, so I walked around Darling Harbour to the opposite side. I grabbed a quick lunch at one of the malls and then went to the Maritime Museum. On the inside they had different types of displays ranging from the European exploration of Australia, the first settlers, later immigration, the Australian Navy, and Aborigine maritime life. The "First Fleet" of military and convicts that settled Sydney is held in great reverence to the point that I've seen posters in multiple places with the list of all their names, which is ironic since most of the people who were on those ships didn't want to be in the First Fleet. At the museum they have a bunch of relics from some of the First Fleet ships. They also have a canon from James Cook's Endeavor that first mapped out Botany Bay and the southeast coast. The exhibits were decent, but nothing spectacular. Outside they had a few decommissioned military boats and a replica of the Endeavor. I walked across the footbridge back to the Town Hall and caught the train back to the hostel.

Tuesday night I went to a performance of Rossini's Barber of Seville at the Sydney Opera House. It was opening night for the show and the theater was nearly full. I entered through the main entrance and headed up the stairs to find my seat. As I made my way to the back of house I came to the large triangular shaped portion that overlooks the harbor and the Harbour Bridge. It is a magnificent view and they strategically placed lobbies and bars to take full advantage of panoramic sight. I took in the view until they called is to our seats. I was in the balcony towards the back, but the Opera House is surprisingly cozy and I had an excellent view of the stage. I had not seen Barber of Seville previously, but I have its overture on my iPod. Anyone who has seen Elmer Fudd chase Bugs Bunny knows the overture. Everyone also knows Figaro and his opening song. There were obviously others like me who were not opera buffs but were there to experience opera at the Opera House and the audience perked up when those familiar strains started. The first half was great and intermission meant I could go enjoy the view for twenty minutes. The show was great and the cast did a marvelous job, especially the suave Figaro. The last opera I had seen was La Boheme where everyone dies at the end, so I really enjoyed the light airy romance of Barber of Seville. The whole experience was exactly what I hoped for and is one of the highlights of the trip.

After the opera I walked around the grounds for a little while. It was a clear, crisp evening and I enjoyed seeing the Harbour Bridge and Opera House illuminated. It was past eleven, so I hoped on the train and went right to bed once I got back to the hostel.

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