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| I am standing beneath the northern approaches to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, out of the rain. I am working on a series of posts comparing this bridge to two other bridges around the world. The red ferry, which is pretty-much empty, is the "Elizabeth Cook", one of two ferries contracted by Captain Cook Cruises to Sydney Harbour Ferries, to supplement their busy routes. Shall I be generous, and say on this occasion it was repositioning? |
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| The roundabout at the bottom of Macquarie Street north. I am standing close to the security booth at the entrance to the Opera House. On the right is the collection of swanky apartments collectively known - by riff-raff like me - as the "toaster". On the left is the quarry wall from which much of the sandstone was hewn in 1838 by George Barney and his convict-gang, to construct "semi-circular quay". Atop the sheer sandstone face sits a railing that marks the edge of the Tarpeian Way, between Macquarie Street and Government House in The Domain. Is this a Cadillac? |
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| Taken from the top of the Opera House Steps, facing south-west. |
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| It seems to me that, once people are actually in the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House, they cannot believe their eyes and their good fortune. A bit like wandering The Mall, and wow, there is Buckingham Palace. Or standing aways down the Champs-Elysees, and wow, there is the Arc de Triomphe. And there are no cars. Very few in the forecourt, none around the foreshore. The entire Sydney Cove thing still blows my brain each and every time I wander down there. |
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| Bennelong Point sits guarding the eastern entrance to Sydney Cove. At the tip of the point, now sits the Sydney Opera House. It has not always been thus. |
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| The forecourt of the SOH was originally a sandstone quarry. As such there is a sheer wall between the SOH and the grounds of Government House. Meandering along the top of this quarry wall, is The Tarpeian Way. The Bennelong Lawn enables visitore to lounge for a delicious view of all this beauty. |
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| During summer, there is a cruise ship tied up in Sydney Cove, every day. Every weekend there is a different one. This is the "Voyager of the Seas". They are so massive, they dwarf the Harbour Bridge, They dwarf the Opera House. From the Pylon Lookout on the bridge, I could not see Circular Quay (and obviously, judging from this photograph, from the Cahill Walk, I could not see the Pylon lookout), and I could not get a good view of the city skyline. If I had to leave Sydmey, I would NOT miss these cruise liners. I want my city back!! |
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| The Opera House and the Harbour Bridge separated by a swivel. |
| If I had to leave Sydney, or if I CHOSE to leave Sydney, what would I miss? William Kendall seems to think that one of us Sydney bloggers will say that we will miss one of these two icons. Well, yes, I love having them there, and I am emotionally attahed more to the harbour bridge than to the opera house. But, they are just buildings. There are other bridges, albeit they do not have views over Sydney Harbour. But they do have views of water. There are other opera houses, staging remarkably similar versions of the oeuvre. Some avant-garde like this one, and others architectured more conservative. There are other Sydney icons, too. Like the green and gold First Fleet Class ferries. Like Sydney Tower, which just HAS to be a sibling of the Seattle Space Needle. Like North and South Head which stand as silent sentinels at the opening to our harbour. But they are all replaceable, to some extent, in my affections. |
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