Sydney - part II

I went to Townsville on easter Saturday to catch the plane back to Sidney on Easter day. Townsville is a small nice city by the coast. It's one of the places where you can take boats to the Whitsunday islands, so there's a lot of tourists staying in the city. It's quite nice to walk in downtown and in the "Strand". As there was no one else in my room and hardly anyone in the hostel I took the day off and relaxed. Just did as little as possible.

Back to Sidney

A surprise awaited us on the return to Sydney. Family Camelo gathered and prepared a barbecue. Easter doesn't mean much to me, but in Stockholm I was used to join together with the portuguese community and prepare a long Sunday lunch. Well, that's exactly what happened in Sydney: great food, great wine, fantastic company and loads of good mood.

After this we had two days left to visit Sydney. My first stop was the Opera House. I took the guided tour which took us to the concert halls while they were explaining the historical details of the project, the construction challenges, the way the different spectacles are organized. It was a great 1h walk, well worth the $24. The end of the tour made me a bit sad. The brilliant Danish architect who designed this masterpiece of modern architecture never saw his work completed because he was fired for political reasons. In the end they show an interview with him in the room that was named after him, and which is used as a reception room. Lets hope his son inherited his genius since he now works in the renovation of the Opera House.

Since it was an awful grey day in Sidney I left the harbour bridge for next day and went to walk around The Rocks, where the city started and made a long visit to the museum of contemporary art, where there was a great retrospective exhibition of the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. Some of her works are fantastic. It was well worth the time I spent there.

Back home, a surprise awaited us: "caldo verde" one of my favourite portuguese dishes was the first course. And after it a great dish of roasted fish. It felt like being home :)

In the last day in Sydney, I went to the north shore of the harbour and walked along Levandar bay until I reached Blue Point from where you get amazing views of the harbour bay, Harbour bridge and the Opera House. The day was sunny and beautiful so it felt great just to wander around walking, crossing the Harbour bridge on foot, getting lost in the huge and peaceful botanical gardens. Before I met Tiago in the Australian museum, I went past the art gallery of New South Wales, and am still regretting having been to the Australian museum instead of the impressionism exhibition that was on the AGNSW that was mostly about the master Monet, with 30 paintings from him.

In the evening another portuguese dinner "arroz de cabidela" and a visit to the Italian quarter of the city, before going back home and pack. New Zealand is one day away :)