The iconic image of Sydney is the Opera House, and thanks to free tickets being offered at Sasha & Maddie’s school, we were able to attend a performance of the Australian Chamber Orchestra. We weren’t allowed to photograph during the performance so here are some shots inside before hand (as well as outside before and after)…

And to give you a taste of our experience, here are some YouTube clips of the Australian Chamber Orchestra featuring Richard Tognetti…

• Mozart Violin Concerto No. 4 (we saw No. 5)
• The Reef
• Bach Violin Concertos

One day before the kids started school we took the ferry to Manly Beach. Charming town, great beach, but you can’t see my long swim in the cool, clear waters (I can still)…

Our hosts are very involved with soccer. Greg coaches Jenny’s team, and these pix focus on her well-coached playing (plus sunset thru eucalyptus)…

As we’ve been known to do, we sought out one of the better playgrounds in Sydney. The new “Darling Quarter” is right next to Darling Harbor and has a great playground with structures, a zip line, and unique water features. On the way we looked into the ANZAC Memorial as well…

This miscellany shows a statue of Captain Cook, the Cook River, a bus ride, a sunset, street art repeats, a tile mural at the kids’ school, and a contact lens ad…

Just adjacent to Newtown is the Camperdown Cemetery, and inside the cemetery is St. Stephen’s Anglican Church. I went on a Sunday morning and the church was not well attended, the cemetery is the subject of has-been art project involving the “wrapping” of tombstones, and the entire place is surrounded by a graffiti covered wall (not great graffiti) as well as a kind of nice park beyond the wall. It was a reminder of Sydney’s history, what with the numerous old grave markers, and how things have changed not always for the best. In any case, it was an island, an enclave, a separate place within the trendy hipsterhood of Newtown. I love cemeteries, and a chance to share a tear with loved ones, loved by someones, some time ago…

Study Questions:

1. Research the Sydney Opera House (official website). Discuss the basics, history, architecture, and acoustics.
2. Research the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Just listen and emote, or just listen, for awhile.
3. Research Australian soccer, or rugby, or cricket, or the Olympics, or some sort of sporting something. Why? How? Who? By how much?
4. Research Darling Harbor. What, where, when, who, why, how? Or, what about James Cook?
5. Research Camperdown Cemetery and St. Stephen’s Church (use links above). What of it? And/or discuss the history of religion in Australia.