Ketchup (a month’s back log!)
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008What have we done?
We went to see the Wallabies kick the All-Blacks butt.
Went to see the third game in the State of Origin match. Think All-Star baseball game, but with shorter shorts, more bruises, and ticket available day of. We went there the day we arrived because we met some “blokes” in a pub –a crazy bunch of Queenslanders. The funny thing is, they were exactly like all of the stereotypes. Which no one in the states will know. Run a Google search for more on this if you’re really interested. Supposedly the phrase “mad as cut snakes” is appropriate.
We took a ferry round trip in the harboUr (unfortunately, not a typo…). We went from the Circular Quay (”Key”) to Watson’s Bay. Since this is the way that commuters get around, it’s really inexpensive to take most of the ferries.
We saw shows at the Sydney Opera House twice. The first time we saw a very interesting rendition of Hamlet. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s written but some guy named Billy and is about a prince that kills his parents. In this version, the prince convulsed and whined a lot. With that said, it was an excellent production with lots of lewd jokes. We also went to see a live concert by an Aboriginal musician named Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu. The only way to describe it was phenomenal. Apparently it was his first performance in Sydney (although we heard him on the second day, so make that second. Apparently this is a big deal since Aboriginal rights are still very controversial.
We wandered through the Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens. Amazing trees and other flora, especially for us from the northern hemisphere. The gardens are filled with Sulphur-crested Cockatoos. Pretty birds until they start squawking.
One of the odd things about the historic buildings in Sydney is that they’ve mostly been converted to shopping malls. Imagine towering stone structures filled with K-Marts and Foot Lockers. One of the major ones, the “Victoria Building” actually has a statue with a talking dog outside of it. He begs for money. Very strange.
Well, it’s getting late. We’ll post some pictures tomorrow.