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Following our tiring day yesterday, we slept in rather later than we meant to so we didn't set off for another day in Sydney until midday, unfortunately still using the back-breaking rail bus.
We wanted to see the NSW Government House which, unlike Victoria’s one, is open to the public most of the time (ours is only open once a year – unless you have a formal reception there for some special occasion – as I did for Melbourne Opera’s tenth birthday last year). To get to it required hiking up some steep hills and walking through part of the Royal Botanic Garden, though. We managed to make it for the last tour of the day at 3pm with just enough time to sit outside the main door under the covered entrance and eat our sandwiches. It was very impressive and even had a set of stone steps next to us that were used to help people dismount from their coaches or horses. We were also looking at an amazing Moreton Bay Fig Tree, planted in 1845, that was growing right beside the entrance. It was ENORMOUS and very beautiful.
Our guide finally opened the front door and let
NSW Government House
A sneaky picture of the Outer Hall us into the Outer Hall and the Inner Hall. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos inside Government House, (although I had already taken one earlier through the window of the Outer Hall). Our guide was very cheerful and informative. She told us that the House had been built between 1837 and 1845 and was full of 19th Century furniture, chandeliers and portraits. There were also the coats of arms of all the NSW Governors, including Captain Bligh (of the Mutiny on the Bounty fame) who served for 2 years. Unexpectedly, we also saw coats of arms for the five Governors-General that served between 1901 and 1912, while the Federal Government Building was under construction in Canberra. I was very surprised to hear that they had been based in NSW as I knew the Federal Government was temporarily in Melbourne during that time. It would appear it was decided to split the responsibilities between the two rival cities (no favouritism!).
We saw some lovely rooms including the Study, which is used by the Governor and has decorations from both the Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau Movements. Standing next to a beautiful huge wooden desk, there was a
Grounds of the NSW Government House
The base of the magnificent Moreton Bay Fig Tree planted in 1845 large photo of the current Governor – Her Excellency Professor The Honourable Marie Bashir AC CVO - the first woman to hold the office in NSW. Our guide was very proud of her and what an excellent and energetic job she is doing. She is 84 years old and has been Governor since 2001 and is the second longest serving Governor. She was also Chancellor of the University of Sydney from 2007-2012. Definitely a role model of service to the community and continuing to work regardless of maturity – an amazing lady!
Next we entered the very masculine Dining Room with its 34 seat highly polished cedar table below the ornate ceiling centrepiece decorated with wheat, fruit, fish and fowl (very kitcheny!) and beside a marble fireplace. (You can see part of this room and the Main Hall in photos on the NSW Governor website). The guide also showed us a tiny unnoticeable peephole in the door that could view the whole room so that the butler could see if the next course was required without disturbing any private conversations that might be happening. (We didn’t get to look in it, though!)
From this we were lead into
Grounds NSW Government House
Barry beside the beautiful fig tree my two favourite rooms, the Ante Room and the Drawing Room. These were much more cosy and comfortable with a pair of lovely Australian wood cabinets holding ornate glassware set against gorgeous hand painted and stencilled walls (as were the ceilings) done in subdued colours and contrasted by rich crimson curtains and soft furnishings. I could have happily sat in there to read a book!
The final stop was the gold-leaf encrusted Ballroom with a musicians’ gallery above the far end and a little alcove on the side in which resided a strange piano with 4 pedals and 6 extra keys. The ceiling was painted with musical instruments and the walls were painted to look like silk damask with the light reflecting on it. Unfortunately they are recreations of the originals, which were over-painted in white during the middle of the 20th Century when ornate decoration was out of vogue – vandals!
We finished the visit with a quick walk around the grounds where some ibis were feeding beside colourful flower beds that led down towards the Bay.
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