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Published: April 9th 2008
The BIG Bananna
OK, so there are many different roadside attractions that are quite BIG; like the BIG Mango, the BIG Ned Kelly, the BIG Shrimp, etc. It's kind of like the "World's Biggest Ball of String" attractions along the roadside of US Route 66. Anyway, the BIG Bannana was the first BIG anything in Oz and it is on the way to Sydney so it was only right that I pay my respects.The last part of my Australian journey was to take me to their 2 biggest cities, Sydney and Melbourne. In between I would do a stop in the country's capital, Canberra. Sydney is a beautiful city. It is the most cosmopolitain place in Australia and felt more international then any of my previous stops up along the coast. It has what you would find in most major country's first cities; unique skyscraper architecture, international cuisine, a financial district, tons of shopping, an interesting history, and world class landmarks. However, Sydney probably hosts the most beautiful harbour I have ever seen. It has no equal in the world. Flying into Sydney allows you to comprehend the scale of it, but viewing the skyline from the harbour allows you to breathe it all in. No doubt most will have seen the Opera House and Harbour Bridge which have become the trademark landmarks of Sydney, but I was pleased to see other less known areas such as Darling harbour, Manly Beach, and the Royal Botanic Gardens.
I couldn't help but be reminded by London by all of the similar names throughout Sydney; Hyde Park and Liverpool Street just to name a few. One
Sydney Harbour Bridge
Here it is, the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The fireworks light this guy up every New Years. The Aussies get the honor of being the first ones to ring in the New Year and this bridge helps them do it in style. of the museums I found interesting was in the Hyde Park Barracks. It told the history of prisoner hulks used by Britain. Back in the old days, there weren't too many prisons in England. Public humiliation and executions were the order of the day; sometimes for trivial offences. A reformation began to take shape to cut down on the number of executions, something China hasn't warmed up to yet. What to do with all the prisoners though? The solution was not too far away. Old ships that had become un-seaworthy were already being docked along the Thames. Their masts were removed and hammocks were installed to house the prisoners. These new floating prisons were called hulks, but they were far from incredible. The prisoners would leave to perform manual labor during the day and return at night to sleep. The prisoners would not be in the hulks for very long though, just until they were put onto the next ship to Australia. As most people know, Australia was first populated by British prisoners. It was to become a "prison without walls". Hulks were used in Australia at first until new buildings could be built on land. Hulk remains have also
Sydney Opera House
Here is a view approacing the Opera House from the bank. been found down in Bermuda.
The Hyde Park Barracks was one of the first dwellings to be constructed by the convicts, and it was to be their home. It's served many purposes since then including an Immigration Depot for single female immigrants, mainly Irish, who came to Oz awaiting to meet other family members or to work as house maids. The building is now a museum and activly depicts what life used to be like both on the hulks and in the barracks themselves.
A visit to Sydney would not be complete without a trip to the world-famous Opera House. I must admit, I was truly impressed when I saw it up close with my own eyes. It is unlike any other building I have ever seen. It is even more remarkable when you think that it was designed in the 1950s before computers were as widely used as they are today. I bet you would be hard pressed to find someone who finds the building ugly, but I can assure you that was not the case in the 50's. The Danish architect, Jorn Utzon, submited an entry that was more of a sketch than a well though
out design. It was tossed aside early on, but luckily one of the judges, an American I believe, was late to the judging and he demanded to see all of the previously discarded designs. When he set eyes on Utzon's design, he declared "Gentlemen, this is your Opera House!" Thank goodness he did. It was only after seeing the other designs that were in consideration that I could appreciate how forward-thinking Utzon was. Most of them were drab concrete buildings with little originality.
Construction began in 1958 and would take 15 years to complete. Utzon was still stuggling to find a solution as to how the roof shells would be constructed as the concrete base was nearing completion. The solution turned out to be very simple. Each roof would form part of a giant sphere.
Click here for a better representation. The original budgeted cost to build the Opera House in 1957 was $7 million. The actual cost was to be $102 million; and thats in 1973!! That must top the overbudget building of new Wembly Stadium in London, which cooincidentally enough was done by an Australian construction company as well.
Unfortunately for Utzon, he was fired from the project before he could
Inside the Opera House Lobby
I like this picture. You can see the siloute of people against the bright Sydney sky; all from inside the Opera House. witness its completion due to the budget overruns. He returned to Denmark, never to see his completed masterpiece. In a bit of reconciliation, Sydney has recently asked him back to help re-design one of the interior lobbies. He has accepted, but at over 90 years of age he will not fly, so he does all of the work via webcam. One more interesting tidbit about the Opera House. The roof is in fact cream colored, not white. The color was chosen for the individual tiles that cover the roof in order to absorb some of the sunlight. Otherwise the reflection would be too blinding. The result is a roof that appears white from a distance.
I didn't make it to the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney due to rain. So instead I left early to head to Melbourne. I made it to Canberra and stopped there for an extra night so that I could explore the town. Canberra is the capital, but it was only built around the turn of the 20th century. Technichally, it resides within its own territory, much like the District of Columbia in the US. At the time it was feared that if either Sydney
On The Tiles
Here you can see that the roof of the Opera hosue is actually composed of individual tiles; much like the space shuttle. These tiles are of a cream color, not white as you might have guessed. or Melbourne became the capital of Austraila, then that city would wield an innoradinate amount of power over the country. Kinda like London does over Britain. The constitution stated that the capital should be placed between Melbourne and Sydney not less than 100 miles from Sydney. Land was surveyed and the site of Canberra was chosen.
At the time, Canberra was just a river in a valley. An international competition was held to determine how the city would be laid out. An architect from Chicago won and his design became the basis for what is today Canberra. It has grown a bit since then, but the principles remain the same. The Capitol building, now the new parliament, is situated at the top of a triangle. The two sides are represented by grand boulevards which terminate at other important national institutions. The bottom of the triangle is represented by the river, which has been dammed up to produce a generous lake.
I enjoyed the layout of the city and found it a great place to explore by bicycle, which I hired from the hostel. There is tons of room and not much traffic. I must admit though, for all
Checkmate!
Here are some old men playing chess in Hyde Park. of its landmarks and grand boulevards, the whole place seems soul-less and artificial. I'm sure that it being Easter Weekend didn't help, but the place seemed to lack institutions and culture that belonged to itself instead of the wider Australian community.
There are a number of war memorials and I found the Australian National War Memorial museum to be top notch. Australian troops were first deployed in World War I in Turkey to aid the empire. Their initial foray into battle was not a success, but they would learn from their mistakes to become a formidal force. I was not aware that Australia suffered from Japanese bombing missions during World War II or that they had helped America in Vietnam for 10 years. It would it be the last time that the Aussies would take up arms with the Americans.
With Canberra behind me, I headed for Melbourne. Melbourne is the second city of Australia, much like Chicago is in America. A bit smaller and a bit less pretentious. Unfortunatly, I don't think I had the opportunity to give Melbourne a fair shake. The weather had turned a bit sour since my first days in Sydney. It rained
Hyde Park Barracks
One of the first buildings to be constructed in Sydney. most of the time and the temperature had dropped considerably. I dropped my Playboy van off and explored bits of the city taking in various museums and buildings.
One of Melbournes greatest legacies is that it is where AC / DC got its start. They used to write songs and perform in St. Kilda, which is where my friend Emma lives. It was down Swanston street that the band played on the back of a flat-bed truck in their clasic video
"It's a Long Way to The Top (If Ya Wanna Rock n Roll). I challenge you to find another song that seemlessly blends guitars and bagpipes!
Inside the Royal Library of Melbourne is the actual armor that was worn by Ned Kelly when he was shot and apprehended by police. To me, Ned Kelly is a chain of steakhouses in American suburbia, but to Australians, he is their Jesse James. Ned and his Kelly Gang were a band of Irish outlaws who lived on the run from the police. They became wanted men and ransoms were placed on their heads. They devised rudimentary armour to protect them. Their quarel was always with the police who were not always popular with the immigrants, and so they became legends in their
Chinese Friendship Garden
This garden was constructed within Sydney by the Chinese as a sign of friendship and goodwill.......and possibly to spy on them (just kidding) own right. Their reputation would grow each time they evaded capture. The police finally had a show down with them and opted to shoot them in the legs where they were not protected. Ned didn't die from his injuries, only to later be hanged. If it hadn't happened in Australia, you would swear it was from the Wild West in America. A movie was made on the story in the 1970s staring Mick Jagger. I'll have to put that on my list of films to view.
Although the weather was a bit crap, I was excited to get to Melbourne so I could see a few friends from London that I hadn't seen in a while. It was great to see Emma and Ken again and to meet James. James was very patient with all of my AFL questions and gave me good insight into the game. Ken showed me to a few clubs including one where Dennis Rodman showed up. If it wasn't for Emma's generosity, I wouldn't have known the luxury of sleeping on a proper bed for the first time in months. It felt really good to not sleep in a van or a hostel. Seeing
Glammor Shot in the Chinese Friendship Garden
I had just gotten my booster shot for Hep A & B that day. Guess I should have taken the band-aid (UK = plaster) off for the camera. a few friendly faces was more worthwhile to me than any other landmark.
One night we all went to an Aussie Rules Football (AFL) game. AFL is mostly popular in the state of Victoria with most of the teams being based in and around Melbourne. If somebody is talking about footy down there, then they are talking about AFL. In the state of New South Wales and Queensland though, Rugby League is the favored sport and if you are talking about football up there, then you are talking about Rugby. I had seen clips of AFL games on TV before, but never a whole game. I had heard about how notoriously rough these games can get. It's the only sport I know of where players can have a proper fist fight on the field and the game play doesn't stop.
AFL was originaly developed as something that Cricket players could play during the off season, hence the use of an oval field. Its hard to imagine Cricket players competeing with the lads out on the field today though. There are no tuchdowns or trys in AFL, you can only kick fieldgoals to score points. There are 4 uprights
PWC Building
Looks like someone didnt agree with the PWC logo on top of the building. KPMG is next door. Cooincidence????? at each end of the pitch. Kick it through the middle 2 and you get 6 points. Boot it though either of the outside posts and you get a point. Sounds easy, right? Hold on. Play doesnt really stop for anything, so there is constant motion. You can't throw or pass the ball. You can either kick it or, and this is hard to describe, punch the ball so that it travels to a teammate. If you have the ball, you can only run about 10 yards with it before you have to bounce it on the ground. Kind of like dribbling, but remember this is a rugby shapped ball. Crazy game eh? I was a bit disappointed in the lack of violence on the pitch. I didn't witness that much roughness, and there wasn't a single punch up. It seems they have been trying to crack down on that sort of thing in recent years. I'll have to give the players their fair dues though. The pitch is huge and they all must do some serious running throughout the game.
Right, this is the last of my Aussie entries. Japan is next. Ive already been in Japan for
King of Burgers
Things are very familiar in Oz, but just a little bit different. You can still get a Wopper and have it your way, but you need to go to Hungry Jacks to do so. about a week and a half, but I am a bit behind on my postings. I will have to play catch up for a bit.
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Adrian
non-member comment
Just got the blog!
Hey Jason! Kendra just sent me the link to your blog. Haven't got to read it all but the pictures look awesome!!! I will have to read up on them over the next couple of weeks. Glad your having such an awesome time and can't wait to see where else you end up! Adrian :)