Diary extract, 17th June, Sydney
After another extraordinarily indulgent breakfast, I set off on a tour around the Opera House with a lovely man who explained the interesting architecture and the trials and tribulations of Jørn Utzon, the Danish architect. It feels like a completely different building inside: the white sails provide a much more awe-inspiring view.
After a defending an ‘opera slice’ from the greedy seagulls flocking the steps of the Opera House, who were on a mission to nick any titbits they could from unsuspecting tourists, I headed to a backstreet market. I treated myself to some pretty flower hair accessories from a stall and some exotic dried fruit, whilst a street musician strummed a guitar in a cheerful manner…
…that evening, returned to the Opera House to see the show Hot Brown Honey. It was superb and incredibly full on- the wonderful women performers were fantastically brazen and blunt about various issues that pervade Australian society. It touched on subjects including domestic violence, racism, feminism and sexuality to name but a few. I thought it was just great.
I had to catch my breath when the show finished, before meandering through some backstreets to find a little Italian I had spotted earlier and earmarked for dinner. Two Sicilian men playing a guitar and accordion serenaded me as I munched on spaghetti.
I then popped back to the Vivid Lights show on the quayside to try and get the perfect shot of the bridge and the Opera House. I experimented with slow shutter speeds on some illuminated swings which span round 360 degrees in time to music, resulting in images that looked like they were of multicoloured fans. I was pretty exhausted by this point, so I decided to call it a day and headed back to the Shangri-La for a cuppa and bed.
letters from a wanderer 