26 March 2016 :- AUSTRALIA >>>Sydney (Last day of the journey)

AUSTRALIA :-  Sydney

21th Day: 26.03.2016

Practically this is my last day in Australia. I have my pre booked Sydney Opera House Tour at 12:00 and I have got also a ticket for the Requiem Concert at the Sydney Opera House. It is a day for relaxation and smooth activities.

After a fine sleep during the night I woke up around 08:00 and then I started to walk on the

Wattle Str. down to the Sydney Fish Market. It is approx. 1,2 km from the hotel where I am staying. On the left hand side of the street there is a big green park close to the Fish Market. Some people are doing sport at this nice weather.

As I came closer to the Fish market I wanted to take some pictures but I recognized that I have forgotten the memory card of the camera at the hotel. So I walked back to the hotel, took the memory card of the camera and then came again to the same place.

At the Sydney Fish Market

 

Mud Crabs, alive ready to buy
Anyway, I looked around in the fish market. The people have already opened their shops and benches for the new day. There are various sea products like shrimps, oysters, lobsters, fishes any kind all around. In some shops within the market there are also ready to eat sea food which were very attractive even in the morning. I tasted some sashimi and  similar small items.

Sydney Fish Market

After leaving the fish market I walked the Pyrmont Bridge Road and crossed the Pyrmont Bridge at the Darling Harbour.

Crossing the Pyrmont Bridge, at the Darling Harbour.

It is very nice to walk in the city in the Saturday morning. The George Str took me to the Rocks. The Rocks is a historical part of Sydney. It is the oldest convict settlement in Australia.

Street Markets at The Rocks

The Rocks markets (=shopping huts) are open every Saturday and Sunday as well. I stopped at the Guylian Café and took a macchiato. Walking at the Overseas Passenger Terminal I saw the big cruiser still there. The passengers of it where spread out enjoying nice weather of Sydney City.

Sunny day at Sydney Cove, the big cruise ship in the background.

I walked to the other tip of the Sydney Cove where there is the Sydney Opera House located. I had to get my tickets at the ticket box. After having them I came to the meeting point of our tour group. A nice tour guide took us into the various sections within the building. She explained technical facts and history of the building.

From Wikipedia :

“ The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney, Australia, identified as one of the 20th century's most distinctive buildings.^[3]

Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, the building was formally opened on 20 October 1973^[4] after a gestation beginning with Utzon's 1957 selection as winner of an international design competition. The government of New South Wales, led by the premier,Joseph Cahill, authorised work to begin in 1958 with Utzon directing construction. The government's decision to build Utzon's design is often overshadowed by circumstances that followed, including cost and scheduling overruns as well as the architect's ultimate resignation.^[5]

The building and its surrounds occupy the whole of Bennelong Point in Sydney Harbour, between Sydney Cove and Farm Cove, adjacent to the Sydney central business district and the Royal Botanic Gardens, and close by the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Though its name suggests a single venue, the building comprises multiple performance venues which together are among the busiest of performing arts centres – hosting well over 1,500 performances annually, attended by more than 1.2 million people.^[6] A wide range of performances is presented in the venues, by numerous performing arts producers, including four key resident companies: Opera Australia, The Australian Ballet, the Sydney Theatre Company and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. As one of the most popular visitor attractions in Australia, more than eight million people visit the site each year, with around 350,000 visitors annually taking a guided tour of the building.^[7] The building is managed by the Sydney Opera House Trust, an agency of the New South Wales State Government.

On 28 June 2007, the Sydney Opera House became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.^{[8] “}

This is the design philosophy behind the Sydney Opera House :- Sails of a ship

One of the performance halls of Sydney Opera House

Tiles of the roof have been manufactured in Sweden

Precasted concrete modules are holding the building together

Perfect symmetry is everywhere in the building

Percasted beams of special cross-section of the Sydney Opera House

Our nice guide at the entrance of the Utzon Room-Utzon is the Arcitect of the Sydney Opera House

In the Utzon Room
In my opinion, those who are studying architecture and/or civil engineering must see this building. It pumps the enthusiasm and creativity.

After finishing the tour roughly in one hour we met with Lilette in front of the box office.

She had also bought ticket for the same concert as me. We walked into the concert hall.

It is fantastic and really big space inside. Occasionally, without knowing each other’s seats we had bought almost neighbored seats at the same row. We had only two seats between us.

Audience of the "Requiem" at Sydney Opera House

Orchestra

Orchestra

The concert “Requiem” of Mozart was fantastic. It was finished around 16:00 o’clock. When we came out we walked to the Rocks where we met Hakan, son of Lilette. He was waiting for us there. We sat with him at the Bavarian Bierhaus and ordered two beers.

Meanwhile, Lilette wanted to make shopping within the Rocks’ shops. Later on, after buying some souvenir she came to our table and we continued to chat altogether.

Hakan found a Japanese Restaurant to dine. It is Sushi Yachiyo in 1/13 Kirketon Road, Darlinghurst (Tel.02 9331 8107). Then we walked to the restaurant. It was a long walk from the Rocks. It is a little restaurant with cozy ambiance. We sat around a small table and the food was wonderful.

After the dinner Hakan called Uber Taxi and we all drove to our Hotels. They first left me at my Hotel. It was around 22:30 when I came to my room. Tonight I am going to have short nap because my flight to Dubai departs at 06:00. I have already ordered through the reception a taxi which will pick me up at 03:30 from the hotel.

I packed all my stuff and started to sleep the last night of the Australia+NZ journey. Tomorrow will be a long day on the way to Istanbul.