Week Two of Touring
We (my guests: my mother, godmother and a pair of parishioners from my former parish and myself) began our second week of touring with a trip into Sydney. I had a wedding rehearsal at the Cathedral of St. Mary so thought they could wander during the rehearsal. Here are Mary Anne, Elsa (my godmother) and my mother, Maria, squished into the back seat of the biggest car the friars have (1)! Before heading out, we stopped for brunch at a local cafe so that my parish office personel could visit with the visitors: (from l to r) Mary Anne, Maria, Elsa, myself, Angela (parish office manager), Catherine (parish bookkeeper) and Nickie (2). Then we stopped at the tomb of St. Mary McKillop (3) in North Sydney before arriving at our destination, the Cathedral of St. Mary in Sydney (4).
Here are some shots of the site. This is a painting that was commissioned by an Australian artist called "Our Lady of the Southern Cross" (5). It hangs just inside the Cathedral, on the Hyde Park entrance of the church. You can see the constellation, which can only be seen in this hemisphere, on the upper right side of the painting. This is the impressive main aisle (6). (I joke that this is what I want our church to look like after the renovation!) This is a statue of Mary under the title of "Our Lady Help of Christians," Patron of Australia (7-8). (Just an aside, her day is celebrated in Australia on 24 May, which happens to be the same date of my priesthood ordination anniversary! Coincidence???) Some other cathedral images: stained glass windows (9-10, 12); the high altar (11); the rose window above the main entrance (shot from the high altar) (13); a bust of Mary McKillop (14); a statue of a young Mary and St. Anne (15); and a rainbow lorikeet in a palm tree outside the cathedral (16).
After the rehearsal at the cathedral we headed for the Sydney Opera House. We stopped fro a meal at the Opera Bar Cafe, a lovely outdoor restaurant overlooking Circular Quay at the base of the iconic building (17). The gulls are notoriously aggressive. This one eyed our food as it was served (18). Afterwards the "four sisters" posed for shots infront of the Sydney Harbour Bridge (19) and the Opera House (20).
I had booked tickets at the Opera House for a Mozart and Betthoven concert of strings and flute. It was in a very small concert hall that overlooked the water (21-22). The piano used was a modern recreation of an instrument that would have been around at the time of Mozart. The piece played has special notations that are for the pedals found on only this period instrument. It was lovely to hear. Here are some of the musicians warming up (23) and my Godmother Elsa with the young cellist (24). Then we went out to McMahon Point and saw the city at night (25-28).
The next day we headed to the Grounds of Alexandria Cafe. Anastasia and her mother joined us (29). Here are some of the beautiful plates we ate (30-32); a friendly Maccaw (33); "Kevin Bacon," the mascot (34); my mother and I at the on site flower shop (35); and the many beautiful flowers on display (36-48). A lovely day all around!
Next was a 3 hour ride to Canberra, the capitol of Australia. We departed around noon and took a break half way to arrive about 4:30 pm. We headed straight to Weston Park to catch a glimpse of the wildlife. Look at all the different colorful birds! How many different kinds do you see in this shot (49)? Here are a couple of close-ups (50-51). They are stunning!
The roos were wonderful too! (52-63) Here is Nickie creeping up close to the feeding flock (53). I loved seeing this mama with her joey, in all its crazy poses (57, 59-60). they mostly all stare at you when you first approach and after they see you aren't dangerous, they go about their business and let you take good shots. Eventually, if you get too close it spooks them and the flee (61-62).
We stayed overnight at a hotel. The next day we headed to see the Parliament Building (63). Here are descriptions of some of the images: the main entrance with the aboriginal mural in the centre (64); the original painting that became the basis of the mural (65); the Aussie coat of arms, with emu and kangaroo, over the main entrance (66); posing with a statue of Queen elizabeth (67); a view of the main atrium (68); a hand made weaving of "Australia's Bushland" in the Main Hall which took a team of weavers over 3 years to complete (69); a close up of a detail of a sulpher crested cockatoo (70) and Haley's Comet (71) in the weaving; the main room to meet with dignitaries that lies directly under the flag (72); two in laid wood piece of art (73-74); A view towards the War Memorial (75); one of only three copies of the Magna Carta (and the only one in the Southern Hemisphere) (76); one of the chambers of Parliament, I think the House of Representatives (77); scenes from atop the building, where the tall flag pole stands (78-81).
Following a tour of Parliament, we finished our visit of the capitol with a trip to the Australian War Memorial. These are beautiful, big elm trees outside the memorial (82-83) and a dramatic sculpture covered in red poppies (84). The red poppiers were the first flowers to bloom on the fields of France in WWI. It was said that they bloomed red from the blood of the men who lost their lives and so the flower became a symbol for remembering the war dead.
This is the front part of the building (85) with an eternal flame (86) and the many lists of names of the fallen Aussie soldiers of both world wars (87-88). One of our visitors wondered how big a memorial would need to be built to list all those killed in the wars! Something to ponder! Inside the dome is a tomb of the unknown soldier (89). These are of the mosaics in the dome (91-92) and of teh stained glass windows (93-96). This is a series of artwork made of marble to commemorate the falled (97).
Finally on Friday night, I brought my guests to play Bingo at the parish hall (98)! Elsa won a couple of rounds and I actually won one, too!