Australia's icon is made of bathroom tiles.
Seeing something for the first time is always special.
Seeing something that you have seen a thousand times is even more special. Postcards, television, magazines, in the background of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games; there are so many places that you see the opera house before you actually see it; with its iconic sails gleaming over the Sydney harbour.
Up close it was quite a different thing, the Sydney Opera House is as large, impressive and iconic as the reputation that precedes it. It was a random Scandinavian guy whose design of the opera house was chosen, and it was sails and/or shells that were meant to be the inspiration that developed it's unique shape. I could be wrong but I don't think the guy was very successful in his future architectural endeavours but the opera house certainly was nice if his only famous creation.
What struck me was how old fashioned the place looked! I don't know much about interior decor (or, anything really) but the inside of the building had very brown carpets, tinted brown windows, and some rather untrendy furniture. I sort of expected the inside, like its timeless exterior, to be quite contemporary. But the place is stunning nonetheless, and for extra perks it might be interesting to note that the 'sails' are covered in what can only be described as bathroom tiles! That one has to get out! Here I was, wondering why it wasn't as shiny as I'd expected...
Despite this interesting discovery, it can't be denied that standing at Circular Quay, in the shadow of two of Australia's most famous monuments - the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House - with blue skies and a plethora of cruise ships, sail boats and jet boats bustling about, you can't help but feel you are in some place special.
Perhaps Sydney was much more magnificent than I'd imagined after all.
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The ferry takes you to the zoo's lower entrance, and from there you can take a cable car to the top of the zoo. Then, you walk back down, seeing the animals on the way. It would work quite well except that we didn't plan our routes properly, not to mention we ended up running up and down the hill to catch all the animal shows. Don't wear high heels! I don't know why you would but I thought I should warn you in case, since a lot of the girls at the zoo that day were in a dress and high-heels (it was Valentine's day)!
I feel like in most zoos the best enclosure is often the elephant one, which was the case for Taronga Zoo, but probably the most unique enclosure was for the giraffes and zebras. Not because it was anything special, but because it backed into a classic view of the harbour. Since Africa I've sort of felt that taking photos of African animals at zoos is a bit redundant but this photo - one of giraffes heads stooping between the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House - is plastered on so many zoo brochures and is possibly what sells most zoo tickets. It's something unique. Where else would you get a view of an Australian city, with a giraffe in it?
