Epiphytes
Climbing Fig at Minnamurra Rainforest Centre
Stephen in the Rainforest
On Wednesday, we had to make an early start home as Bob had bought us tickets for the Sydney Opera House that evening. We had time, however, to visit the pottery in Kangaroo Valley which also sold a whole host of beautiful craft wares and to buy a few souvenirs to bring home. Bob hates to retrace his steps, so we came back via a different route, visiting a rainforest centre on the way. We enjoyed the rather strenuous walk through the valley where we enjoyed the sight of massive climbing figs, numerous plant species that we have for house plants in this country, like Monstera Delicosa ( Swiss Cheese plant) which grow to great height in their natural environment and abundant epiphytes, like stag’s horn fern, which hung gracefully from the trees. Ruth and Bob did an even more strenuous walk and then rushed back to find us sitting quietly enjoying the sights and sounds of the forest.
We had hoped to see a Lyre bird here too and luckily on the way back to the exit, Ruth spotted one and Bob and Stephen managed to catch sight of it too. Apparently, Lyre birds are great mimics and will imitate the sound of chain saws and all sorts of sounds in the forest. They also have a fascination for the colour blue and will line their nests with any blue things they can find - which often means bottle tops, wrappers, etc.
The only other wildlife that we spotted on this trip was an echidna by the roadside. Echidnas are like little porcupines with long, pointy snouts. This one refused to turn round so we only saw its backside as it shuffled along. We drove on to Robertown which is a big dairy farming area to a wonderful dairy which sold a huge range of Australian and foreign cheeses, lovely ice creams and served meals. After a plate of healthy salad, I indulged in a wickedly delicious cornet of passion fruit and coconut ice creams.
After that there was no time to linger any longer and we headed straight back to Sydney. There was time for a short rest then a shower and we got dressed up for the ballet. It was wonderful crossing the harbour by ferry at night. Sydney harbour looks even better in the dark, with illuminated ships and buildings. Unfortunately, my camera was not good enough to capture this so you’ll just have to come here yourselves or see the photos from Stephen’s SLR when we get back.
Sydney Opera House, like many iconic buildings, is better from the outside that in. There was a huge number of stairs to climb but the auditorium is lovely in a sleek, minimalist way, which is more stylish than the South Bank concrete, concert halls in London. However, the ballet when it began fell far short of the verve and originality that we have been used to in performances of modern ballet in England. We were disappointed with the first ballet which was supposed to be about the differences between night and day. I thought it was about winter dying and spring coming to life and felt it was very expressive of the symptoms of depression - but then, I have a very good imagination!
However, the second ballet was based on a classical myth in which a god falls in love with a human woman and his wife finds out and tricks the God into revealing his immortality at which point the human dies. The dancing was lovely, original and very well executed, particularly by the goddess. The only disappointing thing was the revealing of the god’s divinity which was done with a giant fan heater and a lot of silly dancing with his cloak. I reckon they could have thought of something better than that!
The final piece was about looking at otherness in everyday life. It was very good. All the dancers wore beautiful turquoise costumes and the set was surrounded by mirrors and florescent lighting ( very Lacanian-the mirrors, I mean!) We all enjoyed this piece very much. So, they saved the best wine until last and we came away having had a good evening, even if it did not quite match up to the sparkle that one experiences when watching Ballet Rambert or the like. Apparently, Darcy Bussell has made her home in Sydney now and will act as an advisor to the Australian National Ballet, so let’s hope she can impart some of her great passion to them.
We had hoped to see a Lyre bird here too and luckily on the way back to the exit, Ruth spotted one and Bob and Stephen managed to catch sight of it too. Apparently, Lyre birds are great mimics and will imitate the sound of chain saws and all sorts of sounds in the forest. They also have a fascination for the colour blue and will line their nests with any blue things they can find - which often means bottle tops, wrappers, etc.
The only other wildlife that we spotted on this trip was an echidna by the roadside. Echidnas are like little porcupines with long, pointy snouts. This one refused to turn round so we only saw its backside as it shuffled along. We drove on to Robertown which is a big dairy farming area to a wonderful dairy which sold a huge range of Australian and foreign cheeses, lovely ice creams and served meals. After a plate of healthy salad, I indulged in a wickedly delicious cornet of passion fruit and coconut ice creams.
After that there was no time to linger any longer and we headed straight back to Sydney. There was time for a short rest then a shower and we got dressed up for the ballet. It was wonderful crossing the harbour by ferry at night. Sydney harbour looks even better in the dark, with illuminated ships and buildings. Unfortunately, my camera was not good enough to capture this so you’ll just have to come here yourselves or see the photos from Stephen’s SLR when we get back.
Sydney Opera House, like many iconic buildings, is better from the outside that in. There was a huge number of stairs to climb but the auditorium is lovely in a sleek, minimalist way, which is more stylish than the South Bank concrete, concert halls in London. However, the ballet when it began fell far short of the verve and originality that we have been used to in performances of modern ballet in England. We were disappointed with the first ballet which was supposed to be about the differences between night and day. I thought it was about winter dying and spring coming to life and felt it was very expressive of the symptoms of depression - but then, I have a very good imagination!
However, the second ballet was based on a classical myth in which a god falls in love with a human woman and his wife finds out and tricks the God into revealing his immortality at which point the human dies. The dancing was lovely, original and very well executed, particularly by the goddess. The only disappointing thing was the revealing of the god’s divinity which was done with a giant fan heater and a lot of silly dancing with his cloak. I reckon they could have thought of something better than that!
The final piece was about looking at otherness in everyday life. It was very good. All the dancers wore beautiful turquoise costumes and the set was surrounded by mirrors and florescent lighting ( very Lacanian-the mirrors, I mean!) We all enjoyed this piece very much. So, they saved the best wine until last and we came away having had a good evening, even if it did not quite match up to the sparkle that one experiences when watching Ballet Rambert or the like. Apparently, Darcy Bussell has made her home in Sydney now and will act as an advisor to the Australian National Ballet, so let’s hope she can impart some of her great passion to them.
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