How adorable is this wallaby?
Month: February 2016
The Changing Seasons – Sydney: February
Here is February’s cruise ship. Compare this beautiful blue sky with the threatening storm that hovered over January’s ship.
The season of summer continues in Sydney. After the storms and humidity of January, February has been generally delightful: clear blue skies, normal humidity and lots of warm but not scorching days. Today is different — although the sky is a flawless, cloudless blue, the temperature is climbing to a forecast 39C (that’s 102F). As you can imagine, the beaches will be mobbed even though it’s a Thursday!
Hot summer day at Brighton Beach a couple of weeks ago. This wide sandy reach runs along the western edge of Botany Bay.
This February brought the beginning of the Year of the Monkey, and Sydney (as usual) threw a party. You can see my other Chinese New Year photos here.
Chinese New Year flags and lanterns, Martin Place
In the run-up to the The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival, ANZ Bank gets into the spirit and converts some of its ATMs to GAYTMs.
GAYTM, ANZ bank
GAYTM, ANZ bank
Dance flash mob!
I was walking down Martin Place to the train station to go home on Monday, when suddenly music started thumping and apparent passersby began to dance.
All together now, big finish! Not sure about the guy in the red shirt, though.
Dance flash mob, Martin Place
Dance flash mob, Martin Place
Dance flash mob, Martin Place (the speakers are in those orange “coolers”)
If you can remember the opening sequence of the film “Footloose”, you’ll know why I took these two photos. Well I had to, really, because that song was playing!
Footloose
Footloose
Season Markers
These two locations will appear regularly in my monthly posts. As I said in my January post, it’s hard to tell what season it is in Sydney because there are no dramatic changes such as snow and ice. However, these plane trees in Martin Place do lose their leaves, and as I intend to take this shot around 5:30pm each month you’ll see it get darker and darker, and then light again as spring and summer creep up. And while I don’t think any trees in the photo of Sandringham Garden in Hyde Park lose their leaves, the wisteria certainly does, and the flower displays change with the seasons.
Martin Place, 5:30pm
Sandringham Garden, Hyde Park, 1pm
Warning: Seal Resting
Now that’s not a sign you see every day, particularly not attached to a railing of Sydney’s Opera House. Yet there it was. Lo and behold, a peek over the edge revealed a seal that was indeed resting. Resting so profoundly, in fact, that I was slightly concerned it had, um, over-rested, but closer examination showed it was breathing. In the 10 minutes I watched it, this seal did not so much as twitch.
Resting seal
This does not look at all comfortable to me!
Nope, doesn’t look comfie from this angle either.
Chinese New Year: Lunar Lanterns
The Monkey
Three monkeys at the Opera House
Three monkeys at the Opera House
As part of the Chinese New Year celebrations, the City of Sydney held an exhibition of “lunar lanterns” — 12 huge fabric constructions that were lit up at night, one for each of the animals in the Chinese zodiac. This being the year of the monkey, I’ve kicked off with that lantern.
The Dog
Love those fringed ears!
Dog in Chinatown
Dog in Chinatown
The Dragon
I admit it, I was too lazy to walk around Circular Quay to get a close-up of the Dragon, so these were taken at my camera’s maximum zoom from a bar the Opera House.
Dragon, by the base of the bridge
Dragon, by the base of the bridge
The Pig
Every pig needs a curly tail!
Pig, Pitt St pedestrian mall
The Rooster and the Rat
Rooster and Rat, Pitt St pedestrian mall
Rooster and Rat, Pitt St pedestrian mall
The Ox and the the Tiger
The Ox, Martin Place
The Tiger, Queen Victoria Building
The Horse
The Horse, Martin Place
The Horse, Martin Place
The Goat
The Goat, Chinatown
The Goat, Chinatown
The Snake
The Snake, Chinatown
The Snake, Chinatown
The Rabbit
I saved this one for the last, and have a number of photos, because it was my favourite. When I first saw these dozens of larger-than-human-size rabbits, I thought, “Wow, line-dancing rabbits, that is so … weird.” Of course, they are doing tai-chi, not line dancing, which makes it all so much less weird. Sort of. 😉
The Rabbit, Customs House
The Rabbit, Customs House
The Rabbit, Customs House
Looking down from a balcony on Customs House
Random Fridays: Blue Mohawk
Walking past an outdoor wedding ceremony, I spotted this blaze of blue bobbing above the hedge around the garden. Quite an impressive hair style!
Chinese New Year: Street Performers
Dragon dancer and head.
I was in Chinatown last week, tracking down the last three of Sydney’s “lunar lanterns” in my quest to bag all 12. (I’ll post some photos of the lanterns soon.) I was lucky enough to come across some street performances as part of Chinese New Year celebrations.
The backdrop for these dancers is the Goat lunar lantern.
Dancer, Chinatown
Dancer, Chinatown
Dancers, Chinatown
This woman was a wonderfully expressive dancer.
Dancer, Chinatown
Dancer, Chinatown
Other performers stood to the side, waiting their turn.
Street performer, Chinatown
Street performer, Chinatown
Random Fridays: Caress (Valentine’s Day)
This photo seems appropriate for Valentine’s Day on Sunday. I was initially going to call it “Get a room!” because this couple’s behaviour was far too amorous for a public place! (You can see the ‘public place’ in this photo. They were on a chair on the left.)
Wordless Wednesday: Chinese New Year Lanterns
Lantern Hub, Martin Place, Sydney
The petty pace of time
You know that feeling when the hands of a clock seem stuck?
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way
– Pink Floyd “The Dark Side of The Moon”
You know how it is. You could be at work, or at school or even at home: you have things to do, but they don’t hold your attention. You can’t concentrate. You look at the clock and you can’t believe how little time has passed since the last time you looked. It’s as if the hands of the clock are moving in slow motion, or have stopped altogether. As Shakespeare put it, time “creeps in this petty pace.”
Random Fridays: “Summer of 2016” cocktail
New summer, new cocktail! Last year I created a cocktail I named “Summer of 2015” (you can see it here), so it seems like a good tradition to continue. This one is a concoction of gin, triple sec, lime juice and elderflower cordial.
