Sydney, Australia Part 3

In the middle of our time in Sydney we left town and headed to the Blue Mountains. After a couple of days in the mountains we returned to Sydney for the rest of our stay in Australia. I'll publish the posts on the Blue Mountains after I publish the complete set on Sydney itself.

After the time in the mountains, we returned to Sydney.

The car GPS routed us back into Sydney a different direction than when we left so we crossed a different bridge on re-entry.

Back in Darling Harbor late one afternoon we visited the Australian National Maritime Museum which showcases Australia's relationship to the sea. To really explore this museum you can't arrive late in the afternoon. We did have time enough to explore some of the "free entry" areas, but that was it. There are ships docked outside and that probably would have been fun to explore, even with the extra entry fee:

1) HM Bark Endeavour- replica of Captain Cook's famous ship
2) Iron hulled Barque James Craig (1874)
3)HMAS Onslaw, oberon class submarine
4)HMAS Vampire, daring class destroyer
5)HMAS Advance, patrol boat

Oh, well. Maybe next visit!

We always enjoy paintings of the sea and life on the sea so still enjoyed our visit. We also got to see an exhibit of the works of photographer Harold Cazneaux (1878-1953). Pretty soon it was closing time.

We might have to go back to see an exhibit coming next March. It's called Pompeii Rescue. The exhibit is about one of the first recorded maritime rescue missions in AD79 following the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius (Italy).Sounded fascinating.

QVB
The Queen Victoria Building takes up an entire city block and was across from our hotel. It is the city's "most sumptuous shopping complex."

We ate lunch there one day and wandered over there a couple of times. Built in 1898, it was a monument to the long reigning monarch. Built during tough economic times it was planned specifically to employ many out of work craftsmen. Originally a concert hall, it's also been a city library as well as many other things. There was a massive remodel in the 1930s.

There was a HUGE Christmas tree in the center of this place. It contained 82,000 Swarovski crystals. Click on the link to see a short video of how they put this tree together. We purchased our 2016 Swarovski ornament at the shop here!

Here is a video of the tree being put together. It was so pretty! Please watch!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCZviSrLxLA&feature=youtu.be