May 29, 2014

May 29, 2014

We started off the day with a quick stop at a coffee shop, which turned into a very funny incident. We are still hoping that the cause was Matt's accent and not the rudeness of the barista, but basically Matt ordered a chai tea latte and ended up with porridge. The barista got angry with Matt and said that was what he ordered. Matt was bewildered by the exchange, but of course thought it funny.

Today we went to Bondi Beach. The kids were very excited to get to go to a beach. We did the scenic walk from Bondi Beach towards Coogee. It was very pretty. Then we sat on the beach and watched the kids play in the waves and sand. The sand was so fine and golden. The water was extremely clear and had such a beautiful gradient of blues in it. It was certainly picturesque! The water was cold, but not frigid. Connor and Carolina had a blast running and jumping in the waves. Then they built things in the sand. Connor was very proud of his moat, and Carolina reduced a ladybug that she found on the sand. It was a great morning! 

 

 

We walked about the Bondi Beach neighborhood and found an amazing lunch place, the Sun Cafe. It was probably the best meal we have had on an entire trip so far. Then after lunch we had to sample the best gelato in the neighborhood. 

 

Once our bellies were full, we came back to nap the kids before our late night tour of the Opera House and the Vivid show. We headed to the Opera House around 5pm. The harbor area was jumping when we got there! We took our tour of the Opera House at 6pm and it was incredible. We got to walk through the whole opera house while our guide explained a little of the history and architecture. One of the interesting tidbits the guide told us was that the Opera House was forecasted to take three years to build and $7 million. It took 16 years to build and coast $102 million. We got to go into every venue except one. The best one was the main concert hall. It was beautiful. It was very interesting to learn that every chair in the concert hall has been designed to mimic how sound bounces off a human body so that whether it is a dress rehearsal with few people in the audience or a packed house, the sounds will sound the same to the artists on the stage. We got really lucky because one of the singers for the night was doing a sound check so we got to sit in theatre and listen to a song. It was an unexpected treat to be able to hear the acoustics. 

 

 

 

By the time we finished the tour, Vivid had started. Vivid is a two week light show that happens each night at the Sydney Harbor. Intricate patterns of light are projected onto the sails of The Opera House. It was very cool to stand and watch the light show on this iconic building.  There are also light installments all around the harbor so we walked along looking at the installments and letting the kids participate in most of the interactive ones. It was a beautiful evening!