White Night Wonders

A few weekends ago, Melbourne hosted an all-night extravaganza in the CBD called White Night. There were musical performances, art exhibitions, light shows, and all sorts of random cool things going on throughout the night. We went downtown to check it out, and it didn't disappoint.









Flinders Street Station was all lit up and looked awesome. There were various bands and performances taking place in front of the steps. Federation Square was busy too; at one point Zack was even learning to hip-hop dance in the middle of it!

This was one of the art sculptures at the National Gallery of Victoria. It was a tower of cascading suds! Throughout the night, as various portions fell and people swatted at the parts they could reach, this "living" sculpture changed, and that was exactly the point. I wonder what it looked like in the morning!

My favorite part was the lighting they did on the fronts of some of the cool buildings. My least favorite part was the crowd. This was White Night's first year, and I don't think Melbourne anticipated how popular it would be. The streets were literally packed with people; it got to the point where you couldn't even get from one side to the other. After a few hours of exploring some of the things going on and fighting the crowds, we walked home, satisfied that we had gotten a good taste of this neat cultural event. I hope (for the sake of those who live here-since I won't much longer) that Melbourne makes White Night a yearly event!

Aboriginal Art in Nitmiluk

In Katherine Gorge, you can park your kayak and get out on the banks of the first gorge and see lots of Aboriginal rock art. I liked it because although you knew the general area in which to find it, nothing was labeled. You had to look at all of the rock faces, under ledges, etc. and see what you could find for yourself. Then you get to figure out what it is. It was kind of like a treasure hunt in which you'd find more and more the longer you looked, and I'm sure I missed tons of it. Anyway, this is just a picture post with some of my favorite rock art I found. Enjoy!

Platypus, I think?

I like the handprints.

Under a ledge.

Another hidden one under a ledge.

These were really high up on the rock face. I'm not sure how they did it.

This one was huge and took up a whole rock face. Awesome!

Aboriginal Art in Kakadu (and a Dingo)

Kakadu National Park is home to lots of aboriginal art sites. We visited one called Nourlangie, and it was pretty cool. The rock shelter here has been used for about 20,000 years! I've included some pictures of some of our favorite drawings.

I've included this in case you want to try making some rock art of your own!

This one shows traditional dancing.

This one is called Nabulwinjbulwinj. You say it like Nar-bull-win-bull-win. He's a dangerous spirit who eats females after striking them with a yam. Yikes!

















This is the Anbangbang Gallery, and it includes Namarrgon (the Lightning Man), Barrginj (his wife), Ginga (the great saltwater crocodile), family groups on their way to a ceremony, and Guluibirr (the saratoga fish).

Here's another one of the Lightning Man. Namarrgon is an important Creation Ancestor who is said to be responsible for the violent lightning storms that occur every wet season. The band joining his head and ankles represents the lightning he creates. He's pretty cool looking. This was definitely some of the best (biggest, most detailed, most interesting) rock art I've seen in Australia so far.

And on our drive to our campsite, we saw a dingo. Poor guy-so skinny!

Sunday in Sydney Synopsis

We arrived in Sydney early Sunday morning to spend a full day checking out the sights.  We did a TON of walking, but we saw a lot.  After checking into the hotel, we started by taking a quick stroll past the Archibald Fountain and through the Art Gallery of New South Wales.  You could probably spend a whole day just in there.  We saw some Aboriginal art, a self-portrait by DaVinci, some strange sculptures, and a Picasso painting (pictured below).

Then we walked through part of the Royal Botanic Gardens, where there were lots of interesting birds (more about that in another post).  We ended up at a Mrs. Macquarie's Chair, a seat carved in the stone that gives a good viewpoint of Sydney Harbour.  Then we walked around Farm Cove to the Sydney Opera House.  I got goosebumps when I first saw it...I guess because it's such an iconic structure, and it was hard to believe I was seeing it in person.  It really is a strange series of buildings; they kind of look like helmets or something.  We walked around them, went inside one, and then had a relaxing lunch sitting in the sunshine outside with a view of the Opera House on one side and the Harbour Bridge on the other side.     

  

After lunch, we walked around Circular Quay.  Quay is pronounced "key" by the way.  This is a big touristy area, because it's right between the two main attractions, and all sorts of ferries and charter boats take off from here.  Several street performers, or "buskers" as they are called here, were out entertaining the crowds.  Fake Aboriginals (I think they were fake) were dancing and playing didgeridoos in more than one location.  Anyway, we next headed to walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  We only went halfway across, but it was neat to get different views of the city and the Opera House, look down at the clear blue water below, and admire all of the sailboats out on the sunny day.

After the bridge, we walked around an area called The Rocks.  There was a street fair going on, and we bought a Sydney Christmas ornament because we like to collect ornaments from the different places we visit.  Then we took a bus out to the famous Bondi Beach (more about that in another post as well) and enjoyed some yummy gelato while watching the talented surfers.  We had dinner in Chinatown back in the city and went to bed early because we had been up since 4am with our early flights.

Sydney is definitely different from Melbourne.  We think we like Melbourne better overall.  The weather might be a bit better in Sydney; it seems to be sunny more often and a few degrees warmer.  It is a very clean city; the taxis are immaculate and the streets are spotless.  But it seemed to lack some of the character of Melbourne.  The downtown area is kind of dead; the only "happening" area we saw was Circular Quay with the tourists.  Their Chinatown is underwhelming, and the main mode of transportation is bus versus electric tram.  It just doesn't have the same charm.  Melbourne has so many unique areas of town with various shops and cultures and crowds.  Maybe we are biased, but we get the impression that Sydney is a great place to visit, but Melbourne is a better place to live.  But it is a beautiful city right on the water, and we had a splendid Sunday exploring Sydney!

Aboriginal Art

Yesterday I spent the afternoon walking around Federation Square (more about that in another entry), and I stopped in the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV).  Most of the exhibits were free, so even though I'm not much of an artsy fartsy person, it was cool to see some Australian artists' work.  I especially liked the first floor, which was full of Aboriginal art.  Each painting tells a story, and its description was next to it.  I liked the colorful ones.

Last week, I stopped in a shop down in the CBD that has this type of art for sale.  These large ones cost $20,000 or more!  Bummer, because it'd be cool to have one of these colorful paintings above a couch in our house some day.  Anyway, I'm not even sure if I was allowed to take pictures in here, but I did.  I kept the flash off and snapped quickly!  I'll put the rest of my pictures on my Shutterfly site.  Enjoy!