Rainbow

Not much to report from the past week / weekend - a bit of work, some shopping, soccer, a few nights socialising and other stuff - so I'm having a week off and here's a photo that Sue took from the house on Sunday when a big storm came over:

World Youth Day

Sydney was the host of the annual Catholic 'World Youth Day' last week which attracted over 200,000 pilgrims from around the world, along with Pope Benedict who made his first visit to Australia and apparently the longest journey of his life to get here. There were events in the city from the Wednesday through to Sunday when a final mass was held at the main racecourse in the city.

The city and suburbs were full of young people from many countries who were distinctive in their WYD backpacks and many groups were carrying their national flags. Caroline had been into the city on Wednesday and experienced the atmosphere and we then went with Rebecca on Friday to watch part of the 'Stations of the Cross' event, which was being acted out at different points of the city. We started in the Domain park which was full of people infront of a large stage and TV screens and we saw the second 'station' live before we moved down to Circular Quay.

The Opera House forecourt was packed and so we waited on the harbourside to see 'Jesus' carrying the cross by barge around under the bridge to the Darling Harbour area where the final parts of the performance - the crucifixion - was completed as the sun was setting.

The weather has been excellent all week, although cold, but it couldn't have been better for all involved at this time of year, particularly as many were camping out at the racecourse on Saturday night before the final mass. The city is now getting back to normal after lots of road closures during the event and the airport is going to be very busy over the next few days as all the pilgrims leave!

'Christmas dinner'

The end of last week was the coldest spell of the year although it was sunny (and usually warmer outside than in the house!). There's quite a contrast watching people in the street at this time of year as some will still be wearing t-shirts and shorts whereas others will be wearing thick sweatshirts or coats - and of course 'cold' is still quite a relative term here compared to mid-winter in the UK!

We decided to have a 'Christmas dinner' on Saturday, which is quite a common event at this time of year, particularly with expats from the Northern Hemisphere. There are 'Yuletide weekend breaks' advertised in the Blue Mountains, which is the closest you'll get to a cold winter environment around Sydney, although the ski season is now in full swing in the southern mountains, about 6 hours' drive away.

So, after Sue and I had encouraged Laura to join us for a walk along Manly beach in the afternoon, we had a family dinner on Saturday evening with a roast 'chook' (chicken) and all the seasonal vegetables (parsnips, brussel sprouts). This was followed by a mincemeat pie with custard and brandy butter, which was great and will keep us going until the next real Christmas dinner in the cold!

Cockatoo Island

Rebecca's soccer team had an early kick-off on Sunday so we had the rest of the day free once they had finished and, since it was a clear sunny day, Clive and I decided to take ourselves off to visit Cockatoo Island. This island is the largest in Sydney Harbour, but is still fairly small, measuring 18 hectares and taking around 40 minutes to walk around the perimeter.

To reach the island we had to catch a ferry from Circular Quay. Queuing for the ferry was great fun – several people got irate about others pushing in and there were nearly fisticuffs between an Australian lady in front of me and an Asian lady whom she apparently wrongly assumed was interjecting. Calm eventually returned after the Aussie told the Asian to ‘go away’ in no uncertain terms (not very lady-like, but that’s Aussies for you!) and her partner claimed the Asian was ‘playing her colour card’. Entertaining stuff!

The queue for the small, red and cream wooden ferry snaked up and down the quay. There was someone counting bodies as they stepped over the threshold, but it seemed the ferry was condensing her passengers somehow! We were obviously not the only ones to think that, as soon after leaving the captain announced that no, the ferry was not overloaded and was carrying the permitted 280 passengers! We must have been amongst the last to get on this one.

We left Circular Quay and headed up river, the first time we've ever caught a ferry heading in that direction. After 15 minutes we’d reached the island and disembarked - as it was now after midday Clive and I couldn’t resist buying a cup of chips each to go with our bananas (we believe in fine dining)! The food from the island’s only cafe looked delicious, but our humble pots of chips tasted great from the bench overlooking the water with views back to the city.

In 1788, Cockatoo Island was covered with red gums and inhabited by hundreds of sulphur-crested cockatoos, hence the name. Sadly, only a few trees remain and the cockatoos have been replaced by hoards of aggressive nesting seagulls. The island was first used to house convicts, then as a major ship-building and repair centre. For a while it was also home for orphaned girls and young women convicted of crimes. However, anchored just off-shore was a training ship for 500 boys... so not long afterwards, the girls’ institution moved to Parramatta!

In 1992 the dockyard closed and around 40 buildings and wharves were demolished. The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust then assumed control of the island and started major restoration works. These aren’t that obvious – the remaining buildings and warehouses are in a state of disrepair, as are the few residential buildings still standing. This didn’t put off the decision to host a modern-art display in every conceivable nook and cranny, an extra reason for our decision to visit and for the crowds who were doing the same thing.

After trying to understand the meaning behind the first couple of displays though, I lost interest and decided modern art is not my thing! What is the point of a display of gas bottles? Or bicycles? Or a washing line with small pieces of paper pegged to it with childish pencil drawings on them? Beats me! So after trawling around most of them looking for an artist worthy of the title (and not finding one!), we investigated the new campsite (very nice – something to do in the summer?) and then caught the ferry back to Circular Quay. No mad women in the queue this time, sadly!

There are some photos from the day here.