Enjoying Sydney and Beyond

My first full day in Australia began smoothly, with a traditional (but new to me) breakfast of some toast with vegemite and butter. After a little trepidation due to the strong opinions I’ve heard on vegemite/marmite, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I really enjoyed it. Salty and savory with some of the yeasty flavor of fresh bread, I’m quite glad that I tried it and excited to seek it out back in the United States. I managed to fit in a short run around the neighborhood and a nearby park to get my bearings. I overshot a turn back to the house and ended up consulting my phone for maps on the way back, winding through the North Sydney suburbs for a little longer than planned before making it back. I then took a walk with my hosts and their son Sam (living and going to school at Sydney University nearby) to an old military fort and saw plenty of gorgeous nature, including my first bush turkey and kookaburra. We then had a nice lunch together before returning to the house. Still feeling a little jet lagged, I napped and then joined them for a wonderful dinner of curry, naan, and lentils.

Rain was forecast for the rest of the day, so I planned to go down to the center of Sydney and explore a couple museums. After being dropped off while grey clouds gathered overhead, I explored the Australian Museum for several hours. Another beautiful building with free admission, this museum had a huge variety of artifacts, specimens, and information available to view. Of course there were tons of Australian pieces, but it was a truly international museum, featuring exhibits from the Americas Asia and Europe. There were also a remarkable amount of objects from Papua New Guinea and other relatively nearby Island nations. I was particularly impressed by a lot of the indigenous art/culture from all over Australia and greater Oceania.

After admiring the view from the top of the museum in the now heavy rain, I made a quick walk across the park to the New South Wales art Gallery. All different styles and eras were on display, and unsurprisingly there was once again far too much to fit into a dozen posts here. There were works from old famous masters, indigenous artists, modern pieces exploring gender and sexuality, and even a truly impressive selection of winners from a high school art competition. I’ve added some of my favorites here.

After leaving the art museum, I found myself fairly hungry so I walked around for a late lunch and enjoyed a local beer at a pub before walking through the botanical gardens during a small lapse in the rain before catching a bus back to the house. I arrived and enjoyed a small dinner of some leftovers before going to bed, excited to see more tomorrow.