Auckland, Monday night

This is the view of the skyline and the edge of Auckland's vast marina from the bridge that connects the city to the northern suburbs.


Here is a take out kitchen they tow in to downtown Auckland with a small tractor. It has been operating since the late '40's. Auckland has much more of a small town feel than any of the Australian cities I stopped in.




Here is the city seen from down in the marina district where a whole group of big sailing yachts sit, most registered in the Caymans or Road Harbour.

Here's Endeavor, the prettiest boat I've seen so far, not a blemish in any of the varnish.

Auckland, Sunday night

These pictures show the Marine Museum I spent the rainy afternoon visiting.


The museum had both dugouts and European style boats.

Although very friendly to kids, the museum had put this boat up just a bit too high. This little one started squawking when she tried to peer over the side.

Sydney, Saturday morning

This is the view of the Opera House coming back at dusk from Manly on the ferry. In the foreground, you can see the end of a long promenade that skirts the harbor. Later at night I came back and watched millions of tiny violinists and violists streaming out after a young people's concert.


This is the Sydney skyline from the Manly ferry. In the foreground, the large park with the Botanical Gardens.

Sydney, Friday night

Along the base of the hillside runs the boardwalk that skirts the shore from Manly beach out to Shelly Beach, a protected cove with sand beach where sunbathers had their blankets set out at the beginning of the Australian winter. You can see the beginning of a large park set in the headlands just behind the shore houses.


This is the beach at Manly, the little town across the bay from Sydney. This shows the esplanade and pines just behind the beach. Off in the distance is the cove with Shelly Beach.


Just above the beach is an older cottage colony called Fairy Bower, but as you can see if you blow up the photo, the red sign talks about adding on a floor, and that is what most people have done, either raising the houses or knocking them down and putting up larger condominiums. But there are a few beauties left.


On the edge of the shore path is a salt water pool that people were swimming in. I had a windbreaker for the ferry ride, but in Manly most people were in shirts - lots of shorts as well.


Another picture showing in more detail the shore front homes and the shore walk out to Shelly Beach. On the edge of the beach, a little bungalow serves wine and beer.




The street performer here has set up in the middle of the main pedestrian mall that runs from the ferry out to the beach. Unfortunately, the shops have all put up modern steel and glass marquis style structures, hiding some beautiful art deco and Victorian facades.

Sydney, Friday noon

This picture of the Opera House shows the view from the Harbour Bridge just after sunrise. From Shore School, where I have been staying, the bridge is just a short walk down the hill.



This photo, also taken from the bridge shows a square rigger coming into the harbor. Beginning of the skyline is just to the right.

I took this picture of the Opera House from the back deck of the ferry over to Manly, about six miles outside the city, a little town with popular surf beaches and a delightful town square, ringed by a set of palm trees in front of the Municipal Council Hall. I'm writing this through their free internet wireless spot in the park, a very nice civic feature.


This set of cloister style arches sits in front of one of the academic buildings at Shore School. The upper level porch and trellis serve the faculty lounge and academic offices of the school.

This view of the Opera House at night shows the lighted roof from the quay and promenade near the ferry terminal. Little restaurants and bars line the edge of this popular strolling site.







This panorama shot shows the waterfront at sunrise from North Sydney, taken in a little waterfront park just below the school and next to the base of the Harbour Bridge.

Melbourne, Tuesday night

The first two pictures show the river at night. My hotel is the tall building in the far left corner.

These two pictures show the view from my hotel room which is next to an old Victorian train station and the river just beyond it. The trains all go below grade at this point so you don't hear them. It's a fantastic location, next to the river bike path, botanical gardens, Fed Square and an easy walk from everything else. 

This clip shows a tiny part of an Australian Rules Football match I saw a little bit of up at Melbourne University. It moves much more quickly than American football. Watch the very cool lateral kick the guy makes on the fly as a pass at the very end of the video. A really nice guy explained the rules as we watched. 6 points if the ball goes between the middle goals; only 1 point if it goes between the outer ones.

Melbourne, Saturday night

This is the entrance to the university and the older style of its first buildings. The rest of the campus has a wonderful set of quads and landscaped walkways.


This is a giant shed roof at the back of the Melbourne Museum which houses indigenous flora and fauna. A net separates outside from inside but also serves as an unusual "skin."

Another part of the museum looks like a giant sunken Rubik's cube. Like much of the rest of Melbourne, this set of buildings was built right next to a classic Victorian.

The two movie clips below show a restaurant trolley that went coasting by and a band playing at the little stage at Federation Square across from my hotel.

Melbourne, Saturday, June 20

I took the train about 60 kilometers south to Geelong Grammar School and took pictures of their spectacular campus which looks out to the bay at the mouth of the river. Very windy and overcast and extremely quiet as the school had just gone on vacation. Gothic revival cloisters form the center of the school, pictured last, but the most interesting buildings to me were their modern "well-being center," a kind of combination gym, fitness, counseling, and health center with a tension roof supported by exterior cables and movable exterior louvers. I also liked a small grandstand on the edge of the rugby field with glass sides to block the strong wind. The first picture shows the landscape on the train ride down.

Melbourne, Friday, June 19 2009

On a sunny afternoon after flying in from Brisbane, I went to an exhibit at the city library on the development of Australian literature which had manuscripts, pictures, and an interactive map featuring literary sights.

Then in the evening I photographed buildings old and new. My hotel is a block away from Federation Square, a big gathering place the city built over the top of the train tracks emerging from the Flinders Station. The movie below shows a light show called "Volume" that children particularly enjoy dancing in and around.

Brisbane, Wednesday night, June 17, 2009

Here are a few more pictures I took walking around Brisbane at night first down by the river through a wonderful steel trellis, then across one of the bridges, and then back along the Queen’s Street pedestrian mall. The movie below captures the sound of the birds that woke me up at about five in the morning. They roost way up just under the roof on some ledges, preferable as a wake-up call to the TV I had programmed the night before to go off at six.

Brisbane Wednesday Night, June 17, 2009

Starting up at the top of the city in the Spring Hill district, I walked clockwise around the city photographing the old bungalows and the towers that are replacing them.

The river walk often has several different levels, space for pedestrians and bikes and some wonderful pedestrian and bike bridges. I liked the boardwalks that wander in the mangroves. The South Bank has enormous buried parking lots with park space and a kind of artificial beach set on top with paths leading to the theater center, the public art gallery, and the Queensland Library where I am writing this in the massive first floor "Information Zone," a large workspace with room for a couple hundred users (pictured in the first photo).

In Brisbane Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Just got in to Brisbane after 21 hours in the air from Boston. Restaurant signs advertise getting out of the cold, but kids walk around in shorts. First impressions of the city: hillier than it looks from views on Google Earth, with a beautiful river snaking through the middle. Houseboats and sailboats line the edge. Palm trees and Victorian patterned brick. Lots of bungalows that look like the small homes in the West Indies.

I'm down on the Queen Street pedestrian mall which has some sunshades and an open air market selling kiwis, olives, and other fruit from a temperate zone out in stalls on the street along with gigantic mushrooms. Hope to explore the botanical garden this afternoon down by the river.
Here are some pictures from the ride in to the city.