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Since I am too busy enjoying Australia and cannot take the time to write posts about everything I am doing here are some photos from some of the places I have visited so far.

This is the view of the Opera House from my hotel room. Doesn't it look like a framed picture?

Sydney Harbour is absolutely gorgeous! I took this picture from across the bay at the Taronga Zoo.

Bondi Beach had a winter festival going on so people were ice skating on the beach in 65 degree weather. It was hilarious because there were some people like me in bathing suits in the water and some people in boots, jackets and scarves walking on the beach.

Bondi

Bondi

 

The Sydney Opera House was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site on June 28, 2007. It is one of the 20th century's most distinctive buildings and one of the most famous performing arts centres in the world.  It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957. I went on a one hour Sydney Opera House tourthat I had a 20% off coupon for. It was very informative and we got to go into several of the performance spaces as well as walk inside and outside the building.

Tiles on the roof of one of the 'sails'

It feels like you are in a boat in this part of the Opera House.

Inside one of the lobbies

The Royal Botanic Gardens were founded by Governor Macquarie in 1816 as part of the Governor’s Domain. Australia's long history of collection and study of plants. The Botanic Gardens is thus the oldest scientific institution in Australia and, from the earliest days, has played a major role in the acclimatisation of plants from other regions

The Royal Botanic Gardens are home to a colony of over 22,000 Grey-headed Flying Foxes, a large species of fruitbat. The management of the Gardens holds the bats responsible for killing dozens of trees and, in May 2010, received approval for a plan to move the colony elsewhere.

The biggest bat I have ever seen!



They are seriously everywhere.