Sydney's Gardens, Great Halls and it's Air-Conditioned Ice Rink. [Sydney Travels] [SteemitWorldMap]
The trees might be bare, but the blue skies and warming sunshine suggest Sydney's winter is anything but bleak.
Sydney is shaping up to be one of the most pleasant places in the world to spend any time of the year. We are currently in the middle of winter in the Southern hemisphere and we're enjoying warm weather and skywriting-perfect skies.
Despite blessings of springtime-esque weather and appreciating it for what warm weather affords (sunglasses, playing in the park, smelling flowers, eating outside and so on), Sydney-siders have been graced with an outdoor air conditioner-fuelled ice rink. After alighting the train at Central station and making my way up to Hyde Park and St. Mary's Cathedral, I was struck by the popular temporary icy instalment in Cathedral Square. I did read about it in one of the lift outs that come with the newspaper, but it slipped my mind.
[Skating at] an inappropriate destination?
Artificially refrigerated ice rinks may be a fair substitute for families with children unable to afford a trip down to the Snowy Mountains or more expensive still, New Zealand or Japan (think of the airfares, let alone ski passes). However, what a colossal and inappropriate use of electricity. Bah humbug!
I love meandering through the city without spending much. Being short on both time and cash, I wasn't fazed not having to shell out the twenty eight clams it would set me back to get on the ice. Yikes!
If you are interested in this kind of entertainment, check out their webpage to find out more. Sophie Richardson from the Urban List put together a list of outdoor skating venues that's also worth a look.
Religious architecture; Inspiring thoughts of a wizarding world.
Think how many huge cathedrals dot the globe. Various offshoots of Christianity have metastasized planet Earth leaving virtually no continent untainted. Theological opinions aside, it is undeniable how immense and awe inspiring these structures are.
If you're a Harry Potter fan (who isn't), the next time you are in a city with Cathedrals while wishing you were in a Universal Studios theme park sipping a [non-vegan] butter beer (a story for another time), just take a look around you.
A huge hall of age and splendour filled with people of authority in robes commanding respect of their patronage bringing food (does the flesh and blood of Christ count? Ew.) into existence from nowhere? Ring any bells? You only need to close your eyes and you're walking through the Great Hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hear the beating of messenger owl wings in the air and the crunching of fresh, hot bread around you.
I only spent about fifteen minutes walking reverently through St. Mary's Cathedral. I did notice something quite peculiar down the end of the Hall.. I mean place of worship.
This could be a spectacular coincidence, but seriously? Griffindor colours? I think we've just been offered a glimpse into a parallel magical reality occupying this very space.
Sure, it's a bit of a stretch, so I'll understand if you still want to go to Universal Studios, Osaka.
Ice rinks and cathedrals weren't the primary reasons I trekked up to Sydney.
The entrance to Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens.
I love coming up to Sydney to pick up my latest comics from Kings Comics, but I'm beginning to feel compelled to make more appropriate use of the time I have in the city. You could argue that doing what I love is an appropriate use of time. While that is true, I would hate to think I'm missing out on other experiences and not exploring other interests and facets of my personality.
After all, I did love the Gardens by the Bay in Singapore and I am an avid gardener myself so why not explore the Royal Botanic Gardens?
It's FREE admission into the garden. And so is entry to Australia's largest indoor green wall at The Calyx.
A highly complex, detailed living floral masterpiece, the living wall redefines boundaries between art, science, education and modern gardening.
The Calyx is also home to a cafe that appeared to serve light meals, snacks and coffee. You'll also notice an assortment of tasteful souvenirs and books for the botanically-aligned traveller.
While many travellers tout Australia as expensive, there isn't a garden I know of as well maintained as this that doesn't charge anything to get inside. It doesn't even suggest an offering. When we were in Rome, access to their botanic garden, the Orto Botanico di Roma cost us eight euros each and is a fraction of the size of Sydney's RBG. If you don't make the most of free experiences, you're crazy.
As I departed the garden, I was struck by the colour of the poppies in bloom. While not in shot, the bees were dancing from one flower to another, barely stopping long enough to rest their thrumming wings.
An Australian native, the white ibis has migrated to cities from their natural, now threatened habitats. Making the most of the refuse of us wasteful humans, these grand birds are sadly referred to as "bin chickens".
I did pick up my comics.
And yes, you'll hear more about them (as well as more of the adventure) tomorrow! Treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen.
I'm sure you'll be back. Even in spite of the awful Steem price. See you tomorrow, beloved one.
All the best,
Nick.
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All content is original and belongs to @nickmorphew. [10 July 2018]
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You found some great spots Nick! I love Sydney, and I can’t believe The cathedral has gryffindor colours up!! 😁
Crazy, huh? Yeah. It really is amazing how many little spots are tucked around Sydney that are worth spending at least ten minutes inside of..
Upcoming tonight (in about 2 hours), expect to see my Tesla experience in your feed! I spent a while on that one.. no Harry Potter references in that article, though!
Take care!
Nick.
For some reason I hardly ever see your posts in my feed - I just have to go looking
You need to cull the list of people you're following then! You're missing the gold.
Just as well you know where to find me. I'm also having to seek out good reads as they seem to be getting lost in my feed.
After spending some time with Evie, yes, I think my knowledge is building. It's certainly a lot more relevant and practical than a lot of what the the critics are saying. They make themselves seem very knowledgeable, yet have never owned or driven an electric vehicle. To be honest, aside from the cost savings, I wanted to be able to show people that although I have very little (for a white male living in Australia), there are things we can do in our everyday lives that do make a difference. And although they are rare, they are cheap! The two cars l linked to in the original article weren't much more than twelve grand. Not bad for a car that was originally fifty.
Having the car and living the way I do makes me feel better about myself and feels like a selfless act.
Good to see you, Bec.
Nick.