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A trip to Sydney to hear and experience one of the grand European operas in the renowned Opera House had long been on our 'Bucket List'. We always thought we could incorporate such an attendance during one of our many road trips in and around the East Coast of Australia but there was always a catch such as where one might readily park the 4 x 4 camping rig and still be within easy commuting distance. Unfortunately, we no longer have any friends who still reside in this 'Emerald' city to bludge off and then there was the cost of flying down and paying the exorbitant hotel accommodation rates in and around the CBD. Finally, age and encroaching infirmities forced our hand and set in motion a plan to 'bite the bullet'. It just so happened that the Sydney Opera House was hosting a season of Verdi's La Traviata during January - March 2025 and this proved perfect.
Now once the decision was taken, one had to identify a suitable time and this was largely pre-determined by seat availability. We learnt that the best seats were in Rows D to H in the Reserve A Stalls as close to the middle (20 -25) as possible. Now even 5 months prior to our chosen time of year these good seats were selling very fast. We chose the final Saturday matinee performance which fell fortuitously a day after our 56th Wedding Anniversary. We were able to secure Seats 20 & 21 in Row H in the A Reserve Stalls - 5 months in advance!
With these two events coinciding we thought we might as well make a real holiday out of it and take time to undertake a longer stay and re-visit a number of other points of interest last viewed when we resided in Canberra in the early 1970s when the town was full of US servicemen on R&R leave from the War in Vietnam.
With the theatre tickets purchased we then arranged flights and accommodation. Now the accommodation selection proved a little tricky having to comply with some new filters reflecting Maria's restricted mobility issues eg lifts, ramps and close proximity to public transport over and above the traditional ones of price, balconies with harbour views, restaurant & Bars, quality of toiletries and bath robes etc. We settled on a rather grandly named establishment called The York by Swiss Belhotel at 5 York Street. This reputed 4.5 Star, 26 story high apartment and residential building had had an external facelift but only a partial internal refit. Our 50m2 suite was on the 8th floor and so we copped the worn carpet, saggy bed, chipped tiles and dodgy plumbing. However, it was only a 3 min walk to Wynyard Station and 10 min stroll down to Circular Quay and The Rocks - excellent location but with amenities any 3 Star establishment would be proud to offer for half the price we paid.
Purple blob on the above plan marks the approximate location of our accommodation
From the balcony of our 8th floor suite we looked over St Phillips Anglican Church (which dates from 1848) and then down to the Bradfield Highway's approach to the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
During our stay we relied heavily on Wynyard Station (a subterranean cavern over 3 levels with 6 platforms) and the adjoining Light Rail (Tram) service up and down George Street using the NSW Govt issued "Opal Cards" - which permitted seniors unlimited daily travel (buses, trains, Light Rail & Ferries) for a capped $2.50/day. The only exception being the rail service to the airports which cost $17 per single journey.
Having settled into our accommodation, I had to walk down and join a pre-booked tour of the Sydney Opera House (SOH) which I did primarily to familiarise myself with the access issues Maria might face when we were to attend the Opera two days hence. There turned out to be none. Patrons with disabilities attending by Taxi are met by SOH golf cart which delivers them to the ticket office where they can access a wheel chair, if required. Our tour concentrated on the principal Concert Hall (capacity 2500) and one of the smaller drama theatres.
One of the Upper Foyers
Main Concert Hall (seats approx 2500)
One of the smaller drama theatres
The whole building is lined with Australian Brush Box timber while the seats are made from a veneer of white birch over plywood with pale magenta (tomato) coloured woolen upholstery . It is truly an architectural and engineering masterpiece which incorporates so many specialised jigsaw like components from all over the world viz: there are over 10 000 pipes in the Concert Hall organ, over 950 000 individual Swedish engineered tiles cover the roof shells and over 6 200m2 of French laminated glass which was subsequently cut into 2000 panels, god knows how many tonnes of steel and concrete were used
The tour was excellent in its scope and the guide delivered a fair description of the political controversy surrounding its design and construction. Feeling very pleased with the information gleaned, I rang Maria to test her prowess in catching a train from Wynyard to Circular Quay (one stop) and then meeting me down at a pub (The Ship Inn) to discuss dinner arrangements for the night. This proved no difficulty for her and we had a pleasant stress free relax at last.
Watching the passing parade from the safety of the rather raucous pub we were very conscious of the number of tourists who appeared to have ventured out of the towering Princess ?????? cruise ship tied up at the Quay's International Cruise Terminal. This boat was so large that it could be seen from any vantage point around the Quay from The Rocks right around to the Opera House. The cruise patrons appeared like locusts ravaging the city with their baseball caps, large SLR cameras slung around their necks and all wearing expensive sneakers. Then there were the distinctive foreign accents as they haggled for items in the local souvenir shops.....very few crossed the pub's threshold. These ships appear to arrive during the dead of night and leave at dusk the following day playing some jaunty tune on their horn as they slipped out of the harbour - tourism vandalism!.........I was also advised that no tours of the SOH were available for the following day as an incoming MSC cruise ship had pre-booked the entire days tour offerings!
From Circular Quay
Over The Rocks
Yesteryear cruiser and their patrons' associated luggage
We opted for the Four Frogs Crêperie for dinner that night and caught the Light Rail home.
The next day was Friday 14 March and our Wedding Anniversary. I decided that we should initially celebrate with a fancy breakfast at a cafe just out the front of the Queen Victoria Building (QBV) which is a much celebrated high fashion shopping precinct. As it was located in George Street we traveled using the Light Train again. We also strolled down Pitt Street.
The QVB
However, this 'strolling' was beginning to take a toll on Maria shortness of breath so we began one of many frustrating campaigns to secure a taxi to take us around the Domain to the NSW Art Gallery.
The Gallery once there, kindly supplied me with a wheel chair so as Maria could more readily appreciate the Galleries exhibition. I did not find the layout of the Gallery all that intuitive and rather poorly sign posted. In addition the individual painting descriptions were displayed in a rather smallish font and at inconvenient height . It was nevertheless good to see some famous Dobell, Preston, Drysdale, Boyd, Olley, Olsen, Whiteley and Smart pieces....as well as this from the Qld Aboriginal artist Gordon Bennett exhibited below.
We then returned to our accommodation vide taxi and prepared to take the Light Rail up to Chinatown where on Friday nights, in Dixon Street, they hold a weekly food street market. It was a very colourful and lively affair and we finally settled down to plates of Peking Duck, Pork Belly and Stir-fried Beans with minced Pork and XO. I also re-acquainted myself with the odd Tsiangtao beer. I suppose we have seen plenty of similar markets in Singapore, Beijing, HK, Ho Chi Minh and Yangon but I never fail to be impressed by the physical vitality and noise associated with such events as well as the sweet smells of garlic, ginger, soy, being used in the various food offerings.
Saturday morning was spent preparing for our Opera experience which was scheduled to commence at 1230 hours. We arrived early to avoid any last minute glitches and to give Maria her first chance to stroll about the building. On arrival one is invited to purchase a pre-performance drink as well as one for the interval - I did despite the cost of $20 for a large glass of Pinot Grigio. The SOH basically is divided up into the large concert hall, the smaller Joan Sutherland Theatre, three smaller drama theatres and the open forecourt. There is also the Bennelong Restaurant under the helm of Chef Peter Gilmore.
The massive concrete building is beautifully lined with honey coloured wooden panels which gives an unexpected softness to the interior. This is only enhanced as one enters the theatre itself which is filled with bright 'tomato' coloured upholstered seats and a massive royal blue curtain. The orchestra pit would hold probably about 30-50 members. While our opera was sung in the original Italian, a translation in English of the libretto is displayed in large LED screens above the stage, this is now common practice in many other opera houses around the world. In addition, there were a number of monitors mounted around the mezzanine floor which display the conductor's movements to the singers on the stage in front of him.
Maria leaving the Joan Sutherland Theatre with a capacity of approx 1 500
The Large Orchestra Pit
Our performance featured Lorina Gore as Violetta and Iain Henderson as Alfredo and together with the rest of the cast of over 20 provided us with an exceptional musical experience for our first opera. The audience dress standards were much more casual than one would expect from an evening performance; though some of the women did display a little style in their chosen ensembles. Verdi's music alone was enough to bring one to tears. There was a middle aged couple from Mexico in the seats in front of us who alone let out a very loud 'Bravo' at the completion of one particular aria. However, I can report that everyone else in the A Reserve remained respectably seated for the entire performance, unlike a number of individuals in the cheaper seats behind us who were heard to cheer and clap occasionally! Now our only criticism of our visit was the scarcity and location (on the floor below) of the toilets which prevented alot of the elderly audience to complete their ablutions in time to consume their pre-paid interval drinks - including us!
Could we be tempted to go again to Carmen (10 July - 19 Sept) or La Boheme (23 August - 20 Sept)???????
After the opera performance we returned to our accommodation to arrange another taxi ride across the city to Double Bay for our pre-booked dinner assignment at Neil Perry's latest venture Song Bird which is a modern up-market Cantonese eatery. Prior to eating we took advantage of the very popular Royal Oak Hotel across the road where we were able to watch the last half of Sydney vs Brisbane AFL game along with a very partisan group of Sydney supporters. Brisbane squeaked home by 4 points. Song Bird is spread over three floors and is very stylish, the food excellent and service faultless. We dined on Kingfish Sashimi, Prawn Wontons, Duck and Stir-fried Water Spinach - all washed down with some admittedly very expensive wines.
Sunday dawned with the threat of a blistering 37C heat wave. It was also in the middle of the St Patrick's Day festivities down at The Rocks, including the traditional parade through the inner city. We therefore decided to escape the anticipated mayhem and head to Manly by Ferry. The ferries in use today are much faster than the old wooden single keel South Styne from yesteryear. Today they are multi-hulled catamarans much like Brisbane's City Cats but 3 times larger. I wanted to revisit the Corso in Manly as well as the famous surf beach with its Norfolk Island Pines studded along the foreshore. While all this was accomplished I was also lucky enough to watch a surf carnival with the traditional Surf Boat races - very spectacular.
One of the old iconic signs on the Styne Hotel
As time was agin us as we had to catch a private ferry across to Watson's Bay where we were booked for lunch at Doyle's on the Beach Restaurant.
Once again I had pre-booked this lunch venue months beforehand and accordingly had been allocated one of their best tables on the balcony upstairs. From our table we could look across the harbour to the Zoo. The menu here is enormous but many simply opt for one or other of seafood platters offering a selection of hot and cold items.
Unfortunately, our lunch got off to a bad start with the appointment of a trainee waiter from Sth America who spoke scant English and knew little about the food on the menu. After repeated attempts to gain information about the various dishes on offer and the presence of eggs, he was replaced by another excellent waiter who knew all we required. However, by then our 'proposed' entree choices of Baked Tassie Scallops and Grilled Octopus with peppers arrived unexpectedly prior to our ordered drinks. We then ordered a main of :
'Whole Baked Market Fish -w/Thai salad & Nahn Jim dressing, chilli, coriander, beansprouts, cashew nuts, capsicum, garlic & ginger' .
This fish was eventually served under a pile of Thai salad. However, it was clear from its exterior appearance that the fish had not in fact been carefully baked in an oven wrapped in either baking paper, foil or banana leaf but rather deep fried in a wok or similar. The desiccated skin of the fish simply snapped when touched and the resultant flesh was so dry it could not be readily prized from the skeleton frame.
We remonstrated about its unsuitability with our waiter (the Argentinean ) who in turn returned with his boss who also declared the fish satisfactory. Subsequently the manager (Mrs D) turned up and tried to persuade us there was nothing wrong with the manner it had been cooked and that maybe we were unfamiliar with this style of preparation. We begged to differ and she then tried to convince us to choose a replacement from the menu. However, by then we were so disappointed that leaving was our only option. Doyles graciously took the fish ($57) off our bill but we left feeling that after such great expectations, Doyle's had failed us. We returned to our accommodation by Ferry and Light Rail feeling a little dejected.
Monday our final day in Sydney was initially spent traveling on the Light Rail around to Darling Harbour to visit the Maritime Museum. The museum had an eclectic exhibition inside including: Aboriginal seafaring knowledge, early maritime exploration, Harrison's chronometer for measuring Longitude, sextants and then the rest were exhibits about Royal Australian Navy. Outside exhibits include the replicas of Cook's HMB Endeavour, replica of 18th C Dutch ship Duyfken, the WWII sabotage vessel the Krait, the submarine Onslow, the destroyer Vampire plus others which your $30 entry fee entitled you to clamber over; which I did.
We finally returned to The Quay by ferry which stopped at Barangaroo Casino, Balmain, Luna Park .
We decided to take a peek at the finale of St Patrick's Day down at The Rocks where things were a little more subdued than they had the day before. We settled down for a light lunch of fish (flathead) & chips at the historic Fortune of War Hotel. Feeling a little weary we went home and bought some take away dumplings from a local Japanese restaurant.
Next morning we left for the airport via Platform 6 at Wynyard Station and were soon helping ourselves to the rather boring breakfast offering (Muesli, cauldrons of Scrambled Eggs, Baked Beans and Raisin Toast) in the Virgin lounge which in Sydney is situated at one end of their terminal while our flight left , of course, at the other end - took over 15mins to push Maria in the Virgin supplied wheel chair to the Gate.
The trip to Sydney to attend the opera, while exciting, was very tiring, especially on account of its unfamiliarity and of the need to be constantly checking one's bearings. Perhaps the pre-booking of so many engagements also added another layer of stress in timing and planning our transportation requirements. I am confident that the NSW Transport 'Opal cards' saved our skin and both of us used all but $6 of the $50 we we originally loaded onto them. While Maria was confident of using all forms of public transport, she was frequently out of breath if required to walk more than a couple of hundred metres, this fact alone makes planning an itinerary that little bit more difficult. Nevertheless, we still managed to do all we set out to do in the limited time we gave ourselves. .