Sydney Royal Botanical Gardens

Eels and bats...oh my...am I in Transylvania? Nope. I am in downtown Sydney.

Some of the best views of the Sydney icons are offered from the public gardens. The Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens is part of the original garden called the Governor's Domain.
In 1816, the land was set aside by the Governor of Sydney, Governor Macquarie. The huge number of things in Australia named Macquarie is a testimony to his governing (or his vanity). One spot in the park is named Mrs. Macquarie's Seat. She liked to sit, look out at the harbour, and watch the ships coming and going. Since he was Governor, he had a road built through the Domain just for her to get there. The seat is carved out of stone. It's good to be The Governor.

Just above this spot is one of the most photographed spots in all of Sydney (you would never know it because it is where people stand).

The viewpoint looks back on the Opera House with the Harbour Bridge backdrop. It is the PERFECT place to watch fireworks on New Years (if you can get there early enough). I did exactly that in 2001 when Australia celebrated its Centennial of becoming the commonwealth. It was an amazing spot but by noon, the place was packed.

The park is beautiful. It has expanded since the original Domain and now is over 30 hectares. Throughout most of the park you can see the skyscrapers of downtown Sydney just behind the trees.

The gardens can be accessed from several entrances including an easy walk from Circular Quay around the Sydney Opera House. It is open until around dusk and is free to enter. They even have daily free hour long walking tours. The tours are different depending on the guide, but most of the volunteers conducting the tour are quite good.

The plants include an herb garden, rose garden, palm house, Chinese garden, and natural indigenous plants. Every tour makes a point to stop at the Wollemi Pine. It is one of the world's oldest and rarest tree species belonging to a 200 million-year-old plant family. It had only been seen in the fossil record and was thought to be extinct. A grove of them were discovered in the mid 1990's by a botanist bushwalking in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. Several specimens have been sent to protected parks to help ensure the survival of the species.

Among the most stunning sights are the Jacaranda trees in full bloom. The purple was so beautiful and vibrant.  The other show-off is the yellow wattle.  The yellow poof balls are all over the tree (pictured above).


The tall, proud Norfolk Pines are also scattered through the park. These trees were imported from Norfolk Island (a Pacific island east of Australia, between New Caledonia and New Zealand). Captain Cook thought that the trees would make excellent ship masts, as their trunks are so straight and tall. This was not the case but their distinctive features are great for marking harbour entrances. They are scattered throughout the South Pacific.

I love the Queensland Bottle Tree. There is an aboriginal story about the tree. The legend goes that the tree was a beautiful tree, but was vain. The tree would flaunt its beauty to all of the other trees around. The gods warned the tree to stop. The tree ignored the warnings. So the gods came down and uprooted the tree, turned it upside down. The bottle tree has remained with all of its roots in the air.


The gardens are full of animals. Sulfur-Crested Cockatoos are found in droves. They crunch on seeds and nuts. And they are LOUD. You hear a flock of cockatoos before you can see them. They are constantly screeching at each other and jostling. It is a lot of fun to see them display their crest of yellow head feathers.

The other bird frequently seen in the garden is the Australian White Ibis. The ibis are strange looking birds. They have long, thin, curved beaks. They are much quieter than their compatriots but also can be cheeky.

One of my favorite discoveries was the ponds with ducks and eels. We were told that the ponds are emptied out occasionally for cleaning. The eels are removed and relocated. The park workers have seen new eels slithering across the grass from the harbour back to the pond. Yep, they can actually move across land to get to their desired destination. Fascinating. I laughed at the plaque beside the pond that describes how natural it is for a cuddly duckling to become an eel meal.

It is strange to think of bats in a park in a major city.  There are hundreds of fruit bats (or flying foxes) in the trees. Unfortunately, they are damaging the trees since they are not leaving for their normal migration. So the trees never recover. I guess they have decided that they like the views from the garden as well.

The sandstone in the park has been carved out over time creating beautiful spots to sit. The Sydney Royal Botanic Garden is a great place to read quietly, go for a walk, or picnic with friends.
It is a favorite Sydney destination and a must see when visiting..

Mozart's Don Giovanni - Sydney Opera House

Picture from Don Giovanni article
from Sydney Paper

It is always a good sign when an opera opens with an incredibly muscled man jumping out of a window wearing skimpy black leather shorts and an open shirt. Then he opens his mouth and a deep, huge, booming baritone voice fills the entire theater...it was like butter. Oh my...a six pack with butter.

We saw Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Sydney Opera House. It was stunning. One of the best operas I have ever seen.

Don Giovanni is a character that you love to hate. He is a gallivanting, narcissistic cad who preys on women...literally thousands of women. In the opening scene, he gets in trouble when he is challenged by a girl's father who he ends up killing in the duel. Instead of going away to another unsuspecting female pool in another country, he stays in the same area. He is hunted by an ex-lover after making his presence known to her by propositioning her inadvertently. She is torn as she is still captivated by him but knows he is no good. Then he aggressively pursues another woman on her wedding day by neutralizing her groom. The betrothed of the girl whose father he killed vows revenge to prove his love. For those keeping score at home, that is a soprano, a mezzo-soprano and an alto (three female leads) and two fiancées (a baritone and a very high tenor) all out to get Don. Not to mention Don Giovanni's own manservant who does not like him either. In the end, a statue of the father he killed in Act I raises the powers of darkness to come and drag Don's soul into the depths of hell.

 Mozart really knew how to write music. The score is great. It has both intense music and melodic interludes. The vocal arrangements are stunning. Some scenes have 5 operatic leads all singing harmoniously together.

The voices were absolutely incredible in the Sydney production! Teddy Tahu Rhodes played Don Giovanni. He is amazing in this role!  With his powerful baritone voice and stage presence, he blew everyone else out of the water . The actor portraying Don Giovanni needs to be overpowering.  He is also competing with the other five leads. Teddy succeeded.

The remaining cast members were all extremely strong and powerful in their own right. Donna Anna was played by an Australian and lit up the stage. Zerlina's voice was beautiful. I could have listened to them all night. My other favorite was listening to the sweet tenor who played Don Ottavio (Henry Choo). His voice was so soft and sweet. Don Ottavio is shafted the whole show. I felt sorry for him. His voice reflects the tenderness of the character. Amongst such depravity, he is the only really sympathetic character in the play. 

They must have spent their entire budget on the vocal talent. The sets are fairly minimal with just a big space on stage with doors/balcony. But we did not go for the props. The show was fantastic with all of the full voices. The last scene was strangely blocked. Don Giovanni almost escapes from the hands of death (strapped to a coffin) and then gets grabbed a different way for no apparent reason other than to use the trap door in the stage floor. I guess they wanted to show off the one fancy part of the set. It is saved by the entire back part of the set crashing to the stage floor. Drama drama drama.

We sat in row Q on the floor and the seats were fantastic. Row Q is just about the best row in the house. The first ten rows are directly under the surtitles so you can't see them and the overhanging balcony obstructs the view from the last 4 or so rows. The sound is perfect. We were just right and not even any porridge spilled.  There was, however, some cooked chicken (and silverware and cups) flung across the stage in the second act when Don Giovanni is acting like a slob. He's and eating and drinking as much as he is tossing around, and he's throwing anything he puts his hands on. But Row Q was outside the splash zone.

I have come to think that with La Boehme, Macbeth and now, Don Giovanni, that opera is all about plotting and death.