Commemorating the centenary of the arrival of Australian’s first fleet of (British built) warships into the harbour in 1913 there was a week of naval events in Sydney — including this projections with fireworks event on the Saturday night. This projection shows Prime Minister Menzies, aka “Pig Iron Bob“, declaring war (World War II) with Germany on radio. Vietnam got very brief coverage in the half-hour long projections, even though the navy was involved there for ten years.
This giant duck is bobbing around in Darling Harbour at the moment. Part of the Festival of Sydney. Panorama.
One of the Sea Shepherd vessels, the “Steve Irwin” is moored in Sydney Cove at the moment. Protests over the weekend are focused on the feared impacts of massive gas processing installations on a “whale nursery” in waters off North Western Australia. Panorama. Here is a panorama of the rally on the Sunday — with Bob Brown ex head of the Greens speaking.
At the Biennale of Sydney at Cockatoo Island there is this impressive assemblage of foam chain links draped over the old industrial machinery. Panorama. It is by New Zealand artist Peter Robinson.
At the end of the whale migration season ailing whales often end up being washed up onto Sydney beaches. Panorama. Eventually this one (in the rock pool at the end of the beach) was chainsawed into pieces and taken away to a tip.
During the last weekend of the Vivid Festival (lighting and projection installations) the Sea Shepherd vessels Bob Barker and Brigette Bardot (the catamaran) were moored in Sydney Cove. The panorama is from the helipad at the stern of the Bob Barker.
I was on the South Coast last week, at Berrara — about 150km south of Sydney. The beach at sunset … panorama.
A Tea Party style protest outside the Prime Minister’s Kirribilli residence in Sydney today. The carbon tax bill starts going through Parliament next week. Panorama.
The Vivid Festival this year is confined to Sydney Cove rather than being spread through the city and this seems to have created much more of a festival buzz. There were sizable crowds looking at the projections and installations when we finally had some nice weather on Friday night. Panorama.
This temporary eco-restaurant (Greenhouse by Joost) has materialized in a prime spot in Sydney Cove near the bridge. Panorama. The exterior is covered with pot plants — culinary herbs of some sort — giving the structure a somewhat strange leafy texture. Panorama. The wharf nearby is Campbells Wharf, and the old sandstone buildings nearby are Campbells Stores. Here is an early (1842) view of the locale.
Brisbane has had massive floods this week. This is the main street of the South Bank, an entertainment precinct just across the river from the CBD. Panorama. Another panorama from a little further down this street. And some of the flooding by the riverside freeways on the other side of the river. Panorama. (Brisbane, like Sydney, likes to build giant freeways between its citizens and its scenic assets). Here, near the Suncorp stadium, the police are telling off some youths for paddling in the flood waters. Panorama. A canoeist visiting a sodden McDonalds. Panorama. And a view of the river itself, in full spate, just a few hours after the flood peak. Panorama.
In the city yesterday, outside the Town Hall, a sizable crowd demonstrated in favour of Wikileaks and its founder, Australian Julian Assange. Panorama. The Government has condemned Assange and seems anxious that he ends up in the hands of the US as soon as possible – but in polls most Australians are opposed to this and want him to be given consular support.
Much of inland NSW has been inundated the last couple of weeks (after many years of drought). Here are some emergency workers being driven from Wagga CBD (300km SW of Sydney} to the evacuated suburb of North Wagga . Panorama. The centre of town is unaffected as yet - being protected by a very high levee. Panorama.
If a cruise ship is too large to go under the Harbour Bridge to berth in Darling Harbour they tie up here in Sydney Cove, dwarfing the entire neighbourhood. A surreal scene here on the weekend I thought with the passengers assembled, obediently still and in silence, waiting for the Captain’s orders, in the compulsory emergency drill before their departure later in the evening. Panorama.
These abseilers were being sponsored for their derring-do for some homeless youth charity. The statue “Amicus Certus” (reliable pal) is by wellknown Australian sculptor Tom Bass for the AMP insurance company - whose building this is. The statue features a beneficent goddess figure (Tycho, maybe, the goddess of good luck — see) with a youth and mother and child - representing Australia. The lucky trio have a cornucopia doing its thing between them. Normally there would be a sheep or two as well but no doubt there were design constraints. Maybe the subtle sculptor has engineered the sheep-like shadows you see beneath the assemblage. Panorama.
Across the road in the Customs House forecourt there was this cylindrical structure made of recycled cardboard tubes (for an architectural festival). Green is the new black. The three-wheeled scooter the guy is on was one of Time Magazine’s “coolest inventions of 2002.” Panorama.
I was in Melbourne on the weekend and here are a couple of scenes — first, in one its famous laneways in the CBD. Panorama. Note the authentic-looking ambience of old paving stones, layered posters and graffiti - and unrenovated buildings. Melbourne’s notoriously changeable weather has left some of the crowd in heavy coats and there are others in shirtsleeves. They are watching an impromptu performance by a sort of “flash mob” art group.
Just across the river a little earlier there was this scene near the Shrine of Remembrance. Panorama. They love their war memorials in Melbourne! In the panorama they have just unveiled a plaque commemorating some aspect of Australia’s involvement in the Boer War (1899-1902). Most of the trees you see in the panorama are memorials - with plaques beneath them. The fountain is a memorial. The statue is a memorial. And, up the hill in the park but just out of sight, is the Shrine of Remembrance itself, a gigantic bunker-like structure usually thronging with tour groups.
