Collection by Miyoko Ohtake
Touring Sydney, Part 2
We featured bridges, beautiful low-income housing experiments, and beachside pools in our Touring Sydney, Part 1, slideshow and it would be remiss of us not to include the Australian city's most famous icon: the Sydney Opera House. I recently traveled Down Under and continue this two-part series with glimpses inside the Opera House as well as in and around the Royal Botanic Gardens (and then a jaunt up the coast to sunny Cairns!).
The Royal Botanic Gardens creates a bubble of nature in the middle of the bustling city yet here and there you're met with astounding views of the Sydney skyline. Reaching up toward the clouds are the Chifley Tower (center) and the Deutsche Bank Place (to its left with the white frame and two spires), among others.
Here, the classic view of the Sydney Opera House. One of the most amazing things about the structure is that the technologies needed to build and support the sails were not yet discovered when Utzon's plan was approved. (In fact, it wasn't until seven years after his design was selected that Utzon presented his "key to the shells" solution that would let them be built at all.)
Though the exteriors of the Sydney Opera House are stunning enough on their own, the lobbies inside the performance halls are, to me, the most magnificent spaces. (Interestingly enough, the interiors are not by Utzon but by architect Peter Hall, with Lionel Todd and David Littlemore as well as the New South Wales government architect Ted Farmer, since Utzon was forced off the project in 1965.)
After several days in Sydney, we headed north for a bit of warmth and for a visit to the Great Barrier Reef, which Dwell follower @leedingtheway advised was not to be missed. We flew to Cairns and headed out for a day and a half on the reef snorkeling and diving. The dark patches in the water are sections of the reef close to the surface.
The Cairns Esplanade Pool is wonderfully integrated into the park and effortlessly transitions from fountain to swimming space to beach substitute (parts of the pool have a sandy bottom and sections of the surrounding area are filled with sand, making it perfect for sunbathing). It was incredibly well used and was our favorite part of the town. Watch our Touring Sydney, Part 1, slideshow for more highlights from Sydney (and check out our recent Detour story about Melbourne—you'll want to add the city to your itinerary after getting a glimpse of it).
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