Sydney Sojourn

Some images of a weekend break to Sydney for a friend's birthday.

Sculpture of Lloyd Rees by Lawrence Beck

Lloyd Rees (1895 - 1988) was an Australian landscape painter who twice won the Wynne Prize for his landscape paintings. A plaque on this plinth reads 'A city is the greatest work of art possible'.

The good folk of Sydney wait patiently for the bus

Strelitzia, known as the 'bird of paradise' flower

Danger: Lift Motor Room

Clearly very scary - but beer will help

And then I started playing about with the lighting effects on the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge as we caught a ferry back to the North Shore.

The next day a big storm came rolling in and the waves were crashing into the rock pools on our morning run. The kids were enjoying themselves as the life guards kept watch.

Berrima and Beer

On the way back from somewhere to somewhere else, we stopped at Berrima, which purports to be a historic town in the Southern Highlands. It has a number of beautiful sandstone buildings including cafes, churches, and Australia's oldest continually licensed inn.

There is also a gaol and a court house, neither of which are currently in use for their original purpose, although there is an information centre in the court house where we learned that the gaol was only recently closed down - until November 2011 it was an all-female low-to-medium security prison. The prisoners used to landscape all the communal areas of the town and, without them, many residents fear their greens and verges will run to ruin.  

Berrima Court House

We then moved on to the Old Goulburn Brewery, housed in Bradley Grange.The buildings were designed as an integrated industrial complex and there are many panels and displays with intricate details about the architecture and design of the buildings. It is the beer we were interested in, however, and Him Outdoors loved the old barrels and brewing equipment.

Wedding photos

As well as being invited to the wedding of friends (the  groom works with Him Outdoors), I was also asked if I could be 'official' photographer. Of course I was honoured to be asked, and took my camera along to combine guest role and duties. The pressure of wedding photography would be immense if it weren't for the wonderfully relaxed attitude of the bride and groom. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Bride's bouquet

Something blue

One while you wait

A moment of reflection

The official certificate

I love how the bride is back-lit in this picture

Celebratory hugs all round

Group shot

The best man telling tales

And the best woman has a few too!

First dance

Sparkle of honour