Sydney - capital of New South Wales & VIVID

Day 3, we stopped for lunch at Bulladellah and purchased a couple of Opal Cards to use on public transport in Sydney.Travelling in Sydney is easy by public transport. One can get to any destination by either bus, ferry or train. What is difficult is buying a ticket!

Sydney uses a system of Opal Cards, that need to be applied for and mailed prior to visiting Sydney. The card then needs to be topped up. We go to Sydney a lot, and last trip when trying to get an Opal Card, we simply couldn't. All local "Opal Card" vendors were for topping up Opal Cards. We did catch a ferry at Rose Bay, and there was a single ticket machine there, so we could get to Circular Quay.

So, we decided to go to Sydney last minute, and researching Opal Cards online, I found that it would take 5-10 days for card to be mailed. Not enough time, as we were leaving 4 days later to drive down. I continued researching and found a link to Opal for Visitors. This gave me a list of places I could buy an Opal Card once in Sydney. That would be good if you are staying near one of these places. Fortunately for us there were a couple of locations on the way down. One was Bulladellah Post Office, and it was easy to purchase and all our questions were answered. We put $20 on each card, and now we have Opal Cards to use each time we visit Sydney.

Next stop was for fuel and a look at the old Leyland Brother's 'Ayers Rock' - it was less than impressive.

We arrived at Sydney's Lane Cove National Park Caravan Park, a lovely park on the northern end of Sydney. It has been over a year since we stayed here, and this park is the cheapest caravan park in Sydney at a cost of $45 per night for a powered site and the best thing is it is close to all transport.

We were lucky to have visits with family.

Unplanned, but fortunate for us, the Sydney Vivid festival was on while we were there. We drove to Huntley's Point Ferry (we once lived near here) and caught the ferry into Circular Quay. Vivid 2017 – 26 May to 17 June, is a festival of lights, sounds, ideas, and food. It occurs each year around this time. We only spent a few hours walking around from the Quay to the Harbour Bridge. There was so much ore to see, so next year we will be back to see more. Words can't describe how wonderful we thought it was, so I'll let the pictures do the talking.

 

  

Light Waves reflecting as the tides move.

Landscape of the Mind shows how the body reacts to different personal experiences.

Crystallise moves when individuals approach and move.

Portholes shows changing environments as seen through port holes.

Don't Step on the Crack is inspired by childhood memories.

 This one was in a back lane, and we only found it because I downloaded a Vivid App. It is called Tidal and told the story of waves and the beginning of settlement.

Lights of Thought moves according to hand gestures.This would have been interesting to use sign language to see what animations it would produce, but too many in the queue.

Fractual constantly changes colour and moves to create different fractures.

Music Box was illuminated on historic Cadman's Cottage. It is an interactive display where four individuals play a game on special pads on the ground. They use their feet to play and as they play the visual on the cottage changes.

Organic Vibrations on facade of the Museum of Contemporary Art was fascinating to watch. Lines and shapes are constantly evolving to create this ever changing art work.

Connections visualises the movement of radio waves from everyday life - I'm not sure how this works, but the more people around the brighter the colours and the more they moved.

Axiom is also an interactive display that involves music and lights moving as people walk around and through it.