Short and sweet Brunei reunion

After our Gin Tea we passed by the Opera Bar, to say a (very!) quick hello to another couple of old Brunei-friends - the Morris family.

They were touristing in Sydney for the weekend, having traveled down from Toowoomba. They were meeting up with some other friends, and unfortunately there wasn't any space for us to join them, so it was a hello-in-passing on our way to the ferry.

A Gin Tea afternoon

Saturday afternoon we had booked in an experience in the city, so off we went on the ferry. We managed to get a seat up top, and could really enjoy the 'cruise'!

We were going to a quite different kind of Afternoon Tea, something called Gin Tea!

We got served a normal looking tray with scones, finger sandwiches and macaroons, but the tea pots didn't contain any tea..! They were full of cocktails!

We had chosen the bottom-less Gin Tea, so we got to taste all four of the gin cocktails! And could have as much as we wanted of our favourite!

Quite a nice idea! The food was absolutely delicious, the cocktails might have been watered down a tad, but also not bad. My favourite was the one with gin, elderflower and lemonade.

It seemed to be a popular place, because each sitting was only a couple of hours. We made the most of it, and had a really nice time!

National Gallery of New South Wales

On another sunny day, Nikki and I went into the city to visit the National Gallery of New South Wales. This was a museum more down my alley, with a big collection of art including a great collection of Australian art dating from the early 1800s. 
The museum is dispersed across two big buildings; it is one of the largest galleries in Australia.

 

We decided to walk around a bit randomly as the space was a bit labyrinthial, especially for the more modern art. 

Pierre Bonnard, Self-Portrait, ca 1938-40.

Barbara Hepworth, Orpheus (maquette 2) version II, 1956.

Henry Moore, Helmet head no. 2, 1950.

Sidney Nolan, First-class marksman, 1946.
I studied the series of Kelly paintings in a course I took at Uni. This work refers to an incident when Kelly and his gang were practicing their marksmanship, firing rounds at surrounding trees from a bullet-proof hide-out. Soon after, Kelly was outlawed, beginning a two-year manhunt for him and his gang.

Georges Braque - Glass of absinthe, 1911.

Roland Wakelin, Causeway, Tuggerah, 1919.

The collection of the museum is categorised into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, Asian art, Australian art, Contemporary art, Pacific art, Photography - and Western art.
These galleries below showcase British Victorian art and European art of 15th to 18th centuries; 19th century works and art of the 20th century.

Paul Cézanne, Banks of the Marne, ca. 1888.
The British art critic Roger Fry singled out this work as one of the artist's most powerful creations.

Charles Conder, Sunset, Sydney Harbour, ca. 1888.
One of my absolute favourites, small but mighty.  I so loved the big frame with this small artwork.

Pascale Marthine Tayou, Colonnes Pascale, 2012.
This columns are made from 140 ceramic vessels and lids found by the artist in Marrakech. They looked so pretty here in these galleries, engaging playfully with the rest of the artworks. On a more serious note, they also prompted thoughts on colonisation and trade, as they stood in dialogue with the collection of 18th century European porcelain nearby.

Belachew Yimer, The legend of the Queen of the South, 1941.
Very similar to the artwork with the same story we are currently having on display in our Kings & Queens exhibition.

All the pieces in this display come from a collection representing the great factories of European ceramic production, Meissen, Chelsea, Sèvres and more. They all date from the 1700s, when Europe mastered the Chinese technology of porcelain, made as centerpieces for dinner table dessert courses.

Beryl Ireland, Valerie Long (girl's head), 1910s.

Sydney Long, Fantasy, ca. 1916-17.

There was also a temporary exhibition with the Korean artist Lee Ufan, an artist we have previously showed also at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. He values the power of emptiness to generate harmony, and tension, between people and objects.

A ceiling hung work titled Rally, 2014, by Nike Savvas.

Another nice day out!

ANZAC Day

On ANZAC morning we were surprised by a fly-by and realised that it was indeed the fly-by from the HARS Aviation Museum! We weren't thinking they would come all the way up to Sydney, but of course by air it doesn't take long!

Extra fun as we saw them prepare for this fly-by during our visit at the museum!

Lest we forget.

Roadtrip to Berry

After our visit to the aviation museum we continued to the little town of Berry. Nikki said it was famous for good food and boutique shopping, and we enjoyed both! She had booked us in for lunch at one of the hot spots in the middle of the city, I had fish tacos, yum!

Then we walked about for a bit along the main street. There was plenty of little shops for Nikki and myself to browse, it had a really nice feel to it with plenty of heritage buildings and a country charm.

The boys waited for us in the coffee shop.

 A nice day out!

HARS Aviation Museum

Because of ANZAC Day we had another long weekend ahead of us, and since Kieran was off we decided to go for a bit of a drive. We started by stopping in at the HARS (Historical Aircraft Restoration Society) Aviation Museum in Albion, south of Sydney.

This is aviation museum formed in 1979, and it is run by an all volunteer group of aviation professionals and enthusiast. They had a huge collection of both airworthy and static aircraft.
We weren't aware, but you couldn't walk around by yourself, there was guided tours every so often and we happened to arrive just at the start of one.

The tour was 1,5h long, maybe a tad bit long, but actually a lot of fun. It is contagious when people are truly passionate and dedicated, and Brett showing us around certainly had both passion and dedication.

The collection center around a parade of airliners, from a "Southern Cross Replica" (Fokker FVIIB), three DC-3 aircraft, a Super Constellation, two Caribou, Tiger Moth, a Mirage IIIO, a Catalina and a Boeing 747-438, to mention a few.

Here's Nikki in the aircraft that was used by the late Queen Elizabeth II & Duke of Edinburgh for the 1954 Royal Tour of Australia:

And here's me, in the seat the Queen sat in!

Nathan had a great time of course, and the rest of us as well, even though both Kieran and Nikki admitted afterwards that they initially wondered how we were going to spend 1,5h in this museum.

I walked past this weapon and said to Nathan, "Bofors? That sounds like something Swedish!" - and guess what?! When I read the poster I saw that it INDEED was Swedish! This 40mm gun is of a 1930s design, the prime function being an anti-aircraft gun.

We loved the aviation dog who patrolled the museum together with his master, decked out in hi-viz and all.

Here we are under the Boeing 787-438, an aircraft that meant a lot to many of the members who had previously worked and operated it during its life in Qantas, and now its here.

Funny display in the bathroom of the 747, that has been used for commercials and movie recordings and much else.