Sydney Opera House Tour/AFL Game

Sunday, July 14, 2013

How much is he taking in?

View of the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Lobby of the Concert Hall

View of the tiles

View of the ceiling

We were up early today to catch the train into the city.  We were scheduled for a Sydney Opera House tour at 10:00am.  Each of us got headphones, so we were able to hear the tour guide.  He showed us the small theater used for a variety of productions, the concert hall, and the hall used for Opera and ballet as well as the entrances and areas with great views of the city.  We also saw two short films telling the history of the opera house.  They held a competition for a design for the opera house.  The actual design for the opera house was discarded at first, but a Finnish American judge was late and wanted to review all the discarded entries. The sail design ended up back in the running and was chosen.  They estimated it would take 3 years and 7 million dollars to complete.  In actuality, it took 16 years and over 100 million dollars.  The tour guide told us they had it paid off 18 months after it opened.  Amazing.  We learned they used millions of tiles to cover the sails.  Each tile had to be attached on a piece that fit onto the concert roof beams on the ground before being attached to the roof.  I thought it was interesting that the tiles are made in a way that the rain cleans them.  They do not need regular cleaning maintenance.  The organ in the concert hall was beautiful.  There are over 10,000 pipes which go 8 meters behind the organ.  It would have been fun to hear it.  We also found it interesting that the equipment and sets are stored 2 floors under the halls.  There are huge elevators behind the stages that take the equipment up and down as needed.  In the opera hall, the tour guide told us that they have a different production every other day and on Saturday sometimes two different productions.  It is amazing that the stage crew can make these changes so quickly.  It really is a beautiful building.

We are ready for the game.

Sydney & Dagan

The Swans were announced.

The start of the game.

After our tour, we hopped on a bus to the Sydney Cricket Grounds to watch an AFL game.  We watched the Sydney Swans vs. Greater Western Sydney Giants.  We enjoy the fast pace of the AFL games.  They were passing out these hand clappers when we entered.  You fold the paper.  Then when you hit your hand with it, it made a loud sound.  Needless to say, we had fun with these at the game and on the way home on the train.  The Sydney Swans were by far the more skilled team.  The score wasn't even close.  I think it is one of the highest scoring games I have ever seen.  There is no second string or substitutes, so the starters keep playing.  We were impressed that the Giants kept trying even though they ended up losing by over 100 points.  We had a great view of the city from our seats.  It was a fun way to spend our afternoon.

View of the city

Ending score

Don't the clappers look
like fun?