Sydney's Harbours

My third day in Sydney was all about the harbour.  In the morning I took a two hour Captain Cook coffee cruise into Sydney Harbour.  From Circular Quay all the way to Manly Beach and back, with a quick stop at Darling Harbour, I saw the city and its coastline from a new perspective.  The cruise was so relaxing, and the sun coming in the windows so warming and cheerful, that I found it a bit difficult to stay awake!  I think I realized how truly tired I was as I sat there with the sun on my face, feeling the lull of the ocean.  Alas, I did go atop the multi-story vessel to take some photos and feel the wind in my hair and enjoy my little box of treats while we cruised.  The lady giving commentary was very informative, so I did learn quite a lot about Sydney's history as we cruised along.

  
In the afternoon, I met up with Dheerja, one of my former students from my Discovery Week course to Venice!  She just happens to be studying at Sydney University, so we decided to get together to catch up and have coffee in Darling Harbour before my night photography tour.  I love meeting up with former students to hear how they're doing, and I had been in touch with Dheerja since I started planning my trip.  She was looking happy and healthy, and doing well in her studies, which makes her teachers proud!  We made plans for Saturday to go visit some native Australian animals (blog to come soon).  


When 4:00 rolled around, I met Joslin from Sydney Photography Tours again, this time in Darling Harbour to get some amazing night shots.  Because Darling Harbour is much more protected than Sydney Cove, the water is almost still and you get beautiful reflections of light and color off the water.  We essentially made our way around all sides of the harbour, taking advantage of the changing light throughout the evening.  I got some great photos of the sunset sky and water, as well as some beautiful photos of the harbour and buildings when the city lights came on.  Overall, it was a lovely evening and I'm very happy with the photos I took!  Just a note, you'll see images of snowflakes, ice carvings, and inflated iceberg in the harbor because there was a winter festival going on at the time!  What a beautiful way to see the city!

Cockle Bay Wharf, an area filled with nice restaurants

Isn't this a fascinating staircase?!

Sunset begins on Darling Harbour

The colors were absolutely fantastic!

This is where the reflections off the water get really beautiful!

Same shot as above, but playing with a different white balance.

Light painting with sparklers!

Light painting with glow sticks!

An ice carving demonstration--the light reflecting off the ice was very interesting. 

Giant snowflakes for the winter festival.

The window shades in the building in the background rotate and change color.

Color changing fountains in a children's park.

More light reflections off the water!

The most ridiculous giant iceberg I have ever seen!