On the next morning, Monday, I had a few goals in mind: go to the Opera House and book a tour for two for Tuesday morning, go to the Royal Botanic Gardens and book two places on the Aboriginal Heritage tour for two for Friday, locate the Conservatorium of Music on the Botanic Garden grounds and find out exactly where the What Makes a Balinese Gamelan Tock? event scheduled for that evening would be held, and visit the State Library of New South Wales (New South Wales or NSW is the name of the province or state of Australia which Sydney is part of).
I headed off TSS, no easy feat since it required going through not only TSS security but also a gauntlet of Australian security and customs officers. I first presented my official TSS card to our own security people at the entrance to the gangway for them to swipe through their card reader, which caused my photo to appear on the “Out” side of their computer screen. Then I descended the gangway, and walked through a maze of security barriers to a cargo warehouse about ten yards away where more customs people were set up in three areas. There was a screening station like those at airports, with a conveyor belt/scanning station where incoming folks had to have their bags examined; individual agriculture inspectors who examined by hand bags and luggage of outgoing folks to be sure they did not containing any forbidden items, such as fruits, vegetables, meat, seeds or wood products; and a high desk where we had to submit our TSS cards upon reentry.
Then I walked through the rest of the otherwise-empty warehouse and out the opposite door into the fresh air but not into freedom. I had to turn left because security barriers had been set up straight ahead and continuing most of the length of the warehouse, going left. I walked along inside the barriers until they ended then angled right heading toward the gates to the berth where two more Australian security persons were on guard. We greeted each other and one of them opened the gate for me. I asked them the best way to get to Circular Quay (quay is pronounced “key”). They told me to turn right outside the gate and go uphill (naturally, since I hate hills) along the street until it curved to the left then follow that street, Argyle Street, until I got to the Quay.
I puffed and panted up the hill and in a coy maneuver, paused a few times to take photos of the lovely architecture of the apartment buildings on the opposite side of the street.
Building with arched windows and doorways on first level and balconies on second level, with navigation control tower behind it 9097
Lovely railing on balcony 9099
Great balcony with plants, nice pillar design, red roof and arched entry below. The green railing is along the street fronting the buildings, since they are above the level of the road I was on.
The balcony 9100
Next to the building in the above photo is a street, then a cool building, The Palisade, and then another street. The building is on its own block. I had to take a photo of it.
The Palisade 9101
I turned left since the road ahead curved left and found myself facing another neat-looking building so of course I photographed it. Note the railing to the right of the building. The road in front of it, Windmill Road, is a bridge and the railing guards a steep drop to a freeway below. Up where I was is a lovely, old residential and commercial area; below is a raging snarl of traffic.
I continued until I arrived at Argyll Street, which I needed to cross. There was little traffic but I took a photo of the one thing that I constantly had to be reminded of while I was in Australia (and in New Zealand, as well), that traffic flows in reverse direction to that in the US. Before crossing the street, one must LOOK RIGHT because that is the direction in which the traffic nearest you is coming. Almost all the streets in Sydney have “Look Right” painted on the road near the curb where you wait to cross.
Look Right 9105
I kept walking along Argyll Street as it slanted downward, gradually at first and then steeply as Sydney Harbor drew closer (I knew this would mean a steep uphill climb to get back to TSS). This area is known as The Rocks and is the oldest part of Sydney. As I walked along, I noticed a wonderful grill covering a basement-level window alongside the sidewalk. Of course I had to take a photo of it.
Sidewalk window grill 9107
Just a couple of short blocks down (literally) the street, I could see the harbor, called Circular Quay, in its park-like setting.
First view of Circular Quay 9108
When I got closer, there was the Sydney Opera House on the opposite side of the Quay. The railing along the Quay was great so I had to photograph it, too.
Opera House 9110
Quay railing 9113
Close-up of seal on railing 9109
Seahorse symbol on railing corner near ferry jetty 9116
Landscape in park-like setting 9114
I circled around Circular Quay to a point diagonal to where I first arrived at the Quay and from there I had a great view of the Harbor Bridge.
Sydney Harbor Bridge 9119
Close-up of bridge towers with Circular Quay lamppost in foreground 9120
To my left and straight ahead was the Opera House with its distinctive roof structures. The building had recently been named a World Heritage Site and Sydneysiders are justly proud of that.
Sydney Opera House 9122
I headed directly there, quite a little walk but very nicely bricked and when I arrived there, I found myself at a row of shops that were in an arcade beneath the Opera House. I walked along, trying to follow signs to get to the ticket counter. I ended up at the point where the tours actually start, however, and had to take an escalator up to the main level, walk quite a distance to a huge flight of stairs (Sydney is packed with stairs, lots of them, all going up (not down!) and gasp my way to the top. There, I was faced with, among other things, two different ticket counters. From where I stood, I couldn’t see that either of them clearly indicated that they sold tour tickets, as opposed to tickets for the various productions held at the Opera House. One was closer and on my left; the other was to the right and much further back. People were in line at the left-hand one so I went to the one on the right but of course it was not the right one; the gracious ticket seller kindly directed me to the other counter.
There a handsome young man with a long ponytail who joked with me as I bought two tour tickets for the next day’s 9:00 AM tour and confirmed that I knew where to meet for the beginning of the tour. Then I went down the long flight of stairs and retraced my steps to the escalator, went down to the tour start point, turned left under the covered arcade of shops until I reached the beautiful bricked walkway between the Opera House and the Circular Quay shopping arcade. I enjoyed the sight of the ferries moored at various points around the quay, the blue sky overhead, and the view of the Bridge to my right as I walked to the half-way point along the row of shops on my left. There was a gap between the modern buildings housing the shops to accommodate a very old, well-worn set of (you guessed it!) steep stone steps rising to the level of the street beyond. McQuarie Street is named after a former governor of Australia, as is McQuarie University located in Sydney, which is one of the academic sponsors of The Scholar Ship, the one that will award grades to TSS students.
I less-than-enthusiastically began ascending the stairs but stopped about mid-way up to take a photo of an interesting work of art attached to the side of the building to my right – and also to give myself a chance to catch my breath and gear up for the next set of steps. Judge for yourself to see if you can tell what it is.
Work of art on wall 9124
At the top of the stairs was a sidewalk bordering McQuarie Street and directly across the street was the Royal Botanic Gardens. A pedestrian crossing was nearby and when traffic slowed I crossed. After entering through the gate, I paused to take a picture of the directional sign there. It took me a while, and viewing several similar signs, to realize that the direction of the board was the direction in which the named place was to be found; they do not use arrow-pointed signs. Just inside the gate was a sign saying something like, “This park is for public enjoyment. Please walk on the grass, picnic on the grass, hug a tree. But please do not (there followed several things that were not allowed).” I was very impressed that walking on the grass was not only not forbidden but actually encouraged. In fact there were huge stretches of grass that had interesting small gardens across an expanse of grass but no paths leading to them. One just walked across the grass to get to them. It was wonderful!
I was looking for a sign that said, “Tour Tickets” or something similar but there was no mention of it, so I turned to the right and started walking along the winding, blacktopped path. As I walked along, admiring the beautiful grounds, I passed some interesting stone artifacts strewn about on the lawn to my right.
Interesting artifacts 9128
I was sure they were Aboriginal items (how I knew is uncertain) and this whetted my interest even further in experiencing the Aboriginal Heritage tour offered on Fridays, which had been billed online at http://www.whats-on-in-sydney.com.au/whatson.asp?id=2992# as:
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =Aboriginal Heritage Tours of Royal Botanic Gardens
Where: 2 pm Fridays. Depart Gardens Shop. $25 per person.
When: From Monday, 1 January 2007 to Monday, 31 December 2007
What: Led by an Aboriginal guide, uncover the Royal Botanic Gardens’ rich Aboriginal heritage, experience traditional music, dance and artefacts, and taste some bush foods.
Contact: Royal Botanic Gardens on 9231 8134= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Sounds great, doesn’t it? The only contact info was a phone number but I had no way to call from TSS so I was going in person to arrange for Nancy and I to take the tour. As I walked along I saw a wonderful looking tree on the grounds to my right and of course had to take a picture of it.
Tree 9131
I continued strolling and passed the herb garden, built up on a rock wall across the grass on my right. It smelled just like the herb garden at Riverbanks Zoo and Botanical Garden in Columbia, SC, - and probably almost every other herb garden anywhere. I kept following signposts and finally ended up meandering along a path to my left from the main path. There were cloth banners mounted on posts along the walkway. This kind of banner was frequently used in Sydney, as future photos will show. Here is the one seen along this path. (Domain is a green area of Sydney that abuts the Gardens.)
Cloth banner 9132
Not too far down the path was the Gift Shop, which had a sign outside indicating that free tours started from that point every hour and also that trackless train tours were available from there for $10. I mounted the 2 or 3 wooden steps (I actually don’t mind very, very short flights of steps!) and entered the shop. There I learned that the tour I was interested in was sponsored by the Education Department. When I asked where it was, the shop clerk offered to give me the phone number for it. When I told her that I lived aboard a ship and couldn’t call from it, she very kindly made the call herself. That is the good news. The bad news is that the Education Department was short-staffed that week and it was unlikely that the tour would be offered. I was heart-broken. They offered the palliative that I could call back on Thursday to see if anything had changed. Then the clerk wrote down the phone number for me and told me about the free tours. I thanked her and, after buying a desperately-needed bottle of spring water, left the shop to begin guzzling the wet stuff. It had been a long, hot walk up stairs and through the garden since leaving the Opera House.
I wandered back up the path the way I’d come, turned right and passed the herb garden again and continued until I came to a fork in the path and turned left. I wanted to go to the Conservatorium of Music on the edge of the Gardens to inquire about the musical program being offered that night that some of us TSSers wanted to attend. Sure enough, I soon came to it and was immediately taken with the unique and attractive large plants in the landscaping next to the older of the two buildings of the Conservatorium. Naturally I had to photograph them.
Group of plants 9136
Close-up of one plant 9137
The newer building had a glass wall with glass entry doors that stood open. I walked inside and saw a guard, whom I asked about the program that night. He seemed not to know what I was talking about. Finally I pulled out a printout of the advertisement I’d found online and showed it to him. It read:
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
WHAT MAKES BALINESE GAMELAN TOCK?Where: Music Workshop, Sydney Conservatorium of MusicMacquarie Street, Sydney
When: Monday, 19 November 2007
What: If you?ve ever fallen under the spell of gamelan in Bali or here in Sydney and the shimmering sound of all that bronze has led you to wonder... how is this extraordinary music put together? what makes it pulsate the way it does? how do they play so quickly? and who leads, anyway? then join us for an evening of musical and cultural insights in...WHAT MAKES BALINESE GAMELAN TOCK?
FREE LECTURE RECITAL
presented by Gary Watsonand Sekaa Gong Tirta Sinarwith guest dancers
Commences 7pm
Drinks on sale at the bar from 6pm
Free admission/ no bookings or reservations
Sekaa Gong Tirta Sinar gratefully acknowledges Sydney Conservatorium of Music for the use of its gamelan gong semaradana for this recital.
Contact: Gary Watson on 02 9698 1756
Balinese gong kebyar gamelan orchestra
Sekaa Gong Tirta Sinar (Tirta Sinar Gamelan Club) perform both traditional and modern, sacred and secular Balinese musical forms including the prevalent gong kebyar and gamelan gong, as well as gamelan palegongan, semar pagulingan and balaganjur.
The group formed in October 1992 when the Australian Museum in Sydney acquired a new gamelan gong kebyar, commissioned & built at the Gabeleran foundry in Gianyar (Peliatan village), Bali. Since its foundation, SG Tirta Sinar has met on a weekly basis for large & small group practice sessions, firstly at the Australian Museum (1992 - 1997) where it was housed on permanent display, and now at the University of Sydney's Department of Music faculty.
The founding leader & director of SG Tirta Sinar is Gary Watson (a Masters graduate in music from the University of Sydney) who made regular vists to Bali to study with his teacher, the late celebrated gamelan composer & performer Bapak I Wayan Gandra of Peliatan village. This tuition has helped maintain the authenticity of music learned & performed by the group here in Sydney.
SG Tirta Sinar is available for professional engagement at public, private & corporate functions.Gary may also be booked as a teacher & facilitator for hands-on gamelan workshops at the Old Darlington School with school groups (recommended for Year 7 to 12 students of Music, Indonesian & Asian Studies).
The group rehearses every Wednesday at the Old Darlington School, University of Sydney. Prospective members are always welcome to attend.
Please go to Contact page to email Gary for further information.
Sekaa Gong Tirta Sinar wishes to thank The Australian Museum, Sydney, for the use of its gamelan gong kebyar for rehearsals & performances.= == = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
When he read it, he said, “Oh, yes. It will be in the Music Workshop. It is directly beneath us. You go down the escalator,” he pointed to my left and I saw a set of escalators. “At the bottom, turn right and go completely around. It will be on your left.” I asked if the doors I’d just came through would be open in the evening and he said yes. I thanked him and walked outside.
Outside again, I noticed that there were a few small circular café tables with chairs in the covered area near the doors. I sat in one to finish the water in the bottle I’d bought at the Gardens gift shop and by purchasing which, according to the label, I’d contributed to the Gardens. After resting a bit, I started out again, this time walking out to the sidewalk near the street but divided from it by a nice planted area and turned left, heading for the State Library of New South Wales. It was only about two blocks away but to get to it, I found myself passing even more of the Gardens, which stretched out seemingly forever on my left. It was enclosed by a lovely wrought-iron fence.
Fence and gate pillar 9143
Close-up of gate pillar 9144
Further along was another entrance with a different king of fence, gate and pillars.
Other entrance 9146
Close-up of finial on pillar 9144
Beautiful gate, closed; notice dome-shaped decoration on top 9151
Meanwhile, along the sidewalk was some nice landscaping and even a fountain.
Fountain 9153
Finally I came to the street across which was the library. The street itself curved and plunged downhill with a nice view of the skyline and trees in the distance. I later realized the street was named after Shakespeare, an appropriate name for a street on which the state library fronts.
Shakespeare Street, note edge of statue at far right 9154
Statue of guess who? 9155
Then I crossed the street to enter the State Library of New South Wales.
Library 9139
Inside the library was a large entry room. On one wall was an engraved statement about books.
Engraving 9157
An elegant clock was on the wall above the two doorways leading to the main room 9159
I didn’t go into the main room but instead, traversed a long flight of stairs (alas!) to the display area on the floor above. One of the items on display was a metal replica of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.
Replica 9161
After a whirlwind tour of the display area, my feet were ready to give out, so I went out to McQuarie Street and turned right. I started walking and didn’t stop until I’d arrived at the stone steps, descended them, turned left and started around Circular Quay on my way back to TSS. At the bottom of the circle of the quay were some Aboriginal musicians playing music and entertaining the visitors.
Aboriginal musicians 9164
From there, I made my way along the quay until I was directly across from the stone steps, turned left and started back up Argyll Street, heading back to the ship. And I do mean up, since the first part of the way was sharply uphill. After that I walked through a tunnel carved out of solid rock called Argyll Cut, then onto level ground for a few blocks until I arrived at Kent Street. Since I have a brother named Kent, I took a picture of the street sign in his honor.
Kent Street sign 9166
Across Kent Street from where I stood was a (get this!) brewery hotel. I’m still not clear on how that can be, but I took a picture of it because on the front were the words, “Sydney’s Oldest Hotel.” I’d walked past it several times. There were outdoor café tables and chairs outside in on the Argyll Street. I walked past it again, to the end of the block, then turned right but just before I did, I took this shot across the street to the waters of the harbor.
Scene across the street 9171
I turned right and walked along a very short street, with one building on the right and a drop to the freeway on the left, which I photographed.
What I saw to my left 9172
I walked to the end of the short street, circled to my left and started down the parallel street, which sloped downward. From the top of the slope I could see TSS’s smoke stack and satellite ball rising above the harbor guard station at the bottom of the street. I felt like I was coming home.
TSS from top of hill 8174
As it turned out, five of us ended up going to the Gamelan performance that night. Originally, Nancy, Nikki and were going to go but when we went to dinner in the Coral Dining Room that evening, Lynn and Elisabeth showed up, dressed to go to town, announcing that they wanted to go with us, so we became a group of five.
They decided to leave at 6:30. I thought this would be cutting it tight since the performance was to be at 7:00 but went along with it. I quickly became very glad I’d gone there earlier in the day and knew exactly where it was, how to get there and where to go once inside the building. I ended up practically running and Nikki was keeping up but the other three were lagging behind. Nancy later confessed that she had thought it started at 7:30 and couldn’t figure out my hurry until we arrived and I practically dove down the escalator. Just as we reached the room, the door attendant hurried us inside and closed the door behind us. It was 7:05. We found seats in the theatre-style audience area which faced a lovely flat wooden floor.
The gamelan, which I originally thought was a musical instrument from Bali, is actually a complete orchestra of Balinese instruments. The instruments were set up on the floor when we arrived but no one was with them. I was immediately enticed by the shapes, sizes and types of musical instruments and by the beautiful backdrop.
Balinese Gamelan 9177
Close-up of gongs 9178
The performers seated at the instruments 9179
Particularly interesting, once the event began, was the lecture presentation by the director of the gamelan, Gary Watson. He explained the history of the gamelan, the types of instruments and how each one is played. Demonstrations of various rhythms or melodies were played on each instrument. Using an example song, he had the part played by each instrument demonstrated, then two played together, then three and so on until everyone played together to create the complete song. It was informative and delightful. A special treat was two young dancing girls performing traditional Balinese dances during three of the numbers played by the group. The girls wore traditional Balinese costumes including headdresses. It was hard to get an unblurry picture of the dancers because of their movements. But I’ve included several to give an idea of some of their dance movements.
Dancers with part of the gamelan 9180
Dance movements 9184
More movements 9186
After the first dance, we had more explanations and more music by the gamelan.
Players on right demonstrating their part of a song 9190
The entire gamelan playing 9191
Dancers performing again 9199
Dancers performing Bird of Paradise dance 9205
Birds of Paradise flourishing their wings, action shot 9208
Birds swishing through the air, action shot 9209
Birds displaying tail feathers/wings 9210
One final swish 9211
Gamelan playing 9214
Performers bowing at end of performance 9215
Dancers waiting to bow 9220
After the performance, we went down onto the floor to see the instruments close up. I took pictures of each kind of instrument.
Gongs 9223
Xylophone-type instruments with ornate woodwork 9224
Solo kettle 9225
Row of kettles 9226
Umbrella from backdrop 9228
Backdrop curtain 9229 Nancy said it is made of layers, with each color a different layer 9229
After the performance ended we went outside and wanted to take pictures of all of us under the large, long Conservatorium of Music sign. It was dark by then and a bright light was shining on the wall, so getting a good shot was a challenge. While we were making our attempts, two female Malaysian university students came out from the performance and offered to take a picture of all of us together. Then they walked a ways with us, talking about TSS and about their studies in Australia. Although they are from the part of the world where Bali is, they had never learned to play in a gamelan. We suggested that they take advantage of the gamelan classes offered at the Conservatorium. I said, then when you go home, you can say, “I went to Australia and I learned to play in a gamelan.” They cracked up. The best photo:
Buveh, Lynn, Nikki, Nancy, Elisabeth (at least “Conservatorium” showed up) 9234
The walk back was much more leisurely than the almost-dead run getting to the performance. Once on the quay, we lingered, seeing the Bridge and the Opera House and the city skyline by night. They were all lovely with the lights. I was going to take pictures of all of it but suddenly my camera gave the “batteries exhausted” message and so that was that. Eventually, after some of the group had bought ice cream cones from Baskin Robins (yes, BR), we wended our way back to TSS.
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