...still Sydney

Walking round Circular Quay you come to the spectacular Opera House. The first time I saw this, it was not as I imagined it from the television and pictures I had seen. On seeing it this time it still did not fail to amaze me. Although only having been open since 1973, it is as representative of Australia as the pyramids are of Egypt. The Opera House is situated on Bennelong Point, which reaches out into the harbour. The skyline of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the blue water of the harbour and the Sydney Opera House is dramatic and unforgettable. The Opera House was designed by renowned Danish architect - Jorn Utzon (1918–2008). Its roof is evocative of a ship at full sail.

In the late 1950s the New South Wales (NSW) Government established an appeal fund to finance the construction of the Sydney Opera House, and conducted a competition for its design. Utzon's design was chosen. His design was, arguably, beyond the capabilities of engineering of the time. Utzon spent a couple of years reworking the design and it was 1961 before he had solved the problem of how to build the distinguishing feature - the 'sails' of the roof. There were problems, mainly budgetry, and he resigned from the project. It was finished by others in 1973. The roof has on it 1 million tiles. There is a special feel as you walk around it, purely the fact that on the other side of the world is this beautiful building and you have the privilege of seeing and feeling this master of architecture at close quarters.