The Art Gallery of NSW and Darling Harbor

Mar 28

Time is winding down in Sydney and we have a few things left on our list of places to see. First, The Art Gallery of New South Wales. Just like the museum in Auckland, this one is free admission. There is a price to see the visiting exhibits, like the Andy Warhol one when we were there, but we thought there was enough to see in the free sections and didn’t buy a ticket. 

Free of charge, you can explore many sections of the museum. Displays of native art, European art from the 15th – 19th centuries, and contemporary pieces are organized on 3 floors of displays. We found the Australian artwork to be the most enjoyable exhibit. Everything was very unique. Many pieces were painted on bark or wooden posts and told stories associated with native folklore.

Tutini (grave posts); multiple artists from the Tiwi tribe on Melville Island, Australia. 1958
Fruit Bats; by Lin Onus, sculptures made of fiberglass, 1991
Bark paintings; multiple artists from the Marika and Yunupingu families. Comissioned in 1959.

The contemporary section had a wide range of mediums displayed. The videos, moving-parts sculptures, and bold images were well curated and gave the wing of the museum a lot of energy. At art museums I’m a big plaque reader, but it’s almost necessary in the contemporary/modern art sections. The artist usually has a hidden meaning or cause that inspired their creations and unless you’re a professional the plaque is the only way for me to understand what I’m really looking at.

Forever; by Ai WeiWei, 2003. Representing the once dominating presence of bicycles on the streets of China, which are slowly being replaced by motorcycles and cars.

Our second check-list-location of the day was Darling Harbor. The harbor is a fun, lively cove with endless restaurants and a mall for shopping. If someone was only staying a few days in Sydney, a hotel near Darling Harbor would be a great choice.

I haven’t ever had dinner at a Brazilian Steakhouse (or as we call it, “all you can mEAT”), and we checked it off the bucket list here in Sydney. Kevin was pretty excited? You tell me.

We left VERY full but avoided the meat sweats that I was warned about. I wouldn’t say I’m eager to do it again, but I can see why meat eaters love it.

After eating a mountain of meat and a long walk we were thirsty. We stopped at “Sydney’s Oldest Pub”, The Fortune of War, for a pint.

Cheers! at the oldest pub in Sydney

It was our last night in Sydney and it was getting dark so we headed over to the harbor to photograph our last glimpses of the Opera House and bridge. No, it doesn’t get any less beautiful as time goes on. Sorry if the pictures do. 🙂