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Last Full Day in Sydney
After sleeping in a bit this morning, I decided that I needed to do some work on school related projects. This week has seen its fair share of UT research-related wildfires and many of them have involved me. I've done the best job I could do to help out - but it is always tough to do this from so far away. In any case, I spent the morning preparing a summary of the PALS work that I have done in Melbourne so that I could talk about it with Anita before she heads off to the U.S. for the remaining weeks that I am in Australia.
After lunch, I decided to go and explore more of the Sydney CBD. I had been all around the Rocks and the Circular Quay, but I hadn't really seen the city of Sydney yet. So, I went for a walk and made it through a lot of the downtown area. I came across Hyde Park and enjoyed the walk through there. I was surprised by how many people were out relaxing on a Thursday afternoon. But, I can see why they chose that spot. The park was shaded by several large trees and several pathways connected the parks water features and statues. I saw a few tropical birds fighting as I made my way through the park. I'm not really sure how that ended, but it was entertaining to watch.
At the other end of the park was St. Mary's Cathedral. The doors to the old Roman Catholic cathedral were open, so I went in and walked around. With the exception of the main altar, the balcony, most of the church was accessible. They were very strict on no photography (and not just no flash photography). It was unfortunate because the church was very beautiful. I stood on a spot where Pope John Paul II stood after visiting the cathedral and, overall, it was nice that the church was open for the public to just walk through.
After walking through the Sydney CBD, I made my way back to the conference center for Anita, Aurelia, and Aaron's talks (talk about the 'A-Team'). Afterward, I attended the poster session and had a lengthy discussion with Mikel Duke about the differences and similarities between polymer and inorganic membranes. Following the poster session, I decided to walk back through the city. It is hard to describe exactly, but the general feel and the sunlight and seemingly just the mood of the Darling Harbour area reminded me of several late spring evenings in State College. Of course, State College is a bit different from downtown Sydney, but there was something about the weather and the sunlight on this evening that really reminded me of some of those brilliant spring days at Penn State. I wish I could describe this in more concrete terms (particularly for my Penn State friends who I am sure would know what I mean if I could convey it correctly).
After a pleasant evening, I returned to Darling Harbour and spent the evening trying to get some good skyline shots around the harbor. I managed to find some good inanimate objects to help me stabilize the camera for the necessarily longer exposures (much like the other night at the Rocks). I think I was moderately successful in getting some good night photos. If nothing else, I had fun trying! Afterward, I returned to the room and watched the U.S. vs. Switzerland Olympic hockey game before deciding to call it a night. Tomorrow I will have the morning in Sydney and then fly back to Melbourne in the early afternoon. It will be nice to get back to Melbourne and do some laundry as I am running desperately low on clean clothes after this 2-week long trip!
After lunch, I decided to go and explore more of the Sydney CBD. I had been all around the Rocks and the Circular Quay, but I hadn't really seen the city of Sydney yet. So, I went for a walk and made it through a lot of the downtown area. I came across Hyde Park and enjoyed the walk through there. I was surprised by how many people were out relaxing on a Thursday afternoon. But, I can see why they chose that spot. The park was shaded by several large trees and several pathways connected the parks water features and statues. I saw a few tropical birds fighting as I made my way through the park. I'm not really sure how that ended, but it was entertaining to watch.
At the other end of the park was St. Mary's Cathedral. The doors to the old Roman Catholic cathedral were open, so I went in and walked around. With the exception of the main altar, the balcony, most of the church was accessible. They were very strict on no photography (and not just no flash photography). It was unfortunate because the church was very beautiful. I stood on a spot where Pope John Paul II stood after visiting the cathedral and, overall, it was nice that the church was open for the public to just walk through.
After walking through the Sydney CBD, I made my way back to the conference center for Anita, Aurelia, and Aaron's talks (talk about the 'A-Team'). Afterward, I attended the poster session and had a lengthy discussion with Mikel Duke about the differences and similarities between polymer and inorganic membranes. Following the poster session, I decided to walk back through the city. It is hard to describe exactly, but the general feel and the sunlight and seemingly just the mood of the Darling Harbour area reminded me of several late spring evenings in State College. Of course, State College is a bit different from downtown Sydney, but there was something about the weather and the sunlight on this evening that really reminded me of some of those brilliant spring days at Penn State. I wish I could describe this in more concrete terms (particularly for my Penn State friends who I am sure would know what I mean if I could convey it correctly).
After a pleasant evening, I returned to Darling Harbour and spent the evening trying to get some good skyline shots around the harbor. I managed to find some good inanimate objects to help me stabilize the camera for the necessarily longer exposures (much like the other night at the Rocks). I think I was moderately successful in getting some good night photos. If nothing else, I had fun trying! Afterward, I returned to the room and watched the U.S. vs. Switzerland Olympic hockey game before deciding to call it a night. Tomorrow I will have the morning in Sydney and then fly back to Melbourne in the early afternoon. It will be nice to get back to Melbourne and do some laundry as I am running desperately low on clean clothes after this 2-week long trip!
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