Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine July 2014

Travel | Sydney 107 © Bryant Austin Beautiful Whale Come eye-to-eye with whales at sea in this remarkable photographic exhibition. American artist Bryant Austin is the only photographer in the world producing life-size photographs of whales. Beautiful Whale represents Austin’s twenty-year journey exploring the depths. Exclusively at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney, running from Friday April 11, 2014, to Sunday February 1, 2015. © Hamilton Lund / Destination NSW Datang dan lihat dari dekat paus-paus lewat foto-foto yang dipamerkan. Seniman Amerika Bryant Austin adalah satu-satunya fotografer di dunia yang mencetak foto seukuran aslinya. Paus yang mengagumkan ini menggambarkan perjalanan Austin selama 20 tahun menjelajahi kedalaman lautan. Eksklusif hanya di Maritime Museum Sydney, mulai dari Jumat 11 April 2014 hingga Minggu 1 Februari 2015. that cramped spaces and confined conditions are among the things the two vessels have in common. The museum is under-visited, which is a shame, and rather peculiar given that Darling Harbour is firmly on the tourist trail. Perhaps visitors are distracted by the precinct’s aquarium, waxworks, wildlife attractions and innumerable restaurants. Wander away from its southern end and you’ll find another hidden gem, the Chinese Garden of Friendship. It’s one of the best classical gardens outside China, a pocketsized refuge that packs in lakes, waterfalls and meandering pathways that ascend a mini mountain to an elegant pagoda. An astounding imperial carriage made entirely of jade is on show near the teahouse, where you can sip jasmine tea and nibble on oriental pastries as you watch kids pose in giggle-worthy Qing Dynasty costumes. Of course, the classic way to admire Sydney harbour is on the highly scenic, 30-minute ferry ride to Manly, a peninsular suburb wedged between the harbour and the Pacific Ocean. On arrival, hundreds pour oﬀ the ferry and head straight to the splendid ocean beach. But in winter, you’d best turn to the harbour instead and start walking. The Manly to Spit Bridge track is Sydney’s most stunning meander, and yet many remain oblivious to its existence. Start oﬀ past manicured gardens and yachts bobbing at anchor before the trail climbs over headlands that provide incredible views over the Middle Harbour, with the skyscrapers of the city sticking incongruously above the bushland of Sydney Harbour National Park. Eventually (count on three hours) you come out on mudflats where herons stalk at Spit Bridge, and where you can catch the bus back to Manly. Alternatively, walk uphill in the other direction from Manly and you’ll find the Quarantine Station, where immigrants with suspected illnesses were offloaded from the 1830s all the way to the 1980s. Popular evening ghost tours here are rather fun. On up the hill, you enter Sydney Harbour National Park again, where you might come across Aboriginal rock carvings and rare marsupials. The road and walking paths end at cliﬀs where you have sweeping views straight down Sydney Harbour to the city, the humped back of the harbour bridge and the glorious white sails of the opera house in the distance. Better yet, there are times when you have it all to yourself: just another secret treat that Sydney Harbour can so eﬀortlessly and flamboyantly provide. Outside the entrance to the National Maritime Museum at Darling Harbour. An exhibition of photography from Bryant Austin at the National Maritime Museum includes this shot of a humpback whale calf.

Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine July 2014 | Page 109