... Museum of Sydney: 'Sydney Now' photojournalism exhibit. Art Gallery of NSW. Sydney Festival: 'Festival First Night'. Opera House Tour. Australian Museum: 'Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2007' exhibition...

It's all go, go, go! The start of the New Year means that I'll be moving to Melbourne soon so I want to make sure I make the most of Sydney before I leave. So this weekend I went on a major exaggeration visiting museums, galleries, famous landmarks and stomped away at the Sydney Festival.

One of my main passions is photography, particularly photojournalism so started my weekend off at the Museum of Sydney where I viewed the most amazing exhibition. The 'Sydney Now' temporary installation was fantastic, very inspirational and thought provoking.

It depicted Sydney life brilliantly covering all elements of the diverse culture here with amazing pieces being displayed by Australian photographers. It not only gave me food for thought on photography but life in general. It was a tremendously inspiring exhibit.

Afterwards I took a stroll through the Botanical Gardens heading towards the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The indigenous section at the gallery was quite interesting with artists highlighting the struggles that aboriginals have had in modern day society.

And dancing away the evening in the middle of the CBD for Festival First Night was pretty surreal, as normally Martin Place and Phillip St are extremely monochrome, filled up with tons of suits. Where last night they were transformed into arenas with stages, lighting and huge sound systems. Met some pretty cool people and got to listen to Plump DJs and Spank Rock all for free, result.

Carrying on with my mission to take in all the sights and sounds of Sydney I trekked off to the Opera House this morning for a guided tour. It was fascinating to finally go on the official tour as I'd previously worked here, been taken for dinner and had a brief encounter when going to see the 'ballet'.

Our tour guide was fantastic informing us on the history & architecture of the building as well as the workings of the stage. We got to visit quite a few areas including one of the smaller stages as well as the Concert Hall and Opera Theatre. It was such a spectacular tour and got me even more excited about going to see Carmen in a few weeks.

I spent the afternoon being wowed by the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2007 exhibition that is currently visiting the Australian Museum. The images were astonishing and breathtaking with some unusual perspectives on nature. I really am a photograph junkie.

I also got to enjoy an indigenous performance and find out more about the dreaming & aboriginal life; plus lots of other sections on Australia and its natural inhabitants from wildlife to gems. Going to the museum reminded me of mine & Vince's last visit up to London to the Natural History Museum; can't wait for us two to have a father daughter day out again.

Photo: CBD stomping in Phillip St

[Next blog entry: Sydney Thursday January 10th 2008]