Last day in Sydney and we headed to Elizabeth Bay House to see an elegant example of an early classical home. It was originally set in acres of bush granted to the Colonial Secretary Macleyn who came out at 60 with his natural history collection and his numerous daughters. The poor man got carried away with his cultivated tastes and all that land to turn to garden and follow his passion for collecting and eventually had to hand it all over to his 'rapacious' son who had loaned him thousands to fulfill his dreams. The house is a gem but what a sad tale of obsession.
Chastened, we hurried on to see the astonishing sight of thousands of fruit bats/flying foxes clinging upside down to swathes of trees in the Botanic Gardens (how had I missed them last time?). They are weird and fascintating, with their huge bat wings and furry fronts, gliding effortlessly, the size of seagulls, flapping to cool themselves as they hang and squeaking now and then, fairly active in the daytime.
On again, this time to sketch some of the Aboriginal works in the Sydney Art Gallery to try to get a more immediate feel of them. The very act of trying to copy them made me more aware of their rich complexity. We also went to look at the outstandingly good Dobel Drawing Prize entrants. Drawing is alive and well in Australia folks. Many large scale pieces of superlative vitality and technique.
After a rest back at base we went for our last trip to Circular Quays and to the PJ Doyle restaurant overlooking the harbour. Richard had promised good fish and chips there but I wasn't prepared for the major dilemma this posed. Up to now the Magpie at Witby held the prize for the best fish and chips, but it is one heck of a way to go to get the even more perfect version in Sydney, worthy of the white wine with it. But there are worse problems.
We rounded off the day by seeing Miriam Margoles in 'Dickens' Women' brought to life with wicket relish.
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