Day 14

Today I went into Manly. It was very hot. I meant to get a bus directly into Sydney but missed it, so ended up going to Manly Wharf first. I found an Italian cafe that sold good cheap coffee off the Main Street down to the beach. I sat there for ages writing. Manly is full of tourists because it has a good beach so there are lots of touristy beach shops selling surfing stuff and catering for the tourists. 

And seagulls trying to get a drink from the fountains. 

Then I caught the fast ferry to Sydney Central Quays. 

I sat and had a sandwich on the grass outside the Museum of Contemporary Art. The seagulls were hovering waiting for tit bits but some people were quite antagonistic towards them while other people fed them. There were street artists and singers, good ones! I soaked up the atmosphere.

Sydney is a vibrant city though there are a lot of visible homeless people wandering around.

The MCA only has works that are less than ten years old.

 I again was drawn to the Aboriginal Art.

And the sculptures

And the seagulls...

I spent a long time in the resources room watching interviews with artists and was particularly interested in Rebecca Baumann a colour conceptual artist and Khalib Sabsabi a Lebanese video artist who has videoed a Sufi community in Sydney. His emphasis is on Diversity. 

I caught the fast ferry back to Manly and stayed outside in the stern enjoying the spray. 

In Manly I sat down on a bench to eat a piece of fruit and was joined by a woman eating an ice cream. She asked me where I was from and was shocked when I said Birmingham, because though she lives in Tasmania, she and her husband were originally from Birmingham. We had a good chat then she left for the ferry and I went round a shop selling very expensive Aboriginal original art, wall hangings and artefacts. Then I took the bus back to North Curl Curl.