Darling Harbour Fiesta

Photo gallery: Darling Harbour Fiesta
Google Earth Position: 33°52'6.48"S 151°12'1.45"E

I experienced the sights, sounds, tastes, flamboyance and flair at Australia's hottest dance and music festival - Darling Harbour Fiesta!

Salsa, tango, bossa nova and rumba... with more than 70 performances across three stages and Latin in these three sizzling days and nights.

Fiesta simply brings together traditional and contemporary talent from across South and Central America and Spain.

Yeah, it was hot indeed! Look at my pals from Mexico and Poland :)

Annual Ritmo Brazilian Festival

Photo gallery: Annual Ritmo Brazilian Festival

Several shots of Capoeira (Brazilian fight-dance) taken at the Brazilian festival in Sydney's Darling Harbour and Tumbalong Park a week ago.

Father's Day

First Sunday of September – Father’s Day in Australia.

Gift-giving to fathers and tonnes of shop’s flyers.

Family-oriented activities and charity events.

City2Surf 2007

Photo gallery: City2Surf 2007

City2Surf is an annual charitable road running event goes from the centre of Sydney to Bondi Beach. More than 60.000 people took part in this 14 km long competition this year.

Here are several shots from Bondi Beach.

USS Kitty Hawk in Sydney

Photo gallery: USS Kitty Hawk in Sydney

The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) has arrived in Sydney Harbour for several days, accompanied by four other US navy ships. The ship holds about 5500 sailors and can carry up to 75 aircraft.

The huge extensive clearway (no-stopping allowed) and no-parking provisions have been put in place around the naval base in a bid to avoid a traffic chaos. Thousands of people wanting to catch a glimpse of the mighty craft are forced to use public transport.

Olympic Australia Tour 2007

Photo gallery: Olympic Australia Tour 2007

Here are several shots from the concert of the Czech legendary rock band in Sydney.

Queen Mary 2 & Queen Elizabeth 2 in Sydney

Photo gallery: Queen Mary 2

Sydney Harbour had never seen anything quite like it - the world's largest ocean liner Queen Mary 2 and her sister ship Queen Elizabeth 2 close behind! These two grand dames caused chaos in the city:

• there were crowds of people coming to have a look during the whole day,
• others in cars on all the main roads (in all lanes!) were stopping to watch QM2 so there was a critical traffic jam for the whole day,
• buses, trains and ferries had major delays,
  
• many commuters watching crafts in the evening spent up to 2 hours more on the way home than usual and some of them couldn't get home at all (they couldn't fit into regular means of transport,
• several helicopters were flying among the tall buildings in the city

QM2 and QE2 stayed in the city for almost one day. There was a spectacular firework as a celebration that many people considered to be even much better than the NEY's one!

There are some amazing facts about Queen Mary 2:

• Length: 345 metres
• Beam: 40.5 metres
• Height (Keel to Funnel): 71 metres
• Guest Capacity: 2592 lower berths, 3056 maximum capacity
• Crew: 1253

There are some comparisons of Queen Mary 2:

• QM2 is 147 feet longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall,
• QM2 is more than 3 times as long as Westminster Tower (Big Ben) is high,
• QM2 is only 117 feet shorter than the Empire State Building is tall,
• QM2 is as long as 41 double-decker London buses,
• QM2's whistle is audible for 16 kilometres.

The Magic World of Czech Illustrators for Children

Photo gallery: The Magic World of Czech Illustrators for Children

The special exhibition has recently taken place in Sydney… Even in the Czech Republic I’d never seen a similar thing :). Almost each of these illustrators is world known and has won many international awards.

On one spot we saw the most popular pictures from fairytales by such names as:

• Adolf Born (e.g. Max and Sally, Puss in Boots, Pipi Longstocking),
• Karel Franta (e.g. Punch in Hell),
• Stanislav Holy (e.g. Mister Pip’s Walk),
• Vladimir Jiranek (e.g. Bob and Bobbek: Rabbits from the Hat),
• Josef Lada (e.g. K.J.Erben’s Fairytales),
• Zdenek Miller (e.g. The Mole),
• Radek Pilar (e.g. Rumcajs),
• Odrej Sekora (e.g. Book of Ferda The Ant),
• Zdenek Smetana (e.g. Stories of the Stump Cottage),
• Jiri Trnka (e.g. Arabian Nights),
• Helena Zmatlikova (e.g. Jenicek and Marenka), and much more.

The translated titles of fairytales are so funny, aren’t they? So sit down comfortably and go back to your childhood…

Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi

Photo gallery: Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi

"Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi" is Australia's largest annual outdoor free to the public exhibition of contemporary sculpture.

Staged along Sydney's spectacular Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk, the exhibition attracts over 400,000 visitors and exhibits over 100 works by artists from 15 different countries.

We saw sculptures made from wood, metal, bronze, ceramic, stone and other mixed medias.

Australian International Motor Show

Photo gallery: Australian International Motor Show

The Australian International Motor Show is Australia's largest automotive event and one of the top ten motor shows in the world. It is Australia's largest exhibition of any kind in New South Wales after the Royal Easter Show.

It took place in the newly-built Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre at Darling Harbour and more than 60 all-new, updated or concept cars are unveiled amongst the more than 500 vehicles on display.

Although we really liked the inner exhibition the test drive in Touareg 4WD was the greatest experience of the whole show.

City2Surf

Fotogalerie: 21. Sydney - City2Surf

City2Surf je nejvetsi australsky kazdorocni beh, konany v ulicich Sydney (trasa ma 14 km a vede mirnou oklikou z centra na Bondi Beach). Ja se tedy aktivne nezucastnil :), ale i tak padnul rekord - pres 63.000 bezcu/chodcu/silencu.

Pro zajimavost jsem vybral par crazy fotek, k videni toho fakt dost o).

Sydney International Boat Show

Fotogalerie: 20. Sydney International Boat Show

Pridal jsem par fotek z venkovni expozice nekolikadenni Sydney International Boat Show, ktera byla v Cockle Bay Marina - Darling Harbour.

Vystavenych lodi na cele show bylo pres 270, v hodnote od $400 do $8 milionu.

Australie vs. Italie - online ze Sydney

Tue, 8:23 am (rano po zapase)
Nakonec rozhodla sporna penalta. Ozzici jsou trochu smutny, ale moc si z toho nedelaji a dal oslavuji sve hrdiny. Rano kolem 8 am je v centru malo lidi, jako po kazdym zapase Australie. Ferry mely pres 20 minut zpozdeni, celou dobu posadka debatovala o fotbale nedaleko lodi :) O gratulacich jsem psal minule, to se nezmenilo, tak ted se uz jen ceka na prijezd hvezd.

Tue, 1:08 am (zacatek zapasu)
V centru se nakonec seslo deset tisic lidi, coz je hodne, protoze tam neni zadna velka plocha na shromazdeni. Atmosfera pohltila i nas a tak se vcelku spontanne v noci s par kamosema setkavame u nas doma, v 1 am poustime TV a sledujeme vse u vina... Fandime ozzikum. No uz ted je to pro ne ale historicky uspech.


Mon, 11:15 pm (2 hodiny pred zapasem)
Ozzici dnes nemluvi o nicem jinem, uz nekolik hodin proudi do centra tisice lidi, v podstate se slavi od ukonceni pracovni doby. Zapas se hraje v noci 1 am AEST. Sefove opet povoluji prijit do prace na 11. hodinu. Policie ma zdvojene hlidky, jsou videt i policejni kone. V centru je velkoplosna obrazovka, vsechny hospody preplneny. Atmosfera pripomina spise oslavy, vsichni si veri. Mestske autobusy stale obtizneji projizdi skrz auta fanousku. Bottle shopy maji stale otevreno (nikde jinde nez v techto specializovanych obchodech se alkohol koupit neda a vsechny normalne zaviraji do pulnoci) a hodne lidi na ulicich popiji pivo z lahvi, samozrejme zabalene v papirovem pytliku :) . --- V italske ctvrti Leichhardt (kousek od centra) jsou zavrene dve hlavni ulice, zde je take velkoplosna obrazovka, take lidi na silnicich - jen opacne vlajky a samozrejme mene lidi nez v centru.

FIFA World Cup Germany 2006

Fotbal se nevyhnul ani Australii, i kdyz ozzici vetsinou moc na mezinarodni udalosti nereagujou a vsimaji si jen sveho americkeho fotbalu, rugby a kriketu. Kdyz se ale ukazalo, ze vyhrali jeden zapas, zacali silet a mj. pres den se tu na hodne autech vidi vlajky a oni nemluvi o nicem jinym. Utkani jsou v noci AEST, a tak sefove firem povolujou prijit den po zapasech do prace az na 11. hodinu. Po poslednim zapase tak v 6 am byly ulice plny lidi a v 9 am, kdy byva spicka, tam bylo poloprazdno. Samozrejme maji prehled jen o svem tymu, vysledky ostatnich jim moc nerikaji.

Fotbal (soccer) tu neni moc popularni, sice kazdej malej kluk kope do kulatyho mice, ale jinak "kazdej poradnej chlap hraje americky fotbal" :). A pak jak jsou izolovany, nikdo za nima nelita na pratelsky utkani, takze nemaji ani mezinarodni zkusenosti.

Postup ze skupiny zpusobil sok! Uz ted jsou nazyvany hrdiny bez ohledu jak dopadnou dale, pri poslednim zapase dokonce ukazovali prime ministra, jak v noci ve svetru fandi u televize a rano (uz v obleku) nejdriv 5 minut mluvil o zapase a pak teprve o Iraku... Prime minister dokonce nazval hrace Harryho Kewella "King Harry!"

Uz ted se planuje, jak budou mit triumfalni pochod Sydney, uz ted jsou jim zasilane dekovne dopisy, uz ted se politici se predhaneji v gratulacich, planovani oslav a oslavnych frazich. Uz se objevily nazory, ze to vyrazne zlepsi postaveni socceru v Australii, a to jak mezi mladymi chlapci, tak i mezi mladymi nadejnymi hrackami...

Souteze v sekani a rezani drivi

Fotogalerie: 12. Sydney - Woodchopping & Sawing Competition

Jeste se vracim k Easter Show, kde mj. probihaly prestizni mezinarodni souteze v sekani a rezani drivi. Zpusobu (kategorii) zdolavani dreva bylo pres deset a cely sampionat trval jedenact dni.

Osobne to povazuju za nejzajimavejsi akci cele Sydney Royal Easter Show. Samotne soutezeni bylo ale casto tak rychle (prumerne 2 minuty), ze trvalo nekolikanasobne kratsi dobu, nez cela priprava - odklizeni dreva, navezeni novych klad, uchyceni dreva do drzaku, priprava spalku, apod. :)

Royal Easter Show

Fotogalerie: 11. Sydney - Royal Easter Show

Royal Easter Show je jedna ohromna vystava, ktera se kazdorocne kona v dobe Velikonoc (nic spolecneho, krome nazvu, to s nimi ale nema). K videni je temer vse z Australie - od historie az po soucasnost.


Cela show je umistena v Olympic Park. Dominujici jsou soutezni vystavy a prezentace vcelarstvi, skotu, domacich zvirat, koni, drubeze, vepru, ovci atd. Hodnoti se vse - od kvality plemene az po kvalitu napr. vlny. Doprovodne jsou ukazky temer vsech chovatelskych cinnosti. Dale jsou tu souteze v rodeu, sekani drivi, hodu sekerou, prezentace zemedelskych kraju atd. atd. K tomu nespocet stanku (opravdu se vsim!), ukazky remesel a lidove tvorby a mj. jedna velka plocha s nejmodernejsimi poutovymi atrakcemi (jde o nejvetsi pout v Sydney).

Celkem se sjelo na 600 vystavovatelu, celkove soutezilo 12.000 "soutezicich" (lidi, zvirat, produktu, apod.). Asi polovina vystavovatelu povazuje show za idelani misto prezentace sve znacky (tady v Australii si domaciho zemedelstvi hodne vazi a kvalita je skutecne vysoka). Show navstivilo cca 1 mil. lidi. Velikosti jde o nejvetsi akci v Australii a sestou nejvetsi akci sveho druhu na svete. Cela show trvala 14 dnu.

Shrnuto, bylo tam hodne zajimavych veci, ale na druhou stranu hodne o zviratech clovek tak nejak prirozene zna i bez vystavy :). Urcite vice zajimave to je pro deti. Show byla tak velika, ze clovek nemuze videt vse. Jinak tady o tom vsichni Australani basni uz dlouho dopredu a i mistni doprava ma posileny rezim. Za videni to urcite stalo, ale pristi rok uz bych to asi neopakoval. Je neuveritelny, co vsechno a v jakem megameritku jsou schopni nacpat do jedne akce!