Walked all over downtown, through areas partially familiar, with new buildings or new names on old buildings, but much still recognizable. Each time I return, more has changed. Definitely bigger, but still vibrant. I found a post office and mailed off cards to friends back home—sending them early in the trip, to make sure the cards arrive before I get back home. Rain picked up, and while I had an umbrella (thanks to Brian), I figured this might be a good time for lunch: lamb kebab in a bustling food court. Then off again.
Next stop was the Powerhouse Museum. Like the city, this has grown immensely since I first visited it, on my first trip to Australia. It has absorbed or linked with other collections and museums I saw on previous trips, and now has a number of outlying locations, but I was set to explore the Ultimo location, the main campus of this sprawling Museum of Applies Arts and Sciences. It’s called the Powerhouse museum because this building once housed the electric dynamos that powered the city’s electric tram system.
Spent several happy hours at the museum. Fun and fascinating exhibits on computers, robots, the senses, history of experiments, cooperage, cars, medicine, domestic skills, porcelain, and the astonishing Strasburg astronomical clock. That’s barely a hint at what I saw, but here’s a video I found that shows a bit more.
On my way back to the train station, where I was meeting Brian, I stopped to pick up a comic book for a friend back home and some flowers for Mardi. Then Brian and I headed back to the suburbs, where Mardi awaited us. A bit of conversation and the evening news, and then we headed out to their favorite curry restaurant. Jolly evening.
Waltzing Australia 