The Sounds of Sydney. From the Opera House to the Flying Foxes...

Ruby Boukabou opens her ears as she walks through Sydney. 

Transcript

Sounds of Sydney
Ruby Boukabou

In episode 5 I shared some of my favourite ways in which to have immersive experiences, while seeing the sights of Sydney. So what about Sydney’s sounds?

We’re going to take one of the walks from Episode 5-  from Circular Quay to Woolloomooloo,  although this time we’ll open our ears… 

But first, of course, coffee! 

You may have listened to the Sense in the City Athens episode on coffee culture in the Greek capital with Alexia and Dave. Well, Sydneysiders also love coffee but mostly in the morning. Whether you takes yours at home or out, you’re going to hear the hiss of coffee machines every few metres throughout the city, with the sounds of people ordering  all the different varieties from soy lattes to strong caps (cappuccinos) to decaf flat whites, long blacks, short blacks, with sugar or honey or straight …  As the coffee kicks in, your senses will become more alert- you’ll overhear people’s conversations, the urgent beep of the pedestrian crossings,  cooing pigeons, screeching white cockatoos and the hum of traffic…

Sydney trains are very clean and easy to navigate so it may be the best option to arrive at Circular Quay. 

If you’re coming from Bondi or Pott’s Point, get out at Martin Place, an inner city pedestrian mall and you’ll hear the wash of water from  the 1994 Tim Williams designed Lloyd Rees fountain, replacing the original by Rees, a prolific artist, campaigner of public spaces and environmental activist.  (You may have seen it  in the Matrix films and Superman). And if the time’s right, the neoclassical GPO building’s Big Ben style clock will chime.

Further down, on George Street, a tram will glide by… Sydney’s well patronised trams ran from 1861. They were horse-drawn then in 1879 ran by steamand in 1898 some became electric. In 1961 they were controversially removed at night, finally returning as sleek light rail in December 2019. (Though after a few years of noisy construction work that drove inner city workers a little coucou). 

Speaking of coucou, right next door, between George and Pitt Sts, is the lovely Angel Place, where you can hear the calls of Sydney’s “Forgotten Birds” 50 bird songs once heard in central Sydney, emanating from an installation of empty birdcages above.  
https://www.cityartsydney.com.au/artwork/forgotten-songs/ 

Angel Place also houses the City Recital Hall https://www.cityrecitalhall.com/ that holds extraordinary recitals like that of Omega Ensemble’s didgeridoo, clarinet and string quartet, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Then you’ll continue down towards the harbour…

Otherwise, depending on where you’re coming from, you may take a train to Central, change for the city circle and get out directly at Circular Quay.

As soon as you exit the station you’ll find yourself in a cacophony of  footsteps, chatter of various languages, boats, pigeons and seagulls.

In 1788, after over 40,000 years plus of continuous (sustainable) occupation, the Gadigal people witnessed ships arriving in Warrane (Sydney). “The First Fleet “ was 11 ships from England with royal navy vessels, stores and convicts. The Indigenous Australians listened with amazement  to the foreign languages and accents of ghost-like, oddly clad people, together with bleating, lowing, quacking, gaggling, clucking and crowing of strange animals. 

The quay was built in 1830 for a commercial shipping and warehouse hub, then a ferry terminal before transforming  in the 1960s to an international shipping port, evolving into a public space and tourism centre.

Directly in front of you are the ferry terminals that will take you around the harbour- you can hear about going to Manly in episode 5.  

To the left are Sydney’s Old Town’s ,The Rocks, a sandstone precinct,the Museum of Contemporary Art and further around, the Harbour Bridge.  But we’re heading to the right - towards the Sydney Opera House. Some buskers may be out and if you’re in luck you may hear  the drone and lilt of a didgeridoo  accompanied by clap sticks and chant, performed by First Nations men. This ancient spiritual instrument, from northern Australia, conveys songlines, reflecting sounds of nature . If the music moves you, put some money in the hat and you’ll possibly be asked if you’d like to take your picture with the musicians.  

Let the vibrations of the traditional instrument flow through you and awaken your spirit as you stroll around the quay towards the Opera House and read the quotes on the ground from famous writers on the Writers’ Walk. 
“Sydney Harbour ... one of the finest, most beautiful, vast, and safe bays the sun had ever shone upon. Joseph Conrad  
….But I'll tell instead of brave and fine
When lives of black and white entwine.
And men in brotherhood combine -
This would I tell you, son of mine.” Oodgeroo Noonuccal

The didgeridoo will fade out and be replaced by the sounds of people talking loudly, snacking and drinking as a funk or soul bank plays in the background and seagulls swoop at the Opera Bar. 
https://www.operabar.com.au/ 

Continuing past the Opera House  https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/, you may hear the snap of photos and chat as a Japanese couple have their wedding photos taken on the steps- but the wind howling past your ears will probably muffle most sounds.

In Episode 4 Christa Hughes talks about her father Dick Hughes playing with his band on the construction site here  back in 1965, so check that out and also hear more about the building in Episode 5.  Look up the Opera House program and you may want to book to come back to hear Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Bangarra Dance Theatre with their exquisite soundtracks from Indigenous Australia or Opera Australia https://opera.org.au/ . 

Continue and enter the Royal Botanical Gardens. https://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/ 

As the water laps the shore, the wind will rush through the 4000 trees and past your ears and you’ll hear the kids ordering from the ice cream caravan. Opened in 1816, the Botanical Gardens is the oldest scientific institution in Australia, attracting over 5 million visits each year. You can explore the Palm Grove, Rose Garden, Cadi Jam Ora First Encounters Garden’ and more. Check out the 55 sculptures, including my favourite, the 1924 bronze Satyr  relaxing near the Opera House gate. The outdoor art excursion is made more dramatic by the deafening trill of the cicadas and the wind rustling the leaves- you can attend a production of The Wind in the Willows during summer by the lake. Look into the water and you may even hear some long finned eels swimming past, possibly beginning its journey through the channels, out through the harbour and near New Caledonia to spawn. Though you would need an underwater microphone to hear their haunting groans and shrieks.

Sit back on the grass and enjoy a picnic, or a lunch or snack from the Farm Cove Eatery kiosk in the gardens- if you sit outside you’ll hear a chorus of white ibises, sulphur crested cockatoos, kookaburras, rosellas, or for the sizzle and spice of modern Asian food there’s Luke Nguyen’s menu to enjoy upstairs at Botanic House. https://www.botanichouse.com.au/ 

Then continue your walk through the enchanting Australian Rainforest Garden with the whispered secrets of the ancient trees  including The Burdekin Pepperberry and the Ribbonwood. This is where the flying foxes used to live before being relocated to Centennial Park as they were overcrowding and stripping the trees.  Head towards the north eastern edge of the gardens and at  weekends you’ll hear DJ beats. A young crowd will be lounging on the grass as they sip fizzy cocktails from Busby’s Pop Up bar, named after James Busby who brought vine cuttings from Europe, which were planted in the Garden in 1833 and later used to establish Tyrrell’s Wines in the Hunter Valley.  

Check out the program for the outdoor cinema program just next door if it’s the season. Or you might catch an opera performed from a stage on the water as you recline on First Fleet Steps  … then continue around to The Domain, a heritage-listed 34-hectare area of open green space. You’re now on the eastern fringe of the CBD (central business district).

Australia has very loud and squawky,  birds so it won’t be hard to hear the screeching cockatoos, melodic  magpies or whistling honeyeaters above in the Port Jackson and Moreton Bay Fig trees  You may even hear a baby koel, an Australian cuckoo,  whose mother left her egg in the nest of an unsuspecting, frazzled wattle bird and is squawking its lungs out for a meal.

To your left is Sydney Modern Project, a huge stunning new art space due to open in 2022, or visit the Art Gallery and enjoy exquisite art in quiet rooms  with hushed voices and footsteps…. (Hear more about it in episode 5). 

Art galleries and museums are good places to head for in general to experience silence, or hush, in the city. Visit the Sydney Modern Project when opened and The NSW Art Gallery just to the left.  (Also check out the Powerhouse Museum, The Museum of Sydney,, The Sydney Observatory, and for the sound of bubbles at Sea Life Sydney Aquarium at Darling Harbour). 

Over summer there are evenings that you can picnic here in the Domaine then sit back, gaze at the stars and be treated to world class concerts from the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Opera Australia.  [Sound grab courtesy of Opera Australia with principal artist Diego Torre singing ‘Nessun dorma’ from the opera Turandot, which is playing at the Sydney Opera House until March 14, 2022  https://opera.org.au/productions/turandot-sydney  ]

Down the stairs to the left is Woolloomooloo.  Walk along the pier past the fancy, popular restaurants  as people clink glasses, cutlery and chat. 

The 30m long Finger Wharf, was built in 1915 and became derelict in the 1970s when new container ships required larger facilities.  Despite protests by residents,who wanted to keep the area in public hands, the wharf was finally  developed in 1999 and sold to the wealthy. 

Enter the Ovolo hotel, and enjoy the cool and quiet interior of the hotel, reading about the history of the place on large boards- it was where wool was exported, then troops were deployed, and later thousands of post war European migrants welcomed. Imagine the sounds of soldiers marching up the gangplanks, the families crying from the wharf and the babbel of excited and nervous new arrivals entering a strange land.

Check out the artworks and sculptures further inside.  There’s a  restaurant and cocktail bar here also, but the music may be a bit loud and commercial- if it isn’t, pop in for a fancy cocktail or mockdrink, or head into the heart of Woolloomooloo and pass by the Juanita Nielson Community Centre, (she was the campaigner against demolition of heritage buildings), continue and head down to the Frisco Hotel for a cold drink in a typical  Australian pub then grab a table at Sienna Marina for Italian food and live music- https://siennamarina.com.au/  mostly on Saturdays at 730-930. If you’re lucky you’ll catch the effervescent Paula Terry and talented guitarist Victor Jesus. Paula will be featuring in a following episode of Sense in the City Sydney so make sure to subscribe to be the first to hear it. https://www.paulaterry.com/ 

Enjoy the music, the food and the relaxed conversations, then walk through the dark streets up to east Sydney to digest. Listen hard and you’ll hear flapping leathery wings and screeching calls of the flying foxes in the trees or flying overhead. If you’re not tired you may want to continue your night- perhaps at El Rocco uphill for jazz and good conversations or  to LOW 302 in Surry Hills.  
(For other places to hear live music check out episode 4 for Christa Hughes’s favourite places around town and listen to Episode 1 with composer/pianist Chris Cody who also talks about the sounds of Sydney.)

When you get home, let the day’s sounds of birds, footsteps, wind, flying foxes, music and a distant lap of the water and traffic fade out …  your breathing will get slower, heavier and probably louder… Good night Sydney.