March 1, 2026

Once we had our dates secured for Sydney, a bunch of residents scanned the offering at the Opera House to find what might be available to us. We lucked out that they had brought back their sellout show from last year of the Gatsby at The Green Light. Kind of a Cirque du Soleil meets sexy nightclub with Gatsby characters. Over 80 of us bought tickets to Gatsy, with another 30 buying tickets to Hansel & Gretal. A big night out for us Ship Folks!

A lot of us dressed up, as they encouraged you to come and be part of the night club fun! Our VIP tickets on the floor, included a signature cocktail and canapes. I tried to organize a quick photo after the show, but sadly the above is the best snap we got! 

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Before the show we had dinner at MIDDEN by Mark Olive, in the west lobby of the Opera House, it's outdoors under the canopy of the arch and serves authentic native dishes. We started with an Indigenous grazing plate - regional cheeses, wild thyme hummus, smoked kangaroo, emu, tandoori crocodile, olives, pickled veggies, roasted macadamia nuts, quandong paste all served wit Tasmanian mountain pepper leaf flat bread. For mains we had crispy skin humpty doo barramundi and kangaroo steak. All very tasty and unique!

Below are some scenes from the show and a fun video put together by fellow resident Lyla.

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BLUE MOUNTAINS - AUSTRALIA

By Patricia Patrick • March 1, 2026
I had always heard the Blue Mountains of Australia are like the Grand Canyon , not to be missed. Well, not sure I agree, but they are pretty, especially when you can see through the fog. I did an early morning tour with Terri and Angela and we just burst out laughing at first scenic overlook, after almost 2 hours of driving. White fog is all we saw, our guide offered to show us a picture he had on his camera!

SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE TOUR, AUSTRALIA

By Patricia Patrick • February 23, 2026
I love a good architectural tour and even though I did this one last time I was here, the story is so interesting, I decided to do again. Plus they are always updates and changes in operations at the Sydney Opera House . This tour didn't disappoint - I saw new theater spaces and gained new insights to the story of it's construction from concept in 1958, to it's opening in 1973. The drama that played out for Danish architect Jorn Utzon , who won the commission out of 300 submissions and never got to seen the final building.He was fired by local politician, in election year, when project was grossly over budget and schedule. The building is an engineering marvel and I love so many of the details!

NEWTON SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - Street Art & Food Tour

By Patricia Patrick • February 23, 2026
I love to get to know an interesting neighborhood when visiting a big city. Newtown is a creative, fun and slightly edgy area in Sydney known for its' preserved Victorian architecture, street art and it's lively, friendly food and bar scene. There is lots of live music, quirky bars (they call hotels) and the population there is the largest LGBTQ community in Sydney. It's young and vibrant with the University of Sydney right there. Great if you want a place with personality over polish!