Tuesday 12 June 2012

Vivid 2012


The annual Sydney Vivid festival is a special event in this house.  On the Queen's birthday long weekend, three years ago, Rich and I hit the town for the day.  It was a spontaneous 'Ferris Bueller' kind of day, no plan just going wherever the feeling took us.  An exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, taking in the view from Centrepoint Tower, lunch in The Rocks.  And, once the sun went down, we followed the light installations of Vivid around the harbourfront.

This eventually lead us up to Observatory Hill where Rich suggested we stop and take in the view.  On a quiet park bench, under a huge fig tree beside the Observatory, Rich completely took me by surprise and offered me a beautiful ring and the promise of forever.  He had stored that ring in his sock drawer for months, then carried it around in his jacket pocket all day just in case the perfect moment presented itself. Did it ever! Love love love, that man.

This year we started our night by meeting at our park bench at the Observatory.  Once the sun had set, we joined a night tour and saw Saturn, Mars, nebulas and stars from the darkness of the Observatory domes.  It's been a week of truly dreadful weather, so we were lucky to get a clear night. And gosh, it's such a beautiful, humble building. Built over a hundred and fifty years ago, it's no longer in an ideal spot for an Observatory given the light pollution of the city but, there's something quite magical about it. A stillness, watching over the bustle of the city and beyond. Way, way beyond.  I cant believe I've never been before, it certainly wont be the last visit. I guess the beauty of it is that the night sky is ever changing and there'll always be something new to see.


Sydney Vivid is a 'Festival of Light, Music and Idea's' and runs over two weeks finishing on the Queen's birthday long weekend.  It's a lovely time to be in Sydney, there's always amazing shows to see, forums to join, pop up shops to browse and the city sparkles with art and light. Exploring this beautiful city is fun at the best of times but with light sculptures and interactive installations found in alley ways, corners, tunnels, on buildings, under the water, suspended over the water, roaming around discovering them is a joy.


So, just like that Vivid is over again for another year. Short but so sweet. It was tough to make the most of everything on offer! We missed out on Florence and the Machine at the Opera House (curses!!) but we did catch Janelle Monae and The Temper Trap (insanely good) but more on that later. With so much to do and see, and timed right about when Winter starts to get under my skin, it does well to remind me how great it can be to live in Sydney. And, it gives us a wonderful excuse to relive and cherish our engagement story.  Long may it continue!

Belinda x

PS. Doing my best 'dodgy loiterer' pose in that last photo! pretty impressive eh...

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Thanks for your comment, so nice to hear from you. Belinda x

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