ON THE LOOSE IN SYDNEY:

Slept all the way from Melbourne to touchdown in sweet 
spring heat, balmy even. Strolling through Sydney with 
the band, taking time, coffee & italian cuisine in the 
bay, feeding on sunlit laughter. Street artists & techno
didge jammers sell $10 CDs to tourists as an old ghost
with a trumpet tips his hat to no one, drifting through
the holiday crowds. Another Charlie Chaplin hangs off
another lamp post, mannequin simulations for weekend 
snappers who’s children jump & squeal when he suddenly 
moves. The markets are piled high with bright things, 
hand made artefacts under canvas. Bar bands beat out
precision rhythms, mimicking genres for the nostalgic, 
whilst romantics gather in ex-pat bars to sway to songs 
from the old country. 
The puppet shop has gone the way of the fruit bats we 
also came in search of, but parrots still infest the 
evening trees with the celebration of their cacophony.
We play, ‘guess the flavour of the liquorice’ waiting 
at the waters edge for the projections to start up on 
the sails of the Opera House & when they do the crowd
cheer & begin to snap between mouthfuls of wraps & 
coffee. My favourite image is still the first year that 
Brian painted the iconic sails with his evolving light,
but this year is an undisputed crowd pleaser.
We drift away into the night like lovers, tired & lagged, 
smiling as we catch one another’s eye to see a light 
shining there that only genuine happiness could have 
ignited. 

A beautiful city on a beautiful day, Sydney, see you at 
the Opera House tomorrow.

(K)