April 2nd, Australia Day 42

These are the photos I took in and around the Powerhouse Museum.

This is the first photo of a 2-photo panorama of Darling Harbour. 

See with previous photo. 

This is the Sydney skyline from the far side of Darling Harbour. 

Within Darling Harbour there are several museums and these vessles, I think a frigate and a submarine, form part of the Maritime Museum. 

This is the interesting entrance to the Entertainment Centre, a large structure which hosts various venues. 

This is the very imposing entrance to the "Lord of the Rings" exhibit inside the Powerhouse museum. 

This is another shot of the "Lord of the Rings" exhibit entrance. 

This is a giant steam engine in the museum which was the first thing I saw as I exited the "Lord of the Rings" exhibit. It easily stands about 6 meters tall. 

This is just 1 example of the famous Aborigine instrument, the didjeridu (spellings vary). Traditionally, this instrument is made out of a eucalyptus branch that has been hollowed out by termites. The player uses a technique called "circular breathing", whereby you breath in through the nose and store air in the cheeks to prevent interruption when playing, to create the unique sound known the world over. In the "Simpsons" episode, Lisa wants to send home a didjeridu as her souvenir but Marge prevents it, and the instrument can be clearly heard in the closing credits to that episode. 

This large airplane is actually a seaplane, an aircraft designed to take-off and land on water. Although not popular now, they were used extensively from the 1920s to the 1960s. 

In the section of the Powerhouse Museum dedicated to outer space, there is this example of a rocket engine which I believe comes from the Saturn V (5) rocket. This was the type used to propel the Apollo astronauts to the Moon. 

This is a scale model of the front part of the space shuttle. 

These are models of a few satellites. 

In a glass pyramid there is this rock from the Moon brought back by Apollo astronauts. We believe that the Moon was formed by debris from the Earth that was shot up into space when a planetoid the size of Mars collided with our planet several billion years ago. The resulting ejecta then coalesced over a few decades to from the Moon. 

This is a model of a planetary rover. 

This is a plasma ball, which is always a cool feature. Inside the sphere, super-charged gas emits those visible light "strings". If you place your hand on the ball, the light strings are attracted to it. The Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa once had one on display but they then put it where noone could touch it. It is now in the window to the gift shop, but not for sale. 

These are some old stringed instruments in the musical section of the museum. 

This is a replica of the robot from "Lost in Space". 

This is a tapestry in the museum. 

As I was leaving the museum, I happened to glance at this sign. Its message is somewhat paradoxical. 

This is the Sydney skyline as seen from the Powerhouse Museum. 

This is an intersection near Sydney's Town Hall. As you can see, people cross the street diagonally and not just along the designated crossings.