Hyde Park Barracks

Saturday, 30 April
Sydney
Partly cloudy, light showers

The course has gone pretty well so far.  It's rainy here, but the students are in pretty good spirits about it.

The cost of everything is a bit of a shock; for example, bananas are a whopping $13.99 AUD per kilo, about $7 USD per pound.  The flooding in January and the tropical cyclone in February ruined the current crop, but that does not explain the cost of other items.  Sydney usually is the most expensive place, and that there are no real kitchen facilities here at the Y Hotel does not help us hold down costs.

We always start by chucking our bags in a store room here and then getting out and walking right away.  Any kind of rest period just delays the inevitable acclimation.  So, we wandered around a bit by the Domain and the Botanical Gardens, and then went to the Hyde Park Barracks to begin our tour.

It is inevitable to compare the plane seats to the hammocks.  Here, Heather, Sabrina, Brittanie, Jennifer, and Mariah (left-to-right) enjoy the comfy beds that the lucky Convicts would have.

The hammocks were a small comfort in a life that was probably quite miserable.  Here is Daniel in leg irons:

Once Australia was no longer being used by the Brits as a Convict colony, the Barracks were used for other purposes, including a home for young Irish women who would come to Australia in hopes of a better life.  Here, Mariah and Brady model some of the typical clothing of the women.

The exhibits at the Barracks are very interactive.  This large space has numerous cutout figures of Convicts in various poses.

After we finished at the Barracks, we dispersed for awhile for lunch.  When Coleen and I caught back up with the group, they were being entertained by a bubble-maker.

We spent our afternoon at the Australian Museum, after which everyone went back to the hotel to rest up for the Aquarium and the Zoo.