Sydney Opera House

On the stairs at the Opera House

From Tuesday, March 27

When I went to get dad for our excursion to the Opera House, he commented on what a gorgeous day it was. 'Would be a nice day to go on the ferry...' Oh dear, what have we done!?!?  I told him we would be doing something just as nice... we were going to the Opera House for lunch and we could watch the boats going in and out of Circular Quay from there.

(At the Opera house, he wanted to take a ferry back. When I told him that it would depend on the tides, he told me that would be easy enough to check.  Haha... he obviously remembered L checking his iPhone on Saturday for the tide charts.  Can't always pull the wool over dad's eyes apparently!)

Our taxi vouchers arrived last week, which means reduced fare with wheelchair taxis.  It was a breeze to call them up and hitch a ride directly to the Opera House steps.  We were treated like royalty... security breezed us up as close as we could get.  (Indeed, as we were leaving, some tourists were staring in the window, laughing and waving.  Needless to say, I bought into the joke and laughed and waved back, though for some reason, they didn't want my autograph!?)  Handicap accessibility at the Opera House is great.  The lift takes you to the lower mezzanine and the main foyer above... where you can pop out onto the upper stairs and study the architecture of this gorgeous place.  The wheelchair maneuvered around without any issues.  It's a stunning building... I'm happy just to stand around and gape... along with the thousand other tourists!

Lunch was at the Opera Kitchen... an upmarket food court of sorts.  I was ready to dive into dumplings and spring rolls from Miss Chu, thinking dad would like the same as he has been asking for Chinese food.  There's no telling him what he's going to eat... so when I asked him what he wanted, he said, "I've not had a meat pie yet."  Hahaha... how does he remember that!?  Fortunately, Becasse is in the lineup at the Opera Kitchen, so I was able to fulfill his wish!  Silly me forgot to order chips with his meat pie... duh... have I not learned anything!?  I popped up to order him some chips at the counter and came back to find him carefully cutting the top off his meat pie in order to pile on the ketchup (tomato sauce) under the upper crust.  Nothing wrong with his memory!  I laughed at him and he gave me a slight smile back.  What a character!

All in all, a successful visit to the Opera House.  Very thankful for concessions made for handicap accessibilty.  As limited as dad is in his movements, it's nice to be able to get out and do some sightseeing.

PS... Please excuse poor quality iPhone pic... it was the best pic of dad that I had.  I didn't want to cart around my heavy SLR while pushing a wheelchair!

For more pics on the Opera Kitchen, click here, or here...