Vivid Sydney

On our first day (yes, we’re still on the first day!) in Sydney, Andy and I ended up at a pub that afternoon while we waited for Kels to head into the city from work. We planned to wander around and take in Sydney’s light festival, Vivid, once it was dark out. It was going to be over in a few days, so we’d planned our trip just in time. I’ve always loved Wellington’s LUX Light Festival, but let’s just say Sydney has a bigger budget.

Once we rendezvoused with Kels, she took us to a bar with a great view of the central city. Even the inside of the bar went along with the Vivid theme. Check out these illuminated stools.

And this was the view!

The Opera House was a colorful, evolving projection of light and images.

Everywhere I looked, there was some sort of installment.

After having a drink, we set out to explore on foot before dinner. I’ll just let the photos speak for themselves. They sure have a lot to say!

Love this one of Kels silhouetted against the umbrellas:

The art director behind Vivid is actually a Kiwi. Go figure!

I can’t think of a more apt name than “Vivid” for the psychedelic colors and trippy patterns illuminating Sydney.

Even the Sydney Harbour Bridge was in on the action, light-painted with changing colors.

We went closer to the Opera House to get a better view, but eventually turned around when the crowd got dense.

We decided to head toward Chinatown for dinner, but there was plenty more to see on the way.

You could easily spend all night wandering around and not even see half of Vivid. It was truly immense!

Every time we looked back, the Opera House had a fantastic new pattern.

We passed underneath the Harbour Bridge as we made our way out of the city center.

With that, we left the main part of Vivid behind. We trekked to the heart of Chinatown and had an amazing meal, made all the better by having walked about 22 km (14 miles) since arriving that morning. We DEFINITELY got the most we could out of Sydney on our first day, and I was really loving it.

I hope you’re ready for some kangaroos, lizards, koalas, ridiculous photo ops and all-around hilarity in my next blog as Andy, Kels and I head toward Port Stephens. Australian Reptile Park, here we come!