Two views across the Millennium Bridge & 'Tales from the Bridge' Soundscape

Yesterday I sat adjacent to the Millennium Bridge and its new soundscape and created two pen and ink sketches of the view looking across the Thames from opposite viewpoints - before and after visiting the Damien Hirst exhibition at Tate Modern

The first one was done while sat on the Thames Pathway in the City of London - facing Tate Modern and adjacent to the Millennium Bridge.  Office workers sat next to me eating their lunch and telling stories of how to get on in the City.  People ran up and down the Thames Pathway during their lunch hour and I enjoyed the warmth of the sun while I sketched

Tate Modern and the Millennium Bridge from the Thames Pathway
11.5" x 16", pen and ink and coloured pencils
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

The interesting thing about this sketch is I drew to the sound of Tales from the Bridge -  a sound installation on the Millennium Bridge.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: 'From Saxon times to Londinium and Shakespeare's city to our present day metropolis, London's story is one of dynamic change. With the magnificent Thames as the constant that flows through that great history, Tales from the Bridge provides an evocative soundtrack to the sights, the sounds and the people that have passed through these streets. With a wonderful poem and amazing invisible choir, it will be an inspirational part of the celebrations we are hosting across the city throughout the summer.'

It's both interesting and soothing - particularly when the chorus starts singing - click the link to see a video about it.

London’s Millennium Bridge (has been transformed) into a giant 3D soundscape. Tales From The Bridge went live the morning of the opening ceremony, and will run daily from 8am to 10pm during the Olympics.

It is the largest 3D soundscape in the world, using 3DAudioScape software (developed by Ware’s company Future of Sound, in collaboration with Vince Clarke) to position spoken elements written by poet Mario Petrucci and voiced by Mia Austen and Steven Alexander within a soundfield that runs the entire length of the bridge. In addition, at the start of each hour, an astounding invisible 3,746-voice strong choir from 73 countries – Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir – will perform Water Night, written by Grammy-winning composer, Eric Whitacre.
Largest 3D soundfield on Millennium Bridge during Olympics

The other sketch is of the City of London - including St Paul's Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge  - done while sat having a pot of Lemongrass and Ginger tea in the Members Room on the sixth floor of Tate Modern.  It's a great place to take a break and avoid the hordes in the museum cafes.

Click this link for a virtual tour of the Members Room and see its wonderful view.

The City of London, St Paul's Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge from the Members Room, Tate Modern
11.5" x 16", pen and ink and coloured pencils
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

This is what was behind me while I sat and sketched Tate Modern!

4th April 1997: Arriving in Australia

Aerial view of Sydney

photo courtesy of Joel Kingston and Wikimedia Commons

If you ever fly into Australia you need to have your camera at the ready as the flight over the city centre and harbour / River Paramatta gives you simply stunning views. It's one of those flights where virtually everybody is trying to look out the window. After all it is the biggest natural harbour anywhere in the world!

I can't take credit for the photo at the top - which I found on Wikimedia Commons (thanks Joel). Here's my version (right) taken just before 7.00am on a slightly overcast morning.

Both views are taken from the west of the city looking east across the Sydney Harbour Bridge to the "Heads" and the Pacific. Building the bridge, which opened in 1932, led to the expansion of settlements north of the harbour. In both the photographs, North Sydney, the Northern Beaches and the northern suburbs (where I stayed) are to the left of the photograph.

The water, the trees and the boats
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

The first thing I was amazed by in Sydney is just the huge amount of land which has a sea or river frontage or one nearby.

The second thing I was amazed by is the enormous numbers of trees around and about the place. The suburbs north of central Sydney, which I became quite familar with during drives in and out of town, are incredibly 'low-rise' (lots of one storey homes) and have masses and masses of trees. Sydney also has an awful lot of national parks which extend into the suburbs - and my sister and her family lived on the edge of a major one of these. Overall, it makes it a very pleasant area to be in. "Green" soon began to be a word I very much associated with Sydney.

A 'few' facts about Sydney

Anyway - just to remind myself (and for anybody else who's interested) - here's a few facts about Sydney

• some 3.6 million people live in the urban area of Sydney plus it gets over 10 million visitors a year - and yet I rarely felt crowded due to its very low population density. People are just very spread out!
  
• At the centre of Sydney is Port Jackson, which is the largest natural harbour in the world (it's a flooded river valley for the geographers amongst us!)
• The discovery of Sydney harbour is attributed to Captain Cook in 1770. However this is actually when it was discovered by a European as it was already extremely well known to the various tribes who had lived around the harbour area for some 30,000 years prior to his arrival!

Circular Quay and Sydney ferries
courtesy of Wikimedia
and Dr Edwin P Ewing Jr

• the first British penal settlement was at Sydney Cove - now home to Sydney Ferries, Circular Quay and The Rocks. It looks a little different today!
  
• there are more than 70 harbour and open beaches in the urban area - making for a very outdoor oriented lifestyle. Those wanting to look at or check out the beaches and surf at different times of the day can so using Coastalwatch and its surf cams. Here's the 'surfcam' for Sydney Harbour - and just for Belinda and Robyn(!) here's the one for Mona Vale.....but you have lots to choose from!
  
• January - June is much wetter than July - December....and for Australians living overseas who'd like to check out the weather back home right now we have the New South Wales' government weather forecast website which provides a weather forecast which is very accessible. Alternatively check out the webcam and other details on the Weather Underground's Sydney website
• it has the most fantastic choice of places and types of food to eat - with a leaning towards the Far East which suited me very well. Let's just say those living in Sydney enjoy their food!
• my experience of the transport system is that it worked well for me - although I gather not everybody living in Sydney now thinks likewise. For those visiting, Wikitravel provides a good overview of options for getting in and getting around. It's also worth checking out the Public transport in Sydney page on Wikipedia. If likely to use the trains, check out also the Cityrail page and the Day Tripper map here. I used to come down the North Shore line and travelled across the Harbour bridge by train. The bonus for many commuters is that they can commute by ferry.
• it has to have a downside - and Sydney is apparently the 16th most expensive city in the world
  
• the Sydney pages on Wikipedia and Wikitravel both provide a lot more information about the actual area.
  
• Wikipedia is best at giving an overview of the various aspects of a place and has lots of links for more detail.
  
• Wikitravel is much more focused on the practical details of being a traveller. It's headings are very focused - Get in; [+] Get around; [+] See; Learn; [+] Do; [+] Buy; Eat; Drink; Stay safe; [+] Sleep; Read; Get out

Balmoral Beach

After I'd had a bath and a short sleep after the flight, my sketchbook tells me that Helen took me to Balmoral Beach for fish and chips! This was the beach she used to go to all the time when she first arrived in Sydney as she used to live and work nearby. Belinda and Robyn have already started to wax lyrical about Balmoral Beach (see earlier comments). The fact is it's incredibly picturesque and also very popular with Mums as the waters are shallow and hence it's much safer for small children. You can find it on the map in the Mosman area here (which also shows where it is relative to central Sydney - very close!!!) It's apparently got some of the best fish and chips you can find in Sydney. I know the ones I had were absolutely delicious.

The next post is about the iconic Sydney Royal Easter Show.

Balmoral Beach in Autumn - looking north
courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Note: You'll note that I'm making quite a bit of use of Wikimedia Commons images. This is partly because I didn't have my camera with me on every occasion and/or didn't get shots of some of the things I remember very vividly - like Circular Quay from particular perspectives and there are photos on Wikimedia which do represent the place very well. Also, one has to remember that these are pre-digital days when I certainly didn't take as many photos as I do now.....

Links:

• Wikitravel:
• New South Wales
  
• Sydney
  
• Wikipedia:
• Geography of Sydney
• Port Jackson
• Sydney Harbour Bridge
  
• Balmoral Beach
  

3rd April 1997: Flying to Australia - via a beach in Bali

My travel sketchbook for Australia actually contains sketches of my back-to-back trips to Australia and Bali in April/May 1997.

As I needed a flight to Australia which did a stopover in Bali on the return trip - for a painting holiday - I also had a stopover in Bali en route to Australia. So I flew London to Bali, had a 12 hour stopover and then flew another 6 hours onto Sydney. Bali is also a popular holiday destination for many Australians.

Labelled topographical map of Bali
courtesy of NASA and Wikipedia

I'm afraid the sketchbook for Australia doesn't start straight away whereas the first few sketches in the sketchbook were done while on my 12 hour stop over in Bali.

I scooted straight out of Ngurah Rai International Airport and went to the beach just below PJs, one of the restaurants belonging to the Four Seasons Hotel at Jimbaran Bay (Jimbaran is on the west of the little neck of land just south of the airport which leads to Nusa Dua, ).

Jimbaran Bay

from PJs below the Four Seasons Hotel, Bali
8" x 11", pencil in sketchbook

copyright Katherine Tyrrell

PJs has a wonderful location and view being located on the foreshore with a clear view of Jimbaran Bay. This map on BaliBlog shows the location.

I relaxed on the beach and then sketched the above in the late afternoon. It's entirely possible this was done under the influence of a gin and tonic from the beach bar while sat on a sun lounger lapping up the sun! This is a 'working' sketch of a contre jour scene and includes some annotations.

The boats in the bar at PJs
9" x 8" pen and sepia ink in sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Later I had dinner at PJs beach restaurant and sketched the boats behind the bar during dinner before calling a taxi and heading back to the airport for my 6 hour night flight to Sydney. Drawing the inside of the roof was very absorbing and relaxing.

I have a very clear visual memory of that stopover on the beach because of doing those two sketches - which is just one of the major benefits of travelling with a sketchbook.

By the way, for those who are new to this blog, food and drink always tends to feature alongside many of my interior sketches - often because they are the reason for me being in a particular place!

In the next post I arrive in Australia!

and there'll be more about Bali later....

Links:

• Wikitravel
• Bali
  
• Nusa Dua
• Jimbaran
  
• Bali
• Four Seasons Hotel, Jimabaran Bay
  
• PJs
• Bali International Airport
• Baliblog - map of Jimbaran