Exxopolis, moving statues, blue skies, the harbour bridge and the Sydney ferry – all in a days work for mum!

Sydney Harbour twinkling in all it’s summer glory.  It always ‘wows’ me no matter how many times I see it.

Going into the city in the school holidays with four kids has it’s challenges – like making sure they don’t get run over (which nearly happened), making sure they don’t fall in the water (almost nearly happened) and not losing any (actually that did happen – but only for a second!!).

We got the bus straight in and then took a slow walk around Circular Quay.  I would have been happy to have sat down and watched the view for hours but they kids were far too excited. “Come on mum, look at this guy – he has no head!!!” shouts Miss H.  “Yeah he has, it’s hiding under his shirt” replied Master J sarcastically, as only a big brother could.  Aaaah, wouldn’t things be so much easier if sibling rivalry didn’t exist!!

Master J soon changed his tune though, when one of the ‘statues’ we were staring at suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him in.  He jumped so high that even I had to giggle.  After regaining his ‘cool’, he and his little buddy did their absolute best to get the ‘statue’ to talk, but he never uttered a word.  It reminded me a bit of the Beefeaters outside Buckingham Palace in London.  I don’t know how they do it!!

Miss H is her element – if only she could have worn those sparklies ALL day!

We finally made it round to the Opera House where the Exxoplis Exhibition is set up (just in front of the main stairs).  It’s HUGE balloon like structure is quite impressive and the kids couldn’t wait to get inside.  We’d pre-booked our time slot though (which I highly recommend as it means a LOT less queueing in the sweltering heat), so we had an hour to kill before we could let them loose inside.  Only one way to deal with that ………. FOOD!!

Once inside it was like being transported to different world.  There are all sorts of different tunnels and rooms all glowing with different colours.  It was like being tapped inside a gigantic balloon.  The kids absolutely LOVED how each room made their skin and clothes change a different colour.  The shapes on the ceilings and the walls were pretty cool too and it was like being inside a really pretty rabbit warren (the kind I’d like to live in if I was a rabbit).  The kids ran, crawled, rolled, laid upside down just soaked it all up like little sponges.

Lots and lots of coloured tunnels.  I’d love to know what it must look like through her eyes!

Me joining in on the fun!!  It’s pretty cool watching your feet change colour as you walk (or maybe thats just me, lol)

It’s called the Festival of Air and I must say is was strangely relaxing walking around.  They didn’t let too many people in at once, so it wasn’t over crowded and there was a really subtle, gentle music wafting around.  If I didn’t have four kids with me I could have laid down and had a nap.

Anyway, if you are in or around Sydney for the next week I can highly recommend you check it out!  Anyone of any age will love it and you can either book tickets online or just buy them when you get there (but I would get them online if I were you).

After we rolled out the balloon and back into the real world, there was only one thing left to do and that was head straight back home to the beach for a cooling dip in the Ocean.  The ferry ride home was just spectacular too (apart from almost loosing two boys overboard)!!!  I do love Sydney in the summer.

How are you school holidays going??