Museum of Sydney

The next weekend,
we went back
downtown because the weather was nicer.
It was still cold and pretty much remained cold for the first month we were in Sydney, but at least it had stopped raining for a brief day. In case no one knows, this is a reason that Australia is called the "land down under". Everything with the weather is backwards, or "upside down". The coldest months are June though August and the weather starts to warm up for us here about September.
So to enjoy Sydney right now, you drink a lot of coffee and tea.

We went to the Museum of Sydney (MOS) and learned a little about the local history and the founding of Australia. The majority of the first European settlers here were convicts, supervised by a select few that were not. However, Aborigines are a story all for themselves. Sadly, their history is very much like that of our Native Americans. Without massacring the history, here are a few simple websites that help explain.

http://www.australianexplorer.com/australian_history.htm
http://www.dfat.gov.au/aib/history.html

The tall piece of wood has words on it and is described here.

Edge of the Trees
Janet Laurence and Fiona Foley, 1995

From the edge of the trees the Cadigal people watched as the strangers of the First Fleet struggled ashore in 1788. We can only imagine what their thoughts would have been. This sculptural installation by artists Janet Laurence and Fiona Foley symbolises that first encounter. Richly embedded with materials and language, the sculpture evokes layers of memory, people and place.
http://www.hht.net.au/collections/museum_of_sydney#top