Destinations, The Official Panedia Weblog

Vivid Sydney Virtual Tours.

“Macquarie Visions casts a new light onto Sydney’s ceremonial street, celebrating in stunning and immersive light displays, the 200th anniversary and story of two great visionary leaders, Governor Lachlan Macquarie and his wife Elizabeth.

The Macquaries’ innovations are revealed with illuminating, theatrical and contemporary light displays in a family friendly free night promenade along the length of the Macquarie Street linking St Mary’s Cathedral to the Sydney Opera House and Circular Quay as part of Vivid Sydney 2010, running from 27 May to 21 June 2010.” [According to the marketing blurb, and they were right.]

Official Macquarie Visions Website – Link

Details & Interview with lighting developers

The 20th June 2010 was a long day. Leaving home on the Gold Coast at 7am for a drive to Sydney 900+km away, I typically have a rest after the 11hr journey. But this was the very last evening of the Sydney Vivid festival, so relaxation was the last thing on my mind.

Unpacking the car at the In-laws (apart from my photo gear) I drove to a nearby train station for the 1hr trip into Sydney City. At 8pm on a Sunday night the train and station were deserted. Arriving at Town Hall I briskly walked 1km to the start of the Macquarie Visions event. I was expecting crowds, being the last night of the show, but was pleasantly surprised to find the place sparsely populated nearing 10pm.

After 2.5 hours of shooting panoramas & a little video I left the Sydney Opera House, hopped a train from Circular Quay back to Town Hall, then another 1hr train to my car.  With my head hitting the pillow at 2am, I was very pleased to have experienced the brilliant lights festival.

Following on are single interactive panoramas of each of the main buildings on the tour.

1. St. Mary’s Cathedral – Virtual Tour

2. Hyde Park Barracks – Virtual Tour

3. The Mint – Virtual Tour

4. NSW Parliament House – Virtual Tour

5. State Library of New South Wales – Virtual Tour

6. Sydney Conservatorium of Music – Virtual Tour

7. Sydney Opera House – Virtual Tour

Vivid Sydney map containing virtual tours. Vivid Sydney Map, FullScreen with all virtual tours

18 Sydney Rock Pool Virtual Tours.

Over a couple of stunning winters days in Sydney last year I shot more than 170 virtual tours from Palm beach in the far north of Sydney to Maroubra beach in the south.  In the process I visited a LOT of amazing Sydney Rock Pools, which are featured here for your viewing pleasure. [Note: Rock Pools are also known as Sea Baths & Ocean Pools]

I’ve covered less than 1/2 of the Rock Pools in Sydney, next time I’m there I plan to shoot many more, eventually having virtual tours of every Rock Pool.

If you’re in Sydney with a car, a fantastic day can be had driving all the way to the top of the Sydney coastline at Palm Beach / Barrenjoey Headland, then heading south, stopping at every beach and rocky headland you come across. The Sydney coastline is diverse and beautiful, along with its inhabitants and structures.

Sydney Rock Pool Article – External Link

Ocean Pools History – External Link PDF

North Narrabeen Rock Pool

Sydney Rock Pools map with virtual tours. Sydney Rock Pools Map – FullScreen Link

Rather than put the Google Developer Day 2007 Virtual Tours in my blog, I’ve used my VR/Maps application to put all the VR’s on a map. Of course the event happened inside a building, so I’ve placed the VR markers approximately where those things happened inside the building. You MUST view the Fullscreen versions to get any appreciation for the very cool building the day was held in.

Click this image for the Virtual Tours.

Yesterday saw me at the Google Developers Day 07 in Sydney, Australia. Google did a fantastic job decking out a beautiful old building for the day, putting on great food and drink, and even throwing in some good talks by top developers…what more could you ask for? I shot about 15 Virtual Tours at the event and hope to put them on a Google Map for you over the weekend. Check back often, or subscribe to my feed to find out when it’s done.