Lori goes to University

Lori Flower is the Traveller from the Sydney BlytheFest, she was customised by aniO and she is visiting us for a few weeks ...

Vistors get pressies from their hosts and here Lori is modelling the outfit I'm giving her.  I knitted the dress, sewed the cap & made the necklace - shoes & socks are purchased.

Lori has been having a great time with my girls but is amazed by how much time little Maddie spends studying - 
"Such a serious little girl!"

Maddie has explained that she studies hard because she wants to go to University ...
So Lori wanted to find out more about this University place ...


We went for a walk down King Street
("What an amazingly busy place that is!")

to Sydney University, where I showed Lori some of the older buildings. This style of architecture gets called Sandstone Gothic - here we approach the Quad(rangle) & MacLaurin Hall

Lori liked all the Gargoyles (as do I)  Some are quite fanciful ...

Others are rather true to life ... 

And Lori & I had great fun guessing at the animals some of the gargoyles are based on ...

A Dog-Bat-goyle

The Flying-Pig-goyle

Surely this gargoyle was based on someone who annoyed the person who carved it - or is this the mythical student from the depths of the Fisher Library?

Here is Lori in front of the main entrance to the Quad ...

and several of the gargoyles there are very Australian - 

This Roo-goyle is on the RH tower 

And this is to the roo's left - I used to think this was a crazy koala-goyle and looking up from the ground it does look like there is a big flat nose and little eyes  ...

But here is a better view - it is actually a sort of pony / lion critter


















Here is a view of the top of the RH tower - the roo's ears are quite prominent.









When you step inside the quad and look up at those towers ...

you can find

Croco-goyle

Galah-goyle

Cockatoo-goyle wearing a jumper

 As you can see from the clocks it was late afternoon and the side-ways sunlight was hitting the sandstone and turning it lovely golden colours.  In the past, when most of the largest buildings in the city of Sydney were the ones made of sandstone, Sydney was nick-named The Golden City.


One last Gargoyle and one of my favourites from the quad - he reminds me of Tom Baker, the best Dr Who.

Time Lord-goyle

I showed Lori the famous jacaranda tree inside the Quad - not in flower at the moment ...

And we admired some of the lovely lead-light and stained-glass windows...

Then Lori and I went for a wander about the University campus  ...  round the side of the quad is the War Memorial Archway. 

A bit further on we found some camellia bushes splendidly, massively in flower ...

Lori wearing a pink race-day "facinator" ?

Because Lori actually had on her new 'engineer's cap' we thought it fitting that we should visit the Peter Nicol Russell Memorial ...

Lori: "That angel seems quite fond of the man's muscled arms!"

And finally we went to the Old Darlington School building

where Lori had a well deserved rest ...