Chur Burger and Brett Whiteley Studios, Surry Hills, Sydney, Australia

August 2014

This was my second visit to Chur Burger in Surry Hills. The burger joint is a popular spot, and while you may have to line to get a table, the wait is never long.

Grilled beef, cheese, tomato jam, mustard mayo, pickle burger $10

Sweet Potato fries $5

Within a short walk is also the Brett Whiteley Studio. Run by the NSW Art Gallery, entry is free and a great way to get introduced to the famous Australian artist, open Friday to Sunday.

White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia

June 2014

The White Rabbit Gallery is a contemporary Chinese art collection situated in Chippendale Sydney.

The wall on entry is covered in large art pieces, see the landscape? Well it's made all from tiny pins.

I am not a huge fan of modern art, although I have been lucky to check out some amazing galleries. But I was lucky to be on a small group tour, where explanation of the art and artists helped.

My favourites are always the cats and this sculpture, with it's red eyes was my favourite piece.

Another great thing is the tea house and hand made dumplings, the lychee iced tea was also pretty spectacular.

Details
White Rabbit Gallery
30 Balfour St
Chippendale, Sydney
Open 10 am - 5 pm Wednesday to Sunday
Free

Museum of Contemporary Art (or the MCA) Sydney

June 2014

The MCA is conveniently located at Circular Quay in downtown Sydney.

Part of my Sydney Bucket list, my visit coincided with the last weekend of the 19th Biennale of Sydney.

While I'm not a huge fan of contemporary art, but the thing with art is there is always something you can find that captures your interest, makes you think or draws you in.

In case you can't read it: "It;s such a thin line between cleaver and stupid" I visited this one a number of times

While I didn't check out the food, the view from the rooftop cafe has to be one of the best in Sydney.

Details

MCA

140 George St, The Rocks, Sydney

Open everyday except for Christmas day

Free entry

Toulouse-Lautrec and Canberra

December 2012

DH's mother was in town and was keen to check out the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit, so we decided to do a quick overnight trip to Canberra.

Stay
Medina Apartments  - James Court
In a great location, close to town and with a bus stop out the front. But the bed was horribly uncomfortable and I never say that!

Eat
Cream Cafe for breakfast - I loved it in here, and the service was good.

Wagamama for dinner - always a favourite of mine

Do
National Gallery of Australia - Unfortunately they don't allow you to take pictures in the National Gallery of Australia, but the exhibit is on till April and the Indigenous Art section is worth the trip alone.

Drive up to the Black Mountain Tower - although the view in the car park isn't worth the trip along anymore

Old Parliament House - they have the Australian Democracy Museum that we didn't have time to check out, but the view down to the Australian War Memorial.

You can check out an old post here, for more to eat and see in Canberra.

MONA, Hobart, Tasmania

I am not a fan of modern art, but this was DH's main drive for coming to Hobart.

We took the first ferry of the morning at 9:30 am, arriving at MONA at 10:00 am.

The MONA gallery has only been open since 2011, and is privately owned. The gallery is actually underground and the architecture seems to have been designed to match the art inside.

We had lunch in the cafe, but the Wine Bar or the Source might have been better locations (the food was ok, but over priced, my perri perri chicken salad, was small and not at all spicy like I would have expected, yet still tasty).

Like I said I'm not a fan of art but it was easy to spend the day there.

We finished by catching the bus directly to the airport at 3:30 pm, they definitely have it all set up well.