The exhibit is still on, details at this web site. Cut-and-paste it into a browser.
http://www.nationaltrust.org.au/nsw/MissFishersCostumeExhibition
If you are not a fan of Miss Fisher, get a life and become one. Start with this web link.
http://www.phrynefisher.com
Off we went by City Rail to Circular Quay Station and downstairs to Wharf 5 got the Rivercat to Parramatta all on the Blue Card.
The Parramatta River wends its way inland and the ferry ride takes about 90 minutes with a dozen stops, including Darling Harbour, Abbortsford, Cabarita, and Parramatta where the ferry turns around and we disembarked. What a smooth and quiet way to travel and how different is the perspective on Sydney from the water. We passed many marinas along the way, and truth to tell some trash in the river.
As we ascended the wharf there was a young woman offering maps and she recommended that we go along the river to Government House. (I assume she is a council employee to promote tourism, and for that I thank the council.)
I had planned to walk through the streets but we quickly accepted the advice of local knowledge. We took the aboriginal walk along the river which was itself informative and good-spirited in laying out the past without recriminations, and in about 20 minutes we were at the original Government Farm which is now a park and there on a low bluff was Government House.
All new to me. Our tickets were scanned and we entered. Fabulous! We saw a similar exhibition at Ripponlea in Melbourne last year, and enjoyed it. When I read about the Sydney exhibition it seemed to include more, and since a day trip to Parramatta by ferry had long been on the to-do list, the exhibition triggered it.
So many hats, many of then cloche in the 1920s manner, and fifty or sixty frocks, coats, ski wear, and more. The volunteer docents were friendly and helpful. The Muzak was 1920s. This exhibit included some of Jack’s gear, whereas the Melbourne exhibit did not. The balance between his and hers in the display was about that of department store between men’s and women’s wear: 1 to 100. There was one Jack fedora, one overcoat, one business suit. End. But Phryne Fisher is such a corker, who can deny her the rags?
The building itself is worth seeing, built by that visionary Governor Lachlan Macquarie.
He built for the future, the distant future. But his vision has come true now that Parramatta is the demographic centre of Sydney.
We had a fine time. And then it was time for lunch! Fish cakes for me and salt-and-pepper squid for the child bride in restaurant on the grounds. Perhaps the stables once.
Taking advantage of the Blue Card’s all-purpose use, we walked to the shopping mall, bought some salmon for dinner and then took City Rail, an express, to Central and changed for Alpha Prime, aka Newtown. A much quicker return.
It was a 10,000+ step day and it was hot and sticky. Time for a treat! On the way home from Newtown Station we stopped at Gelato Blue and indulged in that Italian vice. Yum! Anything to get another stamp on my loyalty card.
I read three or four of Kerry Greenwood’s Miss Fisher novels years ago, and I was pleased to see them come to the screen. And what a coming! Brilliantly realized. Well plotted, period detail perfect with all those clothes (and hats), automobiles, locations like Ripponlea, and the rush to the future of the 1920s with the advent of Art Deco. Then there is Miss Fisher herself, magnificently realized along with the dour Jack and her team, Mr. Butler, Dot, and the two taxi drivers, Bert and Cec for the heavy work.
For a much more serious take on post-World War I Melbourne in a krimie see the novels of Carolyn Morwood, like Death and the Spanish Lady (2011) and Cyanide & Poppies (2013). They are contemporary to Miss Fisher but much darker and they are very well done.
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