The Customs House
31 Alfred Street, Circular Quay
Open 10:00am-5:00pm daily
www.mca.com.au
www.object.com.au
ces.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
Wheelchair accessible

Cost: FREE for main gallery; there may be a fee for some special exhibits
Sitablility Rating: Excellent outside the building and fair inside
Souvenir Shop: Lots of hoity toity items are on sale from the Object Gallery itself. Perfect if you're interested in a $400 napkin holder.

The Customs House is right in Circular Quay, in that area between the Opera House and The Rocks. It's free to go in and have a look around, so if you're in that area, take a few minutes to check it out.

The exhibits will only take maybe half an hour to run through, but aside from that, be sure to take a look at the building itself.

When you first walk into the foyer, stop and look down. Are those swastikas in the tile floor? Not exactly. Same symbol, but installed years before the Nazis made them stand for the hate and violence that we associate them with today. There's a lovely plaque on the wall there that explains the whole thing, so I won't ruin it for you.

There are three separate galleries within the building. In the City Exhibition Space on level 4 you'll find photographs and items from archaeological digs around Sydney. Is that a 75-year-old bottle cap? Why yes, it is. This floor also has a pretty cool 1:500 scale model of the city, which could be helpful if you've just arrived in town and those regular flat maps just aren't working for you.

Level 2 is where you head for the art. Every year in Sydney there's an award given out, the Archibald, for the best portrait of a famous person. The subjects are usually politicians or scientists or some kind of respectable and distinguished type, and winning an Archibald award is very prestigious. To see those paintings you have to go to the Art Gallery of New South Wales in the Domain. But the opposite of the Archibald is the Bald Archy, and the Customs House exhibits the amusing and sometimes absurd entries that are meant to display wit, dark satire, and humor.

This year there are caricatures and cartoons of celebrities including Dame Edna, Kylie Minogue, Olympic gold medalists Ian Thorpe and Steven Bradburg, and some highly unflattering images of Russell Crowe, international man of assery.

The 3rd floor houses the Objects Gallery, which includes works of craft and design in glass, clay, metal, plastics, and more. There's also a section on the history of the Customs House, and that area gives you a beautiful view of the harbour from the large windows.