Further Nerding

In case you were wondering how I’d just happened to stumble upon all them Matrix locations in Sydney (for the Nerd Quiz), don’t be an idiot: I sought their addresses out beforehand on the Internet. I’d do the same for Ghostbusters locations if I ever found myself in New York.

Those spots were all from the first movie, and I didn’t visit any from the second or third Matrixes because those films were shot mostly in studios, with only the odd, passing location moment. Or so I thought.

In one of our first days in Sydney, after taking in the Opera House we went a-wanderin’ and found ourselves in the Botanical Gardens (recall the shots of trees from way back when). And right at the end of the gardens there’s a pleasant little park that seemed familiar to me somehow.

I wasn’t positive at the time, but I was pretty sure this park was the location of the very last scene of the series. Not sure enough to include it in the quiz, but sure enough to go to each bench and check the little dedication plaque — the bench featured in the movie was dedicated to a Mr. Thomas Anderson. I couldn’t find the plaque, but the movie came out in 2003, so it’s not like the bench had to still be there.

And why did it take until now to put this up? Because I forgot to check the DVD when I got back home. But I just watched it, and yes, I can indeed confirm, it’s the same park. As for the specific bench, I think it may actually have been there, it may have been that one bench I didn’t check. I suspect as much because the bench I didn’t check, the one with that never-moving couple on it, was positioned by the same tree as the bench from the film (though a bit closer), and, even more damning, none of the benches from my photos match the Matrix bench in design — except for the one I didn’t look at (I think; it’s not a great photo).

Exhibit A: The common bench

Exhibit B: The unknowable bench

So there you have it, a fortuitous happenstance, and one that I and only I care about to even the slightest degree. And yet I choose to share.

We conclude with a comparison:

From the movie:

From my top-quality Dixcom camera:

And combined, thanks to the voodoo magic of Microsoft Paint:

Be cast off, ye doubters.