Corporate America Runaway

Photo: The famous landmark of Sydney

To view all of my Australia Photography - click here!

For all Sydney/Thanksgiving snapshots - click here!

Upon arriving in Sydney I realized that this was really the first big, cosmopolitan city that I had visited since I left NYC. It was a welcome site - however that came with a price…costs like NYC! However - I was willing to try to suck it up for a few days to enjoy city life again - the bustling streets, the hip bars, the high rise buildings…the only thing missing was a Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade! The first day we walked all over Sydney business district - we ended up in an area called Martin Place - a large outdoor mall area surrounded by the tallest business buildings Sydney had to offer. A thought kept popping into - Bizarro.

If you are an avid watcher of Seinfeld then you will know what I mean when I say bizarro…there was a whole episode dedicated to it. The short explanation is when everything in Jerry Seinfeld’s world was opposite in a bizarre way. For example - the character of George was a normal, well-adjusted, responsible citizen with a job…hopefully you now get my drift when I say bizarro. As I looked around Martin Place and saw all of the busy-blackberry-carrying business people (to which I used to be a member) bustling around looking important, a mix of wide-eyed tourists with maps, high end Gucci stores, a fountain, Starbucks, and a large decorated Christmas Tree in the center of the mall area, surrounded by a sweltering 85 degrees temp…I realized that this was Bizarro Rockefeller Center halfway around the world in Sydney! There were big signs up about the big Christmas Tree lighting ceremony coming up on Thursday and they were busy building a stage for the performance. The only thing missing was an ice rink (probably impossible in the heat), the Today show, and the Rainbow room (however they did have a tall business tower with a revolving deck to see ‘fabulous’ views of the city). As I continued to walk around the city - I found more bizarro sites such as Bizarro Times Square, Bizarro Central Park Poet’s Walk, and even a Bizarro Brooklyn Bridge…it was a bit eery to me.

Photo: People climbing on top of the Harbor Bridge

The first day in Sydney I had to actually take care of some business too…I needed more pages added to my passport. I’ve only had my passport for 6 years and I was already out of pages…and none of it was business travel…a fact I’m rather proud of! (pat on the back for me!).
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Photo: Round mushroom in the Daintree Rain Forest

To view all of my Australia Photography - click here!

For all Australia snapshots - click here!

I followed the yellow brick road to OZ…and finally - I learned why Australia is called Oz. I was expecting some witty reason - something about Dorthy losing Toto and being raised by kangaroos- but unfortunately - it was quite simple. It’s simply a short way to say Australia. One syllable is easier than 3 I guess. However - I asked the locals why they didn’t simply spell it ‘Aus’ instead of ‘Oz’ - they said it’s more recognizable as ‘Oz’ and easier to pronounce (a.k.a better marketing). So - this is how I made my entry into Oz…asking stupid questions to locals.

This is the leg of my around the world journey that I choose to dub “Familiar Faces and Places” (kind of sounds like a Garth Brookes song). In Australia - I met my great girlfriend and frequent travel partner, Angie. For those of you who have followed my travels before - you’ll recognize her from my Italy, France, and Costa Rica photos…and many drunken nights in NYC. The whole time I’ve been in Australia it’s felt like a 2 week vacation as opposed to small part of my trip around the world. I feel like I will be heading home to NYC shortly with my new stash of shopping purchases and a few bottles of wine. I think this is due to the fact that normally when I travel with Angie - it’s for 2 weeks, we eat well, live well, party well, and shop…that’s the norm when I’m with her. So my brain has immediately switched into that mode. The only downside to this is that my travel budget isn’t the same as it used to be when Angie and I normally travel…but the value of having a familiar face with me during my travels - outweighs the cost!

The other familiarity to this part of the trip is that I’ve actually been here in Australia before. This is one of only two places on my big, worldly itinerary that I’m going back to (the other being Italy). I really came back here because the last time I was here 5 years ago I was only able to see one part of Australia…Queensland. I wanted to see the great cities of Australia this time - plus - Angie had never been - so it seemed like a logical place to spend 2 weeks.

I left New Zealand early to fly to Sydney and meet Angie who was flying in from San Francisco. Miraculously we did meet up at our domestic gates just as planned. It was as if I had a muzzle on for the last 2 months - we had so much to talk about - I think I talked her ear off. It was a bit of a strange feeling getting back into my old life routine. We flew directly to Cairnes (in Queensland) and took a shuttle to Port Douglas where we were staying for the next 4 nights. Yup, that’s right - I was going to stay in the same room for 4 nights in a row…wooohoooo!! For the last 3 weeks in New Zealand I have stayed in a new location/hostel/lodge every night. The opportunity to actually unpack my suitcase and see what was on the bottom of it was like heaven to me! I had only been wearing those things that bubbled to the top…I was quite sick of them by now! We were staying at an apartment - so we got settled in and went to the grocery store to get breakfast food and fish for dinner. We had a great little night in our apartment, cooked dinner, rented a movie, and continued to catch up. Finally - I felt like I had a home again for a short moment! It even had a washer and dryer in our apartment…no more washing my panties in the sink - I was back in civilization!

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Another month and a half of travel brings more learnings...here are the Top 10 things I learned in October and November from my travels...enjoy! 10. Everyone assumes that an American traveling outside of the US is a democrat. In ... [Continue reading this entry]

For all snapshots of the South Island Finale - click here! To view all of my New Zealand Photographs - click here! My last days in New Zealand and I feel as if I ... [Continue reading this entry]

Photo: Milford Sound - a typical dark day in the Fiord For all snapshots of Milford Sound - Click here! There are some great pics of New Zealand mountains, ferns, and rain forests! To ... [Continue reading this entry]

Photo: Bill, Ghost (Trent), and Jello...Happy Halloween! Magic Bus from Franz Josef to Queenstown: To view all snapshots of the drive from Franz Josef to Queenstown - click here! It was a long bus day ... [Continue reading this entry]

Photo: The mighty Franz Josef Glacier For all snapshots of my Glacier Hike - click here! Definitely check out the pictures...they are worth it! To view New Zealand Photography - click here! Ahhh - let ... [Continue reading this entry]