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Happy 2009!

Wednesday, December 31st, 2008

Happy New Year to everyone!  I hope it’s healthy and prosperous for us all!

Our NYE was spent enjoying one of the most famous views – fireworks over Sydney harbor.  We asked around and everyone says you have to get their early.  They weren’t kidding!  We arrived at Bradfield Park on the north side, right by the bridge around 12:30 in the afternoon and it was already filling up!  We bought a cheap folding chair and took beach towels, and umbrella (for the sun), a lunch, and lots of sunscreen.  By 5PM every inch of the park was covered in picnic blankets so that you couldn’t even see the grass or roads.  We scored a prime spot with a perfect view of the Opera House across the harbor and the bridge too.

The people surrounding us were from everywhere – Japan, Brazil, Germany, and a few Aussies too.  Incredibly, the heat, crowds, and long hours waiting seemed to bring out the best behavior in everyone – no fights, just happy, giddy (and somewhat drunk) people.  Maybe there’s hope for the human race yet…

There are actually 2 sets of fireworks on NYE in Sydney.  They are shot off from barges at different placed in the harbor. The first is the “Family Fireworks” at 9PM so that kids can watch and then get home to bed early.  It’s much smaller than the midnight show, but we were stunned when after hours of waiting they finally started.  The fireworks to the left of us were blocked by a huge tree.  The fireworks to the right of us were blocked by the bridge pylon.  We could hear them, but had no clear view.  8 1/2 hours in the hot sun for this?  Doh!

After the fireworks there is a lighted boat parade.  We considered moving while this was going on, but there really was no place to go at that point.  We knew that the midnight fireworks were set off from more places, including the bridge, so we decided to stay put.  It’s a good thing we did, because our view was fantastic.  Fireworks came from the bridge, the barges, the tops of tall buildings in the city, everywhere!  Unbelievable. It’s impossible to describe, but they were by far the best fireworks I’ve ever seen.   What a great start to 2009!

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Boxing Day

Saturday, December 27th, 2008

We arrived back in Sydney on Xmas Eve and found our home for the next week.  Our friend Steven lives in Sydney, but headed back to the States for the holidays, so he’s letting us use his flat while he’s away.  It’s right in the city and is fantastic for us!  Many thanks!

For Christmas dinner we made a turkey, stuffing, and even found a jar of cranberry sauce with “made from American cranberries” right on the label.  Mmmm.  

The day after Xmas is Boxing Day (a great tradition we’d like to bring home with us) and also the start of the Sydney to Hobart sailing race.  We packed up some leftover turkey sandwiches and headed for the harbour to watch.  While we really weren’t sure where to go, we happened to see a bunch of people scrambling to get on a ferry, so we followed them.  We were lucky enough to squeeze onto the last ferry to Watson’s Bay near the South Head or entrance to the harbour.  Quite a few angry people were left on the dock when it pulled away.

The weather was perfect for the race start – sunny, warm, and windy.  All  over the shores and cliffs, people set up picnic blankets, lawn chairs and grills to await the starting gun.  The start itself is complete chaos as hundreds of spectator boats zoom alongside the racing boats as they leave the harbour and head for the open ocean.  Helicopters are everywhere circling like flies.  The first boat across the starting line was also the winner, Wild Oats, arriving in Hobart early this morning. 

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Victoria

Sunday, December 21st, 2008

We recovered from the jetlag pretty quickly, although I’m not sure we ever really adjusted to CA time.  A few days in Melbourne gave us time to catch up on sleep and take in a few local sights.  We visited the Gaol, which is creepy, but interesting.  We also finally saw the movie “Australia” – it has some amazing scenery.  A lot of it was actually filmed in a town called Bowen in Queensland that we drove through last month.  “Finally, we went to a cricket match at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds or MCG.  Unfortunately we didn’t see the Victoria Bushrangers win because we left after just 5 hours.  Vic was 1-40 with 18 overs needing a 3.8 run rate to beat WA’s 9-198.  Got that?  We do now!

After a pretty tough search, we finally found a rental car.  Apparently everyone is on Summer/Xmas holiday and there are none to be found.  Yesterday we set off on the Great Ocean Road  and it really is Great.  The views are fantastic and the wildlife abundant.  Here are a couple of the sights:

This guy was on a hiking path and scrambled up the tree when we approached. 

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 The view from one of the many lookouts from the Great Ocean Road, the 12 Apostles.

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Trains, Planes, and Automobiles… and More Planes

Thursday, December 18th, 2008

Sorry we haven’t blogged in a while, but the last week has been a total blur.  We went back to the US for a “long weekend” to be in our friends’ wedding.  It went something like this:

Trains – We took The Overland from Adelaide to Melbourne.  It’s an 11 hour train ride, and one of the “classic” routes in Australia.  The train was actually pretty comfortable and the views were pretty nice too.

Planes (part 1) – We flew from Melbourns to LAX to SFO.  There’s just no getting around it – the flight is LONG.  The weird thing is that you leave at 11 AM and arrive at 7AM the same day.  Begin jetlag.

Automobiles – After weeks of deep concentration led to us finally being comfortable driving on the left, we got our rental car in SF and were right back to being confused again.   Wipers?  Turn Signals? 

Wedding – Dinners, cocktails, rehearsals, haircuts, more dinners, more cocktails, fittings, ceremony, more cocktails.  It was a whirlwind weekend, but great to see so many of our friends all in one place!  We’ve got to do this more often.  My Baha Fresh craving was satisfied – mmmm.   

Planes (part 2) – Back on a flight to Melbourns and this time it was the new A380.  The plane is cool, but unfortunately nothing can make economy class comfortable for 15 hours.

More pictures will be on Smugmug soon, but here’s a few of the Lehigh bunch at the reception.  Looking at this it’s hard to imagine that just 3 weeks ago we were covered in red dust in the Outback! 

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The Island

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

After 5 weeks in Australia, we had only seen two ‘roo’s in the wild. This was about to change with a visit to Kangaroo Island. Getting to KI is pretty interesting itself. It’s a 2 hour drive south from Adelaide and then the car goes onto the ferry for a 45 minute ride to island. KI is over 150 km long, so having a car is a must in order to see even a fraction of it.

We set out on the first day to Flinders Chase National Park. The walk to Admirals Arch has a fantastic payoff with a view of New Zealand fur seals basking in the shadow of a cave. The next stop was something called the Remarkable Rocks, which are huge rocks that are, well, remarkable. Hard to describe, but check out the photo gallery link to the right.

Next we attempted a hike to Snake Lagoon, but were defeated by hundreds of flies swarming around us. As silly as it may seems, they were just incredibly annoying to the brink of insanity. Dejected, we headed back to the car for the long drive to the hotel on the other side of the island. We still had not seen any Wallabies, Koalas, or Kangaroos that were supposedly so plentiful on the island. Well, not live ones anyway. The road sides are littered with dead ones that didn’t make it, so we knew they must be there somewhere.

Dusk is the perfect time for wildlife as the lazy marsupials begin to wake up from their naps during the hot part of the day. I spotted a Wallaby munching away on some grass along the road. And then another. And another. When Eric finally pulled over to take a picture, we noticed something else just behind it. Two huge Kangaroos in a field. They were the first of many of the island’s namesake and of much more wildlife to be seen. Next up were Koalas hanging in the trees and Little Penguins on the beach at night.

The next morning we headed to the Lathami Conservation Park for a short walk with more Wallabies and a unique spiky animal called an Echidna. After lunch, Seal Bay showed off it’s namesake in the form of huge Australian Sea Lions lounging on the sand. Finally after dodging Goanas on the road, we visited a honey farm, home to a strain of Ligurian bees from Italy that only survive in this place today.

Kangaroo Island is fascinating and an incredible place to see all the wildlife that Oz is famous for in one microcosm.

This may be the last blog from down under for a while. We’re starting a long journey back to the US for our friends’ wedding, starting with the Overland train from Adelaide to Melbrourne, then catching a flight to Cali. We’ll be back next week, but until then, G’day.

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