Blue Mountains
Tuesday, November 11th, 2008Our 1st ‘roo sighting…
Other pictures from our trip are located at the link on the right side called “Our Photo Gallery”.
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Settling into Sydney
Friday, November 7th, 2008After a few days with no internet connection, we finally found a convenient and relatively cheap internet café. It’s just down the street from the apartment that we’re renting for the rest of our time in Sydney. It’s great to have a kitchen, laundry, and more comfortable place to hang out. We’ve been spending our days exploring the neighborhood and in addition to the café, we’ve found a good farmers market, grocery store, and bottle shop. It’s been amazing how time consuming simple things can be when you’re not sure where to go or what brands to buy! However, Sydney is pretty easy to navigate and we’re getting around pretty quickly now. We also met a friend from the US for dinner last night and got a few more pointers.
We spent a day in Manley, a beach north of the city. There’s a nice, but long walk up to a cliff lookout called the North Head that has beautiful views of the entrance to the harbour. The surf culture is definitely a factor here and it felt a little like home in CA, except for the pine trees along the beach instead of palms. After the day here, we can’t wait to go to Bondi next week.
Finding Nemo
Thursday, November 6th, 2008We did indeed find him today, as well as many other unusual animals at the Sydney Aquarium. Australia seems full of strange and dangerous things including jellyfish that can sting you, crocodiles that will eat you, and even platypuses that have a pois oned claw. We saw all of them plus 10 kinds of sharks that supposedly won’t eat you (I don’t want to have to find out if that‘s true), and huge bats at the Botanical Gardens that eat only fruit (I really hope so).
Our first few days in Sydney have been very exciting. In addition the sights above, we’ve been to the iconic Opera House, which is more beautiful than I expected. Pictures from a distance don’t do justice to the patterned tiles visible up close. We’ve also walked across the Harbour Bridge, taken several ferries, and had lunch at the Fish Market – mmmm!
All of it has been interesting, but the most fun has been in discovering the little differences here. For example, the weather forecast is not sunny, it’s “fine” or mostly fine,” possibly with winds that are “fresh.” Yesterday we were caught unaware that the whole city was going to be celebrating the “World’s Greatest Race,” the Melbourne Cup. It turns out that it’s a horse race, but is also an excuse to take the afternoon off, dress up, and drink (and when I say dress I mean men in suits and ties, and ladies in dresses and hats everywhere – bars, hotels, restaurants, the streets), all while betting and watching the race of course. Fantastic!
Finally, the US election is receiving a LOT of attention here. It was covered on all the TVs stations and everyone is talking about the new President-elect. A few parting shots of the trip so far:
Off to see the wizard…
Monday, November 3rd, 2008…In Oz! After a slight delay in LAX we made it to Sydney! We caught up on some sleep last night and off to explore the city today (still looking to find P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, thanks Chuck). Will post more later, but just wanted everyone to know we arrived.
Z is for Zion
Saturday, October 18th, 2008Our last stop in Utah was Zion NP. It’s very different from the ABC (Arches, Bryce, Canyonlands), but each park is unique so it’s hard to pick a favorite. Zion has sheer cliffs and more trees, plants, and wildlife. We saw a crane, many deer, and chipmunks seem to come out of the rock itself as soon as they hear any type of food wrapper crinkle.
Springdale is the closest town just outside the park and it’s also quite different from the other parks. It’s filled with espresso bars, cafes, art galleries, and spas. The other key difference is that no cars are allowed on the scenic drive inside the park. Instead, there is a shuttle bus which makes stops at specific points in the part. Although it was controversial, it drastically reduced the traffic in the park which had become overwhelming in the 90s. We found it to be very efficient and never had to wait more than a few minutes for the next bus. The combination of amenities in Springdale and the shuttle give the park a “touristy” feel though, a bit more like Disneyland than a typical NP.
Regardless of the man made backdrop, the views of the canyon walls and the river are incredible. We took the Riverside walk, and then climbed up to the Upper Emerald Pool. We camped for 2 nights at the South Campground right next to the river. The water in Zion gives it a much cooler feel, even when the temperature is high. We also hiked the the Angel’s Landing trail. I made it as far as the Scout Lookout and then backed out when I reached the steep cliffs and chains. Eric (aka The Mountain Goat) had no problem with the thousand foot sheer drops on either side of the narrow knife edge trail. He made it to the end and was rewarded with fantastic views of the whole canyon. Here he is at the summit:
halftime