Tuesday, June 14, 2011

A time-turner and a season-changer

The sun was still sleeping when our alarms told us we must arise. Julia and I had to be out of the door by 7:30 to ensure our international travel was all in order. We ran around the house taking care of last minute packing and breakfast as quietly as we could, but then the time came to say our goodbyes. We hugged Janet and wished her a happy birthday, ruffled Prince's fur one last time, and then Chris drove us to the airport. Traffic was a little worrisome, but we made it with plenty of time.

What was really too bad was that Julia and I could not get on the same flight back home - I booked my travels later than she did, so when I looked at her flight, it was way more expensive! Luckily her flight was only about 45 minutes later than mine so transport was not too complicated. And we had enough time for me to make sure she got checked in and then go through customs and security together. Those lines took a while, but at least the Sydney airport does a good job with orderliness.

Unfortunately we did not get to keep each other company on such a long flight home... Thank goodness for sleep and movies. (And hanging out over the summer in Minnesota!)

Airplanes, an amazing creation. In the reversal of the voyage here, returning to my home continent, they give my day back. How do I tell my calendar that my flight lands in Los Angeles three hours before it leaves Sydney, despite lasting for 14 hours? Even more exciting a prospect than gaining a day is going home for the imminent summer, rather than winter, solstice. And hopefully sunny weather!

I've been in Australia only a week, and urges to say "perhaps" instead of "maybe" and to pronounce the "h" at the front of "herb" may linger. Can't say I'll miss the incessant rain though. I really thought I had left that behind with the remnants of Minnesotan spring a few weeks ago. Hopefully I will have an opportunity to come back, see Chris and Janet and family again, and explore more of this beautiful country in a better season in the future!

Until my next travel adventure, thank you again to my readers, and take care!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Wet but wonderful

Friday? Drizzled. Saturday? Torrential. Sunday? Poured. Sideways. Today? Still wet. Thanks winter. It really is all relative though. Aussies wouldn't stand a chance in a Minnesotan blizzard, and all things considered, a winter where you get about two weeks of 60s (Fahrenheit) and rainy is quite nice. But coming from 80s and sunny (which apparently reached 100 as I was flying away from it), cold and wet is not preferred. This just means I will have to come back to this continent when the weather is nicer to expand upon my time in Sydney with a few more cities, perhaps a little Outback, with a dash of Great Barrier Reef, and a side dish of New Zealand... eventually?

Australia's short wet season was even more unusual during our stay because apparently we are witnessing the drought being broken! At one point, as Chris told us, the state was concerned they would run out of water so they invested in a desalination plant, wondering if it would ever rain again... Well, it's raining now! And they have a back up plan now just in case...

Chris took us around on this showery day, and we finally got opportunities to meet the rest of their family! But not all at once, which was kind of amusing in itself. All of their four daughters live around Sydney, with the youngest (our age) at home, but in meeting the three other girls, we got to see more different areas of outer Sydney.

First, we met up with Chris and Janet's oldest daughter and her husband at this cool cafe just down the street from their place. They live in a rather funky, artsy area of Sydney with character found in murals and some graffiti. A lot of people actually live in boarding houses with cast-iron terraces that have been recycled and turned into apartments. And another re-envisioning trend is that old warehouses are remade into restaurants, like the cafe we went to! High ceilings and light wood give it an expansive feel, rather unlike dim and chattery coffeehouses.




Just a few of the cafegoers' brollies.





Sim and her husband Steve are very nice people, and world travelers too! She just got back from three months in Africa and has been all over the place, and the story on Steve, more importantly, is that he is from New Zealand! And for that reason, rugby is a forbidden subject at the table as to avoid sporting rivalry arguments that would take participants out of their typical sweet manner.


On to find daughter number two, Fiona, by way of more interesting places:
- An area known as the gay and lesbian scene and hangout zone - the city in general seems to be very gay-friendly, and there's even a gay and lesbian Mardi Gras festival, one of the largest Pride festivals in the world!
- Sunshine! Ok, this is not a place, but it happened, albeit fleeting.
- Woolloomoolloo Wharf (a fun name) used to be an industrial wharf where sailors and marines would come hang out.
- A dandelion water fountain like the one in Loring Park, Minneapolis! (Ok, so this picture is of the one in Minneapolis, but I could not snap a photo fast enough of the Sydney version... but you get the idea).
- King's Cross had a lot of hotels, a good few labeled "backpacker's hotel" in presumably an area cheaper for travelers.
- The harbor. Chris wanted to poke around the docked sailboats while he phoned Julia's dad to give him the update on our travels. "16 and a half degrees, it's a regular heat wave!" he reported as the day was progressing in a hopeful manner with some slight sunshine.

The three of us then continued the extended trip home to pick up Janet for the next daughter visit, discussing "blokes" (which Julia and I would replace with "guy" or "bro" in our lingo), the different scenes in north side versus south side (of the harbor), and the importance of not just substance but style as a post-modern cultural value in Australia (yachts, fashion, fancy cars, etc). I am sure there are plenty of Australians who are left behind from these values, but as far as absolute poverty goes, at least in Sydney there appear to be very few homeless. Then again, based on my limited experience in world traveling, there may be a gap between appearance and reality.

Our feet sank the next time we hopped out of the car as we took a walk on the wet beach and watched the pelicans.

While that beach walk grounded us, the next beach, Manly, gave us the best, sky-high view nature could offer of the Sydney harbor.

We popped in and out of the car a couple of times based on the sprinkles, and getting such an excellent view of the coasts got Chris going even more on wanting to get us surfing. But the weather (and timing - we are leaving tomorrow!) is a bit, as he says, "problematical." I'm sure this English works just as well, but perhaps I am too accustomed to hearing people chop off the last syllable!

Mmm, nature. Back to suburbia we went to grab Janet and a quick snack to meet their second daughter, Fiona, and her fiance. The name of the area where we met them escapes me, but it was somewhere in the outer reaches of Sydney's north side. We intended to meet them at a specific place, but it and many other shops were closed for the Queen's Birthday. We did find a cute cafe to hang out with them and have some tea before saying our "It was nice to meet you!"s and moving on to daughter number three. Such a funny way to meet the family, but it works!

We popped up to Emily and her boyfriend's place, quite a nice one for the young couple, by Bondi Beach. Several times over these few days we have been hearing about a TV show about Bondi Beach that sounds reminiscent of Baywatch and is even on American TV, but neither Julia nor I had heard of or seen it before. But Bondi Beach is apparently quite famous as a surfer paradise especially, so of course we had to get there before leaving Sydney. Maybe we'll be able to catch the show when we get back to the states.

Even though it was extremely windy and cold, it was still well worth it to walk along the beach with Chris and Janet (and finally get a photo with them both!) and their daughter Emily.

And despite the aforementioned less-than-desirable temperatures and the fact that the sun was dropping quickly (we're getting close to the winter solstice here...), the surfers were still at it. They have wet suits, right? Still crazy.

It's not just us, that little surfer kid looks a bit chilled too.

I had fun playing around with my camera settings trying to get some interesting shots of the waves, hopefully you readers like these shots too!

So we have been to the famed Bondi Beach, and in our huddled walk to the car, we spotted a beachfront house where we stopped for a little wine and a windowed view on the surfers at dusk. Chris picked out a bottle of Pinot Noir precisely for its name, Juliet. A little wine and pleasant conversation is great. Except when you're running on basically an empty stomach - with all the meeting daughters at cafes etc, we never ate more than snack-sized portions throughout the whole day. So I had never felt anything from wine before because I had always had a little bit with food, but two glasses on an empty stomach got me a little light-headed! International travel definitely makes you learn things about yourself.

So we headed home for another wonderful dining experience, and while that was in the works, we all got some snacks to appease our stomachs (and inner ears). Rosemary crackers and brie is an incredible combination. And Chris broke out an Anderson Pinot Noir, which he told us is made using a basket-pressing method so as to make it less tart, which is definitely desirable, at least in my opinion.

Despite all the snacking we were thankfully still hungry for dinner: sweet potatoes mashed with lime and mint was a new recipe Janet was trying, and I think we would all say it was a success! Though I would say I'm still partial to my mom's dash of pineapple juice sweetened with cinnamon. But both are great! For protein, we got to spear pieces of roasted chicken and also some filet mignon that came wrapped in bacon (a reminder that bacon in this country is nowhere near as greasy as what you would find in the states, it is more liked thin cooked ham). Broccoli and then caramel brownies with ice cream rounded the meal out with good for you and good for your soul.

Feeling stuffed and no longer light-headed, Julia and I set about taking care of the things big (like packing) and small (like friending Ally on Facebook) that would help our trip home tomorrow go smoother. I cannot believe our stay is almost over. I knew it would go quickly, but you never quite realize until it is done. With the majority of everything ready to head out early in the morning, Julia and I decided to stay up a little bit later and watch Music and Lyrics so we could calm our butterflies about leaving this incredible continent and set ourselves up to be tired enough to sleep on the plane ride tomorrow.

What is the "goodnight" equivalent for "G'day mates"? As far as I know, Australians just say, "good night!"

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Water and fire

It's Sunday morning and we were moving slowly. Something about rain just makes you rather stay indoors and play with a puppy than traverse a half-unfamiliar city, but there were still things to do and see! So we checked emails and made our plans as per usual. Chris was popping back and forth between the TV room and his computer to check up on this crazy 24-hour sports car race Le Mans that he is kind of obsessed with, but he took a long enough break to take Janet to lunch. They offered to drive us into town as they were going, but Julia and I were not ready to take on the day yet, so we planned on figuring out the bus schedule. But the schedule online did not include our minor bus stop, so our guestimations made us miss the 11:45. So we figured it out in a roundabout way, and heading home until the next bus came a half hour later actually helped us save some money by eating some leftovers at the house. Food excellent on day one is usually still good on day two in my book.

This time, our path to our destination from our usual bus stop took us through Chinatown, which was fun to see in the daylight after we had so much fun there with the night markets. There were cute eateries around that made it hard to just keep walking, but to Paddy's Market we must go! This was another scenic spot we had heard just pieces about, and when we entered through one of the many arches of a classic European on the outside, warehouse on the inside, we were excited that this might be one of the rare few places in Sydney to find decent prices!

The trend we have observed in Australia, at least from being in Sydney and from Julia's experience in Lismore, Australians pay more, get paid more (minimum wage is about $20! can you imagine?), get taxed more, but get better quality stuff from the government. I am not going to get into a whole argument on economics or politics here, but it has been a little rough with our US dollars on our trip, and it is also pretty cool to see solid infrastructure and how the government provides for its people.

Anyway, Paddy's Market was a zoo. Julia and I devised a zigzag plan to basically cover every lane of stalls all smooshed together, dodging tons of people not paying attention to where they are walking and getting distracted by all of the wares to be eaten, smelled, and seen. If the US has markets like this, I have yet to discover them. While this may be overwhelming for some, Paddy's Market is meant to be not just a place you go with a list of things in mind, but rather the experience is most of the fun. We began the day with the intention of not letting each other spend any more money on gifts or souvenirs, but we both found some unique things at allowable prices for our budget. We tried on silly sunglasses, marveled at iridescent jewelry, especially that made from pearl shells and various colored stones, and even got drawn into $15 Chinese massages, also a great decision.


So we spent plenty of time walking and actually found another one of Max Brenner's chocolate cafes to try one of his milkshake creations, this time in the Chocolate Room. Julia and I caught up on everything that has happened in our lives since we had hung out a lot last summer, and we also planned our next move for our Sydney situation. One of the last things we wanted to get in before returning to our home country was a tour of the Sydney Opera House. While we have gotten plenty of photos of the outside, today, despite having to slosh through the streets, was the day we intended to take a tour of the inside.

Sadly, this is the only instance where being relaxed about our day's agenda caught us off-guard. We made it to the opera house with our pants soaked mid-calf, but the intense weather decided to let us get a few more shots of the grounds once we got up close to this magnificent architectural feat. Once we got inside and started asking questions about tours, though, we checked our watches and learned we had missed the last tour by 15 minutes! We took the opportunity to tour the gift shop of course, but it was too bad we did not get to see more of the inside.

Oh well, we at least got some beautiful night harbor shots out of the deal, and we found our way eventually to the ferry wharf to follow Chris and Janet's suggestion that we take a ferry ride to Manly, another suburb on the north side. Perhaps this would have had more entertaining views in the daylight, but nearing the winter solstice, daylight had already expired on us. So some sort of dark force was tossing our ferry violently about on the tall swells, but at least the lights around the harbor were pretty.

Ally also advised that we go to Wharfside Bar that in theory was close to where the ferry dropped us off, but we could not find it after searching the few well-lit streets around the wharf. We were also wet and tired, so we ended up at a sports bar and restaurant called Ivanhoe that served us some great food and ambiance on a good budget. The building itself was also an interesting configuration, with a more family atmosphere on the ground level, young adult to upper-middle ages on the second level eating, chatting, and/or watching the AFL (Australian Football League, aka rugby, aka footie), and when we went up to the third floor after our meal, we found a more club atmosphere. This floor would probably be cool in a couple hours, but for now, it was a dude and his laptop playing music in what felt like a dim four-star hotel lobby. Ivanhoe still would get my recommendation.

After Julia's personal pizza and my $10 steak and mash, we wandered a little bit but just did not know what to do in the area... So we got some chocolates and gummies from a candy stand near the wharf and took the ferry back. It was fun to also explore the Circular Quay area on a weekend night (technically still a weekend night with Queen's Birthday three-day weekend), but as it was mostly food, and we had just eaten, there was not much for us to do but grab a taxi and head home to the north side. We did, however, come across a large crowd circled up under an overpass, and we poked our heads over to see some street theater!
Yea, right after this photo, he backflipped through that ring of fire. It was pretty awesome.

And with that, we headed home for a chill night with the family. It was nice to be able to spend some more time hanging out with them, especially since Ally has been doing some serious studying these past few days. She said the timing of our visit was unfortunate especially since the weather is seldom like this, and also because she hardly ever studies but has a big final exam on Tuesday. Apparently Australian education is easier but harder to do well because so much rides on tests and you teaching yourself a bit of the material, and those emphases, combined with a pass-fail system, are pretty tricky! Ally is going through her own hoop of fire hoping to come out on the other side unscathed in a couple of days.

Only one more full day left for Julia and me in Sydney, goodnight all!

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Celebrating the Queen

Celebrating the queen? Huh? What queen? Apparently this is the beginning of the Queen's Birthday weekend, a holiday celebrated in Australia. And "queen" is referring to the queeeeen, as some pronounce, of England. Apparently, the queen is still technically the head of state of Australia.

This country, officially named the Commonwealth of Australia, have made the queen's birthday a federal holiday despite being independent and despite many Englanders not even celebrating it! Perhaps most Aussies are just glad to get a day off of work and do not pay too much mind (the three-day weekend coincides with our visit quite well, as our host family is able to spend more time with us as they have chosen to do!). Throughout our time here, we have picked up on a rather interesting, closer, if not cosier, relationship between Australians and the Brits. Casual comments about the Brits being stuffy at one point and overindulgent at another (no offense intended) compound the relationship between these two countries into something I do not have a good grasp on yet.

And Australians' view of Americans is another story. We have common ground in that we both have some interesting vein of British rule in our history, but while Australians see their accented English as "more correct" than our mangled version, I'm sure some Americans wouldn't hesitate to take a position that we are a more legitimate country because we have been one for longer. Not to mention Australia's continued struggle to get over the embarrassment of its convict history, which is really just starting to be talked about delicately. So we all have our share of English issues and rebels, who doesn't?

Anyways, that is just a piece of my commentary that stitches together snippets of dinner table and car ride conversations as well as things overheard through the media as well. The conversations with real people of the country you visit are often something much harder to get if you do not stay with a family. So in addition to all the wonderful hospitality and comfort of staying with Janet and Chris, there is this additional benefit as well.

A few other things I have noticed the last couple days:
- For a polite version of "Well, that's just weird," where a Minnesotan might say "That's interesting," the more common Australian version is "Well, that's different." I may have heard my Iowan relatives pull that one out time and again too though.
- Everybody walking around this city is so dressed-up all the time! I was expecting laid-back Aussie-ness, especially after Julia told me in Lismore where she studied, a lot of people walk around shoeless. Perhaps its because it is an international business city, or perhaps because it is winter, but there is too much black and too much fanciness for my taste. I just want to wear my bright summer colors... and stick out like the foreigner I am...
- Advice Chris tried to hammer hard into us included giving ourselves time to figure ourselves out/party/have fun before going into grad school if that happens to be the plan down the road.
- I am still amazed by adorable houses with red-orange roofs that just dot the rolling, forested hills.

Today felt lazy on both ends, but it was fabulous to be able to fit in everything we intended to sight-see and also catch up on our rest and family time. Janet and Chris provided us with some Australian brekkie - bacon for Julia and my first ever poached eggs.

Julia and I planned on researching the altered bus schedule for its weekend routine, but Chris generously decided to drive us to downtown and actually ended up spending the whole day with us! It was fun to learn more about him as well, especially talking about international travel. A chill man in his sixties full of quips who speaks in slang and loves to text is not necessarily what you would expect to fit the serious businessman type, but he is able to take his love and smarts for bioengineering all around the world, saying "I figure if I have a work project somewhere, I have to go there!" And with his company, it seems it can work both ways so he can try and establish business connections for destinations he would find interesting to travel to. What a life.

Driving to the harbor we learned we were on our way to "Neutral Bay," apparently named because the British got here first and allowed this portion of the bay for the Russians and the French, etc. First we got out and went down to the dock to see the boats, even though we couldn't spot the yacht Chris sometimes borrows from his friend.




















Next, we took a spin to another viewing area further down the harbor to park the car, take a walk by the Harbor Bridge, and get ourselves some of the typical, iconic shots of the Sydney Opera House. Thank goodness for sun (for now)!
What beautiful structures.

We also happened to be by the opera house around noontime, and apparently it is a routine that every day at noon there is a midday gun fired. But today was special: a 21-gun salute for the Queen's birthday! What a funny situation.

Next on our list was the Powerhouse Museum, which Chris accompanied us to as well. This was Sydney's museum dedicated to science, design, and innovation, but the featured exhibit was ABBA World! Australians seem to still have a particular affinity for this 70s Swedish pop troupe, and the whole scenario today is made funnier by the fact that Julia is our resident swede in Australia. Three-tiered ruffled pants, platform shoes that take the wearer to frightening heights, and stations to rock out (or pop out?) with the musicians' holograms were not exactly what I anticipated to fall under science and design, but I guess they were innovation!

Moving through the more obviously sciencey portions of the museum, it was fun to find ourselves surrounded by airplanes and trains, "flying boats" and Mars rovers, and the latest creations by the cyber world and ecological science field. There was also an exhibit dedicated to today's award-winning technological innovation designed for humanity and our planet - there's hope yet!

Another event that happened to line up perfectly with our visit to Sydney was the Jazz and Blues Festival that culminated today. Accordingly, we were hoping to be able to choose from multiple stages of live music to relax in Darling Harbor, and while that was still possible, the weather made it increasingly less desirable. The rain held off long enough for us to grab some Danish ice cream and a seat at this open-air perfectly positioned bar to listen to smooth jazz and photographically document some of the passersby.
Julia and I both took a liking to the Darling Harbor area. Filled with tons of popular, cute harbor-front restaurants, a food court and shopping complex behind us, seagulls swooping and "fairy floss" (cotton candy) abounding, it seems like a fun place to meet up with friends and hang out. Chris led us on some more exploratory ventures around the area, with the Queen Victoria Building first.

We had passed the Queen Victoria Building on our own several times and knew it was a landmark on the map, but we just thought it was special for its incredible Victorian architecture on the outside (which I stupidly did not get a photo of...) - never thought to go in it! Inside was actually a mostly high-end shopping center also outfitted with cafes and specialty stores. The one Julia and I were most drawn to was a photography shop with some spectacular prints of Sydney that we simply could not capture ourselves, so we both went home with a couple of souvenirs to add to our collections.

After investigating the QVB for a few, we returned to Darling Harbor to join Chris in taking care of his craving for a hot dog, but when we popped outside again, the weather had turned on us! However, it took a long enough break so we could wander through the Chinese Garden of Friendship without getting too wet.

This little scenic spot is surprisingly almost as calm and peaceful as the many gardens I explored in China itself, despite its location in the middle of downtown Sydney. This was Julia's first Chinese garden experience, and Chris's as well despite living here for so many years. I got to play a half-knowledgeable tour guide, figuring out some of the characters inscribed on intricately designed China-red corridors as we wove around the Daoist paradise in harmony with the surrounding urban-scape. Still, it felt a little strange to see the skyscrapers poking above the Chinese-style towers, especially when you couldn't hear the sounds of the city beyond the walls.

So the clouds held off just long enough for us to make it through the entirety of the garden, but they were not so kind as we were contemplating staying at the Harbor for some jazz or heading home. If it weren't raining... Glad there were still a few hardcore fans, but we decided to call it a day.

Surprisingly it was only about 5pm when we made it back home despite all the territory we had covered and the weather issues we had endured. But it felt great to sit by the fire Chris lit, edit my photos, play with Prince, sip some Australian Semillon Savignon Blanc called "Rolling," and set the table for another fabulous meal. Tonight, Janet and Ally put together the first tomato soup I have fallen in love with, coq au vin (chicken cooked in wine) with Chris' twist of Rosé wine instead of a traditional red wine, peas, and mashed potatoes, accompanied by a Shiraz called "Climbing" (evidently the next step up from "Rolling"...). Mmmm, the process of cooking. Not like I would have an easy time convincing myself to spend this much time preparing my food by myself, but perhaps with friends sometime I will make it happen...

This was a feast fit for the queen herself! Okay, maybe that is a stretch. But I'm sure anyone who tried this food would be pleased. So though I suspect most of you are probably lukewarm to celebrating it, happy Queen's Birthday, everyone!