So a month ago or so on the way to Sydney with my parents, I saw a sign for a pumpkin festival. I thought "woo hoo! Pumpkins in May? That sounds novel!". I had visions of corn mazes, hay rides, and human sized pumpkins floating around in my head. I got even more excited when I read on the website that there was going to be pumpkin pie! How great would that be? You don't normally get pumpkin pie in the US until October or November.
So, I talk HA and Max into going with me on Sunday - it was about a 45 minute drive (kind of a big deal when your typical universe is only where you can walk). The day comes and it's absolutely beautiful outside. 19 degrees and sunny. Who could ask for a better day for a pumpkin festival. The festival was in Collector, a tiny little town of 150. We get there and there are hundreds of cars - the town has probably tripled in size. It's $5 per car - pretty cheap..and with all these people, it must be good.
Immediately, there are boxes that say "Pumpkins $5" - sounds great! I'd love to carve pumpkins in may. Except...wait..these pumpkins...what? They're green. Green? And the other pumpkins...they're funny shaped...like peanuts. What is going on here?? I look around and sure enough there are cut outs of orange halloween pumpkins...but where are they? So I look at HA all confused.."where are the orange pumpkins?" and he looks at me like I'm crazy. Apparently, they don't have orange pumpkins. Deep breath...ok, well, there's still the pumpkin pie.
The three of head off to find coffee and pumpkin pie. I look through all the food stalls but I don't see it. We ask the coffee lady but she's not from around here so she doesn't know. Finally, I ask a little old lady and she doesn't know either. We see a stall with pumpkin sconces and whoa! they have the pumpkin pies! But wait..they look lke meat pie. So I ask the man "Are they sweet or savory pies?" And again, I get a look like I'm crazy. Apparently, they're savory pies. Great. Well, alright, we'll try one. So Max and I buy one and we look at it skeptically. I take a bite and...I get pumpkin and celery. Celery? Yes, you read that right. Needless to say, Max and I had HA finish it. Again, disappointed.
But we made up for it by getting a post-mix at the Macca's in Goulburn. Gotta love the McDonald's fountain sodas. A lesson for my American friends..fountain sodas are called post-mix...and Macca's is McDonalds. Getting post-mix is a bit of a treat since most restaurants serve soda out of a bottle.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Tasmanian Devils are nothing like the cartoon...
So I talked about Tasmania in my last blog and I thought I would share my weekend with you. It was probably one of the funnest weekends I've had in Australia yet.
So my friend Max was in the Antartic for a month on a boat. Myself and two friends decided to go down and meet her when she arrived back in civiliation. The weekend started with a 6:30 AM flight from Canberra to Hobart on a Saturday. For those of you that know me, you know that I'm not much of a morning person. Being at the airport at 5AM hurt. We flew Qantas which is probably my favorite airline ever. The staff is nice and they serve full meals that you don't have to pay for. The US airlines could learn a few things from those guys.
The car we rented ended up being "upgraded" to a small tank. This car was massive - think Land Rover but bigger. Good thing the boys were driving. So we get to the dock area and meet Max. She's surrounded by half the boat (which doesn't surprise me) and so excited to be home. We catch a quick lunch with her and some of her boat friends and then cruise through the markets real quick. Turns out our hotel room was just across the street from her boat so it was so easy to get her luggage and checked into the room. We spent the rest of Saturday afternoon hanging out and catching up. Then we hit a Thai restuarant with some of the crew from the boat (mostly the helicopter pilots and their friends). I found one of my favorite white wines ever at this restaurant and am now hooked. I hope I can find somewhere in the states that sells it.
Here's a picture of Salamanca Square in Hobart.
Oh! Also on Saturday, we toured The Sea Shephard. Thats the boat used to try and stop the Japanese whalers each year. They were giving tours of the boat for donations and hyping their show that's on Discovery. It was pretty interesting to hear about some of their tactics and how the Japanese respond.
Sunday was a beautiful day - sunny but just a touch chilly - kinda like a nice autumn day. The four of us decided to go wine tasting so we headed up to Richmond from Hobart in our tank. I'm not sure how many wineries we hit but between the four of us, we bought 26 bottles of wine. Thankfully, they'll ship the wine to you so you don't have to figure out how to get it home. And it turns out that we were there on a great weekend. They were having some sort of event where wineries that aren't normally open to the public were having tastings. We then headed up to Richmond to have lunch. It's a cute little town with the oldest working bridge in Australia. We ended up going to an oyster farm for dinner as the boys are oyster fans. I however an not so I had a steak. One thing to know though - Tasmania isn't BYO. That was frustrating after buying 26 bottles of wine. Here's a picture of three of us at one of the vineyards. JC is missing as he's taking the pic.
Oh! I forgot the other great part of Sunday. Max became pretty good friends with one of the helicopter pilots on the boat and he offered to give us a quick tour of the area. It was very cool to get to see the coast of Tasmania and a the skyline of Hobart. Here's a picture of Max's boat from the air.
We lost HA on Monday since he had to go to work that afternoon. So the three of us decided to get outta Hobart and do some hiking. We drove up to the the Hartz Mtns and did a quick hike up to a lake. Here are some of the pictures. One of the prettiest areas I've visited in Oz yet.
We lost JC that night so Max and I had to rent our own car. This is where things got really interesting for me. Me, in my wisdom, offers to go rent the car. I get the counter and the lady proceeds to ask me for my license. This is when it dawns on me that I'M GOING TO HAVE TO DRIVE THE CAR TO MAX. In my head, I'm starting to panic but I'm trying to stay cool b/c I'm afraid they won't rent me the car if I act like a fruit loop. She hands me the keys and I cooly get into the car on the right hand side..so far so good. Then I reach over my left shoulder for the seat belt...and i reach...and I reach. Then i realize, Opps..wrong side. I laugh out loud and wave to the lady, who is watchin me and proceed to buckle up. I throw the car into drive and pull out of the parking spot. I go to turn left and suddenly the windshield wipers are on! Oh crap, wrong side. I pull out into traffic, repeating to myself "left side, left side, left side"...it became my mantra. by the time I get to Max, I believe that my hair is falling out from the stress, but at the same time, it was really fun. I felt like I was conquering a fear so I ask Max if she minds if i drive to the hotel. Thankfully, Hobart traffic on a Monday night is pretty light so there were no incidents. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of me driving so just use your imagination.
The next day, Max and I got massages at the hotel and then decided to drive to Port Arthur which is about two and a half hours away. I drove the whole way! Fun! On the way we stopped at a Tasmanian devil farm. They look like dogs - nothing like the cartoon. And they definitely don't spin in circles. I was a bit disappointed. Once we made it to Port Arthur, we toured the old prison grounds and then decided to take the ghost tour that night. It was pretty fun with the exception of the A-holes that used their flash cameras after being specifically asked not to. A couple of pictures for you. You should look up the history of the prison - it's pretty interesting.
Max drove back since it was dark and I was scared of hitting an animal. On that drive we saw signs for every possible type of Australian animal. Max has pictures - I'll upload for you later.
We got back to the hotel in Hobart around 1am and then left a little after 4am to catch our flight and then off to work.
One of the best weekends yet. If you want to see all the pictures, let me know and I'll send you the link.
So my friend Max was in the Antartic for a month on a boat. Myself and two friends decided to go down and meet her when she arrived back in civiliation. The weekend started with a 6:30 AM flight from Canberra to Hobart on a Saturday. For those of you that know me, you know that I'm not much of a morning person. Being at the airport at 5AM hurt. We flew Qantas which is probably my favorite airline ever. The staff is nice and they serve full meals that you don't have to pay for. The US airlines could learn a few things from those guys.
The car we rented ended up being "upgraded" to a small tank. This car was massive - think Land Rover but bigger. Good thing the boys were driving. So we get to the dock area and meet Max. She's surrounded by half the boat (which doesn't surprise me) and so excited to be home. We catch a quick lunch with her and some of her boat friends and then cruise through the markets real quick. Turns out our hotel room was just across the street from her boat so it was so easy to get her luggage and checked into the room. We spent the rest of Saturday afternoon hanging out and catching up. Then we hit a Thai restuarant with some of the crew from the boat (mostly the helicopter pilots and their friends). I found one of my favorite white wines ever at this restaurant and am now hooked. I hope I can find somewhere in the states that sells it.
Here's a picture of Salamanca Square in Hobart.
Oh! Also on Saturday, we toured The Sea Shephard. Thats the boat used to try and stop the Japanese whalers each year. They were giving tours of the boat for donations and hyping their show that's on Discovery. It was pretty interesting to hear about some of their tactics and how the Japanese respond.
Sunday was a beautiful day - sunny but just a touch chilly - kinda like a nice autumn day. The four of us decided to go wine tasting so we headed up to Richmond from Hobart in our tank. I'm not sure how many wineries we hit but between the four of us, we bought 26 bottles of wine. Thankfully, they'll ship the wine to you so you don't have to figure out how to get it home. And it turns out that we were there on a great weekend. They were having some sort of event where wineries that aren't normally open to the public were having tastings. We then headed up to Richmond to have lunch. It's a cute little town with the oldest working bridge in Australia. We ended up going to an oyster farm for dinner as the boys are oyster fans. I however an not so I had a steak. One thing to know though - Tasmania isn't BYO. That was frustrating after buying 26 bottles of wine. Here's a picture of three of us at one of the vineyards. JC is missing as he's taking the pic.
Oh! I forgot the other great part of Sunday. Max became pretty good friends with one of the helicopter pilots on the boat and he offered to give us a quick tour of the area. It was very cool to get to see the coast of Tasmania and a the skyline of Hobart. Here's a picture of Max's boat from the air.
We lost HA on Monday since he had to go to work that afternoon. So the three of us decided to get outta Hobart and do some hiking. We drove up to the the Hartz Mtns and did a quick hike up to a lake. Here are some of the pictures. One of the prettiest areas I've visited in Oz yet.
We lost JC that night so Max and I had to rent our own car. This is where things got really interesting for me. Me, in my wisdom, offers to go rent the car. I get the counter and the lady proceeds to ask me for my license. This is when it dawns on me that I'M GOING TO HAVE TO DRIVE THE CAR TO MAX. In my head, I'm starting to panic but I'm trying to stay cool b/c I'm afraid they won't rent me the car if I act like a fruit loop. She hands me the keys and I cooly get into the car on the right hand side..so far so good. Then I reach over my left shoulder for the seat belt...and i reach...and I reach. Then i realize, Opps..wrong side. I laugh out loud and wave to the lady, who is watchin me and proceed to buckle up. I throw the car into drive and pull out of the parking spot. I go to turn left and suddenly the windshield wipers are on! Oh crap, wrong side. I pull out into traffic, repeating to myself "left side, left side, left side"...it became my mantra. by the time I get to Max, I believe that my hair is falling out from the stress, but at the same time, it was really fun. I felt like I was conquering a fear so I ask Max if she minds if i drive to the hotel. Thankfully, Hobart traffic on a Monday night is pretty light so there were no incidents. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of me driving so just use your imagination.
The next day, Max and I got massages at the hotel and then decided to drive to Port Arthur which is about two and a half hours away. I drove the whole way! Fun! On the way we stopped at a Tasmanian devil farm. They look like dogs - nothing like the cartoon. And they definitely don't spin in circles. I was a bit disappointed. Once we made it to Port Arthur, we toured the old prison grounds and then decided to take the ghost tour that night. It was pretty fun with the exception of the A-holes that used their flash cameras after being specifically asked not to. A couple of pictures for you. You should look up the history of the prison - it's pretty interesting.
Max drove back since it was dark and I was scared of hitting an animal. On that drive we saw signs for every possible type of Australian animal. Max has pictures - I'll upload for you later.
We got back to the hotel in Hobart around 1am and then left a little after 4am to catch our flight and then off to work.
One of the best weekends yet. If you want to see all the pictures, let me know and I'll send you the link.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Updates...Updates...
So it's been awhile since I blogged....here's a quick update on things going on since the last blog:
* I spent New Year's Eve in Sydney and it was one of my favorite memories ever...really EVER. I was with great friends, in a great location, watching a great show. A group of seven of us bought tickets to a party on top of the Park Hyatt, which has a great view of both the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. From the roof, we had a phenomenal view of both fireworks shows. I would highly suggest Sydney to anyone that wants to experience New Years in Australia. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
* My friend Max spent the month of February in the Antartic. I got to experience life in Canberra without a girlfriend. It's not so much fun. They say there's a man shortage in Australia, but not if you're in Canberra - there are men everywhere.
* I flew back to the US to attend training in Chicago. Chicago in February is VERY VERY cold. I got to hang out with Mert though so that totally made up for it.
* The week after getting back from Chicago, HA, JC, and I went down to Hobart to pick up Max from her Antartic adventure. That was probably one of my favorite weekends in Australia yet. I should write a whole blog on just that weekend alone.
* HA and I went to Sydney for Sound Relief. Sound Relief was two concerts put on to raise money for the Bush fires and the flooding. The concert in Sydney didn't have a great line up but it was fun to go and spend the weekend in Sydney. The weather was still nice enough to hit the beach.
And now I'm in LA about to board the MayerCraft Carrier for the next five days. From there, I'll head to Phoenix for a few days. It'll be nice to be in my house for awhile - although weird at the same time.
I currently have a lady siting next to me that insists on talking to no one. I'm not sure if you all know, but I absolutely HATE LAX. I mean, I hate it, hate it, hate it.
Look forward to a blog on Hobart and my shenanigans on the MayerCraft!
* I spent New Year's Eve in Sydney and it was one of my favorite memories ever...really EVER. I was with great friends, in a great location, watching a great show. A group of seven of us bought tickets to a party on top of the Park Hyatt, which has a great view of both the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. From the roof, we had a phenomenal view of both fireworks shows. I would highly suggest Sydney to anyone that wants to experience New Years in Australia. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
* My friend Max spent the month of February in the Antartic. I got to experience life in Canberra without a girlfriend. It's not so much fun. They say there's a man shortage in Australia, but not if you're in Canberra - there are men everywhere.
* I flew back to the US to attend training in Chicago. Chicago in February is VERY VERY cold. I got to hang out with Mert though so that totally made up for it.
* The week after getting back from Chicago, HA, JC, and I went down to Hobart to pick up Max from her Antartic adventure. That was probably one of my favorite weekends in Australia yet. I should write a whole blog on just that weekend alone.
* HA and I went to Sydney for Sound Relief. Sound Relief was two concerts put on to raise money for the Bush fires and the flooding. The concert in Sydney didn't have a great line up but it was fun to go and spend the weekend in Sydney. The weather was still nice enough to hit the beach.
And now I'm in LA about to board the MayerCraft Carrier for the next five days. From there, I'll head to Phoenix for a few days. It'll be nice to be in my house for awhile - although weird at the same time.
I currently have a lady siting next to me that insists on talking to no one. I'm not sure if you all know, but I absolutely HATE LAX. I mean, I hate it, hate it, hate it.
Look forward to a blog on Hobart and my shenanigans on the MayerCraft!
Monday, December 8, 2008
Beach in November???
I got back from Melbourne on Wednesday morning and left for Mollymook on Friday afternoon. Mollymook is a small town on the east Australian coast (near Bateman’s Bay for those of you that want to look it up). The Americans on the project decided to have a beach weekend and rented a house. There were five us there in a four bedroom house (the house was sooooo cheap and soooo worth it). The house wasn’t right on the beach but you got the best views of the beach and the ocean. I’ve got some pictures below.
Saturday morning was a bit overcast and chilly so there was no beach time. However, on the upside, as we sat on the balcony, we got to whale watch. Yes, that’s right, the whales came right into our cove and put on a show. It was pretty cool. That night we went to one of the hotels for pre-dinner drinks (gosh, I’m beginning to sound like an alcoholic). At the hotel, we got another outstanding whale show. The hotel was cool enough to lend out binoculars to everyone to watch. Hopefully you can see the whales in the pictures. From there we went to Cupid’s winery for dinner. There are some pictures below again. The sunset was phenomenal – just absolutely gorgeous. The food was great (wouldn’t suggest the vineyard’s wine though). Definitely a great night hanging out with my American friends.
Oh – we also had a “No Aussie Talk” rule in place during the trip. We weren’t allowed to talk like Aussie’s. It was good fun hearing the American version of words all weekend. You might wonder what words I could be talking about. Well, take the word depot for example. We pronounce it de-po. They pronounce it dep-o. Just little things like that.
Notice it rained this weekend??
Saturday morning was a bit overcast and chilly so there was no beach time. However, on the upside, as we sat on the balcony, we got to whale watch. Yes, that’s right, the whales came right into our cove and put on a show. It was pretty cool. That night we went to one of the hotels for pre-dinner drinks (gosh, I’m beginning to sound like an alcoholic). At the hotel, we got another outstanding whale show. The hotel was cool enough to lend out binoculars to everyone to watch. Hopefully you can see the whales in the pictures. From there we went to Cupid’s winery for dinner. There are some pictures below again. The sunset was phenomenal – just absolutely gorgeous. The food was great (wouldn’t suggest the vineyard’s wine though). Definitely a great night hanging out with my American friends.
Oh – we also had a “No Aussie Talk” rule in place during the trip. We weren’t allowed to talk like Aussie’s. It was good fun hearing the American version of words all weekend. You might wonder what words I could be talking about. Well, take the word depot for example. We pronounce it de-po. They pronounce it dep-o. Just little things like that.
Notice it rained this weekend??
The Race That Stops the Nation!
I got back from the States on a Tuesday and on Saturday; I headed out to Melbourne for the Melbourne Cup. For those of you that don’t know, every spring in Melbourne, they have the Spring Carnival - essentially a week of horse races. It started in the 60’s when the race track wanted to find a way to get more women to attend the races. So they instituted a week of fashion shows and competitions. Each day at the race (there are four race days during the week) have a different theme and you want to dress differently for each one. On top of that, two states in Australia get the day of the Melbourne Cup off of work and it just so happens, I’m living in one of those states.
My friend Michelle and I got to Melbourne on Saturday and immediately get changed and head into the CBD for dinner and drinks (our flight was over an hour late and we flew Tiger Air – like Southwest but not as nice). We got into downtown just as the trains for Derby (pronounced Darby) Day were arriving. Everyone was dressed up with hats or fascinators and the men were in suits with bright ties and shirts. So fascinators – I got a couple of questions on this. Essentially, they’re lazy hats. They attach to your hair with combs or a headband. They’re typically made of flowers or feathers. They’re cheaper than hats and you don’t end up with hat head. We had dinner on the South Bank of the Yarra River and got to people watch. Then we went out and had a few drinks. We met a nice Australian that lives in the UK but was in town for work (the American accent – so easy to make friends)!
Sunday and Monday were full on shopping days. Neither Michelle or I had a fascinator so it was a mad dash to find one. On top of that Melbourne has GREAT shopping – a lot of stuff that you can’t find in Canberra or Sydney. Fascinators and hats are really expensive so we were trying to find ones that we liked but didn’t have to spend a ton of money on. Either way, I had a great time shopping.
Tuesday is Melbourne Cup day. “It’s the Race that stops a Nation.” There were over 100k people at this horse race. Michelle and I were smart enough though to buy tickets to a reserved section of the course so there were less people and we didn’t have to stand in line all day long to buy drinks or place bets. I bet on four races and won on two, but I won enough to cover the costs of the four bets. I can’t complain about that. We only ventured out of our reserved area a few times – most specifically for the actual Melbourne cup race. We found some elevated seats and watched the race. The horse favored to win was an American horse, so of course I bet on it. Unfortunately though, it came in near last. Quite a disappointment for everyone that bet on it. I got some pretty good shots of the horses.
Needless to say, after glasses and glasses of champers (aka champagne for my American friends), I was in a mood to go out afterwards. And the town gets crazy after the Melbourne Cup. There were people out everywhere. The atmosphere was amazing. Unfortunately though, Michelle and I had to catch a 7am flight so there wasn’t too much partying that night.
The Melbourne Cup is definitely one of my favorite Aussie experiences yet and if I’m here next November, I’m going again.
Oh – and it rained in Melbourne…I think you’ll see a pattern.
My friend Michelle and I got to Melbourne on Saturday and immediately get changed and head into the CBD for dinner and drinks (our flight was over an hour late and we flew Tiger Air – like Southwest but not as nice). We got into downtown just as the trains for Derby (pronounced Darby) Day were arriving. Everyone was dressed up with hats or fascinators and the men were in suits with bright ties and shirts. So fascinators – I got a couple of questions on this. Essentially, they’re lazy hats. They attach to your hair with combs or a headband. They’re typically made of flowers or feathers. They’re cheaper than hats and you don’t end up with hat head. We had dinner on the South Bank of the Yarra River and got to people watch. Then we went out and had a few drinks. We met a nice Australian that lives in the UK but was in town for work (the American accent – so easy to make friends)!
Sunday and Monday were full on shopping days. Neither Michelle or I had a fascinator so it was a mad dash to find one. On top of that Melbourne has GREAT shopping – a lot of stuff that you can’t find in Canberra or Sydney. Fascinators and hats are really expensive so we were trying to find ones that we liked but didn’t have to spend a ton of money on. Either way, I had a great time shopping.
Tuesday is Melbourne Cup day. “It’s the Race that stops a Nation.” There were over 100k people at this horse race. Michelle and I were smart enough though to buy tickets to a reserved section of the course so there were less people and we didn’t have to stand in line all day long to buy drinks or place bets. I bet on four races and won on two, but I won enough to cover the costs of the four bets. I can’t complain about that. We only ventured out of our reserved area a few times – most specifically for the actual Melbourne cup race. We found some elevated seats and watched the race. The horse favored to win was an American horse, so of course I bet on it. Unfortunately though, it came in near last. Quite a disappointment for everyone that bet on it. I got some pretty good shots of the horses.
Needless to say, after glasses and glasses of champers (aka champagne for my American friends), I was in a mood to go out afterwards. And the town gets crazy after the Melbourne Cup. There were people out everywhere. The atmosphere was amazing. Unfortunately though, Michelle and I had to catch a 7am flight so there wasn’t too much partying that night.
The Melbourne Cup is definitely one of my favorite Aussie experiences yet and if I’m here next November, I’m going again.
Oh – and it rained in Melbourne…I think you’ll see a pattern.
3 days to cross the Pacific and back
I haven’t blogged in awhile so I’m going to add entries based on my weekends over the last month and a half or so.
So as part of my package to come to Australia, I get to fly home every two months. In October, I decided to take advantage of the perk. I was having some issues with the yard guy and wanted to check in on the house and, well, I was a bit homesick. However, work wasn’t able, willing, whatever, to have me be gone for too terribly long. So I went home for three days. Yes you read that correctly – three days. I think I was traveling for 60 hours to be home for 72. But I got to fly business so it wasn’t all that bad.
My suitcase when I left weighted 7 kilos and it was my massive, biggest possible suitcase. I think I had a pair of jeans, three shirts, and some underwear. When I came home, I was over the weight limit! Yes, that’s how much I bought or brought back from home! You don’t appreciate the shopping alternatives you have at home until you decide to live overseas. Canberra shopping is limited, at best, and the quality of the clothing leaves a lot to be desired. So I think I did nothing but shop while I was home. You can’t say that I’m not trying to contribute to the stimulating the economy!
I also caught up with some friends while I was there. The old project I worked for was having a party on Thursday night and invited me to join them. It was fun getting to catch up with some old work people and getting to meet the newest team members. Then on Friday, about 15 of us went out for dinner and drinks.
I love living in Australia, but let me just tell you this – there is a serious difference between American men and Australian men. It’s called “The Tall Poppy” syndrome. Essentially, Australians are taught not to stand out too much in a crowd, to not be too different or better…don’t be the tall poppy. So what this means – men at bars, restaurants, the grocery store, will never approach you. They’ll look at you and smile, but never approach you. If you really want to talk to him, you have to go to him. But in the US, as my US friends know, American men have no shame! They’ll talk to everyone – it’s all about being the best in the room. I haven’t decided which approach I like best yet. You can clearly see this difference once you come back to the US. Was a bit of a culture shock.
I got back to Oz on a Tuesday and headed straight to work. I think because the trip was so short, I never really got on US time so acclimating back wasn’t that tough. It was a good trip, and I’m glad I went. I was pretty homesick prior to the trip, but afterwards, I came to appreciate what I have going on in Australia. That being said though – I’m very excited to go home for Christmas! More Shopping!!
So as part of my package to come to Australia, I get to fly home every two months. In October, I decided to take advantage of the perk. I was having some issues with the yard guy and wanted to check in on the house and, well, I was a bit homesick. However, work wasn’t able, willing, whatever, to have me be gone for too terribly long. So I went home for three days. Yes you read that correctly – three days. I think I was traveling for 60 hours to be home for 72. But I got to fly business so it wasn’t all that bad.
My suitcase when I left weighted 7 kilos and it was my massive, biggest possible suitcase. I think I had a pair of jeans, three shirts, and some underwear. When I came home, I was over the weight limit! Yes, that’s how much I bought or brought back from home! You don’t appreciate the shopping alternatives you have at home until you decide to live overseas. Canberra shopping is limited, at best, and the quality of the clothing leaves a lot to be desired. So I think I did nothing but shop while I was home. You can’t say that I’m not trying to contribute to the stimulating the economy!
I also caught up with some friends while I was there. The old project I worked for was having a party on Thursday night and invited me to join them. It was fun getting to catch up with some old work people and getting to meet the newest team members. Then on Friday, about 15 of us went out for dinner and drinks.
I love living in Australia, but let me just tell you this – there is a serious difference between American men and Australian men. It’s called “The Tall Poppy” syndrome. Essentially, Australians are taught not to stand out too much in a crowd, to not be too different or better…don’t be the tall poppy. So what this means – men at bars, restaurants, the grocery store, will never approach you. They’ll look at you and smile, but never approach you. If you really want to talk to him, you have to go to him. But in the US, as my US friends know, American men have no shame! They’ll talk to everyone – it’s all about being the best in the room. I haven’t decided which approach I like best yet. You can clearly see this difference once you come back to the US. Was a bit of a culture shock.
I got back to Oz on a Tuesday and headed straight to work. I think because the trip was so short, I never really got on US time so acclimating back wasn’t that tough. It was a good trip, and I’m glad I went. I was pretty homesick prior to the trip, but afterwards, I came to appreciate what I have going on in Australia. That being said though – I’m very excited to go home for Christmas! More Shopping!!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Just keep that Bono off my back
Sorry that it's been awhile since my last blog. Thankfully life and work have picked up for me and I don't spend as much time at home. I'll try to be better about keeping you informed on what's going on.
It was Labour Day weekend in Australia this past weekend, so we got a three day weekend. It’s just the spring here so things are starting to warm up and the trees are turning green. I thought it would be a good weekend to have my first excursion outside of Canberra. My friend Michelle and I decided to head to Sydney for the weekend. Sydney is about three hours from Canberra when you’re driving. We booked rooms at the Amora Jamison (apparently the Accenture hotel of choice) and booked our round trip bus tickets (yes, the bus!). We decided not to plan anything specific to do in Sydney – we’d just see where things took us.
We left work early (we work on the same project but different teams) and caught the bus to Sydney. Thank god for Ipods – I don’t know how I would have made it otherwise. We arrived in Sydney a little bit after 7pm on Friday night. From the moment you step off the bus, you can feel the difference between Canberra and Sydney. Beyond the temperature and humidity difference, there were so many more people walking around. You immediately have the big city feel. It was great after being locked into Canberra for months. We dropped our bags off at the hotel and decide to have dinner at Darling Harbour. I didn’t take any pictures of Darling Harbour and I’m not real sure how to explain it. There were restaurants and bars along the water – all of them with outdoor seating. The ferry boats and yachts were lined along the dock, there’s an IMAX and the Sydney Aquarium there as well. Oh – and the monorail – all weekend, it made me think of Disney World. We found a seafood restaurant – I had the Barramundi which is the local fish. Very good – if you come to visit, we’ll be sure to have some. After dinner, it started to rain, so we made a stop to get some ice cream and wait it out. Once it cleared up, we walked around checking things out. I was a bit tired from work and the bus ride, so we called it an early night.
We woke up Saturday to overcast skies and a high probability of rain. We get dressed and head to Starbucks! FINALLY! Starbucks after two months!! They closed all the stores in Canberra so I’ve been having to get coffee from the local restaurants, which is fine, but there is something about Starbucks that is just…better, to me. Michelle and I decide to come up with rainy day activities and head back to Darling Harbour to see the Aquarium. Unfortunately, when we got there, there were a billion kids and the line was a billion miles long. Those two things together do not make a happy Dana, so we passed. We jumped on the monorail and headed to Paddy’s Market. Paddy’s market is a huge indoor swap market type thing. For the fam, think of Nassau in the Bahamas, right off the boat. It was just like that but with better stuff. I could totally have spent the whole day there but, there were a billion people, so again, after awhile, not a happy Dana. Here’s a picture of Paddy’s Market.
From there, we decided that the best rainy day activity is to, well, shop. So, we hit the shopping district and spent the rest of the afternoon shopping. We couldn’t buy too much because we had both brought small bags and we weren’t real sure how we were going to get it home. We were pretty tired from our strenuous day of shopping so we went back to the hotel and napped. From there, we made plans to meet up with some other ex-pat friends that live in Sydney for dinner. They took us out to Bondi Junction which is near Bondi Beach (but you couldn’t see the beach). To get there, we took the subway. This was probably the most advanced subway system I’d ever been on. It was two levels deep and the trains were double-decker. I felt very cosmopolitan. After dinner, we headed out to meet an Irish friend from work that was also in Sydney. He had us meet him at an Irish pub (go figure). We had to be wanded with a metal detector before we could go in. Even in the US, I’m not sure I’ve ever had to do that. The bar was ok though – nothing special. It was a pretty early night by Australian standards – we were home by 1am. Oh! I forgot a part…prior to heading to the Irish bar, we were going to have a drink at a bar in the King’s Cross area of Sydney. For those of you not in the know, this is the “red light district” of Sydney. Strip clubs line the street and men stand outside recruiting other men to come inside. Creepy.
Sunday, we slept in for awhile then headed off for more Starbucks. We then hit the market at The Rocks. It’s a pretty neat little market – lots of arts and crafts. A little more high class than Paddy’s. We stopped and had pizza for lunch and then headed over to Circular Quay to catch the ferry to Manly Beach. The only problem – we forgot it was daylight savings. So we missed our first ferry but thankfully, the people working at the docks were nice enough to let us catch the next one. Manly Beach is one of Sydney’s most popular beaches. Unfortunately, the weather was still crap so we only got to walk around. Thankfully though, there was a Jazz festival going on so we sat on the beach for awhile and listened to some music. It just happened that the NRL Grand Finals were in Sydney that weekend and the Manly team was playing. All the bars in the area were packed full of people watching the game. Which made it easy to get into a restaurant. Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel and got changed for a night out on the town. We headed out for a few drinks.
We were out late enough that on Monday we decided to sleep in as late as we could. Then we packed up, dropped our bags at the concierge, and headed back out. First we hit the Sydney Fish Market. There was food everywhere! And it was so good. I think it's one of my favorite places in Sydney. The weather wasn’t quite as crappy but still not great so we headed to the opera house. We needed to kill some time so we took a tour of the Opera house. Then we headed off towards the bus stations. Everyone in Canberra must have been in Sydney because there were four buses on the return trip.
Here are some pictures. I took more so if you’re interested, shoot me a message and I’ll end you a link to the rest of them.
Opera House
Sydney Bridge
Manly Beach
Sydney Fish Market
It was Labour Day weekend in Australia this past weekend, so we got a three day weekend. It’s just the spring here so things are starting to warm up and the trees are turning green. I thought it would be a good weekend to have my first excursion outside of Canberra. My friend Michelle and I decided to head to Sydney for the weekend. Sydney is about three hours from Canberra when you’re driving. We booked rooms at the Amora Jamison (apparently the Accenture hotel of choice) and booked our round trip bus tickets (yes, the bus!). We decided not to plan anything specific to do in Sydney – we’d just see where things took us.
We left work early (we work on the same project but different teams) and caught the bus to Sydney. Thank god for Ipods – I don’t know how I would have made it otherwise. We arrived in Sydney a little bit after 7pm on Friday night. From the moment you step off the bus, you can feel the difference between Canberra and Sydney. Beyond the temperature and humidity difference, there were so many more people walking around. You immediately have the big city feel. It was great after being locked into Canberra for months. We dropped our bags off at the hotel and decide to have dinner at Darling Harbour. I didn’t take any pictures of Darling Harbour and I’m not real sure how to explain it. There were restaurants and bars along the water – all of them with outdoor seating. The ferry boats and yachts were lined along the dock, there’s an IMAX and the Sydney Aquarium there as well. Oh – and the monorail – all weekend, it made me think of Disney World. We found a seafood restaurant – I had the Barramundi which is the local fish. Very good – if you come to visit, we’ll be sure to have some. After dinner, it started to rain, so we made a stop to get some ice cream and wait it out. Once it cleared up, we walked around checking things out. I was a bit tired from work and the bus ride, so we called it an early night.
We woke up Saturday to overcast skies and a high probability of rain. We get dressed and head to Starbucks! FINALLY! Starbucks after two months!! They closed all the stores in Canberra so I’ve been having to get coffee from the local restaurants, which is fine, but there is something about Starbucks that is just…better, to me. Michelle and I decide to come up with rainy day activities and head back to Darling Harbour to see the Aquarium. Unfortunately, when we got there, there were a billion kids and the line was a billion miles long. Those two things together do not make a happy Dana, so we passed. We jumped on the monorail and headed to Paddy’s Market. Paddy’s market is a huge indoor swap market type thing. For the fam, think of Nassau in the Bahamas, right off the boat. It was just like that but with better stuff. I could totally have spent the whole day there but, there were a billion people, so again, after awhile, not a happy Dana. Here’s a picture of Paddy’s Market.
From there, we decided that the best rainy day activity is to, well, shop. So, we hit the shopping district and spent the rest of the afternoon shopping. We couldn’t buy too much because we had both brought small bags and we weren’t real sure how we were going to get it home. We were pretty tired from our strenuous day of shopping so we went back to the hotel and napped. From there, we made plans to meet up with some other ex-pat friends that live in Sydney for dinner. They took us out to Bondi Junction which is near Bondi Beach (but you couldn’t see the beach). To get there, we took the subway. This was probably the most advanced subway system I’d ever been on. It was two levels deep and the trains were double-decker. I felt very cosmopolitan. After dinner, we headed out to meet an Irish friend from work that was also in Sydney. He had us meet him at an Irish pub (go figure). We had to be wanded with a metal detector before we could go in. Even in the US, I’m not sure I’ve ever had to do that. The bar was ok though – nothing special. It was a pretty early night by Australian standards – we were home by 1am. Oh! I forgot a part…prior to heading to the Irish bar, we were going to have a drink at a bar in the King’s Cross area of Sydney. For those of you not in the know, this is the “red light district” of Sydney. Strip clubs line the street and men stand outside recruiting other men to come inside. Creepy.
Sunday, we slept in for awhile then headed off for more Starbucks. We then hit the market at The Rocks. It’s a pretty neat little market – lots of arts and crafts. A little more high class than Paddy’s. We stopped and had pizza for lunch and then headed over to Circular Quay to catch the ferry to Manly Beach. The only problem – we forgot it was daylight savings. So we missed our first ferry but thankfully, the people working at the docks were nice enough to let us catch the next one. Manly Beach is one of Sydney’s most popular beaches. Unfortunately, the weather was still crap so we only got to walk around. Thankfully though, there was a Jazz festival going on so we sat on the beach for awhile and listened to some music. It just happened that the NRL Grand Finals were in Sydney that weekend and the Manly team was playing. All the bars in the area were packed full of people watching the game. Which made it easy to get into a restaurant. Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel and got changed for a night out on the town. We headed out for a few drinks.
We were out late enough that on Monday we decided to sleep in as late as we could. Then we packed up, dropped our bags at the concierge, and headed back out. First we hit the Sydney Fish Market. There was food everywhere! And it was so good. I think it's one of my favorite places in Sydney. The weather wasn’t quite as crappy but still not great so we headed to the opera house. We needed to kill some time so we took a tour of the Opera house. Then we headed off towards the bus stations. Everyone in Canberra must have been in Sydney because there were four buses on the return trip.
Here are some pictures. I took more so if you’re interested, shoot me a message and I’ll end you a link to the rest of them.
Opera House
Sydney Bridge
Manly Beach
Sydney Fish Market
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