30 Dec 08 Simple Sydney

I promise that there is a summary post to this Australian series, but before I get to that (ie let me procrastinate awhile) I need to discuss Sydney a bit. The first night we got to Sydney; we were staying in an apartment of the relative of a friend who had gone to Perth for Christmas (the relative not the friend, she disappears the next day) in a section of town called Newtown. So, there we were, a little tired and having just lost another hour due to the travel east, we got hungry. So, we did what most people do when they are hungry, we went out to eat. We did not even leave the actual block that the apartment is located on to go to a pretty amazing Thai restaurant.

The restaurant had two velvet rope lines inside: one for people with reservations and one for people without. I did not feel like calling them to set up a reservation just so we could switch lines, especially as there was very littlenobody in front of us, or in the other line. So we got sat when the restaurant got to us, which was pretty quick.

They sat us at a table with four seats. We were next to a table with two seats. At the same time that we were being sat by the restaurant staff, the two-top was also being sat; a man and a woman. The woman looked at me for a moment or two while we all were looking at the menus and then said quite audibly, “No WAY!” I looked up and there was a person who I knew from New York City, actually someone who knew all of us, except for the newest of us of course. It was really eerie actually running into someone I know on the other side of the world! Nice tone to start off the new city though.

We went to see the Opera house and the beautiful gardens at the harbor. We rode the land train around the grounds and snapped tons of photos of all the interesting stuff. We met other friends and their children for a day at the Taronga Zoo, and snapped more lovely photos. We went to the beaches at Bronte, Bondi and Coogee and of course snapped lovely photos and even swam in the ocean. We had a Chrismas Day dinner at the friends house with their lovely family. I watched the Boxing Day Cricket Match. TheBubster really enjoyed playing in the playground across the street from us, nearly every night.

We had a wonderful time in Sydney, TheWife just did not want to leave. I beleive that she is still a bit sad to have to return to the cold winter within which our home is enshrouded. The airplane rides were really quite undramatic, both kids are professional world travellers now and everything works out quite well. I think I am too. I went out with TheBubster to fetch milk and cereal this morning and we had to get dressed up to do so, instead of just throwing on a pair of thongs (flip-flops) and shorts to walk out the door we had to bundle up and trudge. Oh well, I do love me some winter and I am so looking forward to the incredible change to this country over the next four years, so it will be good to be home, in time….

 Technorati Tags: travel, Sydney, Australia, Cambridge, change

18 Dec 08 Fun in Adelaide

There’s a little microtrend in here. We go to visit people in a new city, and midway through the trip we go off to a holiday from our holiday. It’s sort of funny, we go through the whole packing process and taking even less of our stuff with us, and travel away for a couple of days. This time we went to Middleton which is on the coast. And we had a view like this for three or four days; I can’t be bothered with counting the days here.

After the trips are over, we go back to the little town or village where we are staying (oh come on! we lived in NYC for a decade nearly every place in the world is a little town comparatively speaking!!) and resume our little visiting lives. Mostly what we are doing is trying to grow our infant son, and keep our daughter, TheBubster, happy and entertained while observingvisiting friends. It’s a very relaxing process. I spend lots of time playing the didgiredoo, didjeridu, didgeridoo, you spell it how you like, watching cricket when I can and working out the assigments for my schoolwork. TheWife has lots of people crawling all over her needing things from her but it looks like we’ll live and well!

Tomorrow we head off for the final chapter in this adventure.

Technorati Tags: Adelaide, Middleton, South Australia

12 Dec 08 Skype (even for Linux)

The internet has brought about great changes in the way we communicate on this planet. If you haven’t heard by now, there is a service provided by Skype that allows for free phone calls worldwide via the internet. They even have a Linux client, supposedly my hone allows me to receive Skype on it as well, (my Skype account name is n8k99_ , don’t forget the underscore at the end there.)

To get Skype up and working, make sure you have a microphone and speakers or headphones (and a webcam if you like), then visit this page to download a client. On Ubuntu you save the file, then navigate to the directory you saved it in and right click on the file and install.

Once it is installed, setup an account and call away!

Technorati Tags: Skype, calls, Linux, Ubuntu

11 Dec 08 Good cricket

It was remarkable luck that we remembered that we had been advised to go see some cricket while in Adelaide. It was remarkable because there was a singe day match, the last cricket on the famous Adelaide Oval before the Christmas Break. So we just remembered it, and happened to time it right and went for the evening session.

Single day cricket is a shortened version of the game, I could not tell you the complete difference between full cricket match and single day, but it was certainly exciting to watch it live. I could not help mentally comparing it to baseball, after all our family has been to Fenway Park four times this year. The major difference that I noticed is that cricket is much more about finesse and delicate skill than baseball which is a game of powerful and aggressive clashes.

We managed to see the local team (Adelaide Redbacks) catch up and beat the visiting team (Tasmanian Tigers). There were some really exciting moments like when Klinger got his century or the three 6’s in a row during a late Power Play. Overall it was a nice night out for the family.

Technorati Tags: cricket, Adelaide, family

07 Dec 08 Onwards

So, today we jumped on a flight from Perth to Adelaide, which means I need to talk a bit about Perth.

It sucked.

Ok, that was harsh, but it was difficult and I imagine it was not all that bad for visiting an isolated mining town on the final edge of the Earth. It did have beautiful beaches after all. The rest of it was rougb about the edges which was completely the result of its economic position in the supply chain of raw materials; currently they are heading to China to build their infrastructure.

There were some really bright points, such as our three day visit to Rottnest Island, where TheBubster saw Quokkas and Peacocks in the evenings after spending the days on the beach and swimming over the reefs. Another bright point was the spending the last couple days with an old theatre director of TheWife’s. They were absolutely delightful to visit.

The rest of it, well, perhaps bits and pieces will come out in the future as I digest it more. That’s all for now, watch for new photos in a couple of days.

Technorati Tags: Perth, Rottnest, OzTrip08

Tags: OzTrip08, Perth, Rottnest

23 Nov 08 Other side

okay dokey-

we are now in Perth. we had a flight in the middle of the night on Friday, i think it was Friday, and have been here at a friend’s house for two days, at least i think it has been two days. they have two little girls, one six months younger than TheBubster and the other seven months older than LittleBud. It has been a real joy staying here, if not completely draining, as the girls are even more independent of us now that they have a best mate to play with, eat with, dance with, be silly with and even bathe and sleep with. Basically they are together 24 hours, non-stop and are fast becoming best friends. The two youngest are obviously too young for all of this bonding stuff that is so fascinating for the eldest kids.

Today, there was a progressive dinner party in the neighborhood, and one of the guests of the party included another 3 year old girl. She was a complete whirlwind of physicality who had not had a nap and is not emotionally sophisticated enough to deal with that condition. The result was a couple of bruising exchanges between her and TheBubster where we got the short end of the crying stick. However, at the end of the party it was this dominating force of nature which cracked when she realized that she was the one who actually had to go home and give up all the ground she had gained while the other two girls were to remain quite comfortable in the final house of the dinner party.

I really am enjoying the amount of new experiences and learning which I am doing on this tour of Oz. I am particularly excited about the didjuridu which we purchased in Cairns before we left, and learning how to play it. I am concerned that these Aussies will find me tedious as I practice it, perhaps as if they may be over the instrument as they have had more exposure to it than I. Mostly I am enjoying learning this deceptively complex instrument- it is simple in construction but requires such great concentration and nuanced physical control to perform many of the sounds. Maybe while we are here, I can get some lessons from other didje players and learn a bit more. The guy in the shop where we bought it was extremely helpful and informative ad started me on the exploration process- now it would be really nice to come back with some more instructions.

Despite this wonderful experience, I am finding that there is a decrease in my schoolwork performance, thankfully there is only one class on my schedule- and I am also finding that my digital life is going through a doldrum as I am suffering from a severely cramped bandwidth restriction. But if that is the worst of my troubles then I am doing more than alright.Technorati Tags: didjuredu, dinner party, Perth, Australia

19 Nov 08 Comedy of Errors

Yesterday, tuesday for us, we were scheduled to take a tour to the Low Isles on the Great Barrier Reef. We were booked on board the Wavedancr III. We got there early and had dinner on the dock at a nice restaurant. Then we rode out on the boat to the Isles.

The Low Isles is somewhat famous as the place where Steve Irwin had his last dive. It is also the first place that TheBubster tried to snorkel. She didn’t really want to even though she did want to. Basically, she is still afraid of the water deeper than the bathtub. I hav been working with her on this trip and forcing her into deeper water and on this part where she had a lifevest on, I made her float on her back without being able to hold onto me. TheWife went on a snorkel tour by herself, and later she sat on the shore nursing LittleBud while I torturedtaught TheBubster her swimming lessons.

When we were preparing to reach the Low Isles, TheWife checked her wallet into the ship’s safe. When we arrived at the dock in Port Douglas, we left got in the car and headed home. Home is an hour away, at least. We called the tour operators and they said come in in the morning and get it.

So the next morning, today; Wednesday for us; we drove into Port Douglas to get the wallet. Then upon recommendation of our hosts we went to have brekkie at Soul N Pepper where we had a big breakfast beneath a couple of old canvas sails, which was good because it was raining men. I mean it was pouring. Rain. Hard. Really hard.

So after breakfast I asked the question, “What now?”

That is the point where it all started. We decided to drive to a place in the Tablelands called Atherton. It was a really interesting drive, we passed a lake on the way where there were lots of turtles on the road, so of course we stopped took a couple of photos, which I can not show you yet, because my camera/phone/GPS navigation device died of a drained battery not long after that moment.

We made it to Atherton, we went to the McDonald’s there after getting TheBubster a new set of clothes at a second hand store. She played with a bunch of kids on the playground; the first playground we have seen here that had kids on it. Then we set off home again.

We stopped in a neat Coffee Museum and then passed the lake again, but because the satnav was down, we missed the turn off back over the mountain to Port Douglas. oops.

At first, everything was lovely and pleasant and we didn’t notice anything awry, but then after a while of going over cattle grids in the road and seeing signs that warned us about cows knocking over the car, we suspected that we missed the turn. The road was long and straight and a consultation of our rudimentary maps lead us to believe that we were lost. Which made things seems a little concerning, and as the gas tank was at the halfway point, I was growing more and more concerned as the kilometers ticked over (you make the conversion to miles if you must).

Finally, we found a petrol station and relief was felt. The we reached an information point and were able to find the right path. We decided that we would not make it back to our cottage over night, and turned off the road and found Mungumby Lodge. Which was a very pleasant ending to the day.

There was one person working there, a very agreeable chap named Amish, if my hearing was correct, and a couple of Frenchmen who were guests. Our arrival was unexpected but appreciate and we settled in really quickly. Looks like a gem of a retreat to which we already believe we would like to return to at some later date, especially it is so remote and lovely!!!

16 Nov 08 more fun

so it’s now midnight Sunday, here in Queensland. I have had the notion of writing a couple of nice narrative pieces about our trip, with some clever photos stuck in the stories to illustrate, but alas I can not muster the energy at the moment. See while on this trip, I am still doing schoolwork as well as trying to entertain and please an independent three year old who is determined to interrupt a nursing mother who needs her rest. Plus, I have to connect to the internet over my phone, which is expensive, or drive nearly 50 kilometers (and burn petrol which is expensive). So instead, you will get the photos on the photo page as I can upload them and some stories when I can write them.

There is a waterfall and swimming hole on the property here, and TheBubster really loves to go there. Today after the the daily battle to enforce afternoon quiettime, she insisted that we all had to go to the waterfall. At dusk. Well, all the fish and turtles were out and expecting us to feed them, until TheBubster waded into the water and started bouncing about, they really made themselves scare once I found a stick and began to poke at them.

We are trying to teach our little barbarian some table manners. She is learning that the fork and knife are not to be touched until the food arrives. Its hard to learn, but will be necessary one day when she has to be on best behavior while having dinner in a castle.

Speaking of castles, I would like to state here and now, that it is not my intention to raise any “Princesses” or squeamish little wussies. So it is with great joy in my heart that I can report that TheBubster is completely excited with playing with the beetles that fly into the cottage every evening. She picks them up and carries them about, playing with them as if they were her best friends in the whole world.

The other child, LittleBud, is growing faster and faster. We put him on the tomato scales at the Supermarket the other day and he weighs 4.6 kg(I’ll let you use Google to convert that from Kilograms to pounds) His face is starting to get pudgy and round, its so funny. Everyone asks “How old is that one?” we tell them the correct age and then they make some nice compliments about the sling that ties him to my chest. It’s nice here, except for the driving on the left side of the road, and that’s really only bad cause the steering wheel is on the right side of the car, and that’s really only strange cause the turn signal lever is on the opposite side than you would instinctively reach for at every turn, thereby causing the windshield wipers to come on, in the middle of a very sunny and non-rainy country. So, except for that, all is good. hope you are too!

09 Nov 08 whew!

so we are here.

the flights were long and the transfers were hairy but we made it. the pacific ocean leg was particularly funny because everyone had their own telly and TheBubster was watching Little Einstein’s in the middle of the quiet sleeping time when she shouted out; wearing headphone; a line from the show “BLAST OFF!!!!” hilarity ensued.

so now we are in a tiny little place in the north east of the country, the closest point is called Daintree Village. we are actually staying in a cottage on a working cattle farm. there is a 12 meter high waterfall and swimming hole forty-five minute (hour and a half with really short legs) hike away from us. TheBubster and I went to check it out the first day after we slept. TheWife and LittleBud have been spending a great deal of time bonding with each other.

Today we went to an actual rain forest and saw all sorts of stuff. If you haven’t noticed by now that there is a new Photos tab at the top, all the latest photos will be in the folder for the most recent month. Anyways that’s it for now.

06 Nov 08 Couple of Notes

Eating dinner in the airport does not count as visiting Los Angeles, but we will call it as a visit anyway. TheBubster fell asleep about an hour outside of LA, and is now comfy on the floor next to her brother. So we have made the first step. Next we cross the Pacific Ocean and will land in Brisbane, until then everyone can rest assured that we do fully intend to use our return flight tickets as a direct result of yesterday’s results. Thank you to everyone who participated in our democracy whether you supported the President-elect or not. Now the next thing we need to do is get behind him and turn this country around.