from SYDNEY: Off to NZ!

Living in the future as we are, it’s already Saturday and we are off to New Zealand this morning – most of us anyway. Special guest star Minda heads home to NYC, leaving the Seattleites to their own devices. We ‘ll see what happens!

Last I left you there was a slight hail storm outside.  I wish I could tell you that the weather improved,
but it was pretty hit or miss all week. On New years day, the rain storm changed our plans and we hit the aquarium first, which is great. I love aquariums in general, but this one is extra impressive with reef fish, sharks, sting rays and those cool things that live down here. The sun then emerged, so we hit a couple new parts of town, Newtown and Chinatown for the afternoon/evening. While the aquarium may have turned some people off of eating fish for the rest of the day, it only excited me & Eleni, so dinner was at a Chinese restaurant full of fresh fish tanks. Eleni & I had prawns & scallops – Minda & Kelli had pork

On Tuesday Kelli & Minda left us for a couple days to go to the reef. Eleni & I spent that day out on the
eastern part of town, taking a ferry to Watson’s Bay, wandering through the Gap where the ocean comes into the harbor, and walking back towards our house to Rose Bay, where we eventually had to catch a bus home b/c it started raining.

Wednesday we hit the zoo, which is huge and full of all the crazy animals that live down here. Right off the bat a kangaroo jumped right in front of us and then we saw koalas, wombats, platypus, crocodiles and even a Tasmanian devil, which just looks as mean and ugly as you think it would. The sun had been out all afternoon, so leaving the zoo we were gonna hit the beach at Balmoral for awhile. But as usual this week, the late shower moved in as we were waiting for the bus. It slowed down and stopped as we arrived at Balmoral, so we stayed dry as we ate fish & chips on the beach. Bellies full, we laid out and just as we got comfy, the familiar plink, plink, plink of raindrops began. We grabbed shelter under the roof of a wishing well, wishing very hard that it would stop. Perhaps because we didn’t actually throw a coin into the fountain while wishing, it began to rain harder & harder. So we caught the bus up to Mosman to look around for a bit, before returning home.

That night we headed down the hill from our house to Stanley street in East Sydney where we had a great meal. I finally had some potato wedges with sour cream & sweet chili sauce which I had been craving.  And, I found my new favorite appy/side dish: wood-fired ciabatta with honey & basil. YUM! so good. Anyone coming to my house in the near future will get to sample…

On Thursday Eleni & I split up for the day, so I did a lot of neighborhood wandering. First down to Surry Hills to check out Cafe Sopra, but sadly it was closed. Like the rain, this was an all too familiar
sight this week: stores and restaurants opening & closing whenever they wanted with no warning or
reason. From there I hit downtown for a bit, then Glebe, the Sydney Fish Market, Rozelle and Balmain.
It was finally a nice day out, so it was fun to just wander about and see new places. At the Sydney Fish
Market I had a snack that would make my Minnesota riends proud: Fried Octupus on a stick! (While in
Minnesota this summer I learned that they put everything on a stick and fry it!) mmm…

I met back-up with Eleni at home where we had happy hour on our sunny deck, looking out over the harbor.  So nice! We ordered dinner from an Indian spot up the street and shared adventures with Minda & Kelli who returned home from the reef.

Today was our last day in Sydney and it was a great one. Clear blue skies and nothing but sun! In the
morning, Eleni & Kelli went to climb the bridge, while Minda & I went to the top of the AMP Sydney Tower (like the Space Needle). The views were clear and spectacular, and the visit also included a little
Disneyland-like adventure, OzTrek. OzTrek featured old school dioramas with Obi-won Kenobi like
projections telling us all about the land of Oz, until we then got on a virtual ride across the country. It
was very entertaining.

We all met up at Circular Quay then and caught the ferry to Manly to spend the afternoon at the beach. It was an awesome afternoon – beach was packed, and it was a great finish to the week. Group dinner near home capped off a good time.

Alrighty, gotta go finish laundry, packing, and sleeping before waking up in six hours to head to New
Zealand. Have a great weekend!

from Sydney: Happy New Year!

It’s already 2007 down under, so Happy New Year to all of you!

Left Seattle Thursday night, where I met up with Eleni at Sea-Tac. She was scheduled on the flight before me to LA, but both of our flights were delayed due to the big storm in Colorado. So, I worked my way onto her flight to ensure I wouldn’t miss my Sydney connection if my original flight kept being delayed.

LAX is in major need of an upgrade – It is ugly, boring and a very sad place to be. We wandered as far
and wide as we could before sitting at our gate to board. Arriving on the plane, we played a long game
of musical chairs with various folks in our area and eventually came out on top with three seats to share between the two of us. Those extra inches really count on a 14 hour flight. United economy is still living in the dark ages, with an old school screen for the whole area, instead of individual entertainment centers in each seat. None the less, we were still amused by Talladega Nights before catching some zzz’s. The flight was pretty smooth and over surprisingly fast. And in case anyone is headed to trivia night anytime soon, it takes approx 8.5 hours to fly from LA to the international date line

Arriving in Sydney, we found Kelli all alone at her baggage carousel, looking for her bag. Sadly, two
days later, it has yet to be seen. Hopefully it will arrive today! With our bags in tow, we exited customs, found our other friend, Minda, and caught a cab to our apartment.

I found our apartment on Craigslist, and it couldn’t be a better spot for our vacation. Great location
with a view of the bridge and top of the Opera House.  Near a train station and bus routes, we are accessible to all the things we wanna do!

Since we arrived on a Saturday, my planned first stop (whether the rest of the group liked it or not) was the Paddington Market, where lots of Sydney Designers have gotten their start. We ate lunch at the food booths there and each wandered off to find some treasures. I bought a skirt, Kelli bought a bag, Eleni got some earrings and Minda got a couple tops.  Successful shopping for all!

From there we headed to Circular Quay, the heart of Sydney, and hopped on a ferry to enjoy the harbor.  Later we walked through the Rocks (the Pioneer Square of Sydney), and headed back towards our neighborhood for dinner. (Julie C, remember the Paper Box Thai Noodle House by Kings Cross? That’s where we ate!  Our apartment is right there!) For the rest of the night we just camped out at home, unpacking, doing our first load of laundry (smelly plane clothes) and plotting the rest of our week before crashing into bed.

One distraction I forgot to mention about our landing was the weather. It was raining when we landed. It cleared up the last couple days, but it is currently raining again – not especially helpful when we planned to spend the day at the beach.

But like I said, yesterday was pretty good, so we headed out to Bondi, one of the big surfing beaches.
Apparently Paris Hilton had been there the day before, promoting some new beer called Bondi Blonde, and she would be around later that evening to host a big party for New Years Eve. We hopped off the bus near the Bondi Market where I bought a cute little case for my MP3 player, and then we grabbed lunch before hitting the beach. Minda, Eleni & I set ourselves up for sunbaking while Kelli took off in search of a surfboard. It was very odd to be on a sunny beach on New Years Eve – odd in an enjoyable way of course. Gradually during our time there, the wind continued to pick up a little at a time, and around 3:30pm it was quite breezy. Kelli even had to stop surfing because the wind was too much, and the life guards were busy getting folks out of rip tides. With the temperatures dropping, we packed up and hit the Bondi Junction mall for a bit owned by local outfit, Westfield, which owns
Southcenter Mall in Seattle.  (A little more trivia for you all!) Then it was time to head home for New Years Eve.

New Years Eve in Sydney is obviously a big deal, with not one, but two fireworks shows. The first, at
9:00pm, is smaller and for families. The second, at midnight, is the big one. Figuring that restaurants
would be closed or super-pricey, we had bought food to cook for dinner at apartment while watching the 9:00pm fireworks from the deck. Then Eleni & I were gonna walk down to the harbor for the midnight show. This all went according to plan until about 10:45pm, when we arrived at the Botanical gardens and they weren’tletting anyone else in towards the harbor. Sad, but luckily we had our deck to return to. Our apartment building is kind of a big tall eyesore in the middle of the area, so with it’s views, the residents have lots of parties. This meant extra security for the evening, and special passes to get in/out of the building. We enjoyed the big show from our deck, along with all of our neighbors on accompanying balconies. While the show was great, with fireworks coming off the bridge, off the top of buildings, and up & down the harbor, it was only about 15 minutes long, much shorter than I expected it to be, given our 4th of July ones are usually 20 minutes. Still exciting though.

Side Note – I believe it might be hailing a little at the moment. We will definitely need a new plan for
the day.

The excitement did not stop with the fireworks though.  Shortly before 1:00am, the fire alarms started going off in or building, so we had to evacuate. Luckily we are only on the 8th floor (out of 43), so it was quick, and by the time we got to the bottom, we could go back up, because it was a false alarm. A little more revelry in our house, and then off to bed.

So, again, happy new years to you all – it’s now 10:30am. I made pancakes and eggs for the girls this
morning, and now we need to come up with a new plan for the day. Talk to you soon!