Australia (part 1)

Hi folks,

Before we share our Aussie experience, we must first take a few moments to reflect on the glory of our beloved laptop. So here goes:



Ode On a Second-hand Laptop

Oh glorious lappy, so transportable and light
Your black exterior darker than night.
Versatility your virtue, reliability your strength
A whopping eight gig hard drive, yet just twelve inches in length.

We thank you, thank you, for all that you do
Just one month into our trip, we feared we'd lost you
But lo and behold, our fears were unfounded.
And now our appreciation for you has compounded.

So carry on, thou little black box of wonder
And never let us be torn asunder.
Without your processing power, we'd be up against a wall.
And remember, "Beauty is truth, truth beauty"---that is all

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming. The adventure in the Land Down Under started in Melbourne, where we were greeted with the familiar faces of friends, Rebecca Hill and her family, Simon, Romany, and Inez. Melbourne is a unique, cosmopolitan city that looks much larger on the map than it really is. We explored much of it by foot, including the massive Victoria Market, where vendors were selling everything from fresh foods to fake watches. Jason ended up buying this hokey black leather belt with Australian imprints.

Later that day, we went to a footy (i.e., Australian Football) match. The AFL match was a lot of fun, though the crowd was much tamer than we were expecting. Perhaps it was because the beer they served (Victoria Bitter) was dreadful. AF is sort of like hockey on grass with bits of rugby, soccer, and even basketball thrown in. And of course reckless abandon amongst the padless players. The stadium was nearly filled to capacity because it was the 1st place team in town, the Geelong Cats vs. the North Melbourne Kangaroos (actually both are based in the Melbourne vicinity). The Cats were clearly the better team and won the match 118-91, although at one point the Roos had closed to within two points. To let you know how exciting of a match it was, Priti actually paid attention to the entire game rather than peoplewatch (as she does at every baseball game Jason has dragged her to). The frontrunner for the AFL MVP scored five goals, yet the fans didn’t appear too appreciative; perhaps he’s Australia’s A-Rod.

Our Ausssie tour continued with a drive to Philip Island, a wildlife haven. We went to the Koala Sanctuary where upon treetop boardwalks we found ourselves face to face with a mother koala and her joey (baby). Although koalas sleep for 16-20 hours per day, we were lucky enough to see (and capture on video) the joey come out of her mother's pouch and cling to her belly as she climbed down one tree, took a sniff of some koala droppings, and then proceeded to climb another tree. This amazing experience was followed by sightings of kangaroos in the woods or "scrubs" as the Aussies call them. Hippity-hop they went, stopping occasionally to stare at us. Moving along to another area of Philip Island, we sat along a boardwalk, watched the sunset over hills and the ocean, and then saw hundreds of Little Penguins (creativity isn't one of the Aussies' strengths), swim out of the ocean onto the beach and waddle to their nests. They emerged out of the ocean in groups of six to ten, and some of the groups kept going back in to the water, and it took them multiple attempts to muster enough courage to waddle all the way up the beach to their nests. The set up allowed us to get within arms reach of the penguins. They made a squeaky, gurgling sound as each individual stood guard of its nest. Unfortunately, we couldn't take any pics because this area was protected and the flashes would scare them.

Melbourne reminded us of Chicago, with its second city complex and concerted efforts at self-promotion, lots of quality restaurants, quality museums, and obsessiveness over professional sports. Priti loved it. At night, we ventured to the trendy St. Kilda neighborhood to see some good old fashioned rock n' roll.

After four days there, we said goodbye to our hosts and went to Sydney where we stayed in the King's Cross neighborhood, renowned for its colorful clientele. Unfortuately, the rain followed us from NZ, but we still ventured out to explore the city. At the wharf, we listened to an Aboriginal with a painted face and body play the Didgeridoo on the wharf and we also witnessed a woman contort her body into a small plexiglass box. She literally could have kissed her own arse. We took the ferry to Manly beach and had good sunset views of the Opera House and the Sydney Bridge. The following day we finally splurged at Sushi Rio, taking whichever dishes we wanted from the conveyor belt as they passed by (sushi train). Following lunch, we went to the Chinese Garden, an oasis of tranquility within the mania that is Sydney. Interestingly, given our Melbourne/Chicago perceptions, Sydney reminded us of NYC - lots of beautiful, stylishly dressed people, cuisine from all over the world, and a night life that goes until the wee hours of the mornin'.

The road north led next to Byron Bay, which was recommended by many fellow travelers. Sadly, the weather once again was not very good so we couldn't do that much in Byron itself. One of the highlights was a day trip to Nimbin, Australia’s version of Amsterdam. The rest of the time in Byron was spent on the beach. We also came across this massive tree that was filled with hundreds of parrots, who must have been in mating season because they were all paired up and singing to the high heavens. Our next stop was Noosa, although since it had been completely under water from flooding the week before, our hostel room smelled like mildew. Not a fun experience sleeping that night but good things were just around the corner...

Australia is so massive that it's been a challenge to find time to update the blog, but there will be more updates coming very soon along with pics. Take care everyone!