Kiss goodbye, and within 30 seconds I can see the water,
smell the waves and feel the cool sand. As the sun is coming up over Bondi
(bond- I ) Beach I am off for a run. Bondi to Bronti is filled with runners,
walkers, dog lovers, buff dudes and fit chicks, sunbaked tourists and plenty of
selfies. About two miles each way, small climbs and a winding path carved out
along the coast. A pod of at least 30 dolphins entertaining the masses as they
clamor for a morning meal leaping and diving through the turquoise water.
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| Cool dogs |
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| Phan on her birthday morning walk |
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| Beautiful Bondi Beach |
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| Steve + boobs to the right |
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| We had to stop and see the dolphin show |
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| Bronti |
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| Bronti Beach |
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| Manly Beach |
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| Phan loving the clear water |
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| Krispy Kream for brekkie |
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| rocks along our scenic walk |
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| Steve getting ready to jump into the water |
It is in many ways unimaginative to boil Australia down to
one simplistic phrase, but perhaps that is not necessarily a knock on the
Aussies, but a tip of the cap to another place. Beautiful coastlines, white
beaches, easiness in the air that reminds me of something.
Bus 333 drops us at Circular Quay (KEY) and there is a
boardwalk with some shops and a cruise ship has pulled into port. While they’re
busily browsing through the brimming businesses, Phan and I are taking in the
iconic Sydney Opera House. Pretty neat looking building that overlooks the
harbor and is directly across from the Sydney Harbor Bridge.
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| Opera House |
We decide that the contemporary arts museum will provide our
culture for the day and are told that beverages are not allowed and that we’d
have to check our bottle of Coke. Imagine being asked to check 5 fluid ounces
of your favorite beverage and being given a ticket to redeem for your item
after you had concluded your visit, in a word, Awesome. With our high fructose
corn syrup secured in its cubbie, I turn to catch up with Phan who has already
entered the first exhibit hall, she is in what appears to be a spirited
discussion with one of the staff members about the art on the “art” (wood
planks suspended at different angles) so I make my way around the room allowing
Phan the opportunity to conclude her conversation with this old, but not
elderly man who is clearly an admirer of the arts. Turns out this guy doesn’t
even work there and Phan was being hit on, haha. I got a kick out of it, but we
had to spend the rest of our time in the museum ducking around corners to avoid
her new acquaintance.
Nearby is the Rocks, old part of Sydney, touristy cafes and
shops, with signage about what old Sydney was like. Note that I mean what the
British consider old, not the indigenous folks.
Just behind the Opera House is the Royal Botanical Gardens,
a huge park with winding paths, ponds, a few cafes, and picnickers. Mature
trees and flower gardens lead down to the harbor, a massive green space in the
heart of downtown Sydney or CBD central business district. Flanked by museums
and historic buildings leaves me reminiscing about another place.
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| The Rock neighborhood |
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| Cool cars at the Rock |
Back in Bondi now and looking for some beer. Not in the gas
station, not in the grocery store, not even in 7/11(that’s when I knew we
weren’t in America) You can only get booze from bottle shops, now the yuppies
in Portland will keep the spirits or hard stuff in what normal people would
call liquor stores, but sure enough they keep ALL of it under tight control.
Wow pretty Dundee Australia, Beer is $4 a bottle for the cheapest piss beer,
think Fosters, while a case will set you back between $50-$70, pretty pricey so
I refrain in disbelief.
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| Heaven for Steve - San Diego Beers! |
Meet up with my brother’s friend Lobo for a nice lunch at a
local pizza joint. I did order a beer, Dad and Dave’s #1 Ale, pretty good along
with my pizza. Had a great lunch getting to know a new friend, looking forward
to repaying the favor the next time they make it to the mainland.
(Ethnocentrism Anyone)
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| Trevor Lobo & us |
Great little apt reminded us of a little place that we
stayed in before where the planes seemed to fly right over your head, geeze
this place just keeps doing that.
We ate: Subway, McDonald’s, some sort of famous meat pie,
phan had lattes all day, broke down and paid for beer, went to a few cafes,
etc.
Sorry, should have just skipped to this. Phan’s birthday,
roamed around town, ended up at a grocery store and got some pretty exquisite
shrimp to accompany a marinated leg of lamb and dined in, my only contribution
was cocktail sauce made with wasabi and ketchup, best meal I’ve had since
leaving the US. All around fantastic day.
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| Phan's birthday dinner (prawns, salad & leg of lamb roast) |
Next day we decide that we’re going to pack a lunch and a
dinner and head to the harbor early to get a spot for the fireworks to welcome
in the New Year. The area we were trying to go to was closed by the time we
arrived at 1:45 pm, so we settled for another great location, only drawback,
sans alcohol. It made for a very grumpy bunch of people, not belligerent, but
surely for certain. We slept, we ate, we slept, watched some low budget flying
exhibition and alas the clock struck midnight, we had waited in the heat for
nearly 12 hours what turned out to be a 12 minute fireworks display, somewhere
I had read that it lasted for an hour, I really misread that one. After pushing
and shoving, being stepped on, sunburnt and perfectly sober we welcomed in the New
Year with 1.6 million others by watching the most incredible fireworks display
either of us had ever seen. Well worth the wait. Seriously, that bridge was
pretty cool. We spent the whole day trying to remember the last New Year’s and
what we did, don’t think we’ll have that problem next year.
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| air show |
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| nap time while waiting for the fireworks |
Here's a link to the fireworks!
Took a plane to Melbourne, think second fiddle, or perhaps
the Portland of Australia, artsy hipsters, facial piercings, great fresh food
though. We watched a movie, drank smoothies, went to the market every day we
were there and ate and ogled at food we knew we would miss when we left. Met up
with some Aussie friends and had dinner and saw some sights, went to the beach
and a few more below average museums for good measure.
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| View from the river |
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| owl, reminds us of Mabel |
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| Some famous place |
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| Cool wall art |
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| Megan & Steve |
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| Queen Victoria Market (Steve at the corner) |
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| American, British & Australian |
Took a taxi, plane, bus, plane, plane, and a taxi and made
it back home to our beloved four legged child Hooner, a little chubby, but
otherwise ok. One semester down, second one starts Thursday.
So, while we didn’t see but a small fraction of Australia,
the parts we did see were more similar to San Diego then different. It was
comfortable and relaxing. We enjoyed our time there and have recharged our
batteries for the rest of our Cambodian adventure.
