The last days in Sydney were my recuperation time. On Monday, I literally did nothing all day, then Lorenzo came over in the evening to Mark’s. We went to the supermarket so I could make a quick meal of burrito type things, with my guacamole (yum) and then he made a really, really, really tasty blackberry slice. It was like a giant huge blackberry crostatine. The crust was like shortbread, mmm. I love Italian people who can cook. Actually, I love all people who can cook. We watched The Motorcycle Diaries in the wee hours of the morning, and I am really glad that we chose to do so. I think the last time I saw it had been in the States about 2 years ago, and it was a very appropriate choice for what’s happening at the moment. That being, I’m just in a bit of a slump, not really sure what the future holds, not sure why I’m traveling, where I’m going, how long I’ll be there for, etc…so seeing Che via Gael (sigh…) and his monumental physical, mental, and spiritual journey across South America was somehow fitting. A reminder of where I’ve been, as well as new things I haven’t seen yet, and perhaps the same inspiration and realization of a passion and dream. We shall just have to see.
Tuesday I was lazy all day, and then in the evening I went to the CBD to meet Lindsey. I last saw Lindsey when she and Andy stayed with me in Tokyo in Spring 2006 when they were finishing up their round the world trip of a year. I have to admit I was a bit nervous, not sure of how much she and I both had changed, but I was excited to see her anyway. It didn't take long to realize that we still have the same dynamic, and we quickly poured out our observations on where we’d come from and where we’re going, or not knowing, or something really confusing like that. She and Andy bought a wooden house in Mission Beach, in the jungle 2 hours from Cairns, which unfortunately I didn't get to go see on this trip. However, speaking with her about it made me really want to go and spend some time there in the future. We talked about family, distances of physical, emotional, and intellectual levels, and what we have thought of for the future. It was a short meeting time-wise, but it was so nourishing. Thanks Linz!
I had started some sort of moviewatching spree, since I haven’t seen basically any movies for the whole time I’ve lived in Japan. Mark had a good collection, and I watched Hidden (Cache) a French movie, then late night I watched Lantana, an Australian flick. Both were good.
On Wednesday I had been determined to get up early and do the coastal walk from Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach, but in the morning it was rainy and not very inviting. Ahh well, back to bed. I ran errands before going to meet Matt at Town Hall. We went to Redoak Pub, where they brew their own beers, including their signature Framboise (yum), and we had a great lunch there. Porcini pappardelle, I was in heaven. I went back home to take a nap, and in the afternoon I went to meet Evin in Lewisham. We had a relaxed lazy night involving movies (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, then Dogville). Is it just me or are movies these days getting more disturbing, paranoid, and psychological? Or is it just the ones I happen to pick?
On Thursday morning, it was grey and uninviting again, but I worked up my willpower and decided that I had to go do the Bondi to Coogee walk. When I arrived at Bondi, it wasn't raining but it wasn't great weather either. Despite this, I thought it was beautiful. It’s remarkable that you can be this close to a large metropolis and have clean beaches with beautiful water. There were a few crazy surfers in the water, and a fair amount of tourists and exercise fanatics.
The walk takes about 2 hours, passing by coastal cliffs, several beaches, including Tamarama and Bronte Beaches, the spectacular Waverley Cemetery which looks out onto crashing waves, and several small parks that are nature reserves. It rained for most of the time I was walking, but it was a pleasant soft-falling rain for most of it, and I enjoyed it. From Coogee, I went back to Mark’s and chilled out for the afternoon.
Thursday night, Mark took me to dinner in Newtown. We went to Linda’s, a fancy Australian place. We shared everything we got – a blue cheese cauliflower custard, artichokes with marinated feta, lamb loin with asparagus fritters and grilled eggplant and tomato, and a huge steak with spinach and mashed potatoes in béarnaise sauce. Yum. Top it off with a bottle of New Zealand Pinot Noir and I could barely move.
At home, we performed our ritual of watching UK The Weakest Link and that was it. Friday morning was early, and I arrived at the airport with plenty of time.
So I’m headed to the US, and it will be interesting, part of me thinks that it must have changed a lot in the past 2 years since I’ve been there, and part of me thinks that it won’t have changed at all. The question, though, is how much I’ve changed. We shall see.
Showing posts with label Sydney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sydney. Show all posts
Monday, August 20, 2007
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Australia: Katoomba/Sydney/Wollongong: 7-12 August 2007 (Written 12 August 2007)
Wow, so much to write as a lot has happened in the past week...
On Monday evening Bronwen, Matt, and I drove up to Katoomba. Katoomba is the main town in the Blue Mountains, located about 2 hours west of Sydney. We spent the night at the YHA there, and on Tuesday morning, started walking before 7am. We did a walk starting from Echo Point down to the Three Sisters, over to Leura Cascades, down Federal Pass, and over to the Scenic Railway. It took several hours, and was a fantastic walk.
The Three Sisters are an interesting rock formation, 3 peaks just next to each other jutting out of the cliff. There is an Aboriginal legend that a wizard turned three beautiful sisters into stone to protect them from the attention of ill-meaning men, and before he could turn them back into beautiful girls, the wizard died. Going over to Leura Cascades, we passed through beautiful eucalypt forest, frequently passing through lookouts looking into the valley. The Blue Mountains are called as such because the leaves from the eucalypt trees actually create a bluish mist, and from far away, the mountains actually appear blue.
From Leura Cascades, you descend steeply for about a kilometer on the Federal Pass track; the vegetation changes drastically, into rainforest with giant tree ferns. We then ascended for awhile to again walk beneath the Three Sisters, and I saw 4 lyrebirds that day! How exciting ; ) These fascinating birds, that are on Australian coins, are known for being able to mimic any sound that they hear - this includes not only other birds' calls, but also car alarms and chainsaws.
When we arrived at the Scenic Railway, the quietness of the track was quickly transformed into dozens of Japanese tourists. The Scenic Railway is the steepest railway in the world, and goes nearly straight up or downhill. We were going up, and it was terrifying.
We then went over to Blackheath, where the Grose Valley is. We had lunch, then went on an easy one hour walk on the Fairfield Circuit Track, passing through a few different lookouts. We then drove over to a few other lookouts, at Pulpit Rock, Anvil Rock, and a few others in the area. We headed back to Sydney in the late afternoon, and we spent a quiet evening back in Lane Cove.
On Wednesday morning, I woke up feeling really really horrible. Even more horrible than I thought I would have considering how much I had walked the day before. My head was pounding, and my whole body ached. I wasn't sure what was up, but Chris had just sent me directions to get to the Chinese Massage place in the city that Jade, who is a nurse in Sydney, goes to, so I decided I would go check it out. I made some phone calls and finally headed into town.
I ended up walking a lot around the city before going over to find the Pain Relief Centre. They were able to take me right away, and at $50 for an hour Whole Body Massage, it was a great deal. I was in severe pain and struggled to keep from crying out for parts of the massage. Afterwards, I got a fresh squeezed juice and vegetated in Hyde Park. By this time, I definitely had a full-blown fever.
I got back to Lane Cove and passed out after taking some medicine. In the evening I moved to Mark's place and immediately began to feel better. We had an early night which was good.
On Thursday, I still wasn't feeling perfect, so after breakfast I went back to sleep. Mark and I went on a walk around the area in the afternoon - University of Sydney, Newtown, and back. I really like the University of Sydney, with large open green spaces and old buildings. King Street, the main street in Newtown, is packed with great little eateries and pubs and shops. It reminds me a lot of Brunswick Street or Acland Street in Melbourne, and has a great young vibe.
I met Lorenzo in the late afternoon on campus and we walked and walked. We ended up going to a yummy noodle place in Chinatown, which I really enjoyed, and then went to meet his friends at The Clare Hotel. Stayed for a bit then back up to Harbord. It's nice, commuting on the ferry to Manly. On Friday, I slept in, then went down to Curl Curl Beach. It's a beautiful, quite large, nearly empty beach, and I found myself a rock to perch on while I read my book. I then continued to walk along the coast to Freshwater Beach, then down to Manly Beach. I jumped on a bus in Manly to get to Cremorne where I was meeting Brad.
The last time I saw Brad was January 2006 in Vail, Colorado where he had been working winters as a shuttle bus driver. We'd both travelled heaps since then and it was really great to catch up with him. He had recently spent time in Mexico and Guatemala before coming back to Australia for the first time in 2.5 years, so I felt like we had a similar sort of situation, in terms of returning to the old stomping grounds, not knowing what on earth to do for an occupation, missing being on the road, and a love for Latin American culture. It was great to see that after 20 months of not having seen him, we could still get on as we had in the past. Lots of random conversation and brainstorming; all good stuff.
I met Lorenzo in Manly in the evening, and we shopped for that night's dinner. Back at his place, he treated me to a FAN-tastic Italian meal, and in true fastidious Italian fashion, we had a primo piatti and secondo piatti - mushroom and rosemary creamy penne, and eggplant parmigiana, with real Italian Grana Padano...YUM. We decided not to go back into the city and instead went for a walk along the beach and it was beautiful, lots of stars, listening to the waves. Ahh I had forgotten how much I missed leaving near the beach in California.
Saturday morning I slept in longer than I thought I would which meant that I rushed to have breakfast and then I had to go. Caught the ferry from Manly and then I transferred down to Central Station. I got on the train to Otford, where Karen and her boyfriend Lukito were meeting me. Otford is at the southernmost end of Royal National Park, and I instantly felt a refreshing breeze when I got off the train. There was green everywhere, and the sky was a deep bright blue. We went to Garie Beach, which is in Royal National Park, and then we parked the car and went on the Coast Walk - we only did a few kilometers each way but there were some great views, and nice walking tracks.
We hung out at the Scarborough Pub, situated on cliffs overlooking the sea - a wonderful way to spent a Saturday afternoon. After a nap at Karen's place, we went to Sonny's Pizza for her friend's birthday dinner. Yummy gourmet pizza followed by a chocolate fountain at her house...mmm.
And today, after a nice sleep-in, Karen and I drove down the coast to Kiama where she grew up. We went on a walk along the coast, down to the river, and afterwards went to her parents' house. Her 15-month old nephew Lucas was there, and man was he cute. We had an enormous lunch and it was great to meet her family - they were really welcoming and we had a great time. Jumped on the train in Wollongong and I went back up to Sydney to Mark's. I arrived just in time for a huge barbecue that he was having with a few friends. So, the weekend turned out great and I feel much better than I did mid-week, so that's good.
It feels really strange that I'm leaving Australia so soon, yet at the same time I feel really ready to go. It feels like I've been here a really long time, at the same time I realize I've only seen a microscopic portion of the country. We'll see how the rest of the week goes; I'm happy to just relax and catch up on reading and writing before I get to L.A., which I'm really excited for :)
On Monday evening Bronwen, Matt, and I drove up to Katoomba. Katoomba is the main town in the Blue Mountains, located about 2 hours west of Sydney. We spent the night at the YHA there, and on Tuesday morning, started walking before 7am. We did a walk starting from Echo Point down to the Three Sisters, over to Leura Cascades, down Federal Pass, and over to the Scenic Railway. It took several hours, and was a fantastic walk.
The Three Sisters are an interesting rock formation, 3 peaks just next to each other jutting out of the cliff. There is an Aboriginal legend that a wizard turned three beautiful sisters into stone to protect them from the attention of ill-meaning men, and before he could turn them back into beautiful girls, the wizard died. Going over to Leura Cascades, we passed through beautiful eucalypt forest, frequently passing through lookouts looking into the valley. The Blue Mountains are called as such because the leaves from the eucalypt trees actually create a bluish mist, and from far away, the mountains actually appear blue.
From Leura Cascades, you descend steeply for about a kilometer on the Federal Pass track; the vegetation changes drastically, into rainforest with giant tree ferns. We then ascended for awhile to again walk beneath the Three Sisters, and I saw 4 lyrebirds that day! How exciting ; ) These fascinating birds, that are on Australian coins, are known for being able to mimic any sound that they hear - this includes not only other birds' calls, but also car alarms and chainsaws.
When we arrived at the Scenic Railway, the quietness of the track was quickly transformed into dozens of Japanese tourists. The Scenic Railway is the steepest railway in the world, and goes nearly straight up or downhill. We were going up, and it was terrifying.
We then went over to Blackheath, where the Grose Valley is. We had lunch, then went on an easy one hour walk on the Fairfield Circuit Track, passing through a few different lookouts. We then drove over to a few other lookouts, at Pulpit Rock, Anvil Rock, and a few others in the area. We headed back to Sydney in the late afternoon, and we spent a quiet evening back in Lane Cove.
On Wednesday morning, I woke up feeling really really horrible. Even more horrible than I thought I would have considering how much I had walked the day before. My head was pounding, and my whole body ached. I wasn't sure what was up, but Chris had just sent me directions to get to the Chinese Massage place in the city that Jade, who is a nurse in Sydney, goes to, so I decided I would go check it out. I made some phone calls and finally headed into town.
I ended up walking a lot around the city before going over to find the Pain Relief Centre. They were able to take me right away, and at $50 for an hour Whole Body Massage, it was a great deal. I was in severe pain and struggled to keep from crying out for parts of the massage. Afterwards, I got a fresh squeezed juice and vegetated in Hyde Park. By this time, I definitely had a full-blown fever.
I got back to Lane Cove and passed out after taking some medicine. In the evening I moved to Mark's place and immediately began to feel better. We had an early night which was good.
On Thursday, I still wasn't feeling perfect, so after breakfast I went back to sleep. Mark and I went on a walk around the area in the afternoon - University of Sydney, Newtown, and back. I really like the University of Sydney, with large open green spaces and old buildings. King Street, the main street in Newtown, is packed with great little eateries and pubs and shops. It reminds me a lot of Brunswick Street or Acland Street in Melbourne, and has a great young vibe.
I met Lorenzo in the late afternoon on campus and we walked and walked. We ended up going to a yummy noodle place in Chinatown, which I really enjoyed, and then went to meet his friends at The Clare Hotel. Stayed for a bit then back up to Harbord. It's nice, commuting on the ferry to Manly. On Friday, I slept in, then went down to Curl Curl Beach. It's a beautiful, quite large, nearly empty beach, and I found myself a rock to perch on while I read my book. I then continued to walk along the coast to Freshwater Beach, then down to Manly Beach. I jumped on a bus in Manly to get to Cremorne where I was meeting Brad.
The last time I saw Brad was January 2006 in Vail, Colorado where he had been working winters as a shuttle bus driver. We'd both travelled heaps since then and it was really great to catch up with him. He had recently spent time in Mexico and Guatemala before coming back to Australia for the first time in 2.5 years, so I felt like we had a similar sort of situation, in terms of returning to the old stomping grounds, not knowing what on earth to do for an occupation, missing being on the road, and a love for Latin American culture. It was great to see that after 20 months of not having seen him, we could still get on as we had in the past. Lots of random conversation and brainstorming; all good stuff.
I met Lorenzo in Manly in the evening, and we shopped for that night's dinner. Back at his place, he treated me to a FAN-tastic Italian meal, and in true fastidious Italian fashion, we had a primo piatti and secondo piatti - mushroom and rosemary creamy penne, and eggplant parmigiana, with real Italian Grana Padano...YUM. We decided not to go back into the city and instead went for a walk along the beach and it was beautiful, lots of stars, listening to the waves. Ahh I had forgotten how much I missed leaving near the beach in California.
Saturday morning I slept in longer than I thought I would which meant that I rushed to have breakfast and then I had to go. Caught the ferry from Manly and then I transferred down to Central Station. I got on the train to Otford, where Karen and her boyfriend Lukito were meeting me. Otford is at the southernmost end of Royal National Park, and I instantly felt a refreshing breeze when I got off the train. There was green everywhere, and the sky was a deep bright blue. We went to Garie Beach, which is in Royal National Park, and then we parked the car and went on the Coast Walk - we only did a few kilometers each way but there were some great views, and nice walking tracks.
We hung out at the Scarborough Pub, situated on cliffs overlooking the sea - a wonderful way to spent a Saturday afternoon. After a nap at Karen's place, we went to Sonny's Pizza for her friend's birthday dinner. Yummy gourmet pizza followed by a chocolate fountain at her house...mmm.
And today, after a nice sleep-in, Karen and I drove down the coast to Kiama where she grew up. We went on a walk along the coast, down to the river, and afterwards went to her parents' house. Her 15-month old nephew Lucas was there, and man was he cute. We had an enormous lunch and it was great to meet her family - they were really welcoming and we had a great time. Jumped on the train in Wollongong and I went back up to Sydney to Mark's. I arrived just in time for a huge barbecue that he was having with a few friends. So, the weekend turned out great and I feel much better than I did mid-week, so that's good.
It feels really strange that I'm leaving Australia so soon, yet at the same time I feel really ready to go. It feels like I've been here a really long time, at the same time I realize I've only seen a microscopic portion of the country. We'll see how the rest of the week goes; I'm happy to just relax and catch up on reading and writing before I get to L.A., which I'm really excited for :)
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Australia: Sydney: 4-6 August, 2007 (Written 7 August, 2007)
Arriving in Sydney, it was instantly much warmer. Matt and Bron were there to get me, thankfully, and off we went. I have to admit that the first glimpse of the Sydney Opera House from the Harbor Bridge were impressive, even though I was surprised at how small the Opera House was (sorry, I know that sounds so superficial - it's just that in all the photos and things you always see, you imagine that it will be enormous). We arrived home at Lane Cove, and after a short break, headed back into town to meet Mark and his friend for dinner.
We went to a Korean restaurant where we were the only table with any non-Asians, and afterwards we went down to Darling Harbour to have a few drinks. I was exhausted from my walk and flight that day, so we turned in early - especially since I had a big day planned for Sunday.
Sunday morning Matt and I quickly ate breakfast and hopped on the 7.30am bus towards the Harbor Bridge. The bridge is one of the icons of Sydney, an enormous piece of metal - it actually took 9 years to build, and was 2 separate halves that were brought together and joined on top of the water. It's not necessarily a beautiful bridge, but the views to be had from it certainly are. Crossing the 1.2km bridge, you definitely get an idea of Sydney's reputation as a city by the sea, the urban sprawl, and the love of the outdoors; joggers, walkers, cyclists, kayakers, all going about their sport at 8am on a Sunday.
Once we finished crossing the bridge, we went down to Circular Quay to take a ferry over to Manly. Manly Beach is one of the most popular beaches in the Sydney area, and it is easy to understand why. Beautiful clean, golden sands and perfectly shaped waves roll in, with heaps of ocean view cafes and tacky crafts shops. It's a quintessential urban beach town. We walked along the beach to Shelly Beach, and up around on good tracks along the headland, and finally went back. I picked up an apple, watermelon, pineapple, and ginger juice - quintessential beach town again.
After we got back on the ferry, we walked around the Rocks area. I actually find Sydney to be beautiful. The CBD is really different from Melbourne's; tall, sleek, shiny buildings line the harbor's edge, with the Botanical Gardens adding a splash of green and vegetation to the urban cityscape. Matt had luckily been able to pick up a variety of free tickets so we traversed the botanical gardens to get to Sydney Tower, where you can go 250m up in the viewing tower and have fantastic 360 degree views of the area. It was a beautiful clear day and the view stretched for miles. We then walked to the Sydney Aquarium and Wildlife World, and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of Wildlife World; I thought it would be much tackier than it was, and I was glad to see the size of some of the enclosures, given its urban location on Darling Harbour.
By this point in the day, we were totally exhausted so headed home and had an early night. On Monday, Mark and Wei-lin came to pick me up in the morning and we went to the Northern Beaches. We stopped at Mona Vale to pick up picnic supplies and we had a delicious picnic by Palm Beach. We strolled along Palm Beach, then went for a drive, looking at the multi-million dollar homes reminiscent of Malibu, passing along Bilgola and Whale Beach. I thought, hmm I could live here.
We went to a Korean restaurant where we were the only table with any non-Asians, and afterwards we went down to Darling Harbour to have a few drinks. I was exhausted from my walk and flight that day, so we turned in early - especially since I had a big day planned for Sunday.
Sunday morning Matt and I quickly ate breakfast and hopped on the 7.30am bus towards the Harbor Bridge. The bridge is one of the icons of Sydney, an enormous piece of metal - it actually took 9 years to build, and was 2 separate halves that were brought together and joined on top of the water. It's not necessarily a beautiful bridge, but the views to be had from it certainly are. Crossing the 1.2km bridge, you definitely get an idea of Sydney's reputation as a city by the sea, the urban sprawl, and the love of the outdoors; joggers, walkers, cyclists, kayakers, all going about their sport at 8am on a Sunday.
Once we finished crossing the bridge, we went down to Circular Quay to take a ferry over to Manly. Manly Beach is one of the most popular beaches in the Sydney area, and it is easy to understand why. Beautiful clean, golden sands and perfectly shaped waves roll in, with heaps of ocean view cafes and tacky crafts shops. It's a quintessential urban beach town. We walked along the beach to Shelly Beach, and up around on good tracks along the headland, and finally went back. I picked up an apple, watermelon, pineapple, and ginger juice - quintessential beach town again.
After we got back on the ferry, we walked around the Rocks area. I actually find Sydney to be beautiful. The CBD is really different from Melbourne's; tall, sleek, shiny buildings line the harbor's edge, with the Botanical Gardens adding a splash of green and vegetation to the urban cityscape. Matt had luckily been able to pick up a variety of free tickets so we traversed the botanical gardens to get to Sydney Tower, where you can go 250m up in the viewing tower and have fantastic 360 degree views of the area. It was a beautiful clear day and the view stretched for miles. We then walked to the Sydney Aquarium and Wildlife World, and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of Wildlife World; I thought it would be much tackier than it was, and I was glad to see the size of some of the enclosures, given its urban location on Darling Harbour.
By this point in the day, we were totally exhausted so headed home and had an early night. On Monday, Mark and Wei-lin came to pick me up in the morning and we went to the Northern Beaches. We stopped at Mona Vale to pick up picnic supplies and we had a delicious picnic by Palm Beach. We strolled along Palm Beach, then went for a drive, looking at the multi-million dollar homes reminiscent of Malibu, passing along Bilgola and Whale Beach. I thought, hmm I could live here.
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