Which way to the reef?

My first week at 'home' began the most challenging week of my professional career. The project’s deployment manager (i.e. in charge of all of the other consultants on the project) is… let’s just say difficult. He had a very different expectation of what my role is on the project, and we had a very heated debate for a half hour one day on what I was in Sydney to do. At one point he said, “If you aren’t going to do this, then why do I need you here?”

He’s a very in-your-face guy and I had to remind him in the nicest way possible that he was not my boss and that I answer to people in the US. It came to a point where I said to myself to stay calm or I could be on a flight home the next day.  Afterward I went outside and blew some steam with a coworker (not surprisingly many people on the project have similar feelings about this guy).  We had a conference call with the team in the US and ironed it all out, and he hasn’t asked me for anything since then – smooth sailing on that front. Even with that extra burden off my shoulders, I have been scrambling around to try to meet deadlines. I’m enjoying the challenge of it all but the days can get stressful.

Partly because of the workload and partly because we had a long weekend for Anzac Day (Australia’s version of Memorial Day for WWI), I decided to take a trip. I wasn’t sure when the next time I would get to go away would be, so I jumped at the chance. A few coworkers recommended that I go to Cairns (pronounced “Cans”) and visit the reef. The plane ticket prices were a bit steep but I was sold.

I skipped out of work early on Friday – hey, I worked 13 hours on my birthday (last Tuesday, woohoo) and put in around 50 for the week. I have a few trips home planned over the next 6 months but I don’t know when I will get another chance for a 3 day weekend here in Australia. The flight was 3 hours and went fairly quickly. You don’t realize it, but Australia is a pretty big island/country/continent. The Aussie girl sitting next to me (named Georgia, strangely enough) and I chatted the whole way, but she didn’t seem to keen on hanging out with all of her friends she was meeting up with. Ah, well.

Another coworker tip pointed me to stay at Gilligan’s Backpackers Resort and Hotel, which is a fancy term for a really nice hostel. If you’re going to Cairns, that’s where you want to stay. Everyone I met during the weekend was staying there as well. After checking into my room, an 8 bed dorm full of Brits (more on that later), I headed down to the tourism office to plan the weekend.

I knew I wanted to snorkel and was tempted to try to scuba although I hadn’t done it since Matt and I went back in 2004. I didn’t have my PADI license with me, so I wasn’t sure what the rules were around that. The agent booked me on an all day trip on Sunday out to the reef with Passions of Paradise for $129 which included 2 snorkeling sessions (or scuba for ~$100 more) and lunch. For Saturday he gave me a bunch of options – bungee jumping, sky diving, rainforest tour, white water rafting… nothing really caught my eye and they were all in the $100-300 range, so I decided to take it easy and chill for a day.  It seemed that all of the things to do in the city were actually things to do outside of the city.  There were a few souvenir shops but not much else downtown.

Although I was alone (once again) in a new place, with really no plan on what to do or where to go, Gilligan’s made it easy to connect with people. I think backpackers in general are more open to temporary friends and letting you join up with them because many travel alone. For those of you that are apprehensive about seeing the world this way – it’s not as hard as you think. Plus, Gilligan’s had two bars – an outdoor beach style bar connected to an indoor club style bar. There was also a swimming pool complete with waterfall and cafeteria style restaurant (that turned into the club at night).

The east coast of Australia seems to be teeming with young British travelers on working holidays. They come over here for 6 months or a year and travel from city to city, finding work where they can. I think 75% of the people I met were British and looking for work in Cairns. The city itself is small and somewhat boring. Unless you’re in the tourism trade, I really don’t know what the allure would be to stay there. One girl in my room was from Wales and had been in the hostel for a week. She was running out of money so she just hung out in the room most nights. I guess that’s all part of their journey…

Back to the timeline… Friday night I heard about the Cairns "Frog and Toad" pub crawl. Since I had so much fun on the Santiago pub crawl a few months ago (I think I forgot to blog about it?), I decided to go. I paid $20 which gave you free food at the pub, a drink at each of the 4 bars and free entrance into a club at the end. The organizer saw that I was alone and pointed me toward a table of, you guessed it, Brits. There were 2 guys and 4 girls sitting around a table, so I approached:

“Hi, I’m here by myself. Can I join y’all*?” me (as I bend down on the stool)
“Someone is sitting there.” Girl #1
“Oh, I’ll move when they ---” me
“NOOOO!” Girl #2
*I find that breaking out “y’all” in Australia is a good thing every now and then – they seem to be intrigued by the accent.

At this point I was kind of hovering over the chair, not sure about the hostile environment I had stumbled into. I looked at one of the guys and his eyes got really big because he was shocked at the girls’ reactions. He (Mark) motioned for me to sit down and introduced himself. Girl #2 turned and introduced herself as well, which confused me. Mark asked her why she screamed at me, but she explained that she was yelling at her friend (Girl #1) to let me sit down.

Girl #1 (Emma) was a bit upset and got up from the table, but Girl #2 (Sarah) explained… a few of them had been traveling for months and knew how hard it was to meet people and go out when you’re alone. Emma was just here on vacation for a few weeks and wasn’t up on the backpacker culture. From that point on I knew we were cool and had a great night with them all. We all stayed together for the rest of the pub crawl. I exchanged numbers with Mark and we made plans to meet up the next night as well.  Mark and Sarah are pictured on the right, with their British, sombrero friend Dean and the pub crawl organizer.

I woke up on Saturday glad that I had no obligations and could just relax. Planning nothing ended up being a good decision because it started pouring down rain and didn’t stop all day. I bought an umbrella and explored the city for a while, but there was really nothing to see if you weren’t shopping for souvenirs. There is no beach in Cairns. The ‘stingers’ (box jellyfish) are among the most poisonous in the world and frequent the area, and the orientation of the land and reef 50 km out to sea prevents waves. The shoreline looked more like a swamp that went out for a few hundred yards. It was full of mud and bugs and you could see crabs crawling everywhere. There was a big public pool on the coast called The Lagoon, but because of the weather there were very few people swimming. I turned back, picked up my latest book (Catch-22) and read for the rest of the day.

I went out to dinner with Natalie (pictured), my bunkmate from Essex, and then met back up with Mark, Sarah and their crew for a few drinks at Gilligan’s. Because Sunday was Anzac day, all of the bars had to close at midnight. That was fine by me because I had to be at the pier at 7:30 in the morning for my reef trip. The night ended on a low key note and I turned in hoping the rain would stop.

The morning started off well when the sun peaked through the clouds. I met Amy (Scottish) and Eryca (Brazilian) behind me in line for the boat and chatted all of the 2 hours out to the reef. One of the boat staff came around and got us all to sign forms and waivers for snorkeling and asked if we were certified to scuba. I said I was but didn’t have my license, so she gave me a 10 question multiple choice quiz. I got 9/10 correct and somehow remembered a lot of the hand signals used underwater (out of air, I’m ok, something’s wrong, etc). She cleared me to scuba if I wanted to shell out the extra money and I was convinced.  It was $70 extra for your first dive and $45 for the second.

I was a bit nervous starting out since it had been such a long time. Luckily they connected all of the hoses for the tank – I definitely didn’t remember all of that. There were only 3 of us plus a guide doing the dive, the rest of the ~30 people on board were getting ready to scuba. We got in the water and started to go down and almost immediately my mask started letting water in. I didn’t panic since I knew how to clear my mask (tilt your head back and exhale out your nose as you press on the eyebrow area of the mask and pull up on the cheekbone area). That got the water out, but it immediately started again.

I was only down a few meters so I came back up to the top, took the mask off and tried to retighten it. The guide came up as well and suggested that I try his spare. I put it on and went back down to the same result. I tried to bear it and went down about 3 meters this time, but my mask totally filled with water and clearing didn’t work. I felt my breathing getting frantic which had never happened to me before – I’m usually pretty calm although it had been a while. I came back up and the guide gave me his mask, which didn’t end up working either. I knew I was holding them all up so we decided that I should just swim back to the boat.

I felt pretty embarrassed but I still blame it on the mask. I still had plenty of time to snorkel though my chance to dive in the morning was shot. I was determined to go in the afternoon regardless of what happened – I kept telling myself that I am in the Great Barrier Reef and it was something I HAD to do. I grabbed 3 masks and dove into the water, trying each. I found one that worked and went out to snorkel for about an hour. The rain started again which didn’t make visibility the best. I saw a bunch of fish, a few rays which were really cool, and of course the coral was beautiful. Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures because the underwater disposable cameras on board were $45 and the visibility wasn’t the best. Sorry, people.

We ate lunch and moved the boat a few kilometers away to another dive spot. I got geared up and made it under with no problems this time. It was still raining and the visibility was similar to snorkeling, but being able to go down about 10 meters to see walls of coral and fish everywhere you look. After about 40 minutes my oxygen was running low so I surfaced and came back to the boat. That will go down as one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life. I’m convinced to go back to Cairns in better weather to do it again – it was that good.

On the way back to land I sat with Michelle and Angela (pictured in their stinger suits), two sisters from Chicago that were also staying at Gilligan’s. Michelle is studying south of Sydney and Angela was here for a week to visit. We made plans to meet up that evening at another pub crawl put on by the same guy from Friday and exchanged numbers. There was quite a bit more excitement at the bars since it was a holiday. The organizer ran a few contests with cash and coupon give-aways, one of which was one by Michelle. Let me just say, that girl has guts. I’ll leave it at that.

I connected with quite a few people… Amy is coming through Sydney and promised to hang out. Michelle lives about a half hour outside the city and we will probably see each other again. Mark and Sarah may plan a trip to Sydney and will let me know. Eryca lives in Brisbane and I’m hoping to go out with her if I have time to make it up there. I especially connected with Angela, and in another life would probably try to date her. That is, if she didn’t have a boyfriend and we lived in the same country and/or city. Details, whatev.  It’s not the first time this has happened to me, but it reminds me of the downside of living this way. You meet people you would definitely like to see again (friendly and romantic), but you know you probably won’t. Sadly, I’m getting used to it. On the other hand, I’m living in Sydney, I’m having the time of my life and am doing things I never dreamed of – I can’t complain!

Apartment hunting

Wow, it’s been a hectic week. So, about the apartment... I limited my search to Coogee because it is near to some of my coworkers so I can get rides in the morning, near things to do and places to eat, and most importantly, near the beach. My only catch was that I needed to find a furnished room, which ended up being harder than I thought it would. Whenever I got a chance at work I called real estate agents and responded to postings online and only came up with one hit - $400 per week (very average for Sydney) for a one bedroom place. Since that was pushing my company’s budget, I started looking into shared apartments.

I only came across one in the area so I sent an email inquiry. Dani, the leasee and I talked a few times and agreed upon an interview time.  I took a bus from work to Coogee and walked to the house.  The hills of Coogee and the fresh ocean air reminded me of Valparaiso.  I walked up to a fairly old house and a black lab greeted me at the door. +1.  There's nothing really impressive about it, but it felt comfortable.  I probably wouldn't Dani was a really relaxed girl, exactly what you'd expect a person to be like when they live in a beach town.  We got on really well from the get-go.  +1.  The bedroom for rent was big and furnished, nothing fancy but liveable for the next 6 months.  +1.  Oh yeah, and it takes less than 10 minutes to walk to the beach.  +5.  That was enough for me and I got a pretty good vibe from Dani that she was interested in picking me for the room.  A few days later we locked things down and I moved in over the weekend.

Over the weekend I had one goal and one goal only - to hold a koala.  I heard from someone (now I don't remember who) that said the Sydney Wildlife World.  I made plans to meet up with Chris in Darling Harbor on Saturday, but we still had Friday night to think about.  We made it back out to the Cross and had a little trouble getting into the bars.  There were a lot of people out that night and a lot of dudes.  I found a few girls by themselves that were cool enough to let us accompany them to a bar (unfortunately, that was the only way to get into those places when a lot of people were out).  We hung out with them all night and until they ditched us and took a taxi without a word.  Shady.

Even so, no worries, mate.  I walked around downtown Sydney for a bit and then met up with Chris again on Saturday and we hit up the Sydney Wildlife World.  I bought a ticket that included the Sydney Aquarium and Tower tour for $69 (at a significant discount).  It was pretty cool as the pictures show - especially the kangaroo pen.  Unfortunately there was no koala holding allowed and I later discovered that it is illegal to hold a koala in New South Wales.  Big fat fail.  It was still a good time and a place worth seeing if you have a few hours to waste.

As you can see, all animals in Australia are very laid back.

Right near da beach

Since I'm going to be here for so long, I don't feel the urgency to jam pack my weekends, which is good and bad.  It gives me time to relax, but at the same time I feel lazy.  I'm in Australia and it's beautiful outside.  GET OUT AND DO SOMETHING.  A few different people sent me a story from the New York Times, so I had a list to start with.

On Friday night I met up with Chris and Eric, two consultants from my company that I hung out with in Miami a few weeks ago.  They're on another project in North Sydney and agreed to come and meet me at my hotel since I was phone-less and had free drinks in the Executive Lounge.  We went out to a pub at the bottom of my hotel after a while and a random Aussie named Michael befriended us.  He invited us to go out with him and his friends from there to George Street, which is the place to go in downtown Sydney.  We went to a place called The Ivy that had $9 drinks - yikes.  Somehow, I think I'm going to have to get used to this.

Michael and company ended up leaving early, then Eric and I got separated from Chris.  We looked for him for about a half an hour and then left.  Eric caught a taxi and I was free to roam back to the hotel.  I struck up a conversation with two girls that were walking in the same direction as me and we came to an unforseen crossroads:

Girl 1: "So how old are you?"
Me: "Guess."
Girl 1: "21."
Me (shocked/mock insulted face)
Girl 2: "20."
Me (even more insulted face)
Girl 1: "19?"
Me: "Really?  Come on.  I'm 28."
Girl 1: "Wow, so you're pretty much a pedophile right now." (jokingly)
Me: "I guess that makes you all like 20?"
Girl 2: "18."

Lesson learned: be whatever age they want you to be.  Joking aside, they were cool (one of them was named Georgia!) and pointed me in the direction of my hotel without any more blows to my ego.  The underagers being out and about are definitely something I will have to get used to as you will see on Saturday night (read on).

Unfortunately I had to work on Saturday morning, so I hung around the hotel lounge until about noon.  I took a recommendation from the consierge and decided to take a ferry to Manly Beach.  Before I left I had a mission to get a new mobile phone. Eric advised me before I left to talk to AT&T about unlocking my BlackBerry so it could be used with other carriers. It was a pretty simple process, so all I had to do was swap out SIM cards. I bought a Vodafone card at a convenience store near my hotel since they allow pre-pay and contract plans. I opted for the pre-pay, so I just had to log in online with my new ID and put money on it, then I was ready to go.

The wharf was a short walk from my hotel and the ticket to Manly Beach was only $12.00 round trip.  The half hour ferry ride ended up being the best part... the view of the opera house and the harbor were amazing.  The water was calm (I hear it can toss the ferry around sometimes) and the weather was 80 with a breeze.  The beach was nice as well.  There were surfers everywhere and yes, I did see some topless sunbathers.

I strolled from one end of the beach to the other, which took about 35 minutes each way.  The water was a little too cold to get in, plus I didn't want to set my things down unattended.  I thought about trying to get into a pickup game of volleyball, but it looked like some kind of tournament was going on.  I still hadn't talked to a soul all day, so I made an effort on the way back to the ferry to talk to a girl that was also alone (ok, so I creeped her for about 50 meters until I was sure she was alone, too).  Her name was Lise and she was from Sweden.  I thought I had found a new Carolien until she told me she had lived here for a year and her visa was up.  She had to go back to home in two days. Nuts. We ended up talking the whole ferry ride back to Circular Quay and then got a drink at a pub in The Rocks, which is a restaurant and market area between my hotel and Harbor Bridge. We exchanged information just in case - I've learned that by now. We talked about meeting up that night but since it was her last night in town I was pretty sure she would be celebrating with friends.

I talked to Chris and we planned to meet in King's Cross, an area recommended by some people on the previous night. I heard it could get a little dicey late at night, but we were going out together so it shouldn't be a problem. Chris had been there quite a few times so he knew where to (and not to) go. Even so, I walked up to a few girls and asked for recommendations. Yes, they turned out to be 18. They threw out a few namse and then said there was also a place called Sugar hill where all of the cougars hung out. At first this threw me off, but then I thought... a cougar to an 18 hear old is probably around 28. I'll keep that one in mind.

We hit up a few pubs and then found cheap drinks ($5) and stuck around for a bit. Lise and I tradied texts while all of the young'uns walk by, to a point where I felt uncomfortable and creepy. Adding to that was the fact that they were all wearing tube dresses a la Jessica Dos (who looks really good in them I might add).  Imagine this dress but two inches shorter on a girl not quite this hot and 7 years younger.  I'm not saying they were skanky or anything... we'll just call it skimpy.

So Chris and I are sitting in this bar and 3 cops stroll in and start taking pictures and documenting things.  A waitress comes by and randomly puts a plate of pizza slices on our table.  I asked one what was going on and he started interviewing me.  I wasn't sure if I was about to be in trouble or what.

Cop: "Did you get a menu?"
Me: "Um, no..."
Cop: "This is a restaurant.  You should get a menu."
(Note - it was around 11:30 pm at that point)
Me: "Uh, ok."
Cop: "How did you get this pizza?"
Me: "The waitress gave it to me."

He started lecturing about how they were operating outside of their license and I was starting to regret asking him what was going on. It was a crackdown on the restaurant, and I felt kind of bad that I contributed to the evidence.  Can I do a takeback on that? I don't think it's realistic to expect a restaurant to serve food until the wee hours of the morning, but I don't know the rules in Australia.  The owner or manager was running around, sweating bullets and the cops stayed for a good hour interviewing the cook, waitresses and paitrons.  We left after a while to try something new.

We bounced around to a few places, but we had to be picky.  The area used to be the red light district and many reminders remained.  I'm pretty sure I saw a few (unattractive) hookers on the street and there were a few strip clubs here and there.  A few had pretty good names - The Ba-da Bing, The Pleasure Chest - way to go, marketing team.  We finally decided on a bar... wait for it... Sugar Hill.  It had a short line and the cover was only $10.  I'm sure if we had females with us we could've gotten in for free.  Just as I suspected, it wasn't a cougar bar - everyone just wasn't 18.  There were a few older people in there, but the music was good so we decided to stick around.  I bumped into an Aussie named Kirsty and we danced with her and a few friends for most of the night.  She lived in Coogee and promised to give me recommendations on places to live.  Check off another beneficial friend to have in Australia.  Also - an Australian accent bumps you up a number on the 1-10 scale.

On Sunday I was supposed to meet Eric to go on a walk between Bondi and Coogee Beaches.  These two beaches are the other 'it' sunspots in Sydney.  Eric called me to meet up and I texted back an hour or so later, then made my way to the beach.  I didn't hear from him, so I ventured on the walk myself.  Almost immediately I heard American accents, and two California girls named Tiffany and Tori started the walk at the same time as me.  They were on vacation, so no luck on the long term friend front, but we kept each other company and had a good time.  The hike was beautiful, taking you right along the coast for some breathtaking views of the ocean (see picture).  You also can go through a cemetery and venture into beach neighborhoods.

It probably wasn't a good idea to do the 2 hour trek in flip flops because #1 it started on the sand and that chafes and #2 there were lots of hills and stairs.  We survived though and rewarded ourselves with dinner at a cool spot on Coogee Beach that had 7 bars, one of which was called The Aquarium.  It was getting dark and a bit cooler, so we didn't even go down to the beach itself. After dinner I took a bus home and hit the sack early.  I made 6 friends this weekend, though most won't be here long enough to hang with.  I'm not sure what I'll be doing next weekend but I have a few ideas: climb the Harbor Bridge, visit Darling Harbor, and oh yeah, find an apartment!

Down Undah

I've only been here a few days but I love Sydney already.  This picture is the view I have from my 30th floor hotel room at the Circular Quay Marriott.  I'm only staying here for the first 10 days of my trip (until I find an apartment).  The executive lounge offers free breakfast, plus free drinks and light dinner in the evening.  Every bit helps since I get to pocket the food money I don't spend.  Shhh!

My sleeping pattern hasn't changed with the time difference as well as I hoped since I'm not going to bed around 10 and waking up between 5:30 and 6 am.  It did allow me to work out early this morning for the first time in I don't know how long, but I don't expect it to last.

Work is pretty intense - I've been designated the 'data conversion lead' for this wave of the project which doesn't change what I do that much, but gives me more responsibility if something goes wrong.  Most of the people I work with are really nice, but the Accenture lead of the project is, well... difficult.  I'm enjoying the challenge so far and I'm getting to flex more of my MBA training than I have on the other waves of the project.

My old roommate, Eric, recommended that I look to Coogee for an apartment.  It just so happens that a few of the other transplanted members of the project are there as well, so I may be able to catch rides for work and have people to hang with on the weekends.  I'm still trying to find a place that fits the project budget, but i hope this one works.  It's relatively close to the office, the beach, and the nightlife.  Fingers crossed.

It's my first Friday and I actually know what I'll be doing tonight.  My company has another project here in Sydney and I linked up with a few of my coworkers in Miami a few weekends ago.  They're coming over to my hotel to meet up and hit the town.  I don't have a local mobile phone yet, so it might be a bit difficult for us to meet up, but that should be solved within a few days.  Stay tuned for a weekend report in the next few days.  I'm not exactly sure what I'll be doing, but I hope you'll find it interesting!

Ann's Guide to Sydney, Gold Coast, Brisbane & Melbourne

My Aussie friend and coworker, Ann, forwarded this to me. She and her friend Reuben created it for travellers like myself. I claim no ownership of the material, but thought it might help out others as well. I'll try to get to all I can and create a list of my own toward the end of my trip (like I still need to do for Chile and Belgium!).


Eat Key:
$$$ over $50 AUD/person
$$ around $30-$55 AUD/person
$ 30 AUD or less/person
**assuming at least 2 course, with an alcoholic drink


=====


BRISBANE
Airport: BNE


Do/See:


Tangalooma
Location: Tangalooma Island
Dolphin Resort. About a 45min cruise from Morton Bay, which is about 30mins drive from Brisbane city. Can do day trip here or stay one of few nights. Evening dolphin feeding, snorkeling, and kayaking. Kayaking is nice because there are a few shipwrecks around this little island so its not just paddling in the ocean...


South Bank
Giant Ferris wheel provides great shots of the city, and assorted cafes/restaurants/markets/artificial beaches can provide for an interesting night.


Abseiling Kangaroo Point $$$
Abseiling down the cliffs of Kangaroo Point, facing the city, provides great view and awesome experience if you've never been before. Not too high, highest point roughly 20ish meters.


Mount Tambourine $ - $$$
Full of outdoor hiking activities, ranging from High Ropes courses and tree-suspension walks, to hand gliding.


Eat
The Belgian Beer Cafe $$
Location: Downtown Corner of Mary & Edward Street.
http://www.belgianbeercafebrussels.com.au/
- Very good mussels and select of beers of course! Definitely a night of mussel pots and fries in paper cones.


Hanachi $
Location: Downtown Queen Street, next to Strike Bowling.
- Nice Japanese Sushi despite being the kind that runs on a conveyor belt!


Cha Cha Char $$
http://www.chachachar.com.au/
Location: Downtown by the Pier, Shop 5, Plaza Level Eagle Street Pier.
Steakhouse - One of the best in Australia. Always satisfied. The wagyu here is awesome, melt in your mouth caramelly tender juicy goodness. It's also by the Brisbane Riverside so its a nice walk afterwards.


=======


GOLD COAST
Airport: OOL (or drive/train 1hr from Brisbane)


Do/See:


Dreamworld
Location: Coomera
Adventure Theme Park with thriller rides. Really fun if you are into Roller coasters and Giant Drops and other giant machines that roll you and fling you around like a dryer. The Wipe Out is definitely the best. Don't sit on the positions closest to the end if you aren't in for the extreme.


Warner Bros. Movie World
Location: Coomera
The Warner Bros. equivalent to Universal Studios. Superman, Batman, Looney Tunes characters etc etc...


Wet 'n' Wild
Location: Coomera
Water Theme park. Giant Slides, tubes, wave pools... the kinda stuff you'll find in Florida :P


** There are special deals/passes where u can get tickets to all 3 of the above theme parks for a discounted group price. You can usually find these at the back of brochures at the airport or at the tourist information stands.


Currumbin Sanctury
Location: Currumbin
Kinda like a zoo, but not so 'caged' as such, you can walk into the pens and feed the friendly ones like kangaroos etc. You can see all the Australian animals here and feed Lorrikeets (those rainbow birds that grandma has a truckload of photos with).


Surfer's Paradise Beach
Location: Surfer's Paradise, Broadbeach, Main Beach
This beach stretches so long along the width of the Gold Coast but because all the tourists hang out in the suburb known as Surfer's Paradise, there's more to Google at this part of the beach here. Nevertheless, you should go at least put your feet in the sand and water because it's not often you find such a large stretch of beautiful sand and water (well, maybe in the Caribbean or Florida. I'll confirm Florida sand next weekend). [update: I never saw Miami beach at TechEd...]


There's a bunch of water sport activities you can do - jet skiing, para sailing, speedboat rides etc...




Eat:


Charis Seafoods $
Location: Labrador (will need a car or cab)
Fish & Chips by the beach!


Ribs & Rumps $$
Location: Marina Mirage, Main Beach
- Ribs & Steaks grillhouse. Real good cuts & portions of meat


Max Brenner's $
Location: Marina Mirage, Main Beach
- Chocolate cafe: best try the chocolate cinnamon roll, chocolate souffle, and their signature drink, the Suckao.


=======


SYDNEY
Airport: SYD (20mins from downtown, 45mins to Aunt Windy's house)


Bridge Climb
Location: Sydney Harbour
Climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge! Prices vary depending time of day, with sunset & sunrise being more expensive but you get beautiful city skyline, opera house, and harbour views. Definitely much better than going up Sydney Tower.


Luna Park
Location: Milson's Point
Ferry Stop: Milson's Point or Train Station: Milson's Point
It's a carnival theme park, more for kids BUT I would really recommend giving them $3.50 to go on the Ferris Wheel because you get such a great day view of the harbour or city or a very romantic ride in the evening (after or before dinner).


The Rocks Markets
Location: The Rocks
Ferry Stop: Circular Quay or Train Station: Circular Quay
Weekends you will find market stalls of food & crafts in this harbour side colonial part of Sydney. Even if you don't come on weekends, there's nice little shops and cafes (home to my favourite French Patisserie in Sydney, and their Cafe Bistro restaurant which you must go to - see Eats section).


Watson's Bay & The Gap
Location: Watson's Bay
Ferry Stop: Watson's Bay
Take a very balmy ferry ride from Circular Quay to Watson's bay and have Fish & Chips take away on the bay shore with your feet in the sand & water or posh it up a bit and have it in the restaurant (both the restaurant & takeaway store is called Doyle's which is a great seafood restaurant, I would say of the same caliber of The Atlantic Seafood Co. in Boston). Then (or prior) take a little walk up the cliff top (its not that high, 10mins tops) where you can see 'The Gap' which is the opening between Sydney Harbour & the Pacific Ocean.


Fort Deniston
Location: Middle of Sydney Harbour
Reservation Required: Daily Tours from Circular Quay Ferry Stop
The opposite of San Fran's Alcatraz... This is a little island that used to be a fort that keeps watch over Sydney Harbour. Nice to do the afternoon tour so you can get the sunset ferry at the same time.


Bondi Beach
Location: Bondi
Getting There: Train to Bondi Junction train station then Bus. Or Direct Bondi Beach bus from City.
- Sydney's most famous beach. Street markets on weekends. Great cafe bistro culture here. See Eats section.


Sydney Zoo
Location: Manly
Ferry Stop: Manly
Ok, it's a zoo, but its a zoo with a city view. It's on top of some hills so you get a cable car up there which has nice views (like when you go to ocean park in HK). You actually don't even have to go into the Zoo, just do a cable car ride up & down I suppose. But you can hold/touch/see kangaroos & koalas here and other Australian Animals if you don't do it anywhere else.


Sydney Fish Markets
Location: Pyrmont
Getting There: Light Trail (electric tram) from Haymarket (Chinatown)
This is a MUST to experience a good variety of fresh Australian seafood, especially freshly shucked oysters and spanner crabs (if available). Fresh Sea urchin, fresh sashimi, lobster mornay (we have spiny rock lobsters which is different to your Atlantic kind which have claws. ours don't) and mud crabs also... I'd recommend you go there early like 10ish/11 to beat the crowds a little bit and still get fresh stuff. definitely not a place for late lunch.


Opera House
Location: Circular Quay
Ferry Stop: Circular Quay or Train Station: Circular Quay
No description required, but I would try get a booking to do a tour of the inside of the opera house to see the architecture from the inside which is cool. If you can catch a show that would be of interest while you're there, would be even cooler. There's also Opera Bar outside, just by the water, with views of the bridge/harbour/opera house that's a nice stop for a coffee or drink depending on the time of the day.


Darling Harbour
Location: Darling Harbour
Getting There: Train to Town Hall or Central & walk.
Touristy part of the harbour, but has a Maritime Museum on one side, IMAX (largest in the world by the way, so maybe watch something there), cafe restaurant on the other with bars/clubs further down as it becomes King Street Wharf. Kinda like Pier area of SF.




Eat:


The Ivy $$$
http://www.merivale.com/#/ivy/ivybar
Train Station: Wynyard
- A multi storey bar/lounge/restaurant establshment
- Mad Cow in here is a New York style steak grill house with great modern australian food (seafood etc).
- The teppenyaki restaurant, is said to have waitresses in super short kimonos (i have not yet verified this myself).
- Several bars of different themes like a poolside lawn complete with even an oversized shower mist, etc.
- Smart dress code


Cafe Sydney $$$
http://www.cafesydney.com/
Train Station: Circular Quay
Ferry Stop: Circular Quay
- Really good food here. The ultimate place to wind down, and lose yourself over our harbour.
- I think if you were to have one awesome dinner, as your first time in Sydney, please, go here. Remember to make a reservation.


Baroque Bistro Cafe $$
http://www.baroquebistro.com.au/
Location: The Rocks
Train Station: Circular Quay
- Bistro cafes is a big part of Sydney culture
- This is my FAVOURITE, it is opened by my favourite patisserie which is close by [good for coffees & light meal if you are ever in The Rocks area].
- It's french-Australian fusion. Definitely fits in your budget for a 3 course, and will definitely please your senses.


Suminoya $
http://www.yakiniku.com.au/suminoya.html
Location: Martin Place (near Matrix fountain)
Train Station: Martin Place
Ferry Stop: Circular Quay & walk like 4 blocks
- Japanese Yakiniku (grill house)!!!!!
- All you can eat, but really really top quality stuff
- a bit smokey after a while, but SOOOOOO goood :)))
- There's a few other sister restaurants, which is north shore which may be closer depending where you guys end up living
- Koh-ya is the same thing but in Neutral Bay which is about 10 mins from Chatswood
- Rengaya is also the same, in North Sydney which is about 20mins from Chatswood and just before crossing the bridge to the city.


Din Tai Fung $
http://www.dintaifung.com.tw/en/product_b_list02.asp
Location: World Square mall
Train Station: Town Hall
- Shanghainese dumplings!!!


Prime $$$
Location: #1 GPO Martin place (near Matrix fountain, underneath the old clock tower building, which is also the Westin).
Train Station: Martin Place
- One of the BEST steak restaurants in Sydney
- Go the potato gratin!


Makoto $
Location: Town Hall (World Square Mall), Liverpool Street (where the monorail runs over).
Train Station:Town Hall
- Best sushi bar in Sydney
- The fresh made to order hand rolls (they look like cones) is the best, I like: Spicy Salmon & Avocado, Soft Shell Crab, Prawn Omlette, Tasmainian
- In Victoria Ave in Chatswood, pub about 3 blocks from Mantra
- In Town Hall on the corner of Liverpool & Pitt St (its in the World Square mall).


JuJu $$
Location: Shop 320, Bayswater Rd. Kings Cross [Phone: (02) 9357 7100] (underneath the huge flashing iconic Coca Cola sign/billboard).
Train station: Kings Cross
- Hard to find. This is my favourite good food & late hangout place, its a Japanese bistro tavern, but its underground and u sit in holes in the floor.
- last order is 11pm, opens till 1am which is heaps handy.
- Karaoke starts at 11pm and gets really funny, all those Japanese people singing.
- MUST EAT here: Tuna Salad with wasabi mayonnaise dressing. You will not see Tund salad in the same light again. Yukke (which is marinated raw beef with egg yoke). Mentai Udon Yaki (stir fry udon with prawns & squid with spicy fish roe)


Longrain $$$
http://www.longrain.com.au/intro_sydney.htm
Location: 85 Commonwealth St. Surry hills. [Phone: (02) 9280 2888]
Train Station: Town Hall or Central, take a cab. or walk.
- Best Thai-modern Australian fusion restaurant
- really good awesome cocktails bar
- make a reservation so you don't have to wait, or just drink int he bar while you wait. Food is really worth the wait.


Ramen Dokoro Ryotei (Roy's Ramen) $
Location: Flacon Street, Crows Nest
- Best Japanese ramen noodles in Sydney. Go for the chili negi tonkatsu special (chili roast pork with leeks special, limited bowls per day)




Ribs & Rumps $$
Location: Manly
- Ribs & Steaks grillhouse. Real good cuts & portions of meat. Good place to go if you are out & about in Manly. Overlooks beach.


Miro $$
http://www.mirotapasbar.com.au/]
Location: 76 Liverpool st., Haymarket (near Chinatown, street where the monorail runs over).
- Spanish Tapas bar


Encasa $$
http://www.encasarestaurant.com.au/]
Location: 423 Pitt St. Haymarket. (near 1 of the 2 possible Light Rail stops that goes to Fish Markets)
- Spanish Restaurant, not as big of a tapas kind as with Miro, but the Mains here are good, as with the Paella.
- Must have: Garlic Prawns, Saffron Scallops


Hurricane's $$
Location: Bondi Beach
- steaks & ribs grillhouse




=======


MELBOURNE
Airport: MEL (30mins from downtown. Taxi will cost $55 from airport)


Basically if you are after shopping, Melbourne has lots of little lane ways around the city.


Bourke St Mall
Location: Downtown Bourke St.
- I can't really tell you how to walk around here as its literally like wandering around downtown SF. There's a few large department stores, and a historic GPO (General Post Office) building which houses many cool shops. Parallel to Bourke street and also the little lanes that connect Bourke street to neighbouring streets are all small lane ways covered in little cafes and one off boutique shops so its really losing yourself in it all!
- If you happen to be near or past Royal Arcade (one of the little arcades off Bourke St mall) one of the KoKo Black stores (see Eat) is in there, which is a really nice stop for Hot chocolate or anything chocolate. Its better than Max Brenner to me. The hot chocolate is def. a good take away if u want to get something to sip on while wandering the streets before you stop at another cafe hahah its kinda like Filmore but downtown and in small streets.


Queen Victoria Markets
http://www.qvm.com.au/
Location: CBD Croner of Queen & Elizabeth Street.
- Crafts, gourmet food and wine


Docklands
http://www.docklands.com/cs/Satellite?pagename=Docklands
- Waterfront neighbourhood of condos, shops, restaurants. Nice area for dinner, try the Brazilian churrascaria restaurant!!! (see Eat section)


Chapel St.
http://www.chapelstreet.com.au/
Location: the street runs through the suburb Prahran through to South Yarra.
- each area it runs through has variety of cafes, shops, boutiques. Definitely do your shopping here!
- South Yarra is the posher end, whereas the Prahran/Windsor end is more kitsch and Soho.


Lygon St.
http://www.melbourne.com.au/lygon.htm
Location: Carlton
- The Melbourne equivalent to North beach :) lots of Italian restaurants, cafes, bakeries.




Eat:


KoKo Black
http://www.kokoblack.com/
Location: Downtown: Royal Arcade (off Bourke St Mall, small store) and Collins St (very nice store), Carlton (Lygon St).
- Chocolatier which has the best hot chocolate i think in Australia (over max brenner). not too sweet, not too bitter, not overly rich, perfect intensity.
- on the chocolate front, i would suggest you try the dark chocolate earl grey. its really different!!
- last time my friend & I were here after dinner, we saw a homeless person come in here with all his busk money, just to buy a hot chocolate!!! Gotta live life's little luxuries huh?


Cookie $$
http://www.cookie.net.au/
Location: 1st Floor, 252 Swanson St. Melbourne (yes, the entrance is dark and looks sketchy but you will be very pleasantly surprised)
- My favourite place in Melbourne to eat. it's a eating house & beer hall. Serves Asian-Australian fusion food.
- Must try the deep fried chicken (yeh i know, but its very nice!) and definitely the soft shell crab with garlic pepper & fish broth!! but all in all the menu is heaps tasty and great flavours so even if you have to go back again I think its decently priced :)


BlueFire $$$
http://www.bluefiregrill.com.au/
- At Docklands waterfront, churrascaria is a Brazilian style of BBQ eating. basically they have these 'passadors' that walk around with giant skewers of meat and seafood and they walk around the tables and carve them at your table. it's all you can eat. and not like hometown buffet quality. really really fun good stuff.

Here I am, there I go

I finally got home and felt like Santa Claus, delivering chocolate to the people that wanted it. I’m not a chocolate person, but this stuff is good - pralines are the best. Anyway, I went down to my parents’ house on Monday night and talked with them about my travels and plans for Australia. I kidnapped Zabba for a few days and snuggled up in bed with him every night. I miss that… a lot. I’m really lucky that my parents are nearby and could take care of him for such a long time, and I couldn’t thank them enough.

I found some travel vouchers from Delta on my profile that were set to expire this spring, so I talked to Rameen about making a trip to Dallas. Even though that would cut short my time at home, it was a free trip and I probably wouldn’t see him for a long time. I also get the feeling that he hasn’t hit his stride in Dallas yet. Keep your chin up, man. I convinced Tim to come with me by throwing him some frequent flier miles, because there ain’t no party like a T-Jack party (see picture). Rameen didn’t have work on Friday, so we planned to come in on Thursday night and fly back on Sunday night.

With that trip in place it gave me even less time to run errands and see people. I had to do my taxes, cancel cable, mail some packages, suspend my phone account (don’t try to call me after I leave), suspend my car insurance, do laundry, etc etc. I had lunch and dinner booked every night while I was in town, and it was great to see everyone.

A quick random story... as I made my way up the escalator from the tram at the airport, I heard a loud "F%$#!!!!"  I looked back and a dad was yelling at his kid, which in itself was sad.  He started yelling something about a camera bag that was left on the tram.  I looked at the girl on the escalator next to me and said, "There's some free birth control."  She laughed and we started talking.  It turns out she went to high school with my old roommates Eric and Jay B. in Duluth.  I told her about my upcoming trip to Sydney and she automatically said she's coming to visit.  Ok, Ricci.  Bring it.

Anyway, back to the present.  I kind of regretted making the choice to go to Dallas since I had so little time at home, but once I got there I had a great time. Tim, Rameen and I did the things we usually do and I don’t think they need an explanation. On every trip we’ve gone on together, we end up seeing or saying something funny that gets repeated throughout. This time, it was ‘boiled goose’ from the SNL/Lonely Island Boombox video.

Tim and I flew back to Atlanta on Sunday and saw Matthew Stafford, former UGA and current Detroit Lions quarterback, in the airport. He was with a cute little blonde girl that got on our flight (I’m guessing he’s going back to Detroit). This guy got like $41 million when he signed, but he flew his girl back to Atlanta in coach. I know there were first class seats available, because I got upgraded. I only get upgraded when they don’t sell out first class and I’m high on the upgrade list. Tsk, tsk, Matt. Maybe he’s trying to keep her grounded?

I finished my packing on Sunday night and turned in for a few hours of sleep. This morning I flew into Santa Ana, California, to meet and work with some of the people I’ve been having conference calls and meetings with over the past 6 months. It was good to put faces to voices and email addresses, plus it broke up the flight. It was 4+ hours to Santa Ana, and 15 from LAX to Sydney. Now I sit here on the plane and thank goodness they have an electric outlet for me to use my computer. I have a whole row to myself, but I can’t stretch out because the armrests don’t go down.

I did have a few drinks before takeoff, partly to help me sleep and partly because Duke won the NCAA championship. Duke sucks. I took an Ambien early on in the flight and was knocked out for 8 hours at least. Success. Now begins another chapter of this amazing journey. My life could have taken a few very different directions in the past few years, so I feel very lucky that things happened the way they did.