When you hear about Australia, you hear about how it is always sunny and hot and everyone spends all their time surfing.
False.
Well, when I first got to Brisbane it was gorgeous most of the time-- there were so many days when it was just perfect out and nobody even mentioned it because it was just normal. But a few weeks after I left they had a series of terrible storms that killed two people, so clearly it's not always perfect. And while I was there we had a freak hailstorm.
The Northern Territory was hot and sunny, but then... that doesn't count.
Sydney, on the other hand. Sydney has been odd. We'll have some really hot and perfect days where it's perfect for the beach, but I'm always working those days. Every single weekend I've been here it has been cool, cloudy and/or rainy, and basically un-Australian. Last night we had another hail storm. Apparently this is really unusual and it should be warm by now and blah dee blah.
Basically I've decided that the Australia weather is a myth. Sorry to break it to you.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Musings on Christmas
I really am sorry at how terrible I am at this. But here's a post for you.
I’m a big fan of Christmas. A really big fan. I mean, I go to Starbucks just for the Christmas cups, and I started listening to Christmas music weeks ago. I bought a soap from Lush today that they only have over Christmastime, and it made me irrationally happy.
I am also a really big fan of Christmas in New York. The tree at Rockefeller centre, the windows at Saks and doing Christmas shopping on 5th avenue—they’re all perfect for getting me in the Christmas mood.
So naturally, I was a little apprehensive about having Christmas in Australia. Not only will it be hot*, but I just didn’t know how well Australians would do Christmas.
So far, I’ve been pleasantly surprised. Sure, they started a little early (with no Halloween or Thanksgiving in the way, decorations were making their way up in October), but I can’t deny that I definitely feel the Christmas spirit. In the QVB (Queen Victoria Building), a gorgeous mall in the centre of Sydney, there’s a Christmas tree that extends up through every floor, covered in Swarovski crystals. Definitely Christmasy.
But some new decorations appeared a week or two ago, and with these I take a bit of an issue. They are flag/banner things that hang from most street lamps throughout Sydney. They’re bright, colourful, and remind me every time I walk outside that Christmas is coming. So what kind of issue could I have with them?
I’ll tell you.
When I think of Christmas animals, the first thing that comes to mind is a reindeer. After that, I guess sheep and cows, judging by traditional pageants, and a lobster, judging by the pageant in Love, Actually.
So why, Sydney, why do two of the four banners feature a cockatoo and what I assume to be a possum??
I know Australians have some weird traditions, but I’m fairly certain Santa doesn’t use a cockatoo to power his sleigh here. I just don’t get it. Sure, it’s a cool design—the white and yellow cockatoo is very pretty against a red background. But the words “Happy Christmas” next to it just confuse me.
So every time I walk out of my hostel, I see a banner and I do think “Great, Christmas is coming!” But then I tend to spend the rest of my commute to work wondering what on earth a cockatoo has to do with it.
*Supposedly. After the freezing morning I’ve had today, I’ll believe it when I see it.
I’m a big fan of Christmas. A really big fan. I mean, I go to Starbucks just for the Christmas cups, and I started listening to Christmas music weeks ago. I bought a soap from Lush today that they only have over Christmastime, and it made me irrationally happy.
I am also a really big fan of Christmas in New York. The tree at Rockefeller centre, the windows at Saks and doing Christmas shopping on 5th avenue—they’re all perfect for getting me in the Christmas mood.
So naturally, I was a little apprehensive about having Christmas in Australia. Not only will it be hot*, but I just didn’t know how well Australians would do Christmas.
So far, I’ve been pleasantly surprised. Sure, they started a little early (with no Halloween or Thanksgiving in the way, decorations were making their way up in October), but I can’t deny that I definitely feel the Christmas spirit. In the QVB (Queen Victoria Building), a gorgeous mall in the centre of Sydney, there’s a Christmas tree that extends up through every floor, covered in Swarovski crystals. Definitely Christmasy.
But some new decorations appeared a week or two ago, and with these I take a bit of an issue. They are flag/banner things that hang from most street lamps throughout Sydney. They’re bright, colourful, and remind me every time I walk outside that Christmas is coming. So what kind of issue could I have with them?
I’ll tell you.
When I think of Christmas animals, the first thing that comes to mind is a reindeer. After that, I guess sheep and cows, judging by traditional pageants, and a lobster, judging by the pageant in Love, Actually.
So why, Sydney, why do two of the four banners feature a cockatoo and what I assume to be a possum??
I know Australians have some weird traditions, but I’m fairly certain Santa doesn’t use a cockatoo to power his sleigh here. I just don’t get it. Sure, it’s a cool design—the white and yellow cockatoo is very pretty against a red background. But the words “Happy Christmas” next to it just confuse me.
So every time I walk out of my hostel, I see a banner and I do think “Great, Christmas is coming!” But then I tend to spend the rest of my commute to work wondering what on earth a cockatoo has to do with it.
*Supposedly. After the freezing morning I’ve had today, I’ll believe it when I see it.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Six Days in the Desert
(technically I was never actually in the desert, but it sure felt like it)
So. I haven't blogged in a while. The first reason for this is that I didn't have anything to say for a while, and the second reason is the subject of this post-- I was in the internet-less, cell phone-less world that is the Northern Territory for six days. I was meant to be leaving Brisbane for Sydney on a Monday, but that Wednesday I suddenly decided that it would be fun to take a trip first... so I did a bit of research and discovered an awesome 6 day tour from Alice Springs to Darwin, including Uluru (Ayer's Rock). Well, I acted on a whim and booked it, so that Sunday I was flying off to Alice Springs. I had the afternoon in the town, which is small and very very hot, and then the adventure began... this time I actually can go by days because I kept a diary!
Day 1: 27/10/08
I woke up at 5:30 am, and for the first time ever in a hostel was not the only one doing it-- indeed, I seemed to have slept in a bit. Everyone was leaving on Uluru tours, which means everyone was up early. My tour guide picked us up from outside my hostel, and we were off on the drive to Uluru-- many people think it is just outside Alice Springs, but it is in fact another few hundred kilometres-- about four or five hours, with stops for fuel etc. The people on the tour with me were a massive range-- a lot of Japanese, some French and French Canadians, some Brits, some Italians, and only one Australian (who was with her British boyfriend). It seems Uluru remains a tourist attraction more for foreigners than Australians. Our stops included one at a camel farm-- camels were introduced to Australia and there are now more than a million wild ones in the country, as well as some in farms. We drove on to our campsite near Uluru-- there are many sites with permanent tents and kitchens, though I chose to sleep outside under the stars. After lunch there we went to the Uluru cultural centre. Apart from learning about the importance of Uluru to the aboriginal people, the most interesting part of this was the "sorry" letters, written by people who took rocks from Uluru home with them and were now sending them back-- according to tradition, you will be cursed if you take rocks, and some letters included stories of disasters in the family after taking the rocsks. We then had a walk around Kata Tjuta (formerly the Olgas), very old mountains that were formed the same time as Uluru. We couldn't go very far though, due to the intense heat. We returned to a lookout point to watch the famous sunset over Uluru, along with hundreds of other tourists-- our tour guide termed it "the circus." Dinner that night was truly Australian-- steak and kangaroo on the barbie. Kangaroo was suprisingly delicious, not dissimilar to beef. Had a good night talking and getting to know everyone.
Day 2- 28/10/08
The second day dawned even earlier-- we woke up at 4 am, when you could still see the stars shining bright above, so that we could get to Uluru and start walking around it by sunrise. You are still allowed to climb it, but the Aborigine owners ask you not to because it is very sacred to them, so I walked around, which was still marvellous. Watching the rock change colours as the sun came up was gorgeous (I have tons of pictures but unfortunately can't put them up right now). Being so close you could see the indentations and caves much more clearly than at a distance, and could walk into some caves to see paintings on the walls. We finished the walk at 9:30 but by then it felt like midday, for the sun was out in full force. We packed up and started our drive to King's Canyon, stopping on the way for lunch and an expedition into the desert to gather firewood. The cool nights and mornings kept making me forget how hot it could really get! The red sand practically burned you if you touched it. We had a welcome break at a "resort" by King's Canyon, with a pool and a few stores-- a swim was very refreshing, and we had some time to relax which was good. That night we were on a smaller campsite with fewer people around, which was nice. We made a huge bonfire and I had a great time teaching the Japanese and Italian people how to roast marshamllows-- the only thing missing was the chocolate and graham crackers! Many of them had never roasted marshmallows before, and we had to show them how to put it on the stick and everything... it was really fun watching their excitement.
Day 3- 29/10/08
We were up at four AGAIN to walk around the rim of King's Canyon... the first bit is a brutal uphill climb, so it was good to be doing it before the sun was up, and thankfully the day was cloudy so most of the walk was quite pleasant, with stunning views of the canyon. Then we got back on the bus to head back to Alice, with only a few stops for fuel and lunch. We got back around 4-- staying in hostels that night as offically the first tour had ended and the next began the the next day. Air conditioning and internet were welcome, as was a proper bed.
Thus ended the first three-day tour and began the next one! Many of the people were the same on both tours, though we lost the English guys and gained a lovely couple from Northern Ireland, as well as a different tour guide. In general the second half was much more "cruise-y," as our guide kept saying. Instead of getting to certain thigns and certain times it was essentially a road trip with interesting things along the way, and I really enjoyed it.
Day 4 30/10/08
We got picked up at 5:40 and started going north on the Stuart Highway, which we would follow all the way to Darwin. We quickly passed the Tropic of Capricorn, and saw an old telegraph station which is the reason many of the towns were built. Much of this trip was characterized by stops at tiny towns consisting mainly of a gas station. The major attraction of the day were the Devil's Marbles, massive boulders balanced on top of each other in quite a large area. They are really quite spectacular, though it was difficult to fully appreciate them because it was probably the hottest day yet-- in the high 30s celcius, and we all wanted to get back on the air conditioned bus! We saw another telegraph station... it is very difficult to imagine the lives those telegraph operators left, literally in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do and nowhere to go. Incredibly isolated. We got to our campsite pretty early, and it was lovely-- a cattle station at which we were the only tourists. Goats and cows wandered around freely, and our kitchen porch abutted a kangaroo paddock, where we could watch the kangaroos graze, including one that had a joey in its pouch! We spent the night out on the porch eating dinner and just chatting-- it was a wonderful group of people, all of whom had been in Australia for varying lengths of time and were doing all sorts of exciting things. Nobody seems to come to Australia for a few weeks, it's always months! I was made to practice my French a bit with the Quebecois couple and French girl, who wanted to see how good I was... they claimed to be impressed! I slept inside that night to avoid the goats.
Day 5- 31/10/08
Halloween! Beyond saying "oh, it's Halloween," we didn't really celebrate, but it was a great day nonetheless. We had a late(r) start (6:30), because the day was mostly driving. But I finally discovered that I could actually read on the bus without getting sick, so got well into Pride and Prejudice. The only (non)event of the morning was a stop at a town called Elliott, which I found quite amusing. I believe the population was something like 30 "whitefellas," the rest Aborigines. Our lunch stop was very memorable-- it was in the town of Daly Waters, which is very small, but included Daly Waters pub, which was become something of a tourist attraction. It's a great place with lots of character-- people leave items pinned to the walls everywhere, and there's lots of tchotkes. We had a long and relaxing lunch before hitting the road again. The afternoon stop was at a thermal springs-- this was a stunning place, because we turned down a road and all of a sudden the arid landscape and been transformed to rainforest with lush palm trees everywhere. The springs themselves were gorgeous, and very warm, though still refreshing. We had a brief stop in Katherine before getting to our next campsite, where we spent another great evening talking.
Day 6- 1/11/08
Our last day, and just as good as all the others! We left early to get to Katherine gorge, where we did a short hike to get an aeriel view of the gorge, and then were left to our own devices for a few hours. I opted to kayak (some people took a boat down the gorge), which was very peaceful and fun. We were able to beach our kayaks and swim every now and then, though not on the many beaches were crocodiles were nesting! (apparently they were freshwater, and thus non-aggressive, crocodiles)
After leaving the gorge we stopped at Edith Falls for lunch, a pretty lake, and then pressed on to Darwin. I fell asleep on the bus and when I woke up was astounded to see termite mounds suddenly looming over us-- they had been getting steadily bigger the whole way north, but were suddenly massive. Quite something to see. We got into Darwin in the evening and had a nice last night together as a group... some people were going on to Kakadu, while others were finishing there (as I was)
The next day I pottered around Darwin... it was too hot, and I was too lazy, to get up to much. It's quite a small city, though pretty and on the water, but I wasn't sad to be leaving the next morning. Altogether it was a wonderful trip, I really feel like I saw Australia, and I met some amazing people.
And there you go... I commend you if you got through all that. If anyone is interested in a similar trip, I did mine through Adventure Tours Australia and would recommend it!
I'm now in Sydney, which I'm sure I will post about shortly...
So. I haven't blogged in a while. The first reason for this is that I didn't have anything to say for a while, and the second reason is the subject of this post-- I was in the internet-less, cell phone-less world that is the Northern Territory for six days. I was meant to be leaving Brisbane for Sydney on a Monday, but that Wednesday I suddenly decided that it would be fun to take a trip first... so I did a bit of research and discovered an awesome 6 day tour from Alice Springs to Darwin, including Uluru (Ayer's Rock). Well, I acted on a whim and booked it, so that Sunday I was flying off to Alice Springs. I had the afternoon in the town, which is small and very very hot, and then the adventure began... this time I actually can go by days because I kept a diary!
Day 1: 27/10/08
I woke up at 5:30 am, and for the first time ever in a hostel was not the only one doing it-- indeed, I seemed to have slept in a bit. Everyone was leaving on Uluru tours, which means everyone was up early. My tour guide picked us up from outside my hostel, and we were off on the drive to Uluru-- many people think it is just outside Alice Springs, but it is in fact another few hundred kilometres-- about four or five hours, with stops for fuel etc. The people on the tour with me were a massive range-- a lot of Japanese, some French and French Canadians, some Brits, some Italians, and only one Australian (who was with her British boyfriend). It seems Uluru remains a tourist attraction more for foreigners than Australians. Our stops included one at a camel farm-- camels were introduced to Australia and there are now more than a million wild ones in the country, as well as some in farms. We drove on to our campsite near Uluru-- there are many sites with permanent tents and kitchens, though I chose to sleep outside under the stars. After lunch there we went to the Uluru cultural centre. Apart from learning about the importance of Uluru to the aboriginal people, the most interesting part of this was the "sorry" letters, written by people who took rocks from Uluru home with them and were now sending them back-- according to tradition, you will be cursed if you take rocks, and some letters included stories of disasters in the family after taking the rocsks. We then had a walk around Kata Tjuta (formerly the Olgas), very old mountains that were formed the same time as Uluru. We couldn't go very far though, due to the intense heat. We returned to a lookout point to watch the famous sunset over Uluru, along with hundreds of other tourists-- our tour guide termed it "the circus." Dinner that night was truly Australian-- steak and kangaroo on the barbie. Kangaroo was suprisingly delicious, not dissimilar to beef. Had a good night talking and getting to know everyone.
Day 2- 28/10/08
The second day dawned even earlier-- we woke up at 4 am, when you could still see the stars shining bright above, so that we could get to Uluru and start walking around it by sunrise. You are still allowed to climb it, but the Aborigine owners ask you not to because it is very sacred to them, so I walked around, which was still marvellous. Watching the rock change colours as the sun came up was gorgeous (I have tons of pictures but unfortunately can't put them up right now). Being so close you could see the indentations and caves much more clearly than at a distance, and could walk into some caves to see paintings on the walls. We finished the walk at 9:30 but by then it felt like midday, for the sun was out in full force. We packed up and started our drive to King's Canyon, stopping on the way for lunch and an expedition into the desert to gather firewood. The cool nights and mornings kept making me forget how hot it could really get! The red sand practically burned you if you touched it. We had a welcome break at a "resort" by King's Canyon, with a pool and a few stores-- a swim was very refreshing, and we had some time to relax which was good. That night we were on a smaller campsite with fewer people around, which was nice. We made a huge bonfire and I had a great time teaching the Japanese and Italian people how to roast marshamllows-- the only thing missing was the chocolate and graham crackers! Many of them had never roasted marshmallows before, and we had to show them how to put it on the stick and everything... it was really fun watching their excitement.
Day 3- 29/10/08
We were up at four AGAIN to walk around the rim of King's Canyon... the first bit is a brutal uphill climb, so it was good to be doing it before the sun was up, and thankfully the day was cloudy so most of the walk was quite pleasant, with stunning views of the canyon. Then we got back on the bus to head back to Alice, with only a few stops for fuel and lunch. We got back around 4-- staying in hostels that night as offically the first tour had ended and the next began the the next day. Air conditioning and internet were welcome, as was a proper bed.
Thus ended the first three-day tour and began the next one! Many of the people were the same on both tours, though we lost the English guys and gained a lovely couple from Northern Ireland, as well as a different tour guide. In general the second half was much more "cruise-y," as our guide kept saying. Instead of getting to certain thigns and certain times it was essentially a road trip with interesting things along the way, and I really enjoyed it.
Day 4 30/10/08
We got picked up at 5:40 and started going north on the Stuart Highway, which we would follow all the way to Darwin. We quickly passed the Tropic of Capricorn, and saw an old telegraph station which is the reason many of the towns were built. Much of this trip was characterized by stops at tiny towns consisting mainly of a gas station. The major attraction of the day were the Devil's Marbles, massive boulders balanced on top of each other in quite a large area. They are really quite spectacular, though it was difficult to fully appreciate them because it was probably the hottest day yet-- in the high 30s celcius, and we all wanted to get back on the air conditioned bus! We saw another telegraph station... it is very difficult to imagine the lives those telegraph operators left, literally in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do and nowhere to go. Incredibly isolated. We got to our campsite pretty early, and it was lovely-- a cattle station at which we were the only tourists. Goats and cows wandered around freely, and our kitchen porch abutted a kangaroo paddock, where we could watch the kangaroos graze, including one that had a joey in its pouch! We spent the night out on the porch eating dinner and just chatting-- it was a wonderful group of people, all of whom had been in Australia for varying lengths of time and were doing all sorts of exciting things. Nobody seems to come to Australia for a few weeks, it's always months! I was made to practice my French a bit with the Quebecois couple and French girl, who wanted to see how good I was... they claimed to be impressed! I slept inside that night to avoid the goats.
Day 5- 31/10/08
Halloween! Beyond saying "oh, it's Halloween," we didn't really celebrate, but it was a great day nonetheless. We had a late(r) start (6:30), because the day was mostly driving. But I finally discovered that I could actually read on the bus without getting sick, so got well into Pride and Prejudice. The only (non)event of the morning was a stop at a town called Elliott, which I found quite amusing. I believe the population was something like 30 "whitefellas," the rest Aborigines. Our lunch stop was very memorable-- it was in the town of Daly Waters, which is very small, but included Daly Waters pub, which was become something of a tourist attraction. It's a great place with lots of character-- people leave items pinned to the walls everywhere, and there's lots of tchotkes. We had a long and relaxing lunch before hitting the road again. The afternoon stop was at a thermal springs-- this was a stunning place, because we turned down a road and all of a sudden the arid landscape and been transformed to rainforest with lush palm trees everywhere. The springs themselves were gorgeous, and very warm, though still refreshing. We had a brief stop in Katherine before getting to our next campsite, where we spent another great evening talking.
Day 6- 1/11/08
Our last day, and just as good as all the others! We left early to get to Katherine gorge, where we did a short hike to get an aeriel view of the gorge, and then were left to our own devices for a few hours. I opted to kayak (some people took a boat down the gorge), which was very peaceful and fun. We were able to beach our kayaks and swim every now and then, though not on the many beaches were crocodiles were nesting! (apparently they were freshwater, and thus non-aggressive, crocodiles)
After leaving the gorge we stopped at Edith Falls for lunch, a pretty lake, and then pressed on to Darwin. I fell asleep on the bus and when I woke up was astounded to see termite mounds suddenly looming over us-- they had been getting steadily bigger the whole way north, but were suddenly massive. Quite something to see. We got into Darwin in the evening and had a nice last night together as a group... some people were going on to Kakadu, while others were finishing there (as I was)
The next day I pottered around Darwin... it was too hot, and I was too lazy, to get up to much. It's quite a small city, though pretty and on the water, but I wasn't sad to be leaving the next morning. Altogether it was a wonderful trip, I really feel like I saw Australia, and I met some amazing people.
And there you go... I commend you if you got through all that. If anyone is interested in a similar trip, I did mine through Adventure Tours Australia and would recommend it!
I'm now in Sydney, which I'm sure I will post about shortly...
Friday, October 17, 2008
Canberra!
I just had a very good week which reminded me why I started a blog, because I don't want to forget about it! I was down in Canberra (Australia's capital) for the week, working in the MP's office. I think I'll just do a day-by-day kind of thing cause I did a lot:
I arrived on Sunday, so I had the day to explore Canberra. They didn't have my bag at the airport (of course), so I got to my hostel sans luggage and went right back out to find The Australian War Memorial, which was really cool-- it's up a long street called Anzac something with lots of memorials lining it, finishing in a big memorial/museum thing. (I'm going to post a bunch of pictures later when I can actually be bothered). Anyway, that was cool, and the weather was perfect for sitting in the shade and reading, and also for walking around, so I saw quite a bit of the city, which is very pretty but also very quiet-- I was literally about a minute out of the main shopping district when I was walking among very suburban-looking houses.
On Monday I caught the bus over to Parliament house, and basically spent the morning being given a tour by my coworker all around-- I went in the government and opposition meeting rooms, sat where the Prime Minister sits, saw the House and Senate, went up on top of the building where there's a big flagpole, lurked in a corridor till the PM walked by surrounded by his posse... I seriously think I saw most of the building, and it is HUGE. All the offices for the Senators and Reps are in there, so it's pretty spacious.
Ok I lied about the day-by-day thing because I can't really remember what happened when.
BUT some highlights were sitting in the gallery for Question Time-- I had a very good view and was sitting right behind some Sri Lankan minister who was visiting, sitting in the actual CHAMBER (In the adviser's box) while the House was in session... apparently hardly anyone gets to do that. I also got to go up to Main Committee (where they send things that aren't as important) while the MP gave a speech I wrote!! It was on the 6th anniversary of the Bali Bombings, so not some important policy issue, but it was still really cool to see it in the official Parliament records after :).
Umm what else. Oh, because Michael Johnson's the Opposition Whip, we had to do some calling of other reps to get them in the chamber. This was always amusing cause we had to flick through all the channels on Parliamentary TV to try and see who was already in there, and then we'd be about to dial someone and a staff member would shout "No! Russell's just walked in! It's ok!" It was funny to me cause we were literally right across the hall from the chamber, but we couldn't look in to see who was there so we had to squint at the tv.
On a more serious note, I did learn a lot about Australian government, which really interested me. I hadn't so fully grasped before the way they vote as parties-- if your party supports a bill, you vote for it. If they don't, you vote against it. No exceptions. It made all the speeches and stuff seem pretty pointless, because the government was always going to get their way... I prefer the American system in which individuals can make choices depending on (hopefully) what they think is best for their constituents, even if that goes against the party lines.
Also, the food in the cafeteria was really good. And cheap!
Anyway, yeah, I think that's it. I will post pictures later. It was basically a lot of fun and very interesting... being able to open the paper yesterday and see them talking about stuff I was watching live (sometimes in person, sometimes on TV) was really cool. More later!
Oh no wait. I forgot about Friday! They only work Monday-Thursday in Parliament, so I had all of Friday to hang out before my flight. I walked across the lake (that kind of divides Canberra) to Questacon, a really cool science museum-thing. That was fun. Then I walked over to Old Parliament House, where Parliament sat in the 1920s-80s before Australia got too big and there were too many Members to hold them. It was really interesting to get a tour of that, and see how it's all changed... though the tour guide kept explaining things "for our American visitor" and I had to refrain from telling him that I actually did know what the House of Representatives did, having worked there all week. Ah well. There was also a really good photo exhibition called "Beyond All Reasonable Drought" with pictures of parts of Australia which are so badly effected by the current drought... definitely eye-opening.
And then my bag got lost on the way home too. But it's arrived now!
Ok, that is it this time.
I arrived on Sunday, so I had the day to explore Canberra. They didn't have my bag at the airport (of course), so I got to my hostel sans luggage and went right back out to find The Australian War Memorial, which was really cool-- it's up a long street called Anzac something with lots of memorials lining it, finishing in a big memorial/museum thing. (I'm going to post a bunch of pictures later when I can actually be bothered). Anyway, that was cool, and the weather was perfect for sitting in the shade and reading, and also for walking around, so I saw quite a bit of the city, which is very pretty but also very quiet-- I was literally about a minute out of the main shopping district when I was walking among very suburban-looking houses.
On Monday I caught the bus over to Parliament house, and basically spent the morning being given a tour by my coworker all around-- I went in the government and opposition meeting rooms, sat where the Prime Minister sits, saw the House and Senate, went up on top of the building where there's a big flagpole, lurked in a corridor till the PM walked by surrounded by his posse... I seriously think I saw most of the building, and it is HUGE. All the offices for the Senators and Reps are in there, so it's pretty spacious.
Ok I lied about the day-by-day thing because I can't really remember what happened when.
BUT some highlights were sitting in the gallery for Question Time-- I had a very good view and was sitting right behind some Sri Lankan minister who was visiting, sitting in the actual CHAMBER (In the adviser's box) while the House was in session... apparently hardly anyone gets to do that. I also got to go up to Main Committee (where they send things that aren't as important) while the MP gave a speech I wrote!! It was on the 6th anniversary of the Bali Bombings, so not some important policy issue, but it was still really cool to see it in the official Parliament records after :).
Umm what else. Oh, because Michael Johnson's the Opposition Whip, we had to do some calling of other reps to get them in the chamber. This was always amusing cause we had to flick through all the channels on Parliamentary TV to try and see who was already in there, and then we'd be about to dial someone and a staff member would shout "No! Russell's just walked in! It's ok!" It was funny to me cause we were literally right across the hall from the chamber, but we couldn't look in to see who was there so we had to squint at the tv.
On a more serious note, I did learn a lot about Australian government, which really interested me. I hadn't so fully grasped before the way they vote as parties-- if your party supports a bill, you vote for it. If they don't, you vote against it. No exceptions. It made all the speeches and stuff seem pretty pointless, because the government was always going to get their way... I prefer the American system in which individuals can make choices depending on (hopefully) what they think is best for their constituents, even if that goes against the party lines.
Also, the food in the cafeteria was really good. And cheap!
Anyway, yeah, I think that's it. I will post pictures later. It was basically a lot of fun and very interesting... being able to open the paper yesterday and see them talking about stuff I was watching live (sometimes in person, sometimes on TV) was really cool. More later!
Oh no wait. I forgot about Friday! They only work Monday-Thursday in Parliament, so I had all of Friday to hang out before my flight. I walked across the lake (that kind of divides Canberra) to Questacon, a really cool science museum-thing. That was fun. Then I walked over to Old Parliament House, where Parliament sat in the 1920s-80s before Australia got too big and there were too many Members to hold them. It was really interesting to get a tour of that, and see how it's all changed... though the tour guide kept explaining things "for our American visitor" and I had to refrain from telling him that I actually did know what the House of Representatives did, having worked there all week. Ah well. There was also a really good photo exhibition called "Beyond All Reasonable Drought" with pictures of parts of Australia which are so badly effected by the current drought... definitely eye-opening.
And then my bag got lost on the way home too. But it's arrived now!
Ok, that is it this time.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
A little late...
Well, after nearly 2 1/2 weeks in Australia I've finally got around to setting up a blog! The reason for the delay is mainly laziness, and the catalyst for finally doing it was I heard something on the radio today that I didn't want to forget, and I'm rubbish at keeping a diary. Basically, I was listening to the radio in the car and a man phoned in, sounding remarkably happy. The host said "you're sounding cheery!" and the man said "Well, I woke up alive this morning, so I'm already ahead!." This just seemed to me such a good example of what I've experienced in Australia so far-- people are nice, they're friendly, they remember your name and are interested in hearing about you. The person who you're buying a ticket from at the station calls you "mate." My friend Lily, who I'm staying with here in Brisbane, keeps telling me that I shouldn't sound so surprised when people are nice, but I am, because it's so different from what I'm used to. (not that that's bad, by the way-- the niceness kind of freaks me out, to be honest) Anyway, now that I've said that I should probably do a bit of an update as to what I've been doing in Australia.
As I said, I've been in Brisbane for 2 1/2 weeks, and the first 2 were purely holiday. Lily and I went to most parts of Brisbane, it seems-- scoped out some markets, went to two different comedy shows (Frank Woodley and Tripod, both hilarious. Australian comedy is wonderful), watched a lot of Gossip Girl (and West Wing, to be fair), and just had a relaxing time. We did some good Australian things as well, like going to Brisbane Forest Park and seeing all the Australian animals-- wombats, wallabies, snakes, and a platypus who we watched for about 15 minutes. Last weekend we went up to Toowoomba, where her relatives live, for a big party for her Uncle. It's only about an hour and a half outside of the fairly large city of Brisbane, but as soon as we were on the way it was suddenly farm country-- lots of cows and even an emu farm, which was kind of awesome. The party was also typically Australian (or so I'm told)-- a game of hide-and-seek involved the phrase "Don't hide there, that's where the cane toads and snakes are," and later in the evening (when quite a lot of alcohol had been consumed by some), some cousins embarked on a mission involving golf clubs and cane toads, justified by their being an "introduced species" and a "pest." (To be fair, again, they did examine one animal and, seeing it was a green frog, declared it a "good one.") There was also a massive bonfire and, the next morning, what looked like a full English breakfast except for the fact that it had been cooked entirely on the barbie (and lacked black pudding.)
Coming up to date, this Monday I started an internship at Michael Johnson's office. He's the federal member of Parliament for the district of Ryan, which is made up of Brisbane's western suburbs. It's been very good so far (everyone is, of course, nice), and next week I'll be going down to Canberra because Parliament will be in session, so that should be good.
Anyway, sorry this is such a massive post, I didn't think I had quite so much to say. I'll try to update this semi-regularly.
Bye for now!
As I said, I've been in Brisbane for 2 1/2 weeks, and the first 2 were purely holiday. Lily and I went to most parts of Brisbane, it seems-- scoped out some markets, went to two different comedy shows (Frank Woodley and Tripod, both hilarious. Australian comedy is wonderful), watched a lot of Gossip Girl (and West Wing, to be fair), and just had a relaxing time. We did some good Australian things as well, like going to Brisbane Forest Park and seeing all the Australian animals-- wombats, wallabies, snakes, and a platypus who we watched for about 15 minutes. Last weekend we went up to Toowoomba, where her relatives live, for a big party for her Uncle. It's only about an hour and a half outside of the fairly large city of Brisbane, but as soon as we were on the way it was suddenly farm country-- lots of cows and even an emu farm, which was kind of awesome. The party was also typically Australian (or so I'm told)-- a game of hide-and-seek involved the phrase "Don't hide there, that's where the cane toads and snakes are," and later in the evening (when quite a lot of alcohol had been consumed by some), some cousins embarked on a mission involving golf clubs and cane toads, justified by their being an "introduced species" and a "pest." (To be fair, again, they did examine one animal and, seeing it was a green frog, declared it a "good one.") There was also a massive bonfire and, the next morning, what looked like a full English breakfast except for the fact that it had been cooked entirely on the barbie (and lacked black pudding.)
Coming up to date, this Monday I started an internship at Michael Johnson's office. He's the federal member of Parliament for the district of Ryan, which is made up of Brisbane's western suburbs. It's been very good so far (everyone is, of course, nice), and next week I'll be going down to Canberra because Parliament will be in session, so that should be good.
Anyway, sorry this is such a massive post, I didn't think I had quite so much to say. I'll try to update this semi-regularly.
Bye for now!
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