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...
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