("Hi, how are ya?" in Yankunytjatjara)
2.12.07
Home again, home again, jiggity jig
After the long ride home, and after a great trip...we're home, and safely.
Our neighbor picked us up and brought Primus, so we got to see her 30 minutes earlier than we had thought. Awesome. So after 30 hours of travel, with 1 hour of sleep, we're now reasonably rested, sorting mail, and getting used to cold freaking weather. No snow here yet, thank god, but the wind is howling and it's about 60 or 70 degrees colder than we're used to.
Thanks to all who checked this blog. It will likely continue with a sort of post hoc recap of the highlights, with more pictures and video (thanks to fast home internet), and ultimately there will be a 'slide show' (more of a video production) posted on YouTube.
More about 'the flies' and the fun coming soon.
Our neighbor picked us up and brought Primus, so we got to see her 30 minutes earlier than we had thought. Awesome. So after 30 hours of travel, with 1 hour of sleep, we're now reasonably rested, sorting mail, and getting used to cold freaking weather. No snow here yet, thank god, but the wind is howling and it's about 60 or 70 degrees colder than we're used to.
Thanks to all who checked this blog. It will likely continue with a sort of post hoc recap of the highlights, with more pictures and video (thanks to fast home internet), and ultimately there will be a 'slide show' (more of a video production) posted on YouTube.
More about 'the flies' and the fun coming soon.
22.11.07
20.11.07
Amazing beyond words...
OK, so we're sitting here in a World Heritage area (Shark Bay, Western Australia - one of 16 in the world) finishing off a bottle of wine that we bought a few days ago, a few kilometers ago, having just watched the sun set over the Indian Ocean. We suck.
And we have a wireless internet connection...in the town farthest west in Australia...yesterday seeing wild kangaroos and an echidna...two days after petting actual kangaroos...a few hours after being 40M (120 ft+) up in a tingle (eucalypt) forest. We really, really suck.
Tomorrow we might swim with dolphins.
For what it's worth, Western Australia is amazing, and there's no one here...2M people (1.4M live in Perth) across an area FIVE TIMES the size of Texas but at 1/50th the population density (and no Texans). Western Australia in 60% bigger than Alaska. Think of that.
We drove 600km (400miles +/-) today up from the Pinnacles Desert and for the the last 120km saw one car. And this is a touristy place.
You need to come here.
More soon...
16.11.07
Far from there...
Yeah we've been on the move....
One day in Sydney centered around the Opera House (amazing) including a performance, but also some general wandering and a cool sculpture exhibit running along the rocky coast south of Bondi Beach.
From there it was a flight to Uluru (Ayers Rock) and a day centered around it and its many moods. Much more interesting even than the pictures would indicate, and you can get right up next to it except in some areas that are off limits due to their spiritual significance to the Anandu (the aborignal groups of that area). You can climb it, but it is discouraged. We did not. We saw the sun set on it, visited the cultural center, and I got up for sunrise and walked around it (10k). Great.
Now after another flight and a car ride we are in Western Australia, south of Perth in a town called Albany. SOme great national parks around here and some winreies. Should make for a good mix,
See ya for now.
One day in Sydney centered around the Opera House (amazing) including a performance, but also some general wandering and a cool sculpture exhibit running along the rocky coast south of Bondi Beach.
From there it was a flight to Uluru (Ayers Rock) and a day centered around it and its many moods. Much more interesting even than the pictures would indicate, and you can get right up next to it except in some areas that are off limits due to their spiritual significance to the Anandu (the aborignal groups of that area). You can climb it, but it is discouraged. We did not. We saw the sun set on it, visited the cultural center, and I got up for sunrise and walked around it (10k). Great.
Now after another flight and a car ride we are in Western Australia, south of Perth in a town called Albany. SOme great national parks around here and some winreies. Should make for a good mix,
See ya for now.
13.11.07
Quick, from Sydney...
Arrived, got to hotel, dropped off crap, headed out for something to eat. Wound up at a tapas place. Asian kid skateboarded by. Very cosmopolitan.
Sydney is hopping at 10:00pm on a Tuesday. A band had just started playing a cover of Coldplay's Yellow in a pub across the street from the tapas place. We were dining outside at a comfortable 70 degrees. Neener neener blah blah.
This morning we woke to the sound of kookaburras. Tomorrow the sound of honking and a city lumbering to life. Our window opens onto one of the main drags - St George Street. You get what you pay for.
Hotel has free internet access. Maybe we'll get some images and/or video up...tomorrow night.
Sydney is hopping at 10:00pm on a Tuesday. A band had just started playing a cover of Coldplay's Yellow in a pub across the street from the tapas place. We were dining outside at a comfortable 70 degrees. Neener neener blah blah.
This morning we woke to the sound of kookaburras. Tomorrow the sound of honking and a city lumbering to life. Our window opens onto one of the main drags - St George Street. You get what you pay for.
Hotel has free internet access. Maybe we'll get some images and/or video up...tomorrow night.
Hello again...
Sorry this has been a bit of a bust. Internet access is few and far between. Right now is the first free wireless connection we've found, and of course it's an airport.
We're a long way from where we were the last time we posted. We're now just a smidge above the Tropic of Capricorn in the Australian state of Queensland, home to the Great Barrier Reef. We just got back from three days on Great Keppel Island off the coast and officially in the reef zone. Snorkeling wasn't great as a storm had blown up, the seas were choppy and the water turbid. We did get in a bit of snorkeling and saw a big ray and some other sea life of various sorts. We stayed at a very backpacker friendly place in a big family sized tent, the sounds of kookaburras, lorakeets and various other strange tropical birds singing and screeching through the night.
We celebrated a belated wedding anniversary with a dinner (5 courses) on the beach facing a lovely sunset, though it was interrupted by an Australian who had had the same dinner two nights before and wanted to help us keep the candles alight in the wind. He lingered a little longer than we might have liked but he was as friendly as can be.
We rocketed up here from Melbourne and are now beginning our rocket across the country. We're leaving for Sydney in an hour or so, to worship the Opera House and have a quick look round. Then it's off to Perth via Uluru (Ayers Rock for you knuckleheads) where we'll spend 9 or so days wandering those environs. This is a freakishly large place with tons of cool stuff to see and do, and possibly the friendliest people on earth. Their beer is bad though, at least most of what I've tried. The microbrew revolution doesn't seem to have gotten hear yet, so maybe in another ten years or so the beer will be worth drinking.
Met a guy today (from PA) who had retired, bought a 54ft sailboat and left England 5 years ago with his wife. He thought they would take another 2 or 3 years to finish their circumnavigation. They were considering going around again after that. He needed some crew for his run down to Brisbane that had we been true backpackers out for an indefinite periodwould have been very enticing.
We're a long way from where we were the last time we posted. We're now just a smidge above the Tropic of Capricorn in the Australian state of Queensland, home to the Great Barrier Reef. We just got back from three days on Great Keppel Island off the coast and officially in the reef zone. Snorkeling wasn't great as a storm had blown up, the seas were choppy and the water turbid. We did get in a bit of snorkeling and saw a big ray and some other sea life of various sorts. We stayed at a very backpacker friendly place in a big family sized tent, the sounds of kookaburras, lorakeets and various other strange tropical birds singing and screeching through the night.
We celebrated a belated wedding anniversary with a dinner (5 courses) on the beach facing a lovely sunset, though it was interrupted by an Australian who had had the same dinner two nights before and wanted to help us keep the candles alight in the wind. He lingered a little longer than we might have liked but he was as friendly as can be.
We rocketed up here from Melbourne and are now beginning our rocket across the country. We're leaving for Sydney in an hour or so, to worship the Opera House and have a quick look round. Then it's off to Perth via Uluru (Ayers Rock for you knuckleheads) where we'll spend 9 or so days wandering those environs. This is a freakishly large place with tons of cool stuff to see and do, and possibly the friendliest people on earth. Their beer is bad though, at least most of what I've tried. The microbrew revolution doesn't seem to have gotten hear yet, so maybe in another ten years or so the beer will be worth drinking.
Met a guy today (from PA) who had retired, bought a 54ft sailboat and left England 5 years ago with his wife. He thought they would take another 2 or 3 years to finish their circumnavigation. They were considering going around again after that. He needed some crew for his run down to Brisbane that had we been true backpackers out for an indefinite periodwould have been very enticing.
8.11.07
Helllloooooooooo........
There seems to be a shortage of intertubes on this side of the world...and people don't seem to be flaunting their wifi like at home. Oh well.
Flight sucked, as expected, though the 6hr Boston to LA leg was worse than the 14hr LA-Sydney leg believe it or not. We were sitting in front of two small girls that seemed to be possessed by Satan himself. LA to Sydney sucked too but the service on Quantas was excellent and we pretty much watched movies the whole way. 5 in fact for me.
Eventually we got to Melbourne and were picked up by the woman Faith lived with when she was here before, Storm. We went back to her house and after chatting for a few hours I crashed about 6:00pm and slept until the next morning. Faith lasted longer and after a good night's sleep we both seem to have acclimatized.
Spent Monday (we're 15 hours ahead, think of that) wandering Melbourne. Tuesday was Melbourne Cup day, a state holiday and the equivalent of the Kentucky Derby. Wednesday we headed down to Phillip Island (home of the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix - Miles knows) where Storm's friend has a 'holiday house'. Today we went to a place called The Nobbies, where fur seals nest and the view is straight to Antarctica. Last night the stars were phenomenal, Milky Way and all, and so we saw the Southern Cross for the first time (cue music). I'm not sure if it was the profusion of stars, but it was underwhelming, and in fact looks almost exactly like Cygnus the Swan. Anyone know if they are the same? Orion was here as well, though in the northern part of the sky.
Tomorrow we're headed back to Melbourne and then north to either Sydney or the reef, depending on plane options.
Hope everyone is well....talk to you later. Pictures later too. My current connection doesn't seem to like them.
Flight sucked, as expected, though the 6hr Boston to LA leg was worse than the 14hr LA-Sydney leg believe it or not. We were sitting in front of two small girls that seemed to be possessed by Satan himself. LA to Sydney sucked too but the service on Quantas was excellent and we pretty much watched movies the whole way. 5 in fact for me.
Eventually we got to Melbourne and were picked up by the woman Faith lived with when she was here before, Storm. We went back to her house and after chatting for a few hours I crashed about 6:00pm and slept until the next morning. Faith lasted longer and after a good night's sleep we both seem to have acclimatized.
Spent Monday (we're 15 hours ahead, think of that) wandering Melbourne. Tuesday was Melbourne Cup day, a state holiday and the equivalent of the Kentucky Derby. Wednesday we headed down to Phillip Island (home of the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix - Miles knows) where Storm's friend has a 'holiday house'. Today we went to a place called The Nobbies, where fur seals nest and the view is straight to Antarctica. Last night the stars were phenomenal, Milky Way and all, and so we saw the Southern Cross for the first time (cue music). I'm not sure if it was the profusion of stars, but it was underwhelming, and in fact looks almost exactly like Cygnus the Swan. Anyone know if they are the same? Orion was here as well, though in the northern part of the sky.
Tomorrow we're headed back to Melbourne and then north to either Sydney or the reef, depending on plane options.
Hope everyone is well....talk to you later. Pictures later too. My current connection doesn't seem to like them.
29.10.07
13.10.07
T-minus 3 weeks
In three short weeks we will be experiencing the 'lost day'.
We leave on Friday, November 2nd from Boston, heading to Los Angeles. Our flight from LAX to Sydney also leaves on the 2nd (just barely), but we don't arrive in Sydney until the 4th, and while we will experience some of the 3rd, it is essentially a non-day.
We do get the day back on the way back, leaving on the 30th and getting back to the US before we left. I think our elapsed time from Melbourne to Boston is 4 hours, despite the 30 hours of actual travel.
A note about this blog. Basically, we're going to try to maintain some amount of regular posting, including pictures, and maybe some video as we go, all depending on the accessibility of the internet where we are. I doubt it will be daily, but hopefully frequently. Hopefully it will be interesting, and not merely the digital equivalent of a 'wish you were here' postcard.
Also note, time and date conventions are of and by Australian standards (day,month,year).
We leave on Friday, November 2nd from Boston, heading to Los Angeles. Our flight from LAX to Sydney also leaves on the 2nd (just barely), but we don't arrive in Sydney until the 4th, and while we will experience some of the 3rd, it is essentially a non-day.
We do get the day back on the way back, leaving on the 30th and getting back to the US before we left. I think our elapsed time from Melbourne to Boston is 4 hours, despite the 30 hours of actual travel.
A note about this blog. Basically, we're going to try to maintain some amount of regular posting, including pictures, and maybe some video as we go, all depending on the accessibility of the internet where we are. I doubt it will be daily, but hopefully frequently. Hopefully it will be interesting, and not merely the digital equivalent of a 'wish you were here' postcard.
Also note, time and date conventions are of and by Australian standards (day,month,year).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
