The one where I'm in Australia again

G'day!

After seriously considering extending my New Zealand trip, in the end I decided to follow through on my original plan to head over here for New Year's Eve.

Thanks to the lack of any available beds anywhere near Sydney, the persistence of Becca and Brian, and the generosity of their friend Jenny's friend Corinna (and the fact that Corinna didn't realize I'm from the States), I've got a couch all my own for a coupla nights.

So far, I've spent a coupla days wandering the city, which seems like...a city. It's much smaller than I thought, but it could still take me a couple more to see all the highlights. Right now I'm at the famous Bondi beach, which is, uh, underwhelming.

My plans for the rest of my time in Australia are mostly tentative: I'll stay in Sydney until Tuesday or Wednesday (and watch some fireworks along the way), then maybe head over to the Blue Mountains for the rest of the week. Friday I'll leave for Canberra to play in an Ultimate tournament next weekend, assuming there's still room for me. I'll be in Melbourne roughly January 16-28 to hang around the Australian Open and see some Laura Veirs shows.

Other than that, probably some combination of traveling the coast from Melbourne to Adelaide, heading up to Alice Springs/Uluru/the Outback, maybe down to Tasmania, maybe something else someone tells me I should do. I'll make my way back to Sydney to fly off to Africa in mid-February.

Sometime in the very near future, maybe the next rainy day, I'll spend some time catching up on my backlog of posts and loading some of my ~1000 pictures or so from New Zealand (and setting up some favourites so only the diehards among you need to look at ~1000 pictures). In the meantime, I hope your holidays, whatever they were, went well. And if you want to celebrate New Year's with me, most of you may have to remember to start pretty early.

Hasta,
sg

The one where I am alive and well

Hey, sorry for the dearth of posts. I've been busy, and it's been good.

I'm now in Queenstown, New Zealand, but very briefly. Tomorrow morning I leave for a 10-day hiking tour, starting here and ending in Christchurch:

This safari takes you to areas of New Zealand seldom visited by other travellers. It starts with 4 days hiking and kayaking in Fiordland National Park. We then head to the Catlins, famous for its beautiful beaches and abundant wildlife - Hector's dolphins, New Zealand sea lions and yellow-eyed penguins. The Dunstan Trail is an old goldmining route that takes us across the Central Otago plateau. Then it's on to the Mount Cook region to view our highest mountain. In South Canterbury we hike to an old musterer's hut.

I'm scheduled to head to Sydney very shortly thereafter. Hey, by the way, HELP! Do any of you know anyone in Sydney on whose floor or sofa I might sleep for a couple of days...? Say, any time period between Dec 28 and Jan 5 or so? That would kinda help me a lot right now...

When I get a chance, I've got some posts to write, though it might be a coupla weeks before you actually see them. But I've got good notes and lots of pictures:
- Staying in a hostel
- Abel Tasman Park kayaking and hiking and boat sleeping
- Glacier hiking
- The coolest place I've ever been, and how I wound up there with a real cutie and Truesdale's roommate

Unfortunately, that's all for now. (But I'm serious about needing a place in Sydney...)

Happy (C)han(n)uk(k)a(h) all. And, if I don't get a chance to talk to you before then, have a Merry Christmas, a Joyous Kwanzaa, and, most importantly, a Happy Festivus!

-sg

The one where the best was less than the best

The Tongariro Crossing is called the best one day walk in New Zealand.

From the NZ Department of Conservation website:

The Tongariro Crossing track passes over varied and spectacular volcanic terrain. In the presence of active volcanoes you can experience some of Tongariro National Park’s special gifts. A cold mountain spring, lava flows, an active crater, steam vents, emerald-coloured lakes and magnificent views combine to make this an enjoyable and memorable trip.

So I wanted to walk it.

(And for you Lord of the Rings fans, (ahem, K), the walk traverses the areas filmed as Mordor and one of the volcanoes you pass was Mt Doom.)

I was running a bit late in the morning so I jogged/ran from my hostel to the depot where I was supposed to meet the bus. I made it and we took off. First stop: my hostel.

Anyway, I was first off the bus and onto the trail (7:25am) so I could avoid the crowds--it's a hugely popular walk and the busses pretty much line up. It was really foggy and hard to see much. I decided to take pictures every 15 minutes of whatever I could see to have a better record of what I expected to be one of the best days I'll ever have hiking.

As we (by an hour or so in, I'd caught up with some others) were starting the hard bit the weather rolled in. A heavy drizzle mostly, which wasn't too bad (other than the realization that my raincoat wasn't keeping out the rain).

But by the time we got to the steepest section, it was not good. By which I mean REALLY BAD. The winds were maybe 40mph or so, gusting much higher. Visibility was about 50 yards. It was sleeting. At one point I found a big rock to hide under while I dug out my gloves (thank god I got gloves...). I put them on and frost immediately formed. I never even saw the sign for the side trek I was going to take to the peak of Mt Tongariro.

It cleared up a bit on the other side of the ridge, but it was still pretty yucky along the Emerald Lakes/Blue Lake region. Which looks fantastic in the postcards.

So I was using the alarm on my cell phone to tell me my 15 minute increments to take pictures, which I hadn't taken in a while because of the weather. But my raincoat, remember, she is not keeping out the rain. So the phone started going nuts--it, inside my pocket, kept beeping and turning to camera mode and taking pictures. I had to finally take the battery out. And the camera, that stopped too. No beeping, no nothing.

Finally, after we passed the North Crater we could see what we came for: mountains, with big lakes set in the background (Lake Taupo, that smaller one I don't remember the name of) against a fierce land. I had views of the lakes and Mt Rotopaunga during the entire descent to the Ketehai hut.

Without the side trip to the peak I had some extra time so I ate lunch in the hut. Then, we descended to a rain forest for the rest of the trip back to the parking lot.

I bought a new camera in Wellington, so pictures will resume shortly. What I do have from Tongariro will be up in a couple of days...

Good: The sights of the mountains with Lake Taupo in the distance
Not: I no camera for most of it
Good: What I could see of Emerald and Blue Lakes
Not: I don't like windy sleet
Good: The volcanic activity in the Ketehai Hot Springs
Not: there were lots of people and no animals (well, I saw one bird)
Good: The running commentary with Amanda and her husband as we jockeyed for position.
Bad: My raincoat didn't work
Good: That weird plant where the leaves line up on each branch/stem (see the 4th one on this guy's site).
Bad: Irish eyes smile. My ankles weep and moan.
Good: I saw snow. And in December at that!

Joy,
sg

The one where I swooped

And zorbed. And flew. And rode in a really fast boat.

So, New Zealand. I wound up not renting a car. It'd probably be easier, but
- the economic advantages are less clear when travelling alone
- I signed up for a tour that will cover basically my last 10 days here. This would have shortened the rental period (higher rates) and changed the drop off location from Christchurch to Queenstown (extremely higher rates). Instead, I've got a bus pass for something like 50 hours of travel.

After Auckland I went north up to Paihia. From there, I took a full day bus tour up to Cape Reinga (essentially the tip of the island). It's where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific ocean. Which would have been neat, but it was pouring rain and really windy while we were there so we couldn't see much. We got there by driving the tour bus a significant distance along the Ninety Mile Beach, a 55 mile long beach on the north western coast. That was neat. We also stopped at gift shops and stuff, which was not so neat. I think it'll be the last of my group-on-a-bus tours, especially if I don't go with a friend.

After I left I came down to Rotorua. In the morning, walking into town, I came across a farmers market with a stand selling really cheap Roti with Chicken curry. I went, then went back twice. As I left the market I entered a park--apparently Rotorua is one of the big areas of thermal activity, cause there were bunches of thermal pools in the park, some really hot and roped off and some more suitable for human contact.

But I really came to Rotorua to see the Agrodome, a working sheep farm/agricultural expo/adventure experience site. Really.

I was gonna zorb, but I ran into Diane and Hannah (from Wales and England, or maybe the other way), who convinced me to do it all.

- I swooped. That is, I got into a hang gliding harness, had a crane lift me up to 130 feet, then pulled a ripcord and swung like a pendulum.
- I flew. That is, I was lifted in the air by a giant wind tunnel blowing me up at 110 mph.
- I agrojetted. That is, I rode in a 450-horsepower, jet-propelled 13-foot Race Boat that went from 0 to 60 in 4.5 seconds on a small, man made course.
- And I zorbed. That is, I rode down a zig-zag hill inside what is essentially a 10 foot tall padded water balloon.

And it was good.

Rotorua pictures are up.

Joy,
sg

The one where I got my blog back.

I got my blog back.

The one where Sub Zero played at worlds

Pictures are available at my picture site.

The one where I can't read kanji

In which: I sat down at my favourite internet cafe in Perth and went to write about something or other.

In which: The language setting on Blogger was Japanese.

In which: Trying to figure out how to change it to English, I deleted my own blog.

In which: I've asked tech support for help to recover the missing entries, but if anyone happened to save them they should send me a copy.

In which: I've now moved on to Auckland, New Zealand.

In which: Today's plan is to maybe rent a car, get a new SIM card for the phone, buy a guidebook, figure out where to go tomorrow, and maybe introduce myself to the woman from the 6am airport shuttle if I run into her again.

chao,
sg

The one where I ripped a goofy-footed tasty curl

We drank and surfed and were merry.

We drove down to wine country. The Margaret River area has a winery every couple of hundred metres. Some tours (like Wine For Dudes™) hit six or seven in one day, though we weren't quite ready for that.

Stopped at the Wine Info Centre in the town of Margaret River to make some plans for the evening and grab lunch. We decided to go to the Leeuwin Estate ('cause Doug and Kyle liked the label best--is there a better way?) and then head over to the beach. We tried eight wines--started at the dry whites (Riesling) and worked our way to the Cabernet/Merlot. They had a Chardonnay that sells for $85/bottle that was pretty good, but I think you'd have to appreciate it a bunch more than I did to pay that. My favourite was the Sauvignon Blanc--the berry really lingered.

We stayed at Margaret's Beach Resort. Checked into our two-bedroom condo, rented some surfboards (and wetsuits) and headed to the river mouth at Prevelly Beach. In two shifts--we had three surfboards, but only two would fit in the car at the same time so Doug had to drive carpool for us kiddies.

We, uh, fell a lot. Dinner back at the condo--Doug grilled some steaks and chicken, whilst we ferried out gin and tonics.

Early to bed--we had to catch the waves at first light.

Late to rise--we watched cricket on tv, trying to determine if it's really like a baseball game where each inning lasts a couple of days. We eventually headed back to the beach for another try.

It was really windy and we had to fight like hell to get out to the waves. We moved over a bit and were able to sorta walk out far enough to get started. After a number of tries, I was finally able to stand on the board. It might not have counted in rodeo, but it was at least a couple of seconds. I immediately headed to shore, done for the day (or "ever").

We returned our stuff and headed back up to Perth for the night, stopping at Valle Felix winery (taste 8 more (the Sauv/Semillon was my favourite yet) and call mom for her birthday), the Bootleg Brewery for lunch, and the Margaret River Chocolate Company for a free samples dessert.

Margaret River pictures...

ta,
sg

The one with lots of wallabiettes

So we (Doug & Andrew Brown, Kyle, Jeremy, me) headed out to Rottnest Island, just off the coast of Fremantle. After throwing down $56 for the ferry and $25 for the bikes and $16 for the snorkels we were set.

Rottnest is like 7 miles long and 3 miles wide and has about 60 different beaches. We spent a day and a half biking around the island, snorkeling and wandering in secluded bays and our own private beaches. We rode up to the NW shore for another Indian Ocean sunset with some fine Little Creatures Pale Ale and yet more cheese and crackers and pistachios.

Rottnest is also home to (and was originally named for) the quokkas, cat-sized marsupials that the Dutch originally thought were rat-like. The first time we saw one it was quite a novelty--we stopped our bikes to look and take pictures. The novelty kind of wore off when another one came to sit with us as we ate lunch in our hotel's courtyard, and then hundreds more were wandering about as we hit evening. Also: pheasants, peacocks, crabs, and many, many fish. No dingoes.

Yesterday afternoon we caught the ferry back to Fremantle and drove down to Bunbury on our way to the Margaret River wine country. Dinner in our hotel's cafe, which reminded me a lot of my grandmother's nursing home if they'd had a bar.

First pictures should be up...soon(!), if Flickr likes me, I think at www.flickr.com/photos/joyofseth/.

ta,
sg

The one where the Browns are not good

Well, the Steelers might not be either, but we definitely have better fans.

See the Star-Trib article.

Back to the trip,
sg

The one where we didn't win

We didn't win.

Semis against Buzz Bullets (Japan). We played quite well in the first half. They broke us early, but we broke back. We ended the first half on serve, up 9-8. Then, well, let's just say they went up 15-9. We couldn't put together any offensive rhythm at all. We had no answer for their quick, efficient offense, especially when we gave them the disc near our own goal. We scored a meaningless point at the end before they closed it out, 16-10.

Buzz went on to destroy Thong (Aus) in the finals, 17-8.

About 45 minutes after our loss we had to play Chilly (Aus) for the bronze. We came out flat and let them jump out to a lead. We closed it in the second half but couldn't pull even in the end, losing I think 17-15. So no medal for Sub Zero.

So now disc is done and I get to start thinking about how to get to New Zealand (I'm guessing flying is the best bet) and what do do once I'm there.

Hasta,
sg

The one where Seth has internet access for the first time in a while

Gentle Reader,

I am alive and well.

Sorry for the scarcity of posting and email responses--I'm sure you've been checking thrice daily, hoping for word, but the internet service available at our field site is pretty horrible and we've started most days at 8:30am, so I didn't really feel like hitting an internet cafe before we caught the 6:47am bus...

Note that this first week of my trip is mostly about playing in the World Ultimate (Frisbee) Championships. So if you're not interested in that but want to hear more about my travels, be patient, they'll start soon...

We came into the tournament as the #1 seed (after finishing in 10th place at the US national championships...). A full Sub Zero squad might have been that, but we only brought 11/26 of our team. With 5 friends who weren't playing with us this year, but 16 people is still pretty small and it's been hot--into the low 90s some days. The UV index ranks as "Extreme Danger", but the tournament has lots of free sunscreen.

I woke up Sunday, along with everyone else on the team, at about 2:30am. We beat BOUHSEARS, the #3 Japanese team, in the morning. We lost to Thong, the #3 Aussie team, in the afternoon. They were tall and had some big throwers, we are short and had a lot of drops and throwaways. We were in it early, but they took control in the middle and we couldn't put together any momentum to make a comeback.

Monday we had just one game--our 17-4 victory against Too Bad (Canada) was their closest game in the initial pools. That put us at 2-1 overall, good enough to move up to the power pools. Our first team dinner--we (by which I mean "Charlie") made some legs of lamb with roasted potatoes. And others added some rice and veggies and chicken.

Tuesday was tough. We started out against the Buzz Bullets (Japan), the #2 seed overall and probably the favourites. We stayed even 'til 6-6, then they beat us 17-8 after they took a big league and we loosened our lineup to conserve our energy. Second game was against Doublewide (TX-yee, hah). It was close, but they held a 2-3 point lead most of the way. But we started to gel and fought 'til the end--definitely our best game yet. We (by which I mean "Charlie") turned the leftover lamb into a curried lamb stew.

Yesterday we beat Nomadic Tribe (Japan #2) to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals. In the afternoon we had a great win against Clapham (UK). They were up 9-8 at halftime, but we went on a small run to pull ahead in the second half and held on for a 14-12 victory and a more favourable seed heading into the quarterfinals. Dinner in Chinatown with Truesdale and JohnJohn and the Browns, pere et fils. We told our waiter we wanted spring rolls, fried rice and food for 5 and he took care of us--sweet and salty squid, duck with mushrooms, a baked chicken dish, prawns in a spicy bean sauce, peppercorn steak...

Today was quarters against Fakulti ("faculty", from AUS). We started strong and went up 5-0 quickly. They brought it back to 11-9, but we pulled away again for the 17-10 victory. So tomorrow at 12:30 we'll play the Buzz Bullets again in semis, fighting for a right to play the winner of Chilly (AUS #1) and Thong in the finals. Tonight Naz' dad is gonna make a paella dinner for all.

Tomorrow will be tough--the Bullets are pretty short but extremely quick with good throws and a defense unlike anything we've had to face before. They're too athletic for us to just throw jump balls to our taller players and when they get the turn they move the disc very quickly and really well. So tonight we'll strategize and ice.

Anyway, sorry to drone on about Ultimate. If you emailed me, I'll respond soon. If not, I might send something anyway.

The one where the terra-ists didn't win

I had to go through security twice at LAX.

On my way to the airport I stopped to buy some clear plastic bags. I put all of my and gels and stuff into a couple of them--I've got a decent assortment of stuff with me and I didn't want to check my pack if I could avoid it. But I saw a sign in the security line that you could only carry one clear bag, so I consolidated some of the stuff I didn't want to deal with replacing in one bag and just put the bag with my other stuff back in my pack.

They stopped me because the bag I did show them was a half-gallon bag rather than the allowable quart-sized bag. Never mind that I had some eye drops, a mini-tube of toothpaste, many sporins (well, a small tube of polysporin) , a tube of chapstick, and almost 2 quarts of empty space--security escorted me back to the ticket counter so I could check my bag. Instead, I bought a quart-sized baggie at the newsstand, put my two-quart bag inside of it, and went through security again. With no problem, despite the gallon or so of contraband that was still in my daypack.

Anyway, now I'm in Sydney. I've got a 7 hour layover before heading to Perth. I think it's Thursday afternoon here, but I could be wrong.

chao,
sg

Where where?

This is a new post.

The newest of the new posts.

But...there's no there there, yet.

Soon....