The one with hits

Welcome, tennis fans!

A year ago today I saw my first match of the 2007 Australian Open, Richard Gasquet over Gael Monfils in 4 sets. I mention it now because the 2008 Open is going on right now, and I've been getting some hits recently from tennis fans who find me on yahoo or google. Recent searches that found me include

• ashley harkleroad pics cute pretty
• Vince Spadea is a chump
• vordika
• joy of seth
• Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis seventeen times in a row

Feel free to link to this post so google likes me even more.

Anyway, I'm sure you're really all here to find out about week three. Duck took on Lady Zerks last night. At 11pm--I took a nap first. And _really_ thought about not going...did I mention it's a bit nippy out right now?

The team won, I dunno, 13-6 or so. No big runs, we just kept scoring about twice for every one they got. We had 6 guys, 3 or 4 women.

My game....was a very mixed bag.

For example, I skied a 6'6" guy (I cut deep just as TO got the disc, had a 5- or 6-step lead, the throw floated, I slowed, he caught up but let me keep my position, I let it come directly over my head and went up at the right place to catch it near my peak, which is probably right about level with his chin...). Landed about 5 yards out and threw an easy score to Jill when she and Cristy split him.

Then, the very next point, we forced backhand and I had no idea. Isn't it always force wall in indoor? They scored very easily.

Overally, I played 9 points with a +3 differential. Did have my first turnover of the year, a backhand to Charlie that was a bit behind him. Okay, he was 10 feet from me, and it was 8 feet behind him. Caught a goal, threw a goal.

Went to the bar afterwards, got home about 2:20. It was -15, and windy.

Today I wanna head over to Lake Nokomis, where the US Pond Hockey Championships are going on. Less than a mile from my house is a hockey tournament that ESPN called one of the "101 Things All Sports Fans Should Experience Before They Die". There are 225 teams on 26 outdoor rinks. Which would be awesome if it only felt sixty degrees warmer out, (which would still put us just below freezing), but it is what it is.

And what it was, and what it shall be,
sg

The one with no lions or tigers

So I don't think I'm supposed to tell anyone yet, but I've never been good at keeping secrets and I'm really excited--Guinness is gonna list my record for Cleanest Windshield Ever in their next edition!

Turns out, the confusing part about driving on the other side of the street is driving on the other side of the car. I had no problem remembering to stay to the left, maybe because I've been over here for 3 months already, so I'm getting used to looking the right way when crossing the street and such. But shifting gears with the left hand while steering with the right took some getting used to. I washed that window every single time I changed lanes for two days...

As planned, I rented a car (it's cheaper with advertising!) and drove along the Great Ocean Road. Like the Pacific Coast Highway, except with the Southern Ocean and you drive on the other side of the street.

Much of my trip was spent scanning the radio stations, trying to find a channel. What I listened to:

- Cricket. And I even understood everything.
- Smack That--if I ever have a date, I hope to take her back to my place so we can kick it like Tae Bo.
- Maybe she'll be Fergalicious--D to the E.
- Some lady reading the newspaper. I think she was Christian.
- And once, a This American Life story on PRI.

I saw...koala bears, oh my! There were a bunch of people pulled over to the side of the road, so I pulled over to the side of the road. "Look, there's a bear in that tree!" And so there was. And another in the other tree, and two more in another. And another in another, and another, a total of twelve bears in all.

Also, many many kilometers of pretty coastline and curvy wooded roads.

Now, I'm back in Sydney, getting ready to leave Australia. Sorry about all the exclamation points in this post.

chao,
sg

The one where driving in Melbourne is quirky

So traffic in Melbourne can be a bit weird.

An example: I think I've only seen a couple of these, but I might easily be confused and it might be unique. But there's at least one intersection where the cars heading north/south have stop signs, while the cars heading east/west have a light. I've walked past this several times, and the drivers at the stop signs are uniformly confused about what the other cars are doing.

A better example: At some intersections in the city, cars can only turn right from the left lane. To turn right, you

- start in the left lane (like the blue truck here)
- pull forward and to the left, right next to the crosswalk
- wait until the light turns red, while everyone who's going straight passes you on the right
- when the light turns red (and the cross traffic gets a green...), make sure no one else is coming on your right and turn quick, across the entire intersection, hoping the cars coming straight the other way know that you're there

Anyway, I just thought that was weird.

The one where I watched tennis

If you like the game, tennis can be one of the greatest sports to see live. Now, the atmosphere is very different than that at, say, a Steelers game, where you're surrounded by tens of thousands of screaming fans. But the ability to get close to the action in an intimate setting, the breadth of the offerings, and the value for your money are all incredible.

Melbourne Park, the site of the Australian Open, includes
- the Rod Laver Arena, the primary show court with 15,000 seats
- the Vodafone Arena (10,000 seats), a secondary show court (and general arena venue the rest of the year)
- A couple of smaller show courts (Margaret Court Arena (6000), which should really be called the Court Court, and Show Court 2 and 3 (3000 each))
- about 20 more outlying courts, with seating for anywhere from 50 to maybe 500 people

To get into the Rod Laver Arena, you need a ticket for matches in the Rod Laver Arena. The Vodafone Arena has a reserved seating section, for which you can buy seats, and a general seating area, which is first-come, first-serve (no pun intended) for anyone with a grounds pass. All other courts are first-come, first-serve. And, especially at any of the smaller courts, you're right there with the players. If you speak in a conversational tone, they hear you. And what makes a tournament such a great spectator experience is that (especially in the first coupla days of the tournament) there are just way too many matches going on to play more than a small fraction in the primary courts, so you're guaranteed to have quality players playing on the smaller courts. Especially.

On day 4, for example, for a $29 all day pass (~$24US) you could have seen Martina Hingis (the 6 seed), Andy Murray (15), Maria Sharapova (1), and Nikolay Davydenko (3) play singles matches in the Vodafone Arena, or you could watch other top seeds like David Nalbandian (8) or Dinara Safina (9) from the first row on a smaller court. And you can go back and forth between these, popping in to see a coupla games on one court, a couple more somewhere else, then grab a beer and sit on the grass in the central courtyard and watch the featured match on a large screen.

And the $29 is negotiable...

sg (asking about a featured match): "What would that cost?"
ts: "Well, the student price would be $94."
sg: "I don't have my id with me."
ts: "That's alright, mate, I believe you."
sg: "I think I'll just go with the grounds pass."
ts: "That'll be $19."

I wound up buying grounds passes on 4 or 5 different days. I saw some singles early, and then lotsa doubles later on when there were fewer singles matches going on so most of them could be on the primary courts. For example, I watched the men's doubles semis with the Bryans vs Knowles and Nestor. If you watched it on tv the close-ups you saw is what I saw, as I was sitting next to the camera in the first row. I was rooting on the Bryans, not catcally or anything but enough that Bob turned and nodded to me as he left the court, and smiled at me when he came back a bit later for the mixed doubles quarters (in which he and Lisa Raymond were awful).

For most matches, I took notes. TY wants details, so here're some examples. If you're not a tennis fan, you probably don't need to read the rest of this post...:

from Richard Gasquet vs Gael Monfils (GM upset Baghdatis in rd 2--I saw the end on tv and he was beating his chest a lot, so I thought it would be fun):

"RG whooped him but good in the 1st, and I really started to like his game so I started rooting for him right away (though GM is the big crowd fave). He anticipates and moves pretty well, while GM hits a lot of lazy shots--if he's on his winners are great, but he has no patience and will never have a chance if he's not on
[...]
why does RG return from that far back?..."

from Ashley Harkleroad vs Daniela Hantuchova:

"15-40 at 5-6, AH wins out w/ some great down the line inside-out forehands. Up 5-2 in the tiebreaker, down 6-5, gets lucky on a return, then has 2 great points to win 8-6. But DH is moving her well around the court--she's not overly quick, and isn't getting the depth that DH is. Up a set, but needs to pick up her game...she did, up 4-0. But, serving at 5-3, she lost at love. And again at 5-5. 16 of the last 17 pts in the set..."

About Vince Spadea during his doubles match against the Bryans:

"looks like a chump in the park. shorts longer than everyone else's, shirt just kind of draped, trucker cap, black shoes, long, shaggy hair w/highlights. Maybe a touch of a belly, etc...
...Played like one, too. Bryans, 6-1, 6-2. 45 minutes. No sweating involved."

from women's doubles semis, Chan/Chuang vs Yan/Zheng:

"packed a good lunch, camera dude gave me an Evian.
The short one on the cute team w/ matching yellow/green outfits (YZ) looks like Lucy Liu, if LL had Boris Becker's quads and hamstrings
tennis: uninspired. At 4-1, I've seen maybe 2 good shots.
LZ game: lobs, like 10 yr olds. But CC always has, well, C back, so they just switch sides and wait for YZ to hand them an easy one or mess up. And C crosses at the net, opening the court, and YZ hit a lob so the other C can just walk over, instead of hitting it up the line for an easy point. CC, 6-3.
Next game--first time they hit a lob with C and C at the net, and first time they went up line w/ C crossing.
--taller YZ needs to be _much_ more active @ net.
Alas, 6-3, 6-4. CC in finals."

Some general comments:
- Roger Federer is a god.
- I like it when the doubles teams wear the same outfits
- Lisa Raymond is really short
- Victoria Azarenka is really tall
- the Adidas players, men and women, wore (really ugly) shirts that looked like either sports bras or the harnesses worn by kids on leashes
- If she ever gets some focus, Na Li will win a major
- I can't wait to go to the other majors

Anyway, seeing the Australian Open was an awesome experience. To see my tennis pictures, click here.

ta,
sg

The one where I Outbacked

I went to the Outback.

I signed up for another small group tour. I'd have preferred to not be with a group, but it was probably cheaper for me to take the tour than to rent and do it myself, and I didn't need to drive or be worried about being all alone in the middle of actual nowhere.

My group: the 23 yr old guide, me, a Polish woman and her German boyfriend, a German woman and her German mother, a German woman, and a Swiss woman who spoke German. All except the mother spoke English, but it was easier for them to just stick with German and I got to spend most of the travel time reading by myself.

On day 6 our guide had to leave us to move or something, so for the last 3 days of our trip we hooked up with a different group on a 3 day tour that happened to match the last 3 days of ours. Well, you know what I mean. So we switched guides and added an English guy, 2 Aussie girls and another German couple. Our new guide had us all introduce ourselves at dinner, so I finally had to learn the names of the people I'd been travelling with for almost a week.

While hiking in New Zealand (which I really will write about at some point...), a friend said "[I think] every state in the US is in New Zealand, too. We're in Utah now!" My overall impression of the Outback? It's like Arizona, if Arizona were really, really big.

As requested, here's some details, with apologies for inconsistent tenses and sentence fragments and stuff.

First day: Drove from Adelaide to the Wilpena Pound. We stopped at a winery in a monastery, and maybe somewhere else. Camping on a site in a resort area. Kangaroos start reminding me of the Quokkas from Rottnest Island--the first time we saw one in the wild was really cool. The novelty kinda wears off when there are five eating the grass by the pool.

Next day: Hiked up the trail to the peak to look out over the pound. Pretty, but not spectacular. But I took a nice walk back by myself--I wasn't "lost", I just wasn't on the trail. I saw oodles of roos in their natural habitat, some giant eagles, and, on the way back, a miserable looking group with 2 guides and about 25 people. We drive to Angorichina to spend the night in a motel of sorts on a sheep farm.

I buy some beers and head off to find the water hole, about 30 minutes away. I find water 10 minutes later. Not sure if that was what I was looking for, but it got me wet when I fell in. Saw sheep, goats, and accidentally killed a crab trying to move a rock to get a picture. I also came across the one area that reminded me most of my preconceived ideas of what the Outback looks like. Which come, of course, from Crocodile Dundee. I and II, thank you.

Dinner is steaks, chicken, kangaroo fillets, steamed vegetables...we're not exactly roughing it.

Next day: Rent a bike to check out the Parachilna Gorge. It's a very bumpy 45 minute ride, but no one else rented so I was able to be all by my lonesome. Gorge is pretty. And when it ends abruptly, there's a flat desert.

We drive. Stop in to visit Talc Alf, a nut and tourist attraction. He gives a spiel on the origin of words based on his ideas of what some letters mean. In explaining the origin of "Israel" he asked me rhetorically what "Is" means. I said "It's the present participle of 'are'". One of the Germans started laughing, then coughing, then choking (actual present participles...). Alf took a liking to me, and I had to change my shirt after he put his arm around me for some pictures.

We drive to William Creek, population 8, and sleep in a parking lot.

Next day: Drive to Coober Pedy. I've been trying not to duplicate on my blog what I've said in postcards, but I'm not sure how better to say it: CP is where they film bad movies that take place in desolate climates. We take an awful tour, then go learn about opals. In my free time I try to play golf, but the place to rent clubs is closed by the time I get there. We stay in a suite of rooms underground. It's really quiet, completely dark, nice and cool, and I have my own room as there's room for 42.

Next day: Drive almost 500 miles. We meet up with the new guide and new people. It's raining so we stay in some permatents near Kings Canyon.

Next day: Walk Kings Canyon Rim walk. There were some pretty cliffs. The Garden of Eden wasn't so delightful, and the pool is this stagnant water that's kind of nasty so I didn't go in. We drive to Yulara, the Uluru resort town. Stop by the Uluru Cultural Center, which is fascinating. Back in time to check out sunset at the rock. Which is gorgeous, though you're not exactly seeing a sight that few get to see...the tour buses are lined up, and many of the companies have tables set up for the "champagne at the rock" part of their itineraries. For dinner, I cook fried rice and a potato casserole and steaks on the barbie.

Next day: Get up early (4am?) to get breakfast and head to the sunrise viewing area. Also pretty. Also more buses lined up. We take a walk around the rock, which takes about 2 hours. I totally want to climb it, but the Aboriginal peoples who consider the rock sacred ask you not to. We spend some more time at the Cultural Center. We hang out all afternoon, going for a swim at the pool and walking around the town for a bit before heading to a different sunset viewing area.

Next day: We get up early again. Head to Kata Tjuta/The Olgas, a spectacular series of rock formations near Uluru, for the Valley of the Winds walk. This was an awesome walk and by far the prettiest thing we saw. Finish up and drive into Alice Springs to end our tour.

I only spent one day in Alice as I wanted to fly off to Melbourne to see some tennis. What I saw: the Todd River. The Todd River is usually dry. When I saw it: not so much. And there were great storms as I was leaving, so I'm sure the flooding got even worse.

So anyway, if you're still with me, selected Outback photos are up at my picture site. I'm taking lots of pictures but many are duplicitive or may be meaningful only to me so I decided to just load the highlights. As with the content of my entries, let me know if you want any changes to my picturedom--more, fewer, of different things, etc. All I know now is that the most viewed picture I have, by far, is this.

Now that that's off my chest, I'll write about Melbourne later.

ta,
sg

The one where I'm heading bush

Monday night, I came to Adelaide to start a trip to the Outback.

Tuesday, I booked a trip to the outback. (I don't know whether it's Outback or outback, so's I'll alternate.)

Wednesday, this morning, I start my trip. Which lasts about a week, so there'll be no blogging for a bit.

I also booked some other stuff for Melbourne and such. I ate lunch at an awesome market in the center of the city called the Central Market. I, yes, wandered around the city. It has a C(entral)B(usiness)D(istrict), which in American is "downtown" (or "dahntahn" in Pittsburgh), completely surrounded by parkland and set off from the suburbs. Like you can see here. I like that.

I took the tram to Glenerg to swim in the Southern Ocean, which didn't exist when I was young, and watch the sunset--now I just need to change my trip to hit the Arctic and I'll get them all!

Since I'm leaving, New Zealand info will have to wait some more, but Australia pictures are up: Sydney, Katoomba, Canberra, Adelaide.

chao,
sg

The one where it's Elvis' birthday

Happy Birthday, Elvis!

Yeah Wally, Andrea, Kimberly, you know who, I missed your birthdays but caught his. (Though Andrea, I did try to call a couple of times but couldn't get through...) Deal.

Oh, and Happy New Year! To everybody.

I think I need to blog more, because otherwise there's too much in each entry. Or maybe I should just say less.

I'm obviously still behind on New Zealand, but I've just loaded entries (Sydney, Katoomba, Canberra) from my first 10 days in Australia. Maybe too much detail, maybe not enough, but let me know. And don't worry, I won't always give you details of every place I go. But anyway,
sg

The one where I'm in Canberra

I'm in Canberra.

I came in for the weekend to play in an Ultimate tournament, at which I met some people, saw some people I'd met in the past, finally learned the name of the Aussie woman I've not quite interacted with for several years, and learned that I'm in horrible shape.

I rode a cab with guys from Oz, Switzerland and Ireland, and India if you count the driver. I wore almost the same shirt as Andy to the party. He's 18, so maybe I'm cool.



I stayed on the tournament director's floor for the weekend, and now I'm at a teammate's parents' house. Which reminds me--I've taken pictures of everywhere I've slept, which I'll post at some point. That'll be great fun for all.

Tomorrow or the next day, I will probably fly to Adelaide.

ta,
sg

The one where I was in Katoomba

I was in Katoomba.

I spent much time doing nothing, and it was good. By which I mean I read (Tolkien, Chabon), saw some movies (Godfather and Scarface, but also Fifth Element and something I've completely forgotten four days later), watched some tv (Simpsons! "It's 80 past 2 on April 47th").


My hostel was kind of exciting pause not. But it didn't really matter--the town's pretty laid back, and it was an easy place to be for a coupla days. I took some short day walks along the edges of Blue Mountain National Park. Mostly on the outer cliff face, but also a couple of partial descents into the valley.

One day I walked over to the next town over, Leura. Which was extremely cute. And there seemed to be a rule requiring pfunny store names, which is really why I wanted to write this entry.





Hasta,
sg

The one where I was in Sydney

I was in Sydney.

I got in from Christchurch on the evening of the 28th. I spent a coupla days wandering, exploring the city. Nice, but I don't think I've hit the parts yet that excite everyone else so much. On the 30th I wandered around a bit and found a nice park in which to watch the fireworks. Sydney had 24 viewing sites set aside, and I thought this would have a decent view but not a hundred thousand people like the primary areas.

On the 31st I wandered a bit more. Went to a museum by some of the popular viewing areas--when I left, at about 3pm, the line to get into Mrs Macquaries Point in the Royal Botanic Gardens, which was supposed to be limited to 25,000 people, was well over a mile long. I sat in the park and read a bit (finally reading Tolkien, K!), then went to the grocery store to buy dinner. Wine (to smuggle in), hummus, olives, seaweed rice crackers, a salami, some cheese (brie? I think it was, though that doesn't seem to go with the rest)... Headed for Embarkation Park in Kings Cross, just across the bay from Mrs Macquaries Point, which was scheduled to open at 6pm. Posted limit: 6000 people.

I expected to get a good viewing spot and hang out, eat, talk to my neighbors. Instead, the site had maybe:
- ~50 security people
- ~20 people cleaning up
- ~15 cops
- ~10 selling food and drink
- ~400 people watching the fireworks

I had a decent view, though it was partially obstructed by some trees. And, depending on where I was standing, by light posts and navy ships. I found a spot where there was a gap in the trees...no one else was within 30 yards of me. I ate, read, napped, watched the 9pm show, read some more, napped some more, watched the midnight show. Which was pretty awesome, though it was hard to see it all--there were fireworks set off from several different sites, and I couldn't see them all at once or from the same place.

I felt pretty isolated and alone. Last year for New Year's I was with Dara and some good friends at Paige's family cabin, and in other years I've also been surrounded by friends at parties or Omar's family cabin. Here, I didn't know anyone and the streets weren't a fun, Happy New Year's!-y place to wander...where I was, it was mostly drunk assholes shouting at strip clubs.

Here are the conversations I'd had as of 3am:

12:41am:
Security guy as I left the park (pointing to my water bottle): "Is that just water in there?"
sg: "That is just water in there."

2:15am:
sg: (points at computer)
Convenience store guy: "Three dollars"
sg: (digs in bag, hands him two coins)
Csg: "Thanks." (points to computers in back of store)

2:20am:
Another convenience store guy who saw me sit down at computer: "Three dollars"
sg: "I paid up front"
Acsgwsmsdac: "Okay."

I wasn't feeling great about me in Sydney, and my couch provider was definitely not happy that the space she'd generously offered a friend's friend for "a few days" had turned into 4 days (or that I'd turned out to be American...), so I decided to leave as soon as possible.

I booked a hostel for a few nights in Katoomba, a small city in the center of the Blue Mountains, about 2 hours west of Sydney, and left the city at noon on the 1st.

ia,
sg

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