The one where I read good

In White Teeth, Zadie Smith quotes P.G. Wodehouse: "...Samad was like Jeeves: if not exactly disgruntled, then some way from being gruntled." Or paraphrased, actually--PGW said "far from being". I know because I wrote that line down in my journal when I came across it in January. (Of course, maybe _I_ got it wrong…)

I was quite mathy in high school (no, go on, really, I really was), and pretty much in college, too. But, probably through a combination of living with Rocket for a couple of years and my more recent cruciverbalisticism (I do crossword puzzles), I've been concentrating more on my word side. So this might seem familiar to many of you who had to muddle through my early entries about Ultimate—a long entry, chock full of stuff you could probably not care less about. Here's some stuff I've read and thought about this trip, with some random observations thrown in:

Other Wodehouse lines I liked:

"He did what is known as struggling for utterance."

"Bertram Wooster is a man who knows when and when not to be among those present."

I read some W Somerset Maugham, too. A couple of times he amazed me with his ability to paint an incredibly nuanced impression of a person, or describe a situation or feeling better than I ever could, with an economy of words. Obviously a skill I don't have, but here are some examples:

"She just missed being beautiful, and in missing it was not even pretty."

"It was the kind of party which makes you wonder why the hostess has troubled to bid her guests, and why the guests have troubled to come. There were ten people. They met with indifference, and would part with relief. It was, of course, a purely social function. The Stricklands 'owed' dinners to a number of persons, whom they took no interest in, and so had asked them; these person had accepted. Why? To avoid the tedium of dining tête-à-tête, to give their servants a rest, because there was no reason to refuse, because they were 'owed' a dinner."

Anyway, here’s what I've read, or at least most of it:
- A guide to grammar for English schoolchildren published in 1882
- Honor Among Thieves (Jeffrey Archer)
- Mainlines, Blood Feasts and Bad Taste: A Lester Bangs Reader (Ed: John Morthland)
- The Rule of Four (Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason)
- The Final Solution (Michael Chabon)
- Summerland (Chabon)
- Red Rabbit (Tom Clancy)
- Red Storm Rising (Clancy)
- My Many Colored Days (Theodore Geisel)
- Neuromancer (William Gibson)
- Carter Beats the Devil (Glen David Gold)
- A Long Way Down (Nick Hornby)
- The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
- Into Thin Air (Jon Krakauer)
- Freakonomics (Steven Levitt and William Dubner)
- On Human Bondage (W Somerset Maugham)
- The Moon and Sixpence (Maugham)
- The Razor's Edge (Maugham)
- The God of Small Things (Arundhati Roy)
- White Teeth (Zadie Smith)
- On Beauty (Smith)
- The Fellowship of the Ring (JRR Tolkien)
- The Two Towers (Tolkien)
- Return of the King (Tolkien)
- The Hobbit (Tolkien)
- Bluebeard (Kurt Vonnegut)
- The Code of the Woosters (PG Wodehouse)

What I tried to read but _despised_, and still shudder when I think about:
- The Unconsoled (Kazuo Ishiguro)

Other Notes:
- the grammar book included 'beeves' as an example!
- Number of times I'd heard (and noticed) the word 'impecunious' before this trip: One, from Rocket
- Number of times I've come across it in my reading: Three, two from Maugham (including 'impecuniosity'), one from Smith

Some Movies I've watched:
- Touching The Void
- The Godfather
- Scarface
- The 5th Element
- Thank You For Your Consideration
- The Valet
- Casino Royale
- The Karate Kid
- Good Will Hunting
- The Fellowship of the Ring

Some Movies I've watched on busses and planes:
- Thank You For Smoking
- Thank You For Smoking
- Thank You For Smoking
- You, Me and DuPree
- Thank You For Smoking (I saw it several times)
- Miracle on Ice
- The Queen
- The Devil Wears Prada
- The Departed
- My Superhero Ex-Girlfriend
- The Incredibles
- The Queen (I saw it twice)
- The Robin Williams One Where He Runs For President

Words I've coined:
- Misgerunding

Words TY's accidentally coined:
- Wasier

Words I Dislike:
- Monosyllabic ('cause it's not)
- Palindromic ('cause it's not)

Words I Like:
- Beeves
- Eleemosynary
- Googol
- Heteroscedasticity
- Polysyllabic
- Sesquipedalianism
- Wasier

Frequent Advertisement For My College Radio Show
- Fidda Fadda Fud Fud

Jeopardy Category I Should Submit: Musical Material
- This type of picture is sometimes called a "velvis". (What is a Velvet Elvis?)
- Mel Tormè. (Who is The Velvet Fog?)
- This Alannah Myles song about Elvis Presley hit #1 on the charts on March 24, 1990. (What is Black Velvet?)
- Isabella Rossellini performed this song in the David Lynch film of the same name. (What is Blue Velvet?)
- Originally, Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison and Angus MacLise. (What is The Velvet Underground?)

The one where I'm a millionaire

I went to the bank and took out some money--one million Ugandan Shillings (Ush). Which is worth about $550US.

There are bills for 1000, 5K, 10K, 20K and 50K, and coins for 500, 200, 100, 50, 10 and 5Ush. The 50,000Ush note is worth about $30, the 5Ush coin about 1/3¢. And for some tourist~y things, the standard is US dollars--I don't think you can even get a Visa to enter Uganda using Ugandan money.

Some prices are extremely cheap by US standards, and many people make very little money. You have to try to make sure you use big bills where possible so that you always keep little ones available. For example, I tried to buy a Coke for 1000Ush using a 20,000Ush note, and the guy looked at me like I was mad. "I am sorry, I do not have change for a bill that large," where "that large" is worth about $12.

In a sense, though, I'm living like a millionaire--other prices are similar to what I'm used to, meaning that most packaged goods and restaurant meals and such are largely reserved for foreigners. A sampling, using rough exchange rates:

Soda (pint): 60¢
Beer (pint): $1.20
Gasoline (gallon): $4.50
Loaf of bread: 50¢
Eggs (dozen): $1.30
Water (5 gallon jug): $3
Latte: $1.50
Spanish "Omullet" with potatoes: $1.50
Ride in a matatu (shared taxi minibus): 40¢
Ride on a boda (scooter): $1
Night at a hostel: $4
Night at a nice hotel: $104
Monthly wage for a gardener (city): $100
Monthly wage for a gardener (country): $40
Daily wage for a former coupon industry analyst working as a flunky at an international health conference: $60
Mandatory Mastercard joke: Priceless

_sg

The one where I flew safely

Ma and Pa,

I flew from Sydney to Bangkok to Dubai to Addis Ababa to Entebbe. I have arrived safely in Africa.

I didn't read much on the flight--the entertainment console at my seat for the first two legs offered more than 600 different options. Hundreds of films on demand, many in a host of different languages. I watched The Devil Wears Prada and The Departed and a coupla others (all in English). Hundreds of musical choices. Run DMC's Raising Hell? Had it. And hundreds more currents and classics. Prefer Mozart operas? There were three. Every Billboard #1 from the UK charts from 1952 til now? Yup. Audio books. Video games, some of which could be played against others on the plane. A flight status monitor. Cameras with live feeds looking forwards and down. You can make phone calls, including to passengers in other seats.

Okay, that may sound like an airline press release, but it was pretty impressive. And the food was edible, too.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know I got here.

The Anderson Bowens say hi,
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 I'm still in Melbourne

I'm in Melbourne.

Still.

I originally came for the tennis. It was scheduled to end on the 28th, so I pretty much arbitrarily decided to stay until the 30th.

By happy coincidence, Laura Veirs had a show here while I was here. Laura lived down the hall from me my last (and her first) year at Carleton. I went on to count coupons and then retire, while she is now a somewhat famous (and really good) singer and songwriter. I just missed meeting her parents in central New Zealand.

So when I first got here I went down to the venue (the Corner Hotel, in Richmond) to buy my ticket to her show. Turns out, the Violent Femmes were gonna be playing the same venue on Feb 1. Heck, I've gotta stay for that--I'm not a huge music guy, but I've liked the Femmes since Mikey Bails introduced me in about, well, a really long time ago.

And now, probably a combination of enjoying Melbourne and not having any specific plans and being a bit tired of always being on the go in search of my next stop, I've just kinda stuck around. I'm not being overly touristy. I just spend most days...living. I walk around downtown. Maybe head to the botanic garden to read. (For a while, I was reading at a rate of almost a book a day.) See a movie. Sit in a cafe. That sorta thing. I'm not sure where all the time's gone, but I don't think that's a bad thing.

There's no overarching theme to my visit, or story to tell, so I'll just list some factoids, in somewhat random order.

Food: The Victoria Market is right across the street from where I'm staying now, with sections for meat/fish, deli foods and baked goods, fruit and veggies. And it's open on Wednesday nights with food stalls, music, artisans and such. Last night, for example, there was a row with stands where I could eat Chinese, Dutch, Ethiopian, German, Greek, Indian, Indonesian, Irani, Italian, Japanese, Latin American, Malaysian, Mexican, Spanish, Turkish, Vietnamese... Or burgers, fish and chips, pizza,...

In heavy rotation for my normal days are
- sushi rolls, which you can buy every 100 yards or so for $2
- kabobs
- pho/ramen
- bread, cheese, hummus...

- Super Bowl: Watched in a bar on Lygon St with Scott from Melbourne (a 49ers fan), Manning from Melbourne (Bills), Ben from Chicago and Macalester (Bears), Lonnie from Vancouver (Canucks). It wasn't overly exciting, and now we're no longer the reigning champions.

- Melbourne is nice. There's lotsa art about, on the street and in parks along the river and such. There are lots of nice areas to wander about and streets full of cafes and the like. I've hung out in Richmond, Carlton, Fitzroy, Southbank, and the CBD, and been around several of the outlying areas at least once.

A lot of types of businesses are heavily concentrated, which I guess isn't that uncommon. There's a Chinatown and a Greektown, but also a block with all of the camera stores and a block with the car rental agencies and so on and so forth...

- I talked to my parents on my birthday, around 11pm my time. Dad asked how I secure my stuff in the hostels. I told him I didn't really need to. When I woke up the next morning, my camera was gone. So now I'm on to camera #3. I'd just loaded many of my Outback pictures, so all I'm missing are the less important Outback pictures and the first stretch of time in Melbourne, which unfortunately included the LV show and the tennis. Oh, and the camera. What I've taken on #3 have been loaded to the picture site.

- That day, I started talking to a guy in my hostel, a musician from Hobart, Tasmania. Brian Ritchie (of the VF) lives in Hobart now, so he invited Martin (the hostel guy) and a coupla other Hobart guys to play the Melbourne shows with the Horns of Dilemma, the revolving cast of "[s]upplemental musicians who appear on stage with VF." I got him (Marty, not Brian) to sign my journal. I was gonna call him when I got to Tasmania, but I don't think I'm going to Tasmania.

Other bands that I haven't seen while I've been here:
Music Versus Physics
The Walkmen
Beasts of Bourbon

- I have a new life goal: someday, the evening news somewhere will lead off with Exclusive Pictures! of me with someone.

- Starting tomorrow morning, I'm planning to rent a car and drive down the Great Ocean Road, the Australia equivalent of the Pacific Coast Highway. I'm a bit nervous about driving--I haven't driven on the left before, and there're some quirks about Melbourne driving. Note that I've planned to start this drive every day for the last week or so, but I think I'll actually do it tomorrow. I wasn't sleeping well for a while and was a bit sick, so I think I lost some time there. I can't name anything specific I've done in the last week or so, but I've felt pretty busy with I'm not sure what.

- This delay means that I probably won't be able to get to Tasmania. There are great swaths of Australia that I won't have seen during my trip, but I'm not going to second guess the choices I've made.

- When I get back from my road trip it'll be time to head to Sydney. I leave for Africa in less than a week. I mean, !

Okay, I'm off to eat a kabob. If you're interested and didn't notice, note that I also just loaded entries on tennis and driving. Soon, maybe, might come the ones on reading and words and such. And New Zealand...

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

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