Em in Sydney

Artful shots of...

2006-03-25T22:05:00.000+11:00

The Sydney Opera House.

Famous Sydney sights

2006-03-25T22:03:00.000+11:00

Don & Diann with the Opera House behind; The Harbour Bridge; the City; the market at The Rocks.

At the Three Sisters

2006-03-25T22:02:00.000+11:00

The Three Sisters; John, Diann & Don (with the Jameson Valley behind); Don, Diann & John (with a different view of the Jameson Valley - standing on one of the Sisters); me & John with the same backdrop as the previous shot.
We hiked down the trail to one of the Three Sisters. The stairs were quite steep!

Good times!

2006-03-25T22:00:00.000+11:00

Me, John, Don & Diann in the Blue Mountains (with the Jameson Valley behind us); John & Don in the Domain; two glasses of wine and two beers; me, Diann & Don at the Zig Zag Railroad in our portion of the train.

Zig Zag Railroad

2006-03-25T21:57:00.000+11:00

The train used at the Zig Zag Railroad in the Blue Mountains.

Zig Zag Railroad 2

2006-03-25T21:56:00.000+11:00

Scenes from out the window of the train.

Zig Zag Railroad 3

2006-03-25T21:54:00.000+11:00

Don & Diann; all of us; me & John; Don looking at the train.

Nowhere Special

2006-03-25T21:52:00.000+11:00

Of course, when we hang out, we like to go to all the best places. This was one of the places we passed on the Zig Zag Railroad.

Wrapping up

2006-03-19T12:50:00.000+11:00

Soon, my time in Sydney will come to an end. Is there anything you're really yearning to hear about or see pictures of before I go? Make your requests early, and you might just see what you're looking for.

Canberra

2006-03-19T12:24:00.000+11:00

In January, John and I drove to Canberra for the day and visited the Parliament House. It was very interesting and I highly recommend a tour there to anyone visiting. The first picture of the group above is the flagpole on top of the building. Unfortunately it was not windy at all so the flag is unimpressively limp. The bottom left picture is the Australian crest, on the outside of the building over the entrance. The top right is the outside of the building, and the bottom right is from the building facing out towards the city.

Canberra: the House & Senate in Parliament

2006-03-19T12:21:00.000+11:00

From Parliament in Canberra: The House and Senate (one is green and the other is red. I can't recall which is which).

Inside Parliament Building in Canberra

2006-03-19T12:19:00.000+11:00

Several views from inside the Parliament building in Canberra. The marble staircase was especially impressive, as was the view of the pyramids from the inside (see below for more information from the roof). The bottom left picture is of a water feature that the politicians walk past all the time. The water is there to mask the sounds of them talking, because any Australian or member of the press can observe them from the upper level, and would be able to overhear them easily otherwise.

Gardens around the Parliament Building in Canberra

2006-03-19T12:17:00.000+11:00

There are many gardens around the Parliament Building. These are just a couple of them.

Canberra: the roof of the Parliament building

2006-03-19T12:14:00.000+11:00

From the roof of the Parliament building in Canberra. The pyramids are from the roof of the House and Senate. At night, when they are in session, they glow green or red so that people driving by can see from a distance that their government is at work - and stop by and watch the proceedings, if they like. The lawn grows over the top of the building, which is "underground" (built into a natural hill) which has the symbolic meaning that anyone in Australia can look down on the government - and the government must answer to them. In recent years, they've fenced it off so people can only get to the roof from the inside, but it used to be that anyone could walk or run up the hill to stand on top.

Yet another picture in the car

2006-03-19T12:10:00.000+11:00

John driving again, outside the National Museum of Australia in Canberra

Last of Canberra

2006-03-19T12:04:00.000+11:00

From the outside of the National Museum of Australia in Canberra

Close-ups on the wildlife

2006-01-10T11:38:00.000+11:00

John is an excellent photographer when it comes to getting up close to animals. Above are two shots of a very large lizard we saw near the caves and several pictures of a small kangaroo or a wallaby (we weren't sure which) on the way back from the caves. Also, a great Australian road sign warning of kangaroos and wombats ahead.

Jenolan Caves

2006-01-10T11:29:00.000+11:00

The main attraction for us in the Blue Mountains was Jenolan Caves. We had a tour there called the Plughole Tour that involved us rapelling ("abseiling" in Aus English) into the cave and then squirming into tight crevices and crawling through small passageways, as well as walking through impressive caverns and seeing graffiti from some of the first explorers of the cave from the 1800s. It was a high fashion day, let me tell you. I especially enjoy John's fluorescent helmet, but the coveralls were a real treat for all of us.

Sometimes while in a particular passage, we weren't quite sure where to put our feet in order to connect with solid ground, and we had to help each other along the way. Other times, we didn't know exactly which way to continue to get out and we had to follow directions and each others' voices. It was a lot of fun, and very dusty!

Into the Blue Mountains

2006-01-10T11:11:00.000+11:00

Sunday, we drove the the Blue Mountains.

We started at The Three Sisters in Katoomba, where it was so cloudy and foggy that we could only see 1.5 Sisters. From the lookout point at the top, we couldn't actually see any Sisters in the valley - just fog. So we hiked ("bush walked" in Aus English) down a trail towards the Sisters, and from a second vantage point were able to make out a little bit of the geological formation. (The Sisters are three rock formations that stand together next to a cliff above a valley. There is an aboriginal myth about how they came to exist - that myth and better pictures of them, as well as how they formed, are here.)

Then, the fog started to clear, but just for a quick moment! Enough time to take two pictures:

Then we hiked a little further into the valley:

Then, we got back in the car and drove over to Leura Falls. It is about a 20 minute hike to the cascades, and the whole trail has many smaller falls along the way. It's a gorgeous hike. Below is one of the smaller falls along the way:

Another of the smaller falls:

The Leura Cascades:

From that same lookout, we were able to see a flock of noisy cockatoos flying by:

This is a view to the right above the falls:

Me & Papa at the lookout above the falls:

Beach on the way to the South Coast of NSW

2006-01-10T10:57:00.000+11:00

Last Saturday, we drove down the coast towards Wollongong and stopped on the way at this beach. I walked in the ocean, but it was quite cold. We also walked a ways over some rocks and saw some tide pools. In the tide pools, we were able to see a few crabs, some small fish, some sea anemones, and lots of plant life. It was a great stop to make.

Hanukkah

2006-01-10T10:49:00.000+11:00

John, Papa and I celebrated Hanukkah together this year. We made the absolute best potato pancakes for dinner one night along with a roasted chicken (we stole the recipe from a Jamie Oliver show, and it was excellent!) Here are some pictures from the latke & chicken night.

Swimming at the hotel in Cairns

2006-01-09T21:40:00.000+11:00

Some of the most fun we had was the afternoon that we swam and threw the ball around in the pool at the hotel in Cairns. Unfortunately since Papa was taking the pictures, he couldn't be in any of them, but he threw the ball with the best of them shortly after taking these shots. We had so much fun!

2006-01-09T21:37:00.000+11:00

Horseback riding near Cairns in the "rainforest" (which doesn't very much look like rainforest to me), but the advertising for the horse riding company claimed it was). It was an excellent, fun day. My horse's name was Quart Pot, an old cowboy name.

2006-01-09T21:30:00.000+11:00

And now, on to Cairns, Queensland. The first picture of the three of us from Papa's visit to Australia. This picture is at the public pool in Cairns. It was 95 degrees F, and 70% humidity. I don't know if you can see the sweat in this picture, but it was all over all three of us!

2006-01-09T21:28:00.000+11:00

Last of Christchurch: On our last afternoon there, John got his first taste in a year of his dearly missed NFL by watching part of the game at a sports bar. The game was fun, though the food was terrible. This was probably the highlight of New Zealand for John ;) ...

2006-01-09T21:22:00.000+11:00

Christchurch, NZ - in town, including a game of chess (lifesize!) and pictures of the cathedral

2006-01-09T21:20:00.000+11:00

Botanic Gardens in Christchurch, NZ

2005-12-01T23:15:00.002+11:00

Up, from where we were.

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More over the ocean.

2005-12-01T23:15:00.000+11:00

Overlooking the ocean.

2005-12-01T23:14:00.001+11:00

Arrrr! We pirates like to take our pictures in the freezing wind, next to the water!

2005-12-01T23:14:00.000+11:00

I told you, it was cold and windy!

2005-12-01T23:12:00.001+11:00

A big rock at the ocean. We wanted to climb over to it and maybe on it, but it was way too cold, and the water was too deep next to it.

2005-12-01T23:12:00.000+11:00

John: brrrr.

2005-12-01T23:11:00.000+11:00

John, looking over the ocean.

Resuming New Zealand: Part V: Crazy birds and other curiosities

2005-12-01T22:46:00.000+11:00

Crazy Keas:
The picture directly below, it's hard to see because of the camoflauging effect, but there is a bird on the hood of the car. It's right next to where the hood becomes the windscreen. Click the picture to enlarge it, and you might better be able to see it:

Here's that same bird: (I typoed "sane" and corrected to "same" and shook my head, because clearly the bird is not sane)

And a close-up of the very people-friendly and bold Kea:

And here is a waterfall, diverted so that it does not flood the road:

Coming next: pictures at the very cold and windy beach. A preview:

An Australian "Thanksgiving"

2005-12-01T12:47:00.000+11:00

The hosts:

The guests:

The food:

The dessert:

Last year, Thanksgiving was so hot that we were wishing we were outside, assembling new fans, sweating every time we entered the kitchen. This year, we had planned to be outside at a picnic area under an overhang, but it was so cold and rainy that we changed plans and all 14 of us crowded into my & John's small apartment. It ended up being a fun celebration with delicious food from all who contributed.

I'm back!

2005-11-22T09:33:00.000+11:00

Here are some new Sydney pictures that you may enjoy:

These were taken outside the casino, Star City.

I don't know why the sky is pink in that last picture.

I was at the casino recently. It's near where I work (across the street actually). On Melbourne Cup Day (which most people in Australia have off from work, but it's not a state holiday in two states, including New South Wales where I live & work, so I was at work), my coworkers and I walked over to the casino to watch the race. It was very crowded. It was an exciting atmosphere, with people cheering and yelling and gasping with excitement. There were several large screens broadcasting the race, and when Makybe Diva won the race for the third year in a row, there were cheers and toasts. My boss bought us all a drink. It was a good afternoon.

New Zealand Part IV: climbing

2005-10-16T08:12:00.000+10:00

John triumphantly proclaims his conquering of a large rock.

John looks off in the distance from the top of the large rock.

I'm almost all the way up to the top of a very steep climb.

I've made it! I have to sit to catch my breath.

I am treated to a beautiful view. Click the picture below if you'd like to see a full size version, to see how far we actually climbed.

The picture right above... I've cropped and zoomed in a little bit to show you how far we actually climbed. We started out at the bottom with the people - who I've circled in the picture below so you can see them.

See? They're people. See the picture below to see further cropping and zooming:

New Zealand part III: more rock formations

2005-10-04T22:18:00.000+10:00

Last above: a cool action shot of John climbing.

New Zealand part II: Where's Em?

2005-10-04T22:04:00.000+10:00

I'm in all these pictures. Can you find me?

New Zealand, part I

2005-10-04T21:48:00.000+10:00

It's really pretty in New Zealand. We were driving around on the South Island, and saw some mountains:

We also saw some cool rock formations, so we stopped to take pictures there:

And trees:

And more rocks:

And here I am, driving on "the other side" of the car:

My favorite picture from New Zealand

2005-10-03T22:41:00.000+10:00

More coming soon!

Sightseeing

2005-09-27T12:16:00.000+10:00

I think I wrote about the Sydney Explorer tour bus in a different entry, but I can't recall. Anyway, it's a bus that during the daytime usually runs as a double decker, colourful bus, like below:

Sometimes in the evening or just other times during the day, it runs as a plain red bus, as below:

I've never been on the bus myself, but I see several each day as I walk to and from work. They run along the street I mainly walk down as they're going between the Powerhouse Museum and Star City (the casino). If you want to ride, you pay one fee ($25 or so, I think) and can hop on or off all day, anywhere they go around the city.

Taking it a little far

2005-09-23T16:35:00.000+10:00

Phone cards are popular in Australia. There's a very large population of immigrants who have family or friends overseas, and also a very large population of people who have traveled overseas and made new friends they would like to keep in touch with. There are dozens of different types of phone cards, and most convenience stores sell at least some.

This convenience store is across the street from where I live. I don't know if their intention was to make it known that they sell every phone card ever made, or if they intended to wallpaper their entire front window with phone card advertisements, but they appear to have accomplished both goals.

Instructions for clueless Americans

2005-09-22T12:34:00.000+10:00

When visiting, or moving to, Australia, please note that all electrical sockets appear like this:

That's not to say that they all contain only one socket, but that however many sockets they contain, each has its own on/off switch. When the switch is set to off, there is no current, and when it's switched to on, there is current. Sockets are supposed to be set to off when plugs are placed or removed, otherwise there will be sparks. For an electrical device to work, you need current, so you need to set the switch to the on position. I learned this the hard way. ;)

Furthermore, note that the above switch is set to off. To Americans, it would appear to be set to the on position, and this caused me quite a bit of confusion. I had to retrain myself to understand that light switches and electrical outlet switches are "opposite" how I would expect them to perform (and I wonder if after moving back to the US I will get confused again).

Finally, check out the cool orientation of the prongs! Clearly, there's only one correct way to plug in an electrical device, even if there's no ground.

Every-day mundane type of stuff

2005-09-22T12:27:00.000+10:00

As I walk to work, I pass temptation. I try not to indulge very often, and have set a limit for myself of twice per week (but many weeks, I can be seen inside three times! Don't tell!)

A patisserie that I stop at (too frequently) to buy a chocolate croissant.

The convenience store where I stop to buy milk when I have
chocolate croissants (they don't sell milk at the patisserie).

No, they're not upside down here

2005-09-22T11:56:00.000+10:00

Sorry for the poor image quality; this was taken with my PDA. You may be able to see the faint rainbow in the picture above. As I was walking home from work on Tuesday, when it was a little bit rainy, I saw it and just had to try to capture it to share with you.

More from the ongoing series

2005-09-19T15:21:00.000+10:00

I didn't take any pictures of anything that interesting this weekend, but I do have some more from my series of "new to me" companies and brands, and "all too familiar" ones...

First, L.J. Hooker, a real estate agency:

"Looking to rent? ljhooker.com. Looking to buy? ljhooker.com. Looking to sell? ljhooker.com" - the commercials are quite prevalent here!

All-too familiar, though not real-estate agencies:

Also, all-too-familiar... how many can you spot here? I found FedEx, Mail Boxes Etc., and UPS!

Guides

2005-09-16T16:21:00.000+10:00

In Australia, "Girl Scouts" are "Guides." You may or may not be aware, but I'm a co-leader of a Guides unit (what Aussie Guides say when US Girl Scouts say "troop") here in Sydney.

Last night, we went "ten pin bowling," which I'd probably just have called "bowling," but I think that lawn bowling is big in Australia, so there's a distinction made.*

An Australian bowling alley looks pretty much like an American one. I might even file this under "all too familiar," because the bowling alley was AMF, a company I know I've seen in the US as well. Here are three of the girls in my unit at the alley:

Mouse, Mikki, and Megan

One game, Mel (my co-leader) and I played along with the girls. We were all Ms, except I was an Em instead of an M.

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* There are stranger distinctions in Aussie lingo that I don't understand the need for, since we don't use them in American English. For example: "sticky tape" (what I would call simply "tape" or perhaps "scotch tape"). Um, yes, it's sticky, but isn't all tape sticky? Electrical tape and masking tape are not called sticky tape. (I'm well aware of cassette tapes and video tapes, but those types are already modified by "cassette" and "video" to distinguish them from the stickier forms of tape...) Another example: "beetroot." No one says "carrotroot" or "potatoroot," and it's not common to eat any other part of the beet, so what's the deal?

Second part in my series of pictures : mobile phone services

2005-09-16T16:15:00.000+10:00

First: Dodo. This little bird sells pre-paid for mobile phones as well as cheap internet services. "Dodo, dodo, internet that flies!" I hadn't seen a commercial for the pre-paid phone stuff, but clearly, it's another of their products because here's a banner proclaiming this convenience store sells them:

Vodafone sells both pre-paid mobile, and regular cellular services:

"All too familiar": Virgin is everywhere, isn't it? It's an airline, it's a mobile phone service, it's a financial company - it's starting to sound a little like GE! They're a British company though, aren't they?

Announcement: New Series!

2005-09-13T12:06:00.000+10:00

Hello! I'm going to start a series of posts with pictures of brands and companies. I will be showing brands and companies that are new to me - Australian brands and companies - and those that I see here in Australia that are prevalent in the US: ones that are "all too familiar". To start this off, I will share a picture of a company that is all too familiar that has quite a large presence in Australia:

And another of a company that has nearly as big a presence in Sydney but was new to me (and I must admit I enjoy!):

At Oporto, I especially enjoy their special chilli sauce (sort of like a very hot salsa) with hot chips (aka french fries).

People tell me that Oporto is fast food, and I guess that it is, but they're very vocal about how fresh and healthful their food is, since it's grilled (besides the hot chips) and uses fresh vegetables and spices and everything.

Someone else told me that people often give other people directions based on where things are in relation to the nearest Oporto, and later that day a different person gave me directions that included "Turn left when you see the Oporto," and I thought perhaps there was some truth to that statement.

Back in town!

2005-09-13T11:47:00.000+10:00

Here are some pictures from this past weekend when John and I went to Manly Beach:

Manly has two beaches. One is the ocean side (pictured here) and the other is the harbour side. It's about a five minute walk between the two. Arriving by ferry, you arrive at the harbour side.

This was a view from the ferry (between Circular Quay and Manly) of the city, including the Sydney Harbour Bridge to the right, and the Centrepoint Tower (middle left):

Me at the ocean side of the beach:

John at the ocean side beach:

It was a beautiful day. In the city, it was 85 degrees F, which is pretty warm for the beginning of Spring. At the ocean, it was quite windy and I'm sure a lot cooler, but still very pleasant.

Pictures

2005-08-22T10:48:00.000+10:00

If you click on any of the pictures attached to any post I've made here, you will get a larger view of that picture. You'll then need to click "Back" to get back to this page.

Tasmania, Part V

2005-08-22T10:26:00.000+10:00

These are the last of the pictures from Tasmania. Coming soon: Pictures from Sydney!

Another Tasmanian Devil.

Two Devils, eating the carrion they had just been fed by the people who worked at the Wildlife Refuge.

Port Arthur: a complex where prisoners were processed and held upon their first entry to Australia in the 1800s.

Another view of the grounds at Port Arthur.

More of Port Arthur. We were standing in the parking lot at the entrance to the prison colony (actually, we walked over to a "lookout point") to take these pictures. We decided not to walk around the grounds because they wanted $24/person and we'd just paid $16 each to see the Tasmanian Devils. We were surprised at how much it cost. Also, it was getting dark and appeared that it would probably close soon.

Right as it was getting dark, we stopped at "Remarkable Cave" (but didn't get over to the cave itself because it was getting dark and seemed dangerous to go hiking) and walked on a boardwalk to this view of the ocean and cliffs. The second cliff off in the distance is possible to hike to (I believe the sign said 2.5 hours). John and I would like to go back there and do this hike some day and see the cave.

Just a few minutes later. It was getting dark very quickly at this time. It was about 5 p.m. This was a view towards the other side of the boardwalk. I love how deep the blues are in this picture.

Tasmania, Part IV

2005-08-19T17:20:00.000+10:00

John, driving on "the wrong side" of the car and road.

Between Hobart and Port Arthur, we stopped to look at this inlet, and I took a picture of where we were. Notice that Hobart is in parentheses on the sign. We didn't find out the reason for this, but our suspicion is that if you must change roads, the destination appears in parentheses. Since we had to take a couple of highways to get back to Hobart, it was in parentheses... once we got on the highway that took us directly to Hobart, the city name stopped being in parentheses.

This is a view of the inlet. Very pretty!

John & me in front of the inlet...

Mama Tasmanian Devil with Baby Tasmanian Devil clinging to her back. When we first got to her enclosure (at the Tasmanian Devil Wildlife Refuge), we saw only the mom. A moment later, there was a grunting and squeaking noise, and then the baby jumped out of her pouch and onto her back. Tasmanian Devils are marsupials, so they have pouches like kangaroos, koalas, and all other marsupials.

Tasmania, part III

2005-08-18T16:10:00.000+10:00

A Tasmanian Tiger (thylacine). This is a stencil that was spray painted as graffiti on a wall on the side of a building in Hobart. Tasmanian Tigers are extinct. While in Hobart, we went to a museum that had video of the last known Tasmanian Tiger, from 1936. The video was shot at the Hobart Zoo. The thylacine was exposed to severe weather conditions and died. =(

Here is another picture from Salamanca Market, where we were on Saturday.

Near the Salamanca Market: a fountain commemorating the Dutch ships and sailors who sailed around the Tasman Straight years ago.

Here are some purple flowers we saw at the park on Saturday in Battery Point.

A Tasmanian license plate.

John with the hot chocolates we had with breakfast Saturday morning. We got a good deal: french toast and hot chocolate for AUS$9 per person.

Originally, though, they gave us mochas by accident.

Which John was perfectly happy with, before we discovered they were mochas.

Tasmania, Part II

2005-08-17T15:08:00.000+10:00

Here is a view from the top of Mt Wellington. We drove up there on Sunday. The drive took about an hour from Hobart and it was a beautiful drive. The beginning part of the drive took us through tree-lined roads through countryside; further up the mountain, the vegetation became sparser and smaller. There was snow at the top.
The water you see at the bottom is the Pacific Ocean (specifically, the straight of Tasman, I believe); the city is Hobart.

Another view from the top of the mountain. The river is the Derwent.

It was very, very cold and windy at the top of the mountain.

It wasn't actually snowing, but there was a fair bit of snow on the ground. When we first arrived in Tasmania, we were told that the road up the mountain was closed due to the snow. It was closed Saturday, as well, and fortunately for us, opened on Sunday. We didn't see any snow or ice on the road at all, but there was a lot along the side in some places.

I don't know why they were doing this, but several of the Tasmanians were stacking snow on the windsheilds of their cars and then driving down the mountain with a large obstruction to their vision. I saw some cars with mini-snowmen on the windsheild. This (above) was a small amount of snow compared to some of the cars we saw. We saw dozens of people doing this, and on the way up the mountain, saw many cars coming towards us down the mountain with the snow already in place. I did not ask why they were doing it, I just asked this family if it was alright to take a picture as they were in process of putting the snow on. The daughter didn't mind at all. The mother said to me, "Oh, you're from California. You won't have seen snow before, will you?" Her husband said, "No, they get snow up in the mountains there." I wondered how they knew I was from California (besides my accent when I first asked if I could take their picture) and then I remembered that the back of my jacket said "Palo Alto, CA" and realized that must have given it away. Actually, if I'd come to Tasmania before moving to Colorado when I was 18, I might have seen snow only for the second time in my life, but moving to Colorado took all the mystery out of snow for me. =)

Tasmania, Part I

2005-08-16T17:35:00.000+10:00

Salamanca Market, a famous Saturday market in Hobart. I bought two stuffed animals: a dingo and a Tasmanian Devil. As you can see, it was quite overcast. It sprinkled a few times. It was very, very cold. We were wearing 4 layers on top and still were cold. The wind made it feel much cooler.

A view from Battery Point in Hobart.

A park in Battery Point called Princes Park. This was a very attractive park and the playground looks like a lot of fun. If it wasn't so cold, I might have gone down the slide (I was worried the metal would be freezing!)

The symbol of Australia: the kangaroo & emu and the state seal. This was outside a courthouse.

(John, and) A display of wombats inside a museum by the waterfront (the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery). Isn't it amazing how huge wombats are?!

More photos to come!

2005-08-16T13:38:00.000+10:00

Full Tassie update coming soon!

Sydney casino

2005-08-12T11:47:00.000+10:00

Star City

The casino with the largest area devoted to gaming of any in the world* is in Sydney, and it's across the street from where I work. This is a view of it from my route home.

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* Source: Upcoming book The Ultimate Casino Guide: 1000 Great Casinos from America, Canada and Around the World by Michael Wiesenberg, to be published around September 30, 2005, by Sourcebooks, Inc. It can be pre-ordered here if you're interested.

For Colleen!

2005-08-12T10:17:00.000+10:00

This is what mailboxes look like in Sydney.

Multi-lingual bus stop signs

2005-08-12T09:45:00.000+10:00

Bus stops in Sydney all have signs that look like this. It's practical; anyone would know it was a bus stop based on the sign. I like the picture.

Terrace houses

2005-08-11T15:45:00.000+10:00

Above: two terrace houses. I'd never seen them before moving to Sydney, and I think of them as "very Australian." I really wish we'd have been able to live in one while we're here, but so far it's been impossible because they don't tend to be rented furnished, and that's what we need right now. Maybe some day!

Before it all went pear-shaped*

2005-08-11T14:58:00.000+10:00

Please excuse the image quality; I took the photo with a PDA. It's actually pretty good considering the source, I think.

Anyway, I took this photo at Darling Harbour, which is about a 5 minute walk from where I work. At lunch, I walked over to get something to eat and shop for a new purse** and I took this photo at the time I did because you can just see the monorail entering the station there. The location is the end of a large pedestrian bridge that crosses the harbour (which you can't see from this picture, unfortunately). The buildings you see in the background towards the left are across the harbour in the Sydney CBD (Central Business District; maybe what you'd call "downtown"?) It's also the area of Sydney that's called "city" and it's the only part of the Sydney metro area that you'd write "Sydney" for the address to mail something to. (I "live in Sydney," but my address says "Ultimo").

The archway in the middle right is where I went inside to eat and look for a new purse. There is a little mall hidden in there (I say hidden, because it's not obvious from the outside from any direction).

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* When things "go pear-shaped" in Australia, they become all messed up. No one can explain to me where the expression comes from. Nothing actually went wrong for me, I just like using the expression because I think it's hilarious.

** I confused my Aussie workmates by saying "purse." I had a chocolate croissant and they noticed I wasn't holding it any more, and asked where I put it. I said I had put it in my purse, and they gave me funny looks. I was in the process of putting my wallet back inside my purse, and they informed me that I was holding my "purse" and I was about to put it inside my "handbag."

Me in Sydney

2005-08-11T10:28:00.000+10:00

Now that I've been here nearly a year, it made sense to create a blog about my experiences here. I intend to post a lot of pictures, as well, so look forward to that. I'll update more soon! For now, here are two pictures of some birds that I saw on the way to work recently. They are rainbow lorikeets, and I think they're very pretty.