Sharon Laufer
Grew up in Florida, moved to Manhattan after college, work in Fashion and now living and exploring a new life in Australia!
Posts
May 23, 06:37 AM
Many of you may already know but Adam and I moved apartments earlier this year. Mostly because our landlord was going to raise rent but also just because we wanted a change of scenery and an apartment with outdoor space.
Apartment hunting is never easy but Adam was able to find an amazing one on Domain.com.au, the go-to apartment listing website here in Australia.
After a few house guest, a trip to Tasmania and a trip to Western Australia, we were finally able to get it into picture taking shape.
We are a couple blocks farther from the water but have way more space, a parking spot, outside storage space, a proper laundry room and best of all... an awesome balcony that looks over Bondi.
| Living Room |
| Kitchen |
| Master Bedroom |
| Guest Room |
| Bathroom |
May 22, 06:40 AM
How do you decide what to see in a country the size of Australia? You've got the "must see" places like the Great Barrier Reef and Ayers Rock, but there are tons of lesser known areas that are also worth a visit. So one day I wondered into a bookstore, went to the photography section, and pulled down a book of Australian landscape photography. I flipped through and noted the names of places that looked particularly compelling. A number of amazing photos kept listing the same location: the Kimberley, a wild region in the northwest of Australia. So for our first big trip of 2012 we decided to go there.
Unfortunately, the Kimberley isn't a small region; at over 420,000 square kilometers it's on par with California size-wise. It's also off the grid for the most part. A single paved road, the Great Northern Highway, runs from the southwest corner at Broome up to the northeast corner at Kununurra. There are three small towns in between, each with a population of a couple thousand. Unless you're in one of them you won't have mobile phone service and you won't be on a paved road. Gas stations are few and far between. As a result, this trip involved more planning than any other we've done.
Because most of the trip would be on off road tracks, we couldn't use Google Maps to calculate distances and driving times. I had to buy a map of the Kimberley and sit for hours each night figuring out which attractions made the most logical sense to see and in what order, how far it was between them, how long it would take, and how much gasoline we'd need. We also had to line up where we'd end up each night, since only some of the places had campgrounds.
On the plus side, rare is the vacation when packing a knife is excusable and rarer still when they're actually necessary. This was one of those trips. I packed a monster Swiss Army knife that had every tool in the book and a basic, more functional pocketknife. I wasn't about to become the first man in history to get mauled to death by a koala bear.
Unfortunately, the Kimberley isn't a small region; at over 420,000 square kilometers it's on par with California size-wise. It's also off the grid for the most part. A single paved road, the Great Northern Highway, runs from the southwest corner at Broome up to the northeast corner at Kununurra. There are three small towns in between, each with a population of a couple thousand. Unless you're in one of them you won't have mobile phone service and you won't be on a paved road. Gas stations are few and far between. As a result, this trip involved more planning than any other we've done.
Because most of the trip would be on off road tracks, we couldn't use Google Maps to calculate distances and driving times. I had to buy a map of the Kimberley and sit for hours each night figuring out which attractions made the most logical sense to see and in what order, how far it was between them, how long it would take, and how much gasoline we'd need. We also had to line up where we'd end up each night, since only some of the places had campgrounds.
On the plus side, rare is the vacation when packing a knife is excusable and rarer still when they're actually necessary. This was one of those trips. I packed a monster Swiss Army knife that had every tool in the book and a basic, more functional pocketknife. I wasn't about to become the first man in history to get mauled to death by a koala bear.
* * *
We flew out of Sydney on a cool Saturday morning and landed in hot and muggy Broome early that afternoon. I thought the airport in Launceston, Tasmania was small, but Broome's airport took the crown. It was like something out of the 1940s.
| The Broome airport. |
Broome started life as a pearling town and has a rich Chinese and Japanese heritage from all the immigrants that came to work in the pearl industry. While there are still some pearling outfits here, the town gets most of its trade from tourism these days. There's not much to do besides hang at the beach and it's pretty much a jumping off point for people like us heading into the outback.
We picked up our rental, a sturdy looking Mitsubishi Pajero with two spare tires, and drove to check in at our hotel, which was five minutes away. Broome is small, so nothing in town is more than 15 minutes away.
After getting settled we drove out to Gantheaume Point, a bluff of red rocks overlooking the Indian Ocean. At low tide you can see fossilized dinosaur footprints. We clambered down the rocks to find the footprints and also saw a wealth of sea life marooned in tidal pools -- crabs, clams, unidentifiable sea blobs, and a blue-spotted octopus, one of the most dangerous animals in Australia (pretty standard, really; see "Australia is out to get you"). Its sting will shut down your nervous system and is fatal unless someone can keep you artificially breathing.
With the glow of the setting sun hitting the bluffs, Gantheaume Point was a beautiful sight.
With the glow of the setting sun hitting the bluffs, Gantheaume Point was a beautiful sight.
| What is this creature? Nobody knows... |
| Blue spotted octopus: touch it and die. |
| We found the fossilized dinosaur footprints! |
| Gantheaume Point from the rocks during low tide. |
Afterwards, Sharon and I walked over to neighboring Cable Beach and walked through the dunes to the beach to watch the sun dip over the horizon. The sand was so fine that it coated our feet like a white powder.
| Walking down the dunes to watch the sunset at Cable Beach. |
| Sharon shows off a hermit crab from the beach. |
That night we checked out Matso's, a restaurant and the only microbrewery in the Kimberley. Besides the standard lagers and blondes, they make chilli spice beer (seriously spicy!), mango beer (very refreshing), lychee beer, and ginger beer. We got destroyed by mosquitoes, which made the dinner a bit unrelaxing.
Sunday we picked up our camping gear, got groceries for the week, and then spent the day at the beach. The turquoise water was a perfect temperature and having (almost) the whole beach to ourselves wasn't too shabby .
Monday morning we hit the road early -- we had a 680 km long haul from Broome to Halls Creek, with a pit stop in Fitzroy Crossing and nearby Geikie Gorge.
The road to Fitzroy Crossing was bland, just two lanes bordered by shrubs, low trees, and thousands of termite mounds. The boring scenery was occasionally interrupted by the site of a large, bloated cow on its side, legs stuck straight out with rigormortis, dead from a collision with a truck. Because the cattle stations out here are millions of acres in size, the ranchers don't fence in the property, so cattle wander onto the highway at will.
| The view from the road...it gets boring after a few kilometers. |
Sharon made up a little ditty which captured the essence of the landscape; you can have a listen here….
We quickly picked up on a habit of other drivers that we fell into as well: everyone waves or lifts a few fingers from the steering wheel to acknowledge you as you pass each other on the highway. It's like tacit recognition that out here on the road in the outback you're among a small number of fellow travelers, all part of an exclusive club.
Other than that the road was boring! Bugs smacked against the windshield at the rate of one a second. Sharon cranked through a couple books on her Kindle during the trip. The truck was pretty loud and there was certainly no radio reception, so I put on my noise-cancelling headphones and plugged into my iPod. It was the only way to pass the time.
Fitzroy Crossing didn't amount to much more than a visitor center, a couple gas stations, a supermarket, and some homes. We zoomed through and headed on to Geikie Gorge.
Other than that the road was boring! Bugs smacked against the windshield at the rate of one a second. Sharon cranked through a couple books on her Kindle during the trip. The truck was pretty loud and there was certainly no radio reception, so I put on my noise-cancelling headphones and plugged into my iPod. It was the only way to pass the time.
Fitzroy Crossing didn't amount to much more than a visitor center, a couple gas stations, a supermarket, and some homes. We zoomed through and headed on to Geikie Gorge.
Geikie Gorge is one of the few places in the Kimberley that doesn't require a 4WD vehicle. The cliffs are a remnant of the Devonian Period, when a giant reef is believed to have existed in the area and this part of the continent was under an ocean. During the wet season the river cutting through the gorge swells and floods the surrounding land. A visitor hut with information about the gorge had posts showing how high the flood waters had reached in recent years. There were posts going all the way to the top of the structure -- about 20 feet up.
| The red circle shows the highest flood point. |
There's a 2 km hike along the gorge that Sharon and I decided to do, and I made the stupid decision to wear Vibrams. The trail was mostly made up of gravelly sand, and the sand and small rocks quickly got trapped between the elastic heel of the Vibrams and my skin, chafing at every step. Razor sharp burrs punctured the fabric top and stabbed my feet. Sharon did slightly better in running shoes, but still collected dozens of burrs, which required very careful fingers to pull off. This was definitely an occasion for hiking boots.
The walk was pretty but not stunning and, rather than looping back to the start, simply came to a dead end indicated by a laminated piece of paper nailed to a post. Rather than subject myself to more puncture wounds I told Sharon we were going to walk back along the river bank. What looked like hard packed sand turned out to be mush and we sank up to our ankles.
Heading back to the parking lot, the narrow sand bank spread out into a mini-desert, devoid of any life. It was midday and the sun was hammering us. Sharon, ever thinking of fitness, suggested we run back to the car. I tried for twenty yards, but the sand was rubbing the skin off my ankles. I eventually took the Vibrams off and ran barefoot across the hot sand. My feet were raw by the end. We gave Geikie Gorge two thumbs down and got back in the car for the remaining three hour shot to Halls Creek.
On the side of the road a fire burned. During the dry season the Kimberley is at risk for catastrophic fires. All those oily Eucalypt leaves go up like tinder, and once a fire gets going it can spread across thousands of acres. The fire department can't do anything but let it burn itself out. To mitigate this, they set controlled fires early in the dry season, before the risk becomes to great. I wasn't used to seeing big fires along the side of the road, so asked Sharon to take a photo. She didn't move quickly enough for me so I swiveled in my seat to dig my iPhone out of my backpack, taking my eyes off the road. A split-second later Sharon shrieked and I turned back around to see a huge crow pinned to our truck's bull bar. The wind kept it there a second before it fell off and crumpled to the road.
"You just hit a bird!" Sharon cried, her face turning red.
"It's a bird. I'm pretty sure it just hit me," I argued. I mean, the thing had wings -- he could have gone in any direction he wanted; he just had the bad luck of picking my direction.
"You killed it," Sharon declared.
"We don't know for sure it's dead," I said optimistically.
"Yes we do; you killed it."
"That's the circle of life."
"Not really."
Sharon wasn't happy with me: "You need to pay less attention to taking photos and more on driving."
"I can't be responsible for every bird out there," I argued back.
"I can't be responsible for every bird out there," I argued back.
"No, just the ones you kill." Sharon retorted. Then, channeling the spirit of Avatar, she said "I see you, bird. I see you."
We still had three hours to go....
| Fire on the side of the road...like you wouldn't take a picture, too. |
As we neared Halls Creek a few cows strayed onto the road. A tractor trailer was coming in the opposite direction and I had visions of him nailing one and chucking it into our windshield (it happened to my dad with a deer). Sharon was driving at this point and she pretty much stopped in the middle of the highway. The tractor trailer driver leaned on his horn and thankfully the cattle scrambled back into the scrub.
Halls Creek, while more interesting than Fitzroy Crossing, was similarly limited in its offerings. We stayed at the Kimberley Hotel Halls Creek. When I asked the receptionist if there were any restaurants in town where we could get dinner, she replied, "Well, you've got our restaurant here and there's one at the Best Western." It wasn't the kind of answer that gives me confidence that a solid meal is forthcoming.
| Pit stop on the road; we're not in Broome anymore. |
Halls Creek, while more interesting than Fitzroy Crossing, was similarly limited in its offerings. We stayed at the Kimberley Hotel Halls Creek. When I asked the receptionist if there were any restaurants in town where we could get dinner, she replied, "Well, you've got our restaurant here and there's one at the Best Western." It wasn't the kind of answer that gives me confidence that a solid meal is forthcoming.
We opted for the hotel's sports bar and the food turned out to be better than I expected. We got a bunch of groceries and a few bags of ice since we'd be camping out the following night and repacked the truck. A quick mosquito bite check showed Sharon clocking in at 60 and I had 30. Then we crashed for the night.
May 15, 07:43 AM
Anzac Day was April 25th but since we left town for our big trip to the Wild West of Western Australia a week later, I am only now getting time to post this.
We had a great group of friends over for a big bunch before we headed off to the North Bondi RSL for our second year of Two Up. On a cool note... our good friend Alex got to be the last spinner of 2012!
Good time!
April 16, 06:10 AM
Most birds flutter away at the first approach of a human. Even the pigeons of Manhattan's Central Park scatter to avoid walkers, joggers, and dogs. The birds of Sydney, I've discovered, are confident birds; they aren't fazed by humans and do what they want.
When we first arrived in Sydney, our initial abode was an apartment in Elizabeth Bay overlooking the harbor. I was at the table doing work when a bird ducked under the partially open kitchen window, strutted along the counter, took a grape in its mouth, flicked me off (well, he would have if he had fingers), and then strutted back out . Later he came back and hopped into the sink for a drink. It was only a matter of time before he stole food out of my hand, I thought.
A few Saturdays ago, Sharon and I went to the Picasso exhibit at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. After the exhibit we went to the museum's café for a snack and I grabbed a small table outside.
The patio was full of Lorikeets, which are beautiful green parrots with splashes of red, orange, yellow, blue, and purple about the height of a water bottle. They fluttered from the underside of one table umbrella to another. The bolder ones perched on chairs or hopped on tables to snatch food. One actually balanced on the edge of a woman's glass. At one point I saw a bird literally sitting on a girl's head.
| Lorikeet. Cute and cuddly? Maybe. Bad house guests? Definitely. |
Unfortunately, it seems, our new place in Bondi is not safe from the boldness of these winged critters.
Sharon and I have been leaving the very large sliding door to the balcony open pretty much all the time since moving in January. I've got a large wooden duck that sits on the side table nearest to this door. Sharon pointed out a small white spot next to it and said she thought it was bird poop. I thought the odds of a bird having the nerve to come indoors or the sense of irony to poop next to a fake bird were unlikely and figured it was dried yogurt or something.
A few days later Sharon pointed out additional white splotches on the carpet and in our kitchen. It was undeniable: birds were coming inside while we were asleep or at work and making themselves at home, which included christening the floor. We now keep the door closed when we're not around and I don't find Lorikeets quite so cute.
Sharon's recently started a love affair with a Kookaburra that she saw sitting on our balcony. Every morning she wakes up and checks it he's there. But it's only a matter of time before he overstays his welcome.
April 10, 05:21 PM
Yes... this post is solely to show you the big bird that was sitting on my balcony this morning when I woke up.
Just in case you wondering this is a Kookaburra, native to Australia and New Guinea, these birds usually grow to be up to 17 in.
Kookaburras are best known for their unmistakable call, which sounds uncannily like loud, echoing human laughter. Not pleasant to wake up to.
April 09, 03:16 AM
Due to Easter, Passover and a wedding we are starting April with 4 days off from work. The holiday week of decadence began with our first trip up to the Hunter Valley, wine country about 2 hours north of Sydney, for the wedding of our friends Alex and Esther.
With a temperature that stayed in the high 70’s, we arrived Wednesday and went straight to Tempus Two Cellar Door for a quick bite to eat and some wine tastings. The food was good as was the wine. It was a very modern cellar door and the lady who served us told us stories about the original owner who was a lesbian and bad business woman and so has decided to stick to just wine making.
At 4 O’clock we head off to Woolshed Estates where the wedding was being held. We ate, we drank, we danced, we painted and we all celebrating together under the stars on this special occasion. It was a beautiful wedding, very intimate with rolling hills and vineyards as our backdrop. Plus, we couldn’t have asked for better weather.
Next day began with group breakfast back at The Woolshed. Biggest take-away was.. Nutella is good but its a lot like eating cake for breakfast. Goodbyes were said and we headed off to Bimbadgen Cellar Door for some good wine and tips from the viticulturist. Later we met up with some friends, Jacinta and Lincoln, for a very long lunch and wine at The Muse Kitchen at the Keith Tulloch Cellar Door. It's really great food in the perfect setting; in fact it was so perfect we ended up closing it down around 5pm. After parting ways, Adam and I headed to Amanda's On The Edge for a delicious dinner that wasn't too expensive. I would recommend it if you are headed in that direction.
After another night in the Hunter Valley we headed back to Sydney around 11am. We ended the evening having dinner at Jamie Oliver’s new restaurant in Sydney with a group of friends. It was good but I have had better Italian. The best part of the night was the view from Orbitz, a highrise spinning bar that gives you a 360 degree view of the entire CBD.
With still 2 more days off from work, we have a Passover Seder, a mini road trip and some more relaxing to do. Overall, a very good break.
With a temperature that stayed in the high 70’s, we arrived Wednesday and went straight to Tempus Two Cellar Door for a quick bite to eat and some wine tastings. The food was good as was the wine. It was a very modern cellar door and the lady who served us told us stories about the original owner who was a lesbian and bad business woman and so has decided to stick to just wine making.
At 4 O’clock we head off to Woolshed Estates where the wedding was being held. We ate, we drank, we danced, we painted and we all celebrating together under the stars on this special occasion. It was a beautiful wedding, very intimate with rolling hills and vineyards as our backdrop. Plus, we couldn’t have asked for better weather.
Next day began with group breakfast back at The Woolshed. Biggest take-away was.. Nutella is good but its a lot like eating cake for breakfast. Goodbyes were said and we headed off to Bimbadgen Cellar Door for some good wine and tips from the viticulturist. Later we met up with some friends, Jacinta and Lincoln, for a very long lunch and wine at The Muse Kitchen at the Keith Tulloch Cellar Door. It's really great food in the perfect setting; in fact it was so perfect we ended up closing it down around 5pm. After parting ways, Adam and I headed to Amanda's On The Edge for a delicious dinner that wasn't too expensive. I would recommend it if you are headed in that direction.
After another night in the Hunter Valley we headed back to Sydney around 11am. We ended the evening having dinner at Jamie Oliver’s new restaurant in Sydney with a group of friends. It was good but I have had better Italian. The best part of the night was the view from Orbitz, a highrise spinning bar that gives you a 360 degree view of the entire CBD.
With still 2 more days off from work, we have a Passover Seder, a mini road trip and some more relaxing to do. Overall, a very good break.
Happy Holidays!
March 23, 06:26 PM
When you tell people you're moving to Australia the response tends to be one of surprise. This was especially true when I told my mom over the phone, who I think went quiet for a good 60 seconds. Colleagues generally spoke the name out loud, half questioningly -- "Australia?" -- as if letting it sink in, typically followed by an exclamation like "That's incredible!"
All except for one person, a project manager working at the same client. "Oh," he said casually, "my daughter lives there."
Now it was my turn to be surprised; I didn't know of anyone who lived in Australia. "What's she doing over there?" I asked.
"She's a model."
Once again, not the answer I was expecting. I had a brief vision of getting invited to parties full of scantily clad beautiful women. (With Sharon, of course.)
"Yeah, she lives there with her husband, who's also a model. You'll see him on billboards around Sydney. He used to be a professional surfer. I'll pass on their contact details so you can get in touch."
When we arrived in Sydney, I sent the guy's daughter, Stacy, an email and we coordinated a meet up at the only bar in Double Bay, the Golden Sheaf.
Stacy was a sweetheart. Steve was everything I expected from an Aussie: friendly, gregarious, tan, into surfing. After a couple drinks we got to talking about the Sydney beach lifestyle.
"Just wait, mate." he told me. "Give it a few months and you'll be drinking chai tea, doing yoga, getting acupuncture. Your friends will come over and see you and say 'What the hell happened?'"
I was skeptical but should have known better….
A friend who lived in Japan said expats there had an informal rule book: "You know you've been in Japan too long when…" As in, "You know you've been in Japan too long when you bow while talking on the phone."
It's time for a similar rule book of my own, "I've been in Australia a long time when…" As in, "I've been in Australia a long time when I start doing yoga on a regular basis."
Yes, it's true. I've started doing yoga. I actually got up at 6:30am on a Saturday to go to a Yoga class. Voluntarily. And I purchased a daily deal for yoga on the beach. When I told Sharon, she replied, "Who are you and what have you done with my fiancé?" She loves it of course, as a yoga devotee, but it is, shall we say, an unexpected development in my character arc.
I haven't ordered Chai tea yet, (ashamed to admit I have) but I will have a few sips when Sharon gets one for herself. As for acupuncture…well, I haven't bought into it just yet, but sun exposure drives a man to do crazy things.
March 19, 07:33 PM
The View Down Under just got written up on InterNations, an online community for people working and living abroad. It's a really great community that we have become a part of. If you have some spare time check it out and read the story about "us."
March 19, 07:13 AM
Sitting down to watch TV here in Australia is a ticket back in time. When bored with nothing else to do I sometimes catch myself watching re-runs of shows that we in America watched back in the 80's and early 90's. Head of the Class, Murphy Brown, The Nanny and Cheers... just to name a few.
Not really sure why the TV programs are so horrible here but I am looking forward to the day when I have my good old DVR back.
Due to poor television programming I will just have to pirate the good stuff illegally. Please start raising money for my bail now. Thank you Australia.
February 28, 06:22 AM
With our friends from New York, Luke and Mandy, visiting us for 10 days, we decided to take them to the Blue Mountains their first weekend.
The first time we went there, with Sharon's sister Dalia, it was so foggy we couldn't actually see anything. The second time, with my brother Andrew, we could actually see what was around us, but the day was overcast and we got rained on.
Both of these times we had gone to Katoomba, the main tourist spot; this time around we decided to hike a trail in Wentworth Falls to mix it up a bit. As we pulled into the parking lot, this attempt seemed destined to be a repeat of those earlier experiences: dark clouds were gathered up over the area, threatening rain at any moment.
Starting at the top of a plateau overlooking a valley, we meandered down a very muddy path towards the falls. We walked across a short rock bridge across the stream at the top of the falls, just a few short hops from where it plunged hundreds of feet to the valley floor. A very steep staircase winded its way down to the bottom. About halfway down the rain let loose, which was soon accompanied by some impressive thunder.
| About to begin our descent down some very steep stairs. Mandy is freezing in the back. |
Once at the bottom, I made us stop to consider whether to go back or press on given the very real possibility of being caught in a serious storm with no gear. No one was interested in going back up the stairs we just came down, though, and Sharon, whose middle name is "Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead" wasn't about to entertain a retreat.
| A wet shot at the bottom of the first waterfall. |
| Under the waterfall. |
| The main waterfall from a distance. |
We decided to continue, which turned out to be a good decision; the view of the falls from various points of the trail was spectacular. And as we began our climb up another path something wonderful happened: the rain stopped, the clouds cleared, and the sun beat brightly upon us, drying out our soaked jeans and t-shirts.
Our trail, about halfway up the cliff face, wound past a few more waterfalls, though none were as impressive as the first. We even encountered some people in wetsuits rappelling down the ravine carved by one waterfall.
Unfortunately, what goes down must come up, and there were several hundred steps to reach the top of the plateau where we started. Mandy, who grew up in the flat country of Ohio, told us the ascent was the hardest thing she'd ever done. As a reward for our efforts, we were treated to a stunning view of the valley and tablelands at a lookout point about three quarters of the way up. At the very top we collapsed at a café overlooking the area and ordered up some milkshakes and snacks.
| The view from the top...with much improved weather. |
We then took Luke and Mandy for a quick spin over to Katoomba so they could see the Three Sisters, the most famous rock formation in the Blue Mountains, and decided to head to the hotel to check in, get cleaned up, and find a restaurant for dinner.
We plugged the hotel address into the Garmin and begin following its recommended route. As we approached the destination, the pink line on the screen didn't deviate off the main highway like I expected it to. This meant the hotel was on the highway. We hadn't passed anything that looked promising on the way in. This can't be good, I thought.
We soon came to an enormous pink building called the Grand View Hotel. "This is it," Sharon confirmed. We parked around the back and entered the building through a large pub, walked through it and out into a hallway. We couldn't find the check-in desk. I wandered over to the bar and asked where it was.
"This is the check-in," the woman informed me. I knew it was going to be bad. We got our keys and walked up the stairs to the second floor, along a dingy hallway, and to our rooms, passing the shared men's and women's bathroom along the way. Sharon was first through the door of our room. "Oh, Adam," was all she said. Those two words made my heart sink: it was going to be very bad.
At one time in the 1900s, the room's carpet would have been pink. It was now brownish-pink, with a number of particularly high-profile stains throughout. The walls were scuffed and dirty. The room had a dresser, a bed, a chair, and a sink. The bed looked like a hand-me-down from the first Australian convicts. I've stayed in some awful places before (see Exhibit A: Hotel room with Hummer blanket), but even this place skeeved me out.
| Exhibit A: Hotel room with Hummer blanket |
"I'm not going to put my head on the pillow because I don't want to get the flesh eating virus," Sharon wailed.
Luke and Mandy were having a similar reaction in their room.
"I'll protect you." Luke offered.
"From what? Bed bugs?" Mandy replied.
Luke and I headed to the showers to wash off the dirt and sweat from the hike. The bathroom did have two separate shower stalls, separated by a wall. We shared shampoo and conditioner by throwing them over this wall.
From his side of the wall, Luke made a very good suggestion: "You know, we don't actually have to stay here; we're only an hour and a half from home."
"That's true," I replied. That it took someone from New York who had been in Sydney all of 36 hours to make this observation was somewhat embarrassing. But I wasn't going to let that stop us. I went back in the room and told Sharon to pack it up.
We went to the bar to check out. When the bartender asked for a reason more specific than "the rooms look much worse than on the website" I said they were so dirty looking I didn't want to touch anything. We didn't get a refund since the hotel claimed they advertised themselves as a "budget hotel" -- that is true, but budget doesn't necessarily mean disgusting. There's a little chain of places in the U.S. called Motel 8 that's capitalized on this reality. At $100 a pop, those showers turned out to be the most expensive of my life.
We drove back to Sydney and had dinner in a tiny, charming French restaurant in Elizabeth Bay called Café No. 9. Then we spent a beautiful Sunday chilling at the beach followed by ribs at Hurricanes. Despite the snafu at the Grand View, it was a great weekend and was great to have our friends in town.
| The Browns' last night in Australia. |
February 26, 06:06 AM
We were glad to put Orford and the East Coast Resort behind us as we made our way to Port Arthur, a historic penal colony way down in the southeast of Tasmania, on the Tasman Peninsula.
Sharon, who was the master planner for the trip, had a couple stops scheduled for us along the way. Shortly after crossing a narrow strip of land onto the Tasman Peninsula, we made a slight detour through Doo Town, a tiny village overlooking the water (as most towns do in Tasmania), to see two geological formations: the Tasman Arch and Devil's Kitchen.
The Tasman Arch was, a very long time ago, a giant sea cave. Eventually, part of the roof collapsed, creating a huge arch. You can walk onto the arch and get a great view of the southern end of the Tasman Peninsula. Near the Tasman Arch is another site called the Devil's Kitchen and we hiked the short distance to it.
| Tasman Arch |
"So this is the devil's personal kitchen?" someone joked on the way.
"Hope he cooks us breakfast," Sharon quipped.
"Deviled eggs, of course," said Alex.
Like the arch, this was also once a sea cave but the entire roof caved in, so that now it's a long, deep rectangular-shaped gorge cutting into the sea cliffs. Nothing about it suggested "kitchen" or "devil" in my mind so I think someone named it just to add a sense of drama and attract visitors. We took it all in for a few minutes and then headed back to the car, which was by now a light shade of dust from our travels.
| Looking down towards one end of the Devil's Kitchen. Yep, I didn't see it either... |
Another thirty minutes down the road, we stopped at the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Centre, which had been recommended to us.
The Centre had somehow photographed a devil in a moment of cuteness and used that as the face of their advertising. Sharon couldn’t wait to see one up close and personal. Moments of cuteness are few and far between with these animals, however. About the size of a large house cat, they look like overgrown rodents. Their hips seem too low for their shoulders, so they don't run so much as lurch. They are awkward looking creatures.
| The cuddly Tasmanian Devil. |
Sadly, they are facing extinction due to a mouth cancer transmitted when they bite each other (which is all the time). They get particularly violent around mating season. The males fight viciously for the right to mate, and the victor then assaults the female to make her submit.
The Centre had roughly 30 Devils spread across a collection of natural enclosures. Eventually they'll be released into the wild. We happened to luck upon a feeding, which happens very inconsistently -- Devils are scavengers, so to replicate the conditions they'd face in the wild, sometimes they aren't fed for days.
The keeper came to the enclosure with a bucket of indiscernible animal chunks. The Devils, knowing what was coming, stood on a rock and began growling. This isn't a growl like a bear or dog or lion; it's almost whispery in a way. Early settlers thought the sound was the devil talking, which is where the animals got their name.
When a chunk of animal was thrown into the enclosure, the quickest Devil picked it up and took off running. The other two sharing the enclosure took after him. They ran in circles around a mound over and over and over. One lagged so far behind that if he had just stopped and turned around, the leader would have run right into him. These aren't smart creatures, apparently. The keeper threw in a couple more chunks to make sure they all got a share and didn't destroy each other over one piece.
Neighboring the Devils was a yard full of kangaroos that had been brought here for various reasons and were all now thoroughly docile. You could walk right up to them and give them a scratch between the ears or a stroke on the back. Even a female who had a young joey residing in her pouch didn't seem alarmed at having humans nearby.
| Sharon giving a 'roo a check scratch. |
| It's probably time this dude moved out of the pouch. |
We ignored the collection of birds since we're not really bird people, washed our hands, and headed, finally, to Port Arthur.
Australia started out, at least for Europeans, as a penal colony. Britain decided it needed to shore up its presence in this part of the world and had a growing criminal population, so what better way to build infrastructure and harvest resources than with convict labor? Thus began the practice of shipping convicts to Australia. Britain's innocuous sounding name for this policy of involuntary emigration was "Transportation".
While many convicts sent here were hardened criminals, some were young boys who had simply been caught stealing bread. In Victorian times, you were considered in the eyes of the law to be fully accountable for your actions at the age of seven, and could even be put to death at the age of eight.
Until recently, the whole convict thing was a black mark on Australia and families were ashamed to have a convict in their ancestry. Now it's desirable to have one in the family history; it's the closest Australia has to royalty.
Port Arthur was by no means one of the earliest penal colonies in Australia; built in 1830, it came 42 years after the first one was established. It was one of several sites created specially for the repeat offenders in Australia: after you were sent to some other penal settlement, if you still exhibited criminal habits you were then sent to places like Port Arthur.
| View of the main dormitory for prisoners. |
It was built as the latest experiment in criminal rehabilitation (a quest we're still pursuing to this day). In this model, which was in vogue in Britain, criminals would be organized into various groups based on their crimes and the type of labor they would perform. Skilled convicts, such as bakers, tailors, and blacksmiths, got better jobs than unskilled convicts. Petty criminals also got assigned better jobs than those who'd committed more serious crimes. The idea was that convicts would be rehabbed through physical work, and the system was structured to allow them to rise through the ranks, as it were, and get special privileges -- all with a goal of making them see that they could enjoy a good life if only they behaved and followed the law. In fact, many convicts were released and became pillars of their communities using skills they learned.
But this was without a doubt a hard place. One man had broke his clavicle working in the mill and the doctor decided his whole arm had to come off. The medical team allegedly cut through the shoulder with a whale-bone saw (with no anesthesic, of course) and then cauterized the opening with a red hot cooking pan. The man was put back on the workforce after three days.
In the 1850s a new model on the best way to straighten out criminals was exported from England to Tasmania. This model focused on keeping prisoners in solitary confinement. Only in this manner, prison reformers decided, could sinful men truly have the opportunity to reflect on their ways and find salvation in God and a path of righteousness.
| View down the hallway in the Solitary Confinement building. |
A new wing to implement this model was constructed. Men placed here were completely segregated from all human contact. This was done so thoroughly that even orders from guards were communicated using bells, not spoken. When these prisoners were allowed outside for their 1 hour a day of exercise, they had to wear hoods.
Really, as we know now, solitary confinement makes men crazy, and it wasn't long after this building came into existence that an insane asylum was erected next door.
Nowadays it's hard to believe this was a place of sorrow and hardship. The site is centered around a flat area next to a natural harbor. Gentle hills slope down to this point; on one side the sandstone ruins of the prisoner dormitories stand; on the other there are large houses (large for the day, anyways) with well-tended gardens that once housed the soldiers, reverend, doctor, and other free people who spent part of their careers at Port Arthur. The park staff have been working to recreate a large garden as it existed over 150 years ago.
| View of the civilian grounds. |
| The doctor's house. |
| The old church, which was gutted by a fire. |
| Vandalism from 1933. |
After wandering around for a while we decided we'd seen enough of the place. We left Port Arthur and drove back up the Tasman Peninsula and then southwest over to Hobart, the capital of Tasmania and its largest city. "Largest" doesn't necessarily mean "large", however. With a population of just 200,000 Hobart is still smaller than Wollongong, a satellite city of Sydney. But after driving through mostly empty landscapes, it seemed downright overbuilt.
We checked into a standard city hotel and were relieved to see other people staying there. It looked like we might just survive the trip. We got ourselves cleaned up and went out to explore the city. My initial take of a bustling city was mistaken: the streets were for the most part empty. We walked down the few blocks to the harbor, which was full of fishing boats, then headed over to the "hip" neighborhood, Salamanca, known for its Saturday market, restaurants, and bars. It's basically one street near the water with charming old buildings. We strolled along scoping out a bar to sit at and quickly ran out of sidewalk -- Salamanca isn't very big.
| Hobart: this is as exciting as it gets. |
We went to a James Squire pub and did flights of their beers (or paddles, as they called them, since the glasses came in short, modified paddles). Afterwards we went to Smolt for dinner; this was a restaurant recommended to us by some friends of friends in Sydney. We all splurged on a nice meal, but the overall impression was that it wasn't worth the money. We grabbed a drink afterwards and then crashed back at the hotel.
Sunday was our last day in Tasmania. We had planned on going to the top of Mt. Wellington, a mountain that casts its shadow over Hobart, and then continuing on to MONA, the Museum of Old & New Art. We'd been running ragged each day of the trip, though, and decided to end on a leisurely note, so ditched Mt. Wellington from the plan.
For brunch, our hotel recommended another hotel, the Henry Jones Art Hotel. This was a former jam factory that had since been turned into a cool art hotel that received several architecture and design awards. I had tried to book our stay in Hobart here but it was sold out. They had multiple restaurants in the complex and we picked one. The service was ridiculously slow. After only 16 hours or so, I was already bored with Hobart.
We then hopped in the car and drove to MONA, a museum opened in early 2011. MONA is exists thanks to David Walsh, a native of Hobart and college dropout who used his knowledge of mathematics to win millions of dollars gambling. Since earning his fortune, he's spent an estimated $100 million collecting various pieces of art and decided to erect a temple to hold it all, which, he confessed in an interview, had destroyed all of his wealth and actually put him in debt. It's an impressive structure from the outside: built into a hill, it overlooks the harbor and hosts its own winery, a number of restaurants, and several penthouses that can be rented out by guests.
To start your tour of the museum's works, you go down several levels after entering and then work your way up. None of the art is labeled. Instead, you are provided with what must be the coolest museum gadget ever: a modified iPod Touch with a custom app. With the touch of a button, it determines where you're located in the museum and displays the art in your vicinity. You just click on the ones you want to learn about.
Each work had four types of information. One button showed you the basics of who created the piece, and when, and using what materials. There was one called "Art Wank", which displayed the oftentimes obtuse description of the meaning of the art piece and why it was unique and how the artist thought it represented the world and all the fluff that normally just makes me roll my eyes, so I thought the button was titled appropriately; one called "Thoughts", which had random comments from the artist and the founder; and one that let you express your opinion.
This last option provided comic relief. If you liked something, it might say something like "74% of visitors shared your worldly good taste" and if you disliked something, it might say "3,820 other people were also simple-minded jerks".
As the name of the museum implies, there is both old and new art to be found. An Egyptian sarcophagus sits near a bloated Porsche called the "Fat Car"; Greek pottery is surrounded by modern paintings. One enormous work of art entitled "Snake" was in storage for 40 years and takes up the entire wall of a large room; Walsh's purchase of this piece was the impetus for building the museum since it required so much space.
There were several machines that actually replicate the process of creating human waste. As in #2. Yeah, machines that make #2. It reeked. Is that really art, I found myself wondering at several points. And that's exactly what Walsh wants: to be the anti-standard art museum; he wants to make people think and expects to offend. In one interview he even said he expected -- and hoped -- that people would deface some of the pieces. He has a secret apartment built into the museum, with a clear floor in spots so he can gaze into the largest room.
| The poop machine. |
| Fat Porsche. |
| Something old... |
| The giant piece of art that was the impetus for the museum. |
We exited with a couple of hours to kill before heading to the airport. At 33 degrees Celsius (about 92 Fahrenheit), this was one of the hottest days in Tasmania in recent history and made it too hot to wander around outside. We grabbed a table on the terrace of a very slick wine bar on site and ordered up some drinks and snacks.
Finally, it was time to head to the Hobart International Airport. This airport had 4 gates, and I suspect that's two more than they need. It was a tiny place, and I couldn't imagine having to spend much time there. Luckily, Sharon and I didn't. Unluckily, Alex and Michelle had about 4 hours to kill. We'd be home in Sydney before they even took off. Overall, it was a great trip and we had a lot of fun.
Next trip: the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
February 06, 07:09 AM
There are five states and two territories in Australia: New South Wales, Victoria, Northern Territory, Western Australia (not very original, it'd be like calling California "Western United States"), South Australia (again with the originality), Australian Capital Territory, which hosts the nation's capital (seriously, guys, come on), and Tasmania.
Among these, Tasmania -- or Tassie (pronounced Tazzy) as the locals call it -- is the runt of the litter. Literally, it's the smallest state by far.* Western Australia is nearly 1,000,000 square miles in area; Tasmania is about 26,000. Tasmania's situation isn't helped by the fact that it's an island of its own and you can only get there by plane or a 10 hour ferry. Most Australians have never visited. As a result, it always gets the shaft. When a big biscuit (biscuit=cookie) company launched a box of biscuits shaped like Australian states, Tasmania was left out. I have to admit, it doesn't feel like a part of the country.
Still, it's supposed to be a beautiful place and is known for its wines and cheeses. Sharon and I figured while we're in this remote corner of the world, we ought to check out Australia's remote corners, and this is one of them. We were joined by a couple friends: Michelle, a born-and-raised Aussie, and her husband, Alex, an American who now has Australian citizenship.
We flew directly from Sydney to Launceston, the second biggest city in Tasmania, which is located on the northern side of the island. The plane descended over turquoise blue waters and pine tree-filled hills. Launceston airport is small, but nicely designed. We walked from the plane across the tarmac under a clear blue sky. The atmosphere was relaxed. "Now we're on Island Time," I declared to Sharon.
| Typical Tasmanian landscape. |
We took a quick spin through Launceston just to check it out (small, but charming) before a long haul to the east coast for our first destination, the Bay of Fires. The drive was spectacular. Every fifteen minutes someone would point out a particularly beautiful vista: "Look over there." Every time this happened I'd try to take a quick look as well, which usually coincided with the car briefly leaving the road. After an hour my passengers caught on and began saying "Look over there -- not you, Adam; you look at the road."
By 3:00PM the clouds rolled in and we still hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. The few restaurants we passed were closed for Australia Day. We passed a sign saying "Fruit Orchard + Golf: 800 meters" and, in need of a change of pace and some food, turned off the main road onto a gravelly track. The detailed sign soon gave way to lazier signs simply saying "Fruit Golf." We weren't sure whether we'd be teeing up some oranges or what, but soon passed a sad looking golf course before creeping up to a small shack next to a fruit orchard. We got hot chocolate and coffees and then hit the road again.
Just after our less than remarkable Fruit Golf experience, we discovered an old fishing boat moored to a dock that sold fish and chips. We were all famished by then so boarded for some lunch. The main highlight was a terrible aerial photo of said boat, which I christened the "Lunch Boat", hanging on the wall. The photo looked like it was taken in the 70s and, in addition to the boat, mostly captured the parking lot. Copies were on sale for $65. I wanted to ask the owner if anyone actually bought these but didn't want to offend him.
We once again got back on the road and 30 minutes later arrived at our first sightseeing destination. The Bay of Fires is a huge bay whose beaches are surrounded by giant red rocks; the red hue is caused by a bacteria and the bay earned its name because when the sun rises and shines off of the rocks, it looks like fire (well, as much as red rocks can look like fire). We, unfortunately, were not privy to this as the sun was tucked away behind a solid cloud cover.
| Bay of Fires |
As the rain threatened to intensify, we decided to move on. We sped down the Tasman Highway, which runs along the empty coastline and treats you to wonderful views of the Tasman Sea on the left and fields and hills on the right, and finally arrived in the tiny town of Bicheno, our stop for the night. There were only two restaurants in town and one of them was closed, so that forced us to go to the Sea Life Centre, an odd name considering it was just a plain old restaurant (albeit with lots of seafood on the menu) and a tacky gift shop.
Under peer pressure from Michelle and Alex, Sharon and I tried oysters for the first time. They were better than I expected and didn't have the rubbery texture that I thought all shellfish had. Despite being at the Sea Life Centre, for dinner I went with lamb.
Just as we were paying the bill our waitress asked, "Are you going to see the penguins now?"
"What penguins?" we asked.
Each night a number of mini-penguins comes on the rocks for a snooze. We walked down the hill to find a few hanging out. We couldn't take any photos because the flash disorients them.
| A lazy evening in Bicheno. |
Friday morning we woke up, got some breakfast sandwiches at Pork's Place ("Where smiles are free.") and stopped by a blowhole. This was a cool formation of rocks that forced waves up through a crack; even with a light swell the water launched a good 15-20 feet in the air. I can only imagine how high it would get during a storm. Afterwards, we got on the road for a 45 minute drive to Wineglass Bay.
| Bicheno's blowhole. |
Wineglass Bay, along with Cradle Mountain, is among Tasmania's most famous spots. It's on a peninsula that breaks off from the Tasman Highway. We paid the fee for access to the park, changed into hiking clothes, and started our climb: to get to Wineglass Bay you first hike up a steep track to a lookout point, and then must walk down the other side to get to the bay. The hike up the near side is no disappointment, though. Huge boulders tower all around you and another flawless body of water, Coles Bay, sits at the bottom of the track.
| Coles Bay |
But once you get to the lookout -- that's where you realize everything you've seen yet pales in comparison. Wineglass Bay might be one of the most stunning beaches in the world. From the top of the trail looking down, turquoise water lapped against white sand that seemed to glow in the sunlight. Huge green hills slope down to the shore. There wasn't a manmade structure in site. A few boats bobbed in the waves.
Excited by what awaited us, our step quickened on the walk down. At one point, we passed both a pregnant woman and a woman carrying a young child on their way back up. We were all sweating profusely supporting our own body weight; I couldn't imagine carrying another's. "Crazy," I thought.
At the bottom we changed into swimsuits. I dived into the water and just as quickly retreated back to the beach. Unfortunately, the tropical looking water doesn't have a tropical temperature. One Tassie woman had charitably called it "Refreshing." Someone of my disposition would call it "Freezing." There's nothing south of Tasmania except Antarctica, and that's where the ocean currents come from.
| View of Wineglass Bay from the lookout point. |
Then we clambered around on the huge rocks on the west side of the beach a bit before settling on to a blanket Sharon brought to relax for a while. We soon had a visitor. A wallaby had popped down from the brush to scope out the people. He just hung around a while, basking in the attention as everyone crawled closer and closer to get their photos. When he had enough, he bounded back up in to the dunes.
| Wallaby checking out people on the beach. |
We decided to go since we still wanted to visit a winery or two before the day was out, and we began the slow ascent back up the mountain to get back to the car park.
Before leaving Wineglass Bay, we wound our way up another hill -- this time in an air-conditioned car -- to a vantage point called Cape Tourville. From here you have an amazing view of the Freycinet Peninsula to the north and south. We took it all in for a moment, then got in the car again to head to some wineries.
Along the way we stopped at a seafood stand and got some fresh lobster and oysters (and local beer) for a quick lunch. We followed that up with a stop at the Freycinet Vineyard (good wine; okay setting) and finished with a tasting at Milton Wineries. I didn't drink because I was driving, but this one definitely had the better setting to sit and enjoy some wines.
| Fresh lobster and oysters. |
| At Milton Winery. |
Thoroughly worn out, we headed towards our motel, the optimistically named East Coast Resort in Orford, which was a "one blink" town as described by a woman at the second winery.
Following the GPS' instructions, we pulled off the highway -- and I use that term loosely -- onto a local road with nothing around but some fields. We followed this road to the very end, where it terminated among a number of deserted lots sitting by the water. A few appeared to be warehouses. Another was a shuttered bar. An empty looking building had a banner hanging in front indicating it could be hired for conferences, but there was no other sign.
"This can't be it, guys," I decided. "We're still a few kilometers from the town center." I started to drive back towards the highway. Alex called the hotel to find out where it was. It turned out the GPS was right: the empty building was in fact the lobby of the motel.
We turned around again and drove to the entrance. It didn't look any more occupied than before, but this time the front door was open. "You know this is how horror movies start, right?" someone said.
A guy inside sitting behind the desk checked us in. When we commented on the general lack of people he told us they were supposed to be shut down for renovations, but the work crew bailed before starting, and now they were trying to salvage their tourist season. He was going to head home but told us he was on call 24 hours a day if we needed anything.
We parked in the car lot -- we were the only car -- and walked to the second level, where we had rooms next to each other. No one else was staying at the motel.
"We can misbehave!" the girls cheered, skipping down the veranda.
We washed off the grime of our hiking and hopped in the car to head into the center of Orford, another tiny village that consisted of a liquor store, a gas station, a fish and chips place, and a pizza and pasta restaurant that had been recommended to us.
Alex and I sprung for the pizza special, made with wallaby salami. "Where did the wallaby come from?" I asked the waitress. "From the butcher in Bicheno," she replied. She didn't really answer what I wanted to know, which was "Is this roadkill or do they have wallaby farms here?" and I didn't press her on it.
(One side note on roadkill: a colleague who had been to Tasmania said it had more roadkill than he'd ever seen in his life; he was right about that. It seemed like every kilometer there was a dead wallaby, possum, or some other furry critter. "They're just sleeping," Alex assured us each time.)
| Digging in to some wallaby salami pizza. |
After dinner we headed back to the motel to drink some wine and play some cards. We huddled up in the room where Sharon and I were staying. It was eerily quiet, and now that it was dark, a little scary.
"I hope we don't get murdered tonight," someone said.
"No one would hear if we were," someone else replied.
"Well, no one else is here."
"That just means one of us is the killer."
"What makes it all a bit alarming is that the phones don't work," said Alex. Sharon got up and picked up our room phone -- no signal. Sharon and I, both on Vodafone, the crappiest mobile network in the country, hadn't had a signal since arriving in Tasmania. Our phones said "No signal" but that implies there was a signal to be had; it should have said "Just forget about it". Alex and Michelle were on Optus and had been getting service at various spots in our travels. But here they also got nothing. So no mobile phones and no room phones. If anything did happen there was no way to reach anyone. It added to the horror film atmosphere.
Back in the States, Sharon and I often stayed in a small cottage in the mountains of Massachusetts, where no one else was around. Those experiences were never creepy -- it was solitude that we sought out to escape the buzz of New York. This was different. This was a forty room motel with only two rooms occupied. In the middle of nowhere. With no phones.
The fun was thoroughly sucked from the room. What had been a chance to misbehave was now a death trap. We decided to call it quits on the cards and go to bed. Paranoia got the better of me and I propped a chair against the bedroom door. I learned the next morning that Alex did the same thing.
The next morning we were excited to see everyone was still alive and the car wasn't sitting on cinder blocks. We quickly loaded everything up, checked out, and started the drive to Port Arthur, a penal colony during the 1800s. But you'll have to wait for Part 2 for that story.
*(I'm excluding the Australian Capital Territory here, which is comparable to Washington D.C. in purpose; i.e. I don't count it as a real state).
| Some Tasmanian coastline... |
February 01, 05:53 AM
One luxury to being an expat here in Australia is the ability to claim LAFHA every month. LAFHA is a government funded allowance for people living away from home. Basically, it helps subsidize your food and rent expenses thereby giving you more money in your paycheck. Since Adam works for a very large global consulting firm, he was unable to get this allowance (we were super bummed). However, once I got my new job for a much smaller company, I was able to obtain it with such ease. Within one paycheck cycle I noticed an increase in my salary which was not from my company.
It has been great benefiting from this for the last 11 months but to my sadness it has come to pass that as of July 2012, this allowance will no longer be given to expats living in Australia without PR (permanent residency). Many people on the same 457 Visa as myself claim they are eligible based on the fact that we normally reside overseas but are living in Australia for work. Just in the past year the amount of active 457 Visas in Australia doubled to 9,000. That means there are going to be 9,000 people just as unhappy as me.
January 24, 11:54 PM
Real estate in Sydney, as in New York, is a blood sport. Prices are out of control and competition for homes is intense. Real estate agents, who obviously never heard the phrase "A rising tide lifts all ships", plaster their faces around the city like they're rock stars for selling a place.
During the 15 minute showings for rentals it's not uncommon to have 10 other people looking at the apartment with you. As in New York, if you like a place you pretty much need to submit an application right away; the landlord then picks the best candidate. It's hard not to eye up the other people and judge which ones might look good on paper.
The apartment Sharon and I got when we first moved here was a five minute walk to the beach and had just been renovated. It would have been perfect but for two major reasons: 1) It had no outdoor space and 2) it was on the ground floor next to a major walkway, so we kept our shutters closed so all the people walking by wouldn't peek into our home. We felt like we lived in a bunker.
When our landlord decided to raise our rent, we decided it was time to find a new place. Sharon and I looked at a couple apartments that turned out to be dumps, and one day I went solo. It was the best I'd seen so I put an application down. Apparently, on paper we looked the best because it was offered to us.
We moved this past Saturday, which proved exhausting since we had several flights of stairs (and no elevator!) to contend with at our new location. But it was worth it: we've got a big balcony with a decent view (the trees are semi-blocking the water, but in winter when they drop their leaves we'll have a fantastic view), natural light streams in from big windows, and we're on the top floor so the only passers-by are some birds.
A view and a balcony are much more conducive to drinking wine, I've discovered. After all, savoring wine is about savoring life, and that's hard to do in a bunker. We might have opened one bottle of wine to drink by ourselves during the year in our old place; we already put down a bottle our first night here while wolfing down some Dominos. We just need to get a couple of chairs and a small table for the balcony and then it'll be off to the races.
Oh, and now we're a 15 minute walk to the beach, but I think we can live with that. :)
January 14, 04:00 PM
Its true! After a whole year of suffering in Sydney without a car, we finally broke down and decided it was time. Since Sydney's roads follow the general layout of a plate of spaghetti, getting around without a car is pretty tough -- doable, but tough.
A few friends advised us to check out Parramatta Road, which is lined with used car dealerships whose listed price is always much higher than the price they're willing to sell at. After a long day of walking from dealership to dealership looking at crappy Holdens, Fords, and Daewoos, and sweating buckets in the humidity, we decided that this was not the best way to do things.
We retreated to our home, on public transportation of course, to do some more research. We hit up Drive.com.au and limited our search to brands we'd actually want to drive. We checked each make, model, year, and how many kilometers the car had. Then Adam contacted each one and talked the price down by at least $1000; for the ones that said they could drop the price, we plotted the location on a map and told them we'd come see the car the next day. We rented a car this time around and the next morning headed out to see each one.
A few friends advised us to check out Parramatta Road, which is lined with used car dealerships whose listed price is always much higher than the price they're willing to sell at. After a long day of walking from dealership to dealership looking at crappy Holdens, Fords, and Daewoos, and sweating buckets in the humidity, we decided that this was not the best way to do things.
We retreated to our home, on public transportation of course, to do some more research. We hit up Drive.com.au and limited our search to brands we'd actually want to drive. We checked each make, model, year, and how many kilometers the car had. Then Adam contacted each one and talked the price down by at least $1000; for the ones that said they could drop the price, we plotted the location on a map and told them we'd come see the car the next day. We rented a car this time around and the next morning headed out to see each one.
Three dealerships and one house call later we ended up getting an oldie but a goodie. Since we only needed a car to last us for the next year and a half or so we decided cheaper is the way to go.
We are now the owners of a 1997 Silver Audi A4 that was listed for $5k but we got for $3750. Its registration ("rego" in Aussie parlance) and insurance don’t expire until May so we saved ourselves roughly $400 on that.
When shopping for a used car I suggest following the method we used. Here are a few more things to consider when shopping around.
- Check Drive.com.au or CarSales.com.au and determine what you actually want to drive rather than blindly going to dealerships hoping you'll luck upon something you like.
- Get to the point when on the phone. The first dealer Adam called, he said "I don't want to waste my time coming out to your location; what's the best price you can do on the car?" He used that much lower price as leverage with each following person. Don’t for a minute think that the price listed is the price you are going to pay. Don't be afraid to walk away -- many dealers will have last second changes of heart and drop the price even more.
- Ask about the history and how many owners the car had. Check the boot and under the bonnet. Look for rust and uneven lines between body panels (sign of a collision).
- Always do a test drive even if you are only remotely interested. You don’t want to have to come back later to do this. Plus, you will only know if something is better or worse the more you have to compare it to.
- Ask about the rego and how much time is left.
- If you are purchasing from a dealership then ask about a warranty. Most were willing to throw in 12 months for free even after talking them down on price. They want to sell cards.
January 10, 11:58 PM
As of December 31, 2011 Adam and I are now husband and wife!! We had a long 26 hour flight to Tampa, Florida where lots of last minute wedding planning took place.
After a few long jet-lagged days we had an amazing time celebrating our nuptials and New Years Eve with all of our friends and family. Thank you so much to everyone for all your love and support. My only wish... that it didn't go by so fast.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
January 09, 06:54 AM
We have previously mentioned Cockatoo Island in one of our previous posts but this time we were headed over to the famous island for Exhibition Outpost. Outpost is an exhibition for local graffiti artists/urban art which transformed the industrial island into a large outdoor art gallery from November 4th – December 11th.
Most of the artist are relatively unknown in the main stream world with the exception of an artist called Banksy, who maintained underground status for years until exploding on the scene back in 2007 where Adam and I first saw one of his exhibitions in NYC.
Here are some great pictures of the day.
Most of the artist are relatively unknown in the main stream world with the exception of an artist called Banksy, who maintained underground status for years until exploding on the scene back in 2007 where Adam and I first saw one of his exhibitions in NYC.
Here are some great pictures of the day.
December 24, 04:00 PM
I was on a Sydney Scavenger Hunt!
Today, I arrived back in The United States to get married to my best friend on New Years Eve!
December 17, 01:22 AM
It only took 2 summers and a year of living in Australia for Adam and I to finally do something that we have been saying we were going to do… SURF!!
It was a beautiful day in Bondi and a great day to learn to surf so we signed up for lessons through Lets Go Surfing in Bondi.
The waves were a bit rough but we had a great time. The instructor was really cool and we were even able to stand up! Round 2 the following week was also a success and we are ready to book in round 3!
November 24, 05:24 AM
After more than a year in Australia, it is time to pass judgment on the entire continent:
Good
- Great beaches
- Great mountains not too far from the beaches
- Geography in general is strong to quite strong
- Great breakfasts -- better than the U.S.
- Easy outdoor lifestyle
Bad
- Not a week goes by that a Kardashian doesn't appear on a magazine cover (last week they were on the cover of at least five magazines) -- why is everyone so obsessed with these oxygen thieves?
- Pizza doesn't come close to a New York slice
- Come to think of it, almost nowhere offers slices
- Pizza places are only open for dinner
- Mmm...pizza
- Prices -- everything is ridiculously expensive
There...that wasn't too bad, was it?
November 24, 05:18 AM
When my brother Andrew visited us before shipping out to Afghanistan, one of the things he wanted to do was deep sea fishing. Most of the fishing guides required you to charter an entire boat, but I was able to find one through www.Adrenalin.com.au that accepted singles.
So on a Saturday we roused ourselves at 5:30 am and caught a taxi to the Rose Bay wharf, where the boat would pick us up. There were about 20 other people hanging around too, and I assumed they were all on the same fishing trip. After about 15 minutes a beautiful power catamaran pulled up to the dock. Pretty swanky fishing boat, I thought. People started piling on; I asked the deckhand if this was the fishing boat. "No," he said, "This is for whale watching."
So that boat pulled away and set off without us. About half an hour later another nice looking boat pulled up. This boat had several fishing rods so I figured this had to be ours. A number of people started boarding; once again I asked if this was our fishing boat. "No," the captain replied, "This is a private charter. But I think we passed yours on the way here; it's a real wreck."
| Brothers. |
He was right. Ours finally arrived. It looked about 30 years past its prime. Andrew and I boarded; there were about ten of us in total.
The captain had a thick Scottish accent and was missing his front teeth. His first mate, Les, who was the only mate, rounded out the crew; he was also missing his front teeth.
After everyone boarded the captain came out of the steerhouse. "Here's your safety lesson, so listen up," he declared. "Toilet's in the back, fishing is on this side of the boat, and spewing is on that side of the boat. Don't spew in the toilet." And that was it…nothing about life jackets or what to do if you fell overboard.
We chugged out into a rolling, grey sea. Occasionally a light rain added to the merry weather. Once we arrived in a place the captain deemed good fishin', he stopped the engine and said we could start fishing. The boat violently rocked back and forth as the waves started hitting its sides rather than its bow. But it was a good spot and other people on the boat started pulling in fish quickly.
Andrew and I spent the first hour without a catch, though the fish seemed to be making off with our bait pretty well. We moved to a new spot a few hundred meters away and our luck turned -- we were catching fish...albeit ugly, exotic looking fish that looked they'd been exposed to industrial grade pollutants and radiation. Every time I pulled out a fish I asked Les what it was and if it was any good. Les' standard response was "Oh, that one -- good eating." I was skeptical.
Andrew spent about half his time untangling his line from those of our companions. That's one of the disadvantages of having 10 people line one side of a boat all fishing. When someone asked about fishing on the other side, the captain responded that then there's a risk that lines become tangled from both sides, under the boat, and can screw up the propeller.
Andrew and I caught seven fish, but a couple were too small and were tossed back in the water. We took our five keepers back home where we planned on making them for dinner.
I took one out of the bag and put in on the cutting board, pulled a knife from the drawer, and attempted to fillet the fish (which were already dead). The knife didn't make a scratch. I tried all the other knives in the kitchen. Nothing. They were too dull to cut fish and we didn't have a sharpener.
Andrew suggested using a meat cleaver to chop the fish's head off and I gave him the honor of trying that out. He raised his hand with the cleaver in it and smashed it down on the fish. Besides some viscera that splattered around the kitchen, the fish remained intact.
We ended up throwing the fish out and going out for Mexican where Sharon reprimanded us for killing the fish for no reason.
November 10, 06:09 AM
Two Sundays ago Sharon and I took a bus to Circular Quay, a ferry just across the harbor to Mosman, and another bus up a hill to the entrance of Taronga Zoo. We've been meaning to go for a while and the Australian newspaper had a 2-for-1 deal going on through the end of November so we thought we'd take advantage of that.
The zoo is celebrating its 95th birthday this year and was one of the first to take animals out of cages and put them in habitat-style enclosures (the concept was brought back by the Secretary of the zoo after seeing such a setup in Hamburg).
The zoo is beautifully laid out. It's built on a hill, so you start at the top and work your way down to the bottom, and at various parts you get stunning views of the Sydney harbor, Opera House, and bridge. This is definitely a must-see for anyone visiting Sydney. Here are some photos we took:
November 02, 08:09 PM
Just over one year ago, Adam and I landed in Australia for the very first time to begin our new adventure living abroad. Since then we have met lots of new people, seen lots of great places and now have a whole new insight into Australia.
Last November 2nd Adam and I walked down the street from our Double Bay sublet to the infamous Golden Sheaf to see the festivities and funky hats known for Melbourne Cup Day. I didn't understand all the hype for a 10 minute horse race and seems like a year later I still don't.
Being that this time around I am a working woman, I celebrated with my co-workers in true Aussie fashion. We started the day off like any other but by lunchtime we were all packed up and on our way to The London in beautiful Paddington.
We had a lovely sit down lunch with starters, bottles of Preseco, yummy food, and ended with chocolate brownie ala mode for dessert. We picked horses, placed bets, and sorted out everything for our office sweep. My lame self only bet $3 but since I ended up not winning I am pretty happy with that.
Overall, we had a really great time and Adam was even able to stop later in the day for a drink with IFG.
Happy Racing!
October 24, 01:06 AM
A great way to spent your weekend out of Sydney but not break the bank is by taking a road trip. There is so much to see and do just a couple hours outside of Sydney in any direction. A few weekends ago we went west to The Blue Mountains and this past weekend we went north to The Central Coast.
With a group of 10, we drove 1.5 hours north and rented a 5 bedroom house on Forresters Beach with the most beautiful views. We packed the weekend full of BBQ, beach, hiking, whale watching, game playing and relaxing.
Here is the link to the house that we stayed at. It was pretty great!
www.HorizonForresters.com.au
Here are some pictures from the weekend.
| making brekie |
| Whale breaching |
| Whale breaching |
| Hiking |
October 05, 06:49 AM
With Adam’s younger brother visiting from California before he deploys for Afghanistan, we decided to plan a little weekend get-away 3 hours out from Sydney.
Here was our itinerary:
SaturdayFirst things first, we got brekkie and then got the rental car. We drove an easy 30 minutes to Featherdale Wildlife Park to visit with all the amazing animals. My personal favorites were the koalas, penguins, kangaroos, and dingoes.
We drove another hour and a half to The Blue Mountains, where we saw the most picturesque views during a pretty grueling 2.5 hour hike. We started at the top of Echo Point, eased our way down the Great Stairway, and hiked through the forest before climbing straight up Furber Steps. The Great Stairway deserves its name; after we got to the bottom, no lie, I stopped and my legs were trembling. Shake it off! Furber Steps were just as hard but this time we were going up; at some stages I was literally pulling myself up the vertical steps gasping for air.
We then had to hike another 20 minutes back to the carpark to retrieve our rental go, then went to our motel to get cleaned up. After some drinks at a local bar and dinner at a local Greek restaurant we called it a night.
Sunday
After getting our act together we quickly got some brekkie to go and hit the road. We were running a bit behind schedule as we had booked a 12pm tour which was still an hour and a half farther out at the Jenolan Caves. Note that if you decide to do this then you should definitely book in advance. They are like movie times and they fill up fast, especially on a holiday weekend.
We spent a good hour and 40 minutes touring the cave. They are pretty amazing and the walk ranged from a tight squeeze through narrow tunnels to massive open rooms. One cave was so big that they have weddings in them and even host concerts.
Sunday
After getting our act together we quickly got some brekkie to go and hit the road. We were running a bit behind schedule as we had booked a 12pm tour which was still an hour and a half farther out at the Jenolan Caves. Note that if you decide to do this then you should definitely book in advance. They are like movie times and they fill up fast, especially on a holiday weekend.
We spent a good hour and 40 minutes touring the cave. They are pretty amazing and the walk ranged from a tight squeeze through narrow tunnels to massive open rooms. One cave was so big that they have weddings in them and even host concerts.
We were super exhausted and on a tight schedule to get the rental car back by 530pm so we had to bust a move immediately following the tour. An hour later we were still at the caves because Adam had mistakenly left our lights on and burned the battery out. After a jump from one of the park staff we were on the road back to Sydney.
Andrew and I napped in the car and left the driving to Adam!
Profile
Brand Manager at International Fashion Group
Apparel & Fashion | Sydney Area, Australia, AU
Summary
With 6 years of fashion experience in account management and sales. I have worked for top designers on the wholesale side and cultivated great relationships with buyers, planners and colleagues. I have a keen understanding of retail math and what it takes to analyze a business to achieve sales. I have excellent time management skills and a sense of team spirit that is second to none. Now with international experience I see and understand a whole new side to the business.
Experience
- Mar 2011 - PresentBrand Manager / International Fashion Group
Education
Additional Information
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Posts
March 16, 01:09 AM
If you are anything like me you you have Facebook, Twitter and not one blog but two. In a social media, cyberspace filled world its nice to have one place to call home. Flavors.me is just that! Flavors.me, which launched back in February 2010, allows you to build a personal homepage and design it to your creative specifications. After signing up you add your name, headline and link all your online accounts like Facbook, Twitter, Linkedin, and even your blog to it. Once you have added your personal touch to the homepage you can begin sharing with friends, family and...
March 10, 06:03 PM
A proud plug for one of my amazing friends with some serious talent! My girlfriend Kendra is a crafty one! She recently got started making her own cards and invitations that were so freaking cute that I told she had to make these available to everyone. They are Skeleton Key Crafts by Kendra and each one is hand crafted so perfectly with the right colors and textures. Here are just a few that I really like. Kendra just opened an Etsy store that has all the cards you will see on her blog. I highly recommend checking them out because...
December 10, 07:44 AM
Being in Australia has made my passion for online shopping very difficult. Even with a plethera of shopping options in New York City, I still loved finding bargains online. My favorite way to online shop is using Googles “shopping” option, which I no longer have access to living in Australia. Instead, I have stumbled across a website that does something very similar if not more. Like, which launched in 2006 and was recently acquired by Google, is a website that integrates Computer Vision and Machine Learning technology in order to search the web to find exactly what you are looking...
November 29, 01:57 AM
Being in Australia has given me exposure to a whole new world of fashion, accessories and beauty products. One such Australia born company is Compact Desk. Created by Stefan Kahn, it offers a wide variety of sleek looking product for your home and office. My favorite so far is the Kbox jewelry box system. Simple in design but unique in its setup. This modular system allows the consumer to design the jewelry box to his or her specifications. First, choose the size of the box. You can choose the solid black or a limited edition print like the one below....
November 10, 04:49 PM
As we inevitably get older we realize that time is one thing we can’t get back. With that we notice all the things that come with getting older. Things like “recoup rate” after a long night of drinking or sighs as we get up and down are just a couple. One sign of aging that is particularly aggravating for me are wrinkles! So, in addition to my sunscreen, eye cream, and night cream I have now incorporated Frownies into my regular routine. Frownies? You might say. Yes! Frownies! A line created to help smooth out wrinkle lines over night in...
September 29, 06:00 AM
If you’re anything like me, you saw the first Sex In They City movie and instantly fell in love with Carrie Bradshaw’s famous blue satin Monolo Blahniks. Well, just like me my girlfriend, Kendra did too and decided that she would have to have those pumps for her upcoming wedding day which we happily celebrated this past August. Kendra was thrifty; she found a way to by-pass the $945 Monolo Blahniks with a pair of beautiful Martinez Valero pumps for only $160. Well ladies… I am here to do even better than that! Inspired by Audrey Hepburn and her mothers...
June 16, 07:00 AM
To all my high heel wearing ladies out there! I have one word for you… POCKETFLOPS!! I recently heard about this amazing product and personally had to seek out the ingenious designer. Created by Maria Pantazes and prototyped on the floor of her Los Angeles apartment, she began with her roommate’s old flip flops to create folding flips flops. Made completely from recycled tires and all organic materials, PocketFlops are regular flip flops that happen to fold in the center for easy storage and transporting. They are of great quality, cute designs and fold downward as to not dirty up...
June 10, 09:13 AM
If you have that entrepreneurial spark inside you and want to do the same as many of the companies and people that I write about then the first place to start is with a business plan. I found a useful video from Bloomberg on how the process should begin. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn2JKAwGn5E&feature=related Lawrence Gelburd, a professor at Wharton and contributor on MSNBC’s show “Your Business,” says that you must transform your idea from “I think this is a great idea” to “the data I have assembled shows this is a great idea.” Step one of writing a business plan is to identify...
May 28, 07:30 AM
I love clothes and I love accessories! One major reason is that it allows me to express myself through medians other than my body language and tone. What you wear can show people when you want to be sexy, laid back, professional or even funny. What you wear gives you a voice and everybody has a voice. It’s been about 3 years now and Voz Jewelry does just that. This unique line of pendants, rings and bracelets help to express and convey every kind of person. While most jewelry compliments color or style Voz tries to make a statement about...
