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
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!
October 03, 02:38 AM
A few Fridays ago Sharon and I jetted off to Fiji for a long weekend. We were inspired to travel after seeing a friend mention a 2-for-1 airfare deal on Facebook. We looked at cheap fights to the Whitsunday Island chains (where hotels were $1,000/night), and then looked at cheap flights to New Zealand (hotels were also expensive for some reason), before booking full fare flights to Fiji. The bonus was we'd be able to use my Hilton points to stay for free.
In the past I've had bad luck with tropical destinations. It started with the Bahamas in 2005 or so, when I went to visit some relatives and got a lot of rain and chilly weather. Then on a family cruise in the Caribbean the weather was so rainy and rough that we were unable to dock at some of the scheduled ports. Then Sharon and I went to Brazil where it rained the entire week -- it rained so hard the beach town we were in actually lost power two nights in a row. As an added insult, it was beautiful on the day we left.
So I refused to check the weather as our trip to Fiji approached, afraid that I'd see rain predicted. But then Sharon went ahead and checked and told me rain was predicted for the time we were there. I was crushed.
We arrived and headed over to the taxi line. Our taxi driver was very friendly and acted as tour guide as we drove.
I was a bit caught off guard when he pointed out a cluster of simple houses (a "village" he called it) and called out the chief's home. If there's a problem in the village, he said, the people go to the chief first, then the police if need be. It didn't occur to me that chiefs were still around.
On either side of the road, where there weren't buildings there was lush, dense green -- palm trees, mangroves, banana trees, tall grass, flowers. Green mountains rose in the distance to the north.
The change in scenery as we crossed a short bridge to Denarau Island, where the Hilton was located, was sudden. The unruly foliage and basic homes gave way to a mix of Fijian-style and modern mansions with well-curated lawns. Denarau Island is 2/3 man made; one taxi driver told us it took ten years to truck in all the dirt. It supports a collection of seven big resort properties, a golf course, a yacht-filled marina, and a number of small gated communities containing said mansions.
The Hilton was the northernmost resort. We stepped out of the taxi into a large, open-air lobby and were greeted with fresh lemonade and a round of "Bulas!" from the staff. Bula means "hello" and also "cheers", so it's the word you'll encounter the most in Fiji. Thanks to my Hilton Diamond status (the fruits of living at a Doubletree for 15 months in New Jersey), we were upgraded to a large 1-bedroom suite overlooking the grounds and ocean.
The Hilton was the northernmost resort. We stepped out of the taxi into a large, open-air lobby and were greeted with fresh lemonade and a round of "Bulas!" from the staff. Bula means "hello" and also "cheers", so it's the word you'll encounter the most in Fiji. Thanks to my Hilton Diamond status (the fruits of living at a Doubletree for 15 months in New Jersey), we were upgraded to a large 1-bedroom suite overlooking the grounds and ocean.
| View from one of the Hilton's pools. |
Saturday had perfect weather. We spent the morning lounging around next to the pool. Though the resort had a beach, it was what Fiji calls a "black sand" beach. Really it was just brown. And a bit muddy. It wasn't the exquisite white sand you see in ads for Fiji.
In the afternoon we took a bus to downtown Nadi, the nearest city and second biggest after the capital, Suva. Nadi has a great central market but is otherwise a bit of a dump. It's full of souvenir shops and fast food joints. Every other block we were approached by someone who promised to take us to a real Fijian souvenir shop, not the Indian places on the main street.
(There seemed to be a bit of tension between the native Fijians and Indian immigrants. There is a large Indian population in Fiji and from the looks of it they've been quite successful; a lot of the bigger and nicer stores did indeed appear to be run by people of Indian descent. One day we had a tour driver named Salesh, who was Indian; he made it a point to tell us that Indians in Fiji only rooted for the Fijian rugby team, not India's team. I wasn't sure whether that was a true statement or just spin, but the fact that he specifically called it out made me wonder just how good relations are between the two groups. Update: just Googled it and there are racial tensions between Fijians and Indo-Fijians.)
Sunday we hopped on a big ketch at the marina with about 40 other people to cruise out to an uninhabited island and go snorkeling for the day. The water was crystal clear and warmer than the resort's pool. We saw bright blue starfish, these little fish that were almost an electric neon purple, and tons of coral formations. Victor, the first mate to Captain Paul, impressed everyone by remembering the names of every guest on the boat correctly. Then we did a kava ceremony. Kava is made from the ground up root of a pepper plant and then mixed with water. It resembles muddy water in both color and taste. Kava is drunk from a bowl that is dipped into the large stoneware in which it is mixed, and then passed from one person to another. About twenty people had sipped from the bowl before it got to Sharon and me, which made me hope that no one had any transmittable diseases.
Sunday we hopped on a big ketch at the marina with about 40 other people to cruise out to an uninhabited island and go snorkeling for the day. The water was crystal clear and warmer than the resort's pool. We saw bright blue starfish, these little fish that were almost an electric neon purple, and tons of coral formations. Victor, the first mate to Captain Paul, impressed everyone by remembering the names of every guest on the boat correctly. Then we did a kava ceremony. Kava is made from the ground up root of a pepper plant and then mixed with water. It resembles muddy water in both color and taste. Kava is drunk from a bowl that is dipped into the large stoneware in which it is mixed, and then passed from one person to another. About twenty people had sipped from the bowl before it got to Sharon and me, which made me hope that no one had any transmittable diseases.
On Monday morning we got up early and reported to the lobby to await a ride into the hills we had passed on the drive from the airport to the Hilton. We were going to go hiking up to a waterfall. After about 20 minutes of driving we exited the main road and then slowly lurched and bounced along a rocky dirt road for another half hour.
| View of the mountains from the road. |
The scenery was stunning. Fields of sugarcane, banana, and tobacco lined with tall trees in bloom, with the mountains in the background steadily getting closer. The odd cow with a bird perched on its back. Small homes and shops. It was definitely rural.
Our driver was fantastic. He stopped at one point and ran out into a field of sugarcane, then brought us back a piece and showed us how to rip off the skin to get to the sweet core; you could then rip off a chunk with your teeth. It was very sweet.
Eventually we made our way to a small property with a few shacks and a bure (a traditional Fijian hut). Our driver introduced us to a large man in a white polo shirt who turned out to be the chief of the village, which encompassed about 70 people. Becoming chief in Fiji is a hereditary privilege: this man's grandfather had founded the village and become chief, then his father inherited the position, and he took it up upon his father's death.
He presented our guide for the day, Vika, his granddaughter -- a girl of 14 or 15 in a t-shirt, resort towel wrapped around her waist like a sarong, and bare feet. Sharon and I both took notice of her toes: spread out in a sturdy fashion, free of the deformation that comes from wearing shoes all the time.
He presented our guide for the day, Vika, his granddaughter -- a girl of 14 or 15 in a t-shirt, resort towel wrapped around her waist like a sarong, and bare feet. Sharon and I both took notice of her toes: spread out in a sturdy fashion, free of the deformation that comes from wearing shoes all the time.
She led us towards the back of the property. We passed the buildings where they lived, low structures made of corrugated tin; I tried to peer inside and just saw some rugs on the floor. An outhouse buzzing with flies was the bathroom. A number of large water jugs sitting outside the kitchen suggested there was no running water.
The buildings gave way to some tobacco fields, which sloped down to a stream. We crossed over it and began heading uphill, ascending into dense jungle. After about twenty minutes, by which time I was dripping in sweat, we arrived at our destination: two waterfalls cascaded down the hills above, with one landing in a pool of water large enough to swim in. I lowered myself into the freezing water, hung out for about 30 seconds, decided I'd experienced enough of Stage I Hyperthermia and hustled back out.
The buildings gave way to some tobacco fields, which sloped down to a stream. We crossed over it and began heading uphill, ascending into dense jungle. After about twenty minutes, by which time I was dripping in sweat, we arrived at our destination: two waterfalls cascaded down the hills above, with one landing in a pool of water large enough to swim in. I lowered myself into the freezing water, hung out for about 30 seconds, decided I'd experienced enough of Stage I Hyperthermia and hustled back out.
| Hiking up to the waterfall. |
We moseyed back down the hill to the chief's property for a real kava ceremony in the traditional bure. The kava he and his granddaughter made was stronger than the kava we'd had on the island. He made a lot of it and nearly filled the bowl up for both Sharon and me. Then he told us we couldn't leave until the kava is finished, so we forced down another full bowl each. Then we had a lunch of chicken sausage, banana, spinach made from taro leaf, and cassava.
| The chief and his granddaughter making kava. |
Afterwards one of the guys on the property knocked down a coconut from the tree (apparently the orange ones are sweeter than the green ones), whipped out a machete to chop off the top, and handed it to Sharon. She'd been saying how she wouldn't leave Fiji until she had fresh coconut water, and this was as fresh as it gets.
| Getting some fresh coconut. |
| Sharon ready to ride. |
Then we hopped on some horses and were led on a walk around the area (not that awesome as Vika kept the horses on a lead). Then it was back to the Hilton and back to chilling by the pool.
One thing that surprised us both was the number of babies in Fiji. The flights there and back were packed full of young families (and unfortunately Sharon and I were downwind of dirty diapers each time). The Hilton was also full of toddlers running around. There were so many babies, Sharon thought it must be some kind of special promotional deal, like "Baby Month" or something. She googled it but nothing came up. I asked a colleague who'd been to Fiji a year ago whether he had the same experience and he said he did; I guess Fiji is just a big holiday destination for young Aussie families.
On the last morning, just hours away from returning to Sydney, Sharon and I sat by the infinity pool looking over the ocean and a number of islands. I did my best to soak up the air, the view, the "chill". It's a lifestyle I've always wanted. "Sharon," I said, "We might need to move to the Caribbean when we leave Australia."
She said "no" but I can probably convince her….
September 18, 02:31 AM
Just in case you weren't sure how to
pronounce it we thought this would help.
Another little neighborhood in the eastern suburbs of Sydney is Woolloomooloo. It's located on the harbor just east of the Central Business District (CBD).
Historically, it was a poorer working class suburb and even after a little gentrification, most of the area is still pretty sketch; however, a small area of it is pretty and houses beautiful yachts and fancy restaurants.
Historically, it was a poorer working class suburb and even after a little gentrification, most of the area is still pretty sketch; however, a small area of it is pretty and houses beautiful yachts and fancy restaurants.
| Something to strive for! |
A navy base is located in Woolloomooloo.
The main street of interest is Cowper Wharf Roadway which houses a few bars, a bottle shop and some restaurants. On the other side of the street is the new marina that has some really nice restaurants, a hotel, some bars and a very notable resident, Russell Crowe.
One well known eatery is the famous Harry's Cafe De Wheels. It's known for its meat pies and we decided to walk over and grab one for ourselves. We went with the "Harry's Tiger," which was strongly recommended. While we were there eating our Tiger a wedding party rolled up to get pictures in front as well.
Turns out we weren't impressed. Sorry Harry but your reputation is far superior to your meat pies.
After a subpar meat pie and an afternoon of exploring we decided to take a load off at the local pub and have a beer. Cheers!
September 04, 05:07 AM
Every country has great rivalries between its capital cities. Barcelona versus Madrid. NYC versus LA. Cleveland versus Pittsburgh. Given that Australia only has about five cities, and only Sydney and Melbourne are of consequence, it's no surprise that their rivalry is fairly intense.
Sydneysiders and Melbournites (neither exactly rolls off the tongue) are locked in battle over whose city is better. The whole reason Canberra, the country's capital, exists is because Melbourne and Sydney fought so viciously over which should host Australia's government that a miserable spot in between the two was picked to teach them a lesson.
When I first moved to Australia, a colleague from the States who has toyed with the idea of moving here asked me which city I liked better. I wasn't qualified to tell him at the time, but after spending a few weeks in Melbourne for work and getting the chance to explore quite a bit I'm ready to make a call:
If I had to pick a city to live in for the next 2 years or so (which is our situation), Sydney wins. If I had to pick a city to live in for a longer period of time, I'd pick Melbourne. Melbourne is the better city.*
I can hear my Sydney friends crying "Traitor!" and my Melbourne colleagues saying "We already knew that." But city preference, of course, is a personal thing. There are people who love Los Angeles who wouldn't dream of moving to New York, and vice versa. My vote is based on personal preferences. So here's my breakdown based on a number of criteria:
Lifestyle:
Sydney has a gorgeous harbor and a number of great beaches. For two years -- and after living in the concrete valleys of Manhattan -- that's the lifestyle I want: mosey down to the beach, have a swim, get some sun, sit at a café and look out onto the water while I drink a beer. Just a few weekends ago Sharon and I hung out at the beach -- and it was winter here! That's good living. Melbourne of course isn't far from the water; its harbor is great for parasurfing and the beach is accessible by train. But it doesn't have the beach town feel that pervades Sydney. (Sydney is, according to one of Sharon's coworkers, just a giant beach town). Win for Sydney.
Restaurant and Bar Scene:
After 9 months in Sydney, I feel as if I've already eaten at all the restaurants and checked out all the cool bars. Obviously I haven't; there are probably dozens of good restaurants I have yet to try, but that's the feeling I get. We actually have to do research to pick a new place to try out. For me, the key to enjoying a city long term is a sense of discovery and Melbourne seriously kicks Sydney's ass when it comes to cool little bars and restaurants waiting to be discovered. Just walking around a Melbourne neighborhood like Fitzroy or South Yarra I feel like the number and variety of restaurants could keep me busy for a long time. Win for Melbourne.
Transportation:
Sydney public transportation sucks. It is a car city…or rather would be if the parking situation was passable. The roads curve and wind and end unexpectedly and right turns are not allowed at half the intersections. A friend once said it's like someone dropped a pile of giant spaghetti on the city and then built roads using the noodles as a guideline. Melbourne, on the other hand, has a simple grid layout and a fantastic number of trams (not to mention buses and trains) to get around easily. And whether it's due to the ease of transportation or simple geography, Melbourne feels more compact -- it's simply easier to get around. Win for Melbourne.
Weather:
Sydney wins, though it's certainly not the year-round mecca I expected (see previous post). As I write this, Melbourne is a good 10 degrees (Fahrenheit) cooler and I've seen the sun for all of a few hours since I started working here. The gloom and cold do get depressing after a while. A YouTube video spoofs the weather in Melbourne: Jacket on, jacket off, jacket on, jacket off -- all in one day. When the weather is beautiful, you'll be hard pressed to find a better place than Sydney. Win for Sydney.
Shopping:
As a dude, I don't really shop -- I go on missions. However, being engaged to a woman who loves to shop, I can appreciate the things that make shopping good. Melbourne wins here. It's not just the variety of stores, because Sydney also has a huge variety, it's also the density. While Sydney has shopping districts such as Paddington, Melbourne packs much more in, and in a smaller area. This applies to many of the Melbourne suburbs I've seen as well as the center of the city. In fact, I told a coworker that if I didn't already know Sydney had the bigger population, I'd assume Melbourne is the bigger city -- it just has that density of shops, restaurants, and bars. Win for Melbourne.
And that's all she wrote.
*Unfortunately, Fitness First gyms play the same crappy Euro-trash pop in both cities**
**Europe's economy has been getting all the attention lately, but seriously, the real crisis is all the shitty pop music they produce
August 21, 04:17 AM
A while back Sharon pounced on a Daily Deal advertising a day of wine tasting in the Southern Highlands, an area of rolling hills brimming with small wineries about two hours south of Sydney. So a couple weeks ago, along with two friends, Tess and Scott, we availed ourselves of the trip.
We got up early on a rainy, chilly Saturday morning and took a cab to Central Station, the pick-up spot. A jitney bus with a seating configuration like a small airplane -- three seats across broken up by an aisle, with two seats on one side of the aisle and a single line of seats on the other -- pulled up; this was our ride for the day. We made our way to the back of the bus, tried to interpret the trip overview provided by our driver of some mysterious European heritage, and then zoomed off.
Despite the gloom, once we got well out of Sydney we were treated to beautiful countryside. After a couple hours of driving we pulled off the highway and onto a two lane road, stopping in a small town for a tea break. Then we piled back into the bus and drove a few minutes longer before turning onto a narrow road, bouncing along to the first winery. The cellar door was too small for the group of about thirty, so we headed to the warehouse for the wine tasting. The owner provided a thorough tasting of his wines; we must have tried about ten whites and reds.
Australia has various wine regions all over the country. The most famous is the Barossa Valley which began producing wines in the 1850s. The Southern Highlands, by contrast, is one of the more recent areas to develop a wine scene, with the first vintners starting out in the 1980s. This particular winery, Tertini Wines, had only been around for about ten years. The area gets particularly cold winters and they had lost two full years to bad frosts; wine is not a business you get into to make your fortune.
Tess and Scott picked up a couple bottles, then we headed into a nearby town, Bowral, for the lunch included in the tour. I'll only say that the lunch was lasagna, and I use that term loosely, and that I wandered off to go find something else to eat.
We made our way to the second winery, called Joadja Vineyards, which happened to be the first winery in the region. The cellar door was a small cottage with stone floors and an Australian collie laying by a fire: it was the experience you'd expect from a distinguished winery. We tasted a few good wines, Tess and Scott added a few more bottles to their stock, and then we got back on the bus.
We made our way to the second winery, called Joadja Vineyards, which happened to be the first winery in the region. The cellar door was a small cottage with stone floors and an Australian collie laying by a fire: it was the experience you'd expect from a distinguished winery. We tasted a few good wines, Tess and Scott added a few more bottles to their stock, and then we got back on the bus.
Our next stop was a "cheese tasting". This was actually just a country store that sold cheese and happened to have a couple plates with various cheeses by the door. I hadn't been successful finding a superior food option after I walked out on lunch, so I was ready for a snack. I picked up a big loaf of bread, some English cheddar, and some blue cheese. After everyone in the group had completed their purchases, we got back on the bus and chowed down on bread and cheese while we drove to the final winery.
After 45 minutes of zooming over picturesque hills I could tell the GPS wasn't working properly. By now it was 4:30pm, everyone was pretty worn out, and it was getting dark. I was thinking we should just can the last stop. The driver, who must have anticipated these thoughts going around his passengers' minds, piped up over the intercom, saying he was back on track and this last winery was really worth visiting.
We eventually pulled into a private drive and chugged up a hill to a small house. We were ushered into a separate lodge-style room off to the side. A collection of kangaroos peered at us from farther up the hill. The owners, a couple in their 70s, had inherited the vineyard when they bought the property to retire on after spending their lives in England and South Africa.
We eventually pulled into a private drive and chugged up a hill to a small house. We were ushered into a separate lodge-style room off to the side. A collection of kangaroos peered at us from farther up the hill. The owners, a couple in their 70s, had inherited the vineyard when they bought the property to retire on after spending their lives in England and South Africa.
The house and lodge had commanding views of the surrounding hills -- it wasn't a bad place to sit and relax and enjoy retirement. They decided to name the winery after the street they lived on, Howard's Lane. The old couple was so charming that I decided, even before sampling the wine, that I would buy some, just to support them. It turned out that they had several very good wines, so my decision turned out to be a good one. After the tasting we got back in the bus one final time for the long drive back to Sydney.
August 05, 07:49 PM
On Tuesday morning we arrived back from our two week whirlwind tour of America. Like many holidays it was not a relaxing one. Because this was our first joint trip back since moving to Australia in November we had many stops to make.
First stop: Los Angeles
We had the pleasure of spending our 4th of July weekend with friends and family in LA. We spent a night in Costa Mesa with Adam's sister Sarah, brother-in-law Tim and brand new niece lil' Taylor. Then we headed to LA to stay with some great friends and celebrate America's Independence Day! We even got a special visit from Adam's brother Andrew who will be leaving in October for his second tour of Afghanistan.
| Tim, Sarah, Taylor, Me, Adam in Costa Mesa |
| Friends for dinner and drinks at Pink Taco, LA |
| Amazeballs on July 4th! |
Second stop: The Burgh (also known as Pittsburgh)
We flew to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for a quick 3 night stay to see Adam's family. We had a lovely time seeing his parents, his brother, his uncle, 2 aunts, 2 grandmas and a great aunt. Phew!
Third stop: Penn State
After our stay in The Burgh we took a bus to Penn State for our amazing friends' wedding. We got to see so many people and had a wonderful time. It was my first time at Penn State since I am originally from Florida and it was nice getting the tour. Congratulations to Renae and Travis Kochel!!!
| Us with the beautiful Bride and Groom |
| Chris Stewart/ The James Bond of Beer |
| The Bride and Groom |
Fourth stop: NYC!
After the wedding, on Sunday, we hitched a ride with our friend and headed to NYC! We went straight to our dear friends Luke and Mandy place where we crashed for the next 3 nights. First night there we had a lovely dinner at Mama Mexico with both my parents, Adam's mother, and Luke and Mandy. After dinner, we went and had some drinks at a cute wine spot along Riverside Park. The next couple days included shopping, dinner in Long Island with my family, more shopping, Happy Hour party at The Cooper Square Hotel with our amazing friends and then an early flight out next morning. I LOVE YOU NYC!
| Dinner with Family in Long Island |
| Drinks with friends at Cooper Square Hotel |
| Dinner with friends in East Village |
Our 4 nights and 5 days in Tampa went by fast. My mom picked us up at the airport Wednesday morning and then the madness began. Without even going home first, she drove us to our wedding venue to have our food tasting and meet with the florist. Then we were off to our first cake tasting. The next few days included looking at wedding invitations, another cake tasting, a gown fitting, lots of shopping, and an amazing co-ed shower hosted by my mother's amazing friends. About 50 people came and that included my sister and her boyfriend who flew down from Chi-Town and two of my bridesmaids: Megan Lathinghouse with her boyfriend and Heather Wiseman with her future husband-to-be. It was such a great time in Florida. Turns out we got a lot done and all thanks to my mother who so generously schlepped us around the whole time. Thank you Mom!
| With friends at our wedding shower. |
| My Mom and Shower Hostesses |
Now we're back in Sydney where it has basically poured every day all day! I just hope it doesn't rain this weekend because we are headed to Hunter Valley for some wine tasting.
July 02, 04:28 PM
Last year we arrived in Australia in November, the month of Movember, if you remember. Well, looks like the Aussies have done it again. Dedicate a whole month to something, that is.
Here in Australia, July is referred to as “Dry July.” This is because during the month of July people commit not to drink alcohol for the entire month in order to raise money for people living with cancer. It was started back in 2008 with just over 1,000 participants and now in 2011 it attracts over 9,500 participants and has raised almost $3.5 million. Dry July is not only about not drinking alcohol, its about clearing your head and making a difference. Get healthy, challenge yourself, encourage positive change and a healthy attitude to alcohol consumption.
This initiative was a surprising discovery in a country that drinks heavily. One of our friends said to us shortly after moving to Australia, "Remember how much you drank junior year of college? The best part of Australia is you'll drink that much the rest of your life."
My co-worker, among many, has signed up and already begun raising money for a good cause. After the work weeks we have been having I can only wish her the best of luck. You can see her profile here.
As I sit here on the airplane flying to L.A., we have decided not to participate this year since we are taking our first trip back to The United States together since moving here last November. We have lots of celebrating to do and thought maybe we could do dry August but it doesn’t have the same ring to it.
I love the idea of a whole country coming together with something fun to raise money for a charity. Is this something we could introduce back home? Anyone interested?
Here in Australia, July is referred to as “Dry July.” This is because during the month of July people commit not to drink alcohol for the entire month in order to raise money for people living with cancer. It was started back in 2008 with just over 1,000 participants and now in 2011 it attracts over 9,500 participants and has raised almost $3.5 million. Dry July is not only about not drinking alcohol, its about clearing your head and making a difference. Get healthy, challenge yourself, encourage positive change and a healthy attitude to alcohol consumption.
This initiative was a surprising discovery in a country that drinks heavily. One of our friends said to us shortly after moving to Australia, "Remember how much you drank junior year of college? The best part of Australia is you'll drink that much the rest of your life."
My co-worker, among many, has signed up and already begun raising money for a good cause. After the work weeks we have been having I can only wish her the best of luck. You can see her profile here.
As I sit here on the airplane flying to L.A., we have decided not to participate this year since we are taking our first trip back to The United States together since moving here last November. We have lots of celebrating to do and thought maybe we could do dry August but it doesn’t have the same ring to it.
I love the idea of a whole country coming together with something fun to raise money for a charity. Is this something we could introduce back home? Anyone interested?
June 12, 07:03 PM
Today is a public holiday here in Australia and therefore, I do not have to go to work! We are honoring The Queen's birthday. Truthfully, I had no idea which Queen's birthday we were celebrating. My first thought was the Queen of England since we are apart of commonwealth. However, I was a little confused since my sister and brother-in-law, who live in London, aren't getting work off.
A little investigating, I call Google, and sure enough I find out that we are indeed celebrating the current monarch Queen Elizabeth II birthday. Her real birthday is April 21st but if every year we celebrated it on that day then many times it would coincide with Easter, which would mean one less day off... and we can't have that now can we?
So, in honor of The Queen's day of birth and not having to work.... Happy Birthday!
June 11, 03:30 AM
Balmain is one of Sydney's oldest working suburbs slightly west of the central business district (CBD). However, now it is a colorful and artistic suburb, home to some of Australia’s best-known writers, actors, film directors, musicians and artists. The main street of Darling is lined with stylish cafés, pubs, restaurants and shops. Just walking down the main street you can feel the energy and life of the cosmopolitan crowd.
Today we hopped on the train and bus to hit up a cute cafe for food and check out the weekly Saturday Balmain Markets.
I was hoping for brunch but by the time we sat to eat at 1pm I was already craving lunch. We hit up a fairly busy cafe called Fundamental which served surprisingly large sized meals. 'Merica style!
| Green Tea |
| Tuna Melt on Turkish Bread |
| Baked eggs in tomato with feta and chorizo |
After lunch we headed down to the markets which had lots of cute booths each filled with handmade and vintage style things. I was in need of a gift for a few people back home and happen to find the perfect gift here. Sorry, but I wont be able to share what I bought just yet.
On our way back up the main street we passed by Adriano Zumbo Patissier, which had a long line out the door. Probably something worth checking out but we (and I mean Adam) weren't interested in waiting in line.
So... instead we popped into the Cupcake Factory for a quick afternoon snack which was right around the corner. P.S. these were really soft, squishy cupcakes. Totally work my $3.
Overall, a great suburb worth checking out if you are in town or live here. I would love to go back and check out the night life.
June 06, 07:32 AM
5 years ago, while still living in New York City, my parents came to town for a visit my sister and me. Our plan was to wander around the fabulous city and see all that it had to offer. As we were walking through Washington Square Park we heard an amazing brass band playing, The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble. We joined the already existing crowd to hear the sweet jams. Instantly my older sister and I were hooked and agreed to go halvsies on a CD right there on the spot.
As it turns out that same summer, before Adam and I were even together, he too wandered through that same park and stumbled across HBE. Moved by the music just as I was he chose to buy one of their CDs as well.
Now here we are present day living in Sydney and what do I find on the Sydney Opera House website? None other than the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble playing on my birthday weekend. We instantly bought tickets!
Best show! So much energy from the band and from the audience. It was a great night followed by a beautiful birthday Sunday filled with brunch and a massage compliments of Adam.
Thank you to Adam for making my birthday far from home, far from family and friends so special!
June 04, 12:43 AM
Two of the coolest friends we have made since arriving to Australia recently got engaged. Due to the drama that usually follows planning a wedding, they opted out of that and plan on eloping. They had recently decided to do this in Vanuatu, a group of tropical islands near Fiji.
That being said, they decided to throw an engagement party before they ran off and got hitched. We were excited to hear that we were invited to this fun affair and quickly RSVP'd YES! We were instructed to arrive at 5:00 sharp as dinner would be served at 5:30. Adam and I thought that seemed early but thought nothing else of it.
So this past weekend we got all dressed up and headed to the historic district of The Rocks to a great restaurant called The Italian Village. Elma & Max, the soon-to-be-runaway bride and groom, rented out the whole top floor. It was beautiful! They stood at the entrance and greeted all their friends and family as they arrived.
| Max & Elma |
All of a sudden, two double doors in the back opened, some music started pumping, and out came Elma in a full-on gown!!! SURPRISE WE'RE GETTING MARRIED, Max said.
| Bride and Groom |
We also had the most amazing view of the Sydney Opera House from the room and turns out the wedding coincided with Vivid Sydney Festival of Lights, not to mistaken for the Jewish festival of lights. Max joked that he arranged this little show as part of the wedding celebration.
The Vivid festival is a two week event in Sydney's CBD, where light shows are project onto the Opera House and other buildings all night long. It might sound lame but it's pretty cool. On top of that there is a fire show -- not to be confused with fireworks, they literally just blast fire into the air -- on the hour every hour from 7pm-midnight
What a great night with great people! Congrats again to the wonderful newly wed couple Max & Elma!
May 27, 11:09 PM
...Weather-wise, at least. As I write this, I'm huddled up on the sofa in sweat pants and sweat shirt, draped in a blanket, with a space heater pointing directly at me. It's not yet winter and already getting out of bed in the morning and exposing myself to the cold air is a daily psychological struggle.
In Sydney the night temperatures drop to the 40s (Fahrenheit). Even the nights at Ayers Rock, a monolith sprouting from scrub in the middle of the continent where the sun regularly cooks the air to 100 degrees during summer, have crept down into the 30s.
Now, I know what all my brethren in the northeastern United States are saying: Oh, that's nothing, it drops below freezing here and we get dumped on by blizzards. Duly noted, but you also have indoor heating. That's right -- most housing in Sydney has neither air conditioning nor heating. This would be explicable if cold nights and chilly days were rare, but they're not. Fall and its lower temperatures came in late March and we won't get much relief until September or October. Space heaters do a brisk business.
On my walk to the bus stop in the morning I often see wetsuit-clad surfers, carrying their boards, on their way down to the water. Crazy, I think to myself. They all swear the water is warmer than the air, which it probably is, but I just don't have the willpower to throw myself from a dry cold environment into a watery not-quite-as-cold one. I'm happy to wait for summer to roll around again before jumping in the ocean.
The only solution is to reverse the migration direction of America's snow birds, the legions of mostly retired citizens who decamp to Florida during winter. In Australia's case, you'd have to drive some 1,500 miles north to Cairns or thereabouts, where temperatures are a balmy 80.
Perhaps this wouldn't be so unpleasant if it wasn't so unexpected. Before moving from New York, I got rid of my winter coat. I was going to Australia, you don't need coats there! Obviously I didn't do much homework, but I'm going to put some blame on the Australian tourism office. The A$180 million "So Where the Bloody Hell are You" tourism campaign from a few years ago -- which turned out, on analysis, to have decreased tourism from some countries -- prominently featured blue skies, stunning beaches, turquoise waters, kangaroos, and hot chicks in bikinis. In other words, they suggested this was paradise. It's pretty damn good, I'll grant, but paradise isn't cold six months a year.
| "At home in front of a space heater." |
The one benefit of the colder weather is that Sharon and I don't feel obligated to spend every sunny day by the water, soaking up the beach culture. Instead, we're exploring more of Sydney's neighborhoods, scoping out new restaurants, bars, and shops (including the coolest butcher shop I've ever seen, Victor Churchill). Still, I'll be spending three weeks out of the next eight in the U.S., where it will be summer. I'm pretty pumped.
Profile
Brand Manager at International Fashion Group
Apparel & Fashion | Sydney Area, Australia, AU
Summary
With 8 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
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...
