Forever in Art History: Spencer Tunick's "The Base"

A few months ago I braved the cold, and 5,000+ other naked Sydneysiders, to take part in a little bit of history in front of the Opera House.

Recently, the hard work and I am sure a lot of stiff review on Tunicks' part resulted in the final shot. The artwork that will officially be called "The Base"

Of all the shots we took: some facing forward, some kissing our neighbor, some embracing, some raising our hands to the sky, Tunick ultimately picked this shot. 5,000+ people laying down facing the sky on the steps of the Sydney Opera House.

To many it will just be another amazing piece of art. To me it will be a memory that is always with me. A freeing experience, a little bit scary, but life changing.

Hats (and all other articles of clothing) off to you Spencer Tunick.

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/big-day-for-sydney-nudies-20100803-11403.html

Roller Derby: Whip it good!

Have you ever seen the movie Whip it? Its all about Roller Derby, and apparently that is what this was like? I haven't seen the movie but I am pretty sure it is awesome because well, Roller Derby is definitely that.

A group of friends and I went to the Horden Pavilion in Sydney to watch our home team the Sydney Assassins in all their fishnet glory in a Fiesta themed battle.

Oh yes, that's right the fiesta themed match even had a Mariachi band playing on the sidelines. How could you not?!

It took me a while to understand what was going on with the game, but once I figured it out, its easy to get into. And when the ladies on the team have names like: Bitchy N Scratchy, Dizzy Bordon, Trippy Longstockings, and Haterade, how can you resist cheering them on? Plus their half-time show involved an amazingly athletic pole dancer! As if I hadn't seen enough, Roller Derby had to top it all.

To finish the package, this is the first time in Australia that I have seen Budweiser for sale...Now if that's not a trashy combination I am not sure what is?!

And how else can you end a night of Fiesta Roller Derby than with Margaritas?! Game, Set, Match, or whatever Roller Derby phrase there is!

New Zealand: 5 Girls, 1 Car, lots of trouble!

I have been avoiding posting anything about New Zealand for two reasons. One, I have now been back at work over a month since my trip - and its painful to not be on vacation! And two, there is SO much to write about I was actually overwhelmed that I wouldnt be able to convey what I wanted. So decided that I probably never be able to do it justice and I might as well just try to put together some highlights for you.

I mean where do you start when everyday you are in a new city, seeing new things constantly, and having too much fun to recall?!

So like I said, here are some highlights....

The North Island: I loved our second day in Auckland at a cafe drinking wine and eating cheese, after a hike to see Mt Eden Crater. Napier where we sat in the sulphur baths, and applied sulphur mud masks. The baths were amazing, but I have never smelt such a foul smell in my life, not sure how people live here. Leaving there, we hit Hawkes Bay, known for its wine region for a few cheeky wine tastes before we made our way down to Wellington. Wellington was windy and fun, tons of cheese and wine, and beautiful walks. The night life was outrageous, and being a city on the water, made for spectacular views and lovely shoreline.

The ferry ride from Wellington to Picton brought us to the South Island, the 3 hour ride across to the South was one of the most specular views I have ever seen. One of our first stops was the Marlborough, New Zealands most famous wine regions, known especially for its sauvignon blanc - my favorite wine. This is also where one of my dreams came true, they let me drive the wine tractor. Probably one of the highlights of my trip if not my life!

On our way down to Queenstown we stopped at Franz Glacier, one of the most specactular glaciers in the world. We took a tour of it, and got to hike across this massive glacier - it was by far my favorite activity in New Zealand. It was absolutely breath-taking.

We finally made our way down to Queenstown, the adventure town. (My favorite city by far) where we did some ridiculous things, like jump off a canyon, saved from the ground only by a swing harness, and did an extreme River Jetboat, which scared the crap out of all of us! The town was flooded due to high volumes of rain and the river just flowed into the streets, but it didn't seem to slow anyone down! After two days in Queenstown we had to drive up to Christchurch where we flew out of.

I cant even describe our trip. Truly an amazing place. A must-see in your life.

Perth: The Wild, Wild, West of Australia

Perth. A city on the West Coast of Australia. Sits pleasantly on the Swan river, oh and it's also known for a little place called Margaret River. Oh yeah, that's right - WINE REGION: Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz, Merlot, Chenin Blanc and Verdehlo! Woot! (We made two days of it, tasting our way through wineries, and even one brewery. Ending our night with a bottle of wine at the Margaret River, a beautiful beach known for its surfing. Amazing.)

We stayed with some friends who recently moved out to Perth from Sydney and they were able to show us around a bit. First they took us to Fiori, basically the coffee mecca out in Perth. A small warehouse filled with freshly ground beans. Bag and bags of freshly packed grounds. What kind of coffee do you want? "How do I decide?" Just stick your head in this bucket of freshly roasted beans and take a whiff! Just being in the warehouse wakes you up, the smell is so intense you feel like your drinking a cup of coffee with every breathe. Amazing.

Next we got to see downtown Perth and the surrounding area. Beautiful views of the swan river from the city. The area around Perth is decidedly into its beer. In Fremantle we went to Mad Monk Brewery one day, and Little Creatures Brewery the next. For a girl who's decidedly more "wine" than "beer," even I was impressed.

And no trip to Fremantle is complete without a trip to the Subiaco, Australia's home of Aussie Rules Football, also home to the Freo Dockers. We rode up thinking it wouldnt be hard to get a last minute ticket, were we ever wrong - the stadium was beyond packed. We were able to get "restricked view" seats, with a pilar right in the middle of our view, but somehow leaning around the pilar to see the game seemed okay because the energy of the place was so amazing. And of course the Dockos won, great day to be at the Subi!

We took a ferry out to Rottnest Island, where we biked around the island for a day, saw Quokkas (an animal you can only see on Rottnest), saw the old military bases, and relaxed with a cocktail before we headed back into Perth.

To top off our 10 days in Perth - the Redbull Air Races. Pilots from around the world competing over Swan River through Red Bull's Air Race Track. We packed a picnic and hit the shore to watch some amazing practice rounds, all the excitement without the crowds, its great to be on vacation when other people are at work!

With my fill of wine, coffee and planes, I left Perth in preparation for a three day layover back in Sydney before I left for New Zealand!

Easter Weekend: Crescent Head Camping

Camping at Crescent Head: tents, the ocean, singing by the camp fire, Smores and oh yeah, fire twirling - of course.

Every year a group of friends (about 25 people) head out to Crescent Head for Easter weekend camping. It's about 5 hours outside of Sydney and sits inland only enough to barely hear the waves of the ocean crashing late at night.

Our site was set up right along the river that feeds into the ocean, so we had the calm all around us. The weekend was lazy (as any good camping weekend should be.) During the day we would hang around BBQing and drinking wine/beer, then head down to the ocean for a nice swim.

At night we would gather at the beach for a rousing game of Cricket, my first attempt!

There were a few firsts that I was happy to see: My first Kangaroo spotting while camping (they were drinking from the river right by our camp), my first game of beach Cricket, and oh yes... my personal favorite: my first leech. Thats right, I got bitten (or sucked) by a leech!! Right in between the toes! I wasnt the only one either a few of us, some got it worse than others from wearing sandles near the edge of the river - where apparently they like to hang out.

At night we would sit around the camp fire, chatting, singing to the guitar, watching a friend twirl some fire (see video) and finally, Smores! Though this may not seem all that exciting to Americans, Smores are something that have never been experienced in Australia. For one, there are no Graham Crackers and no Hersheys and two, marshmallows are not the same. So I took the remaining Smore rations I had brought back from home in Dec, and introduced the Australians to a good old fashion Smore!

Not shockingly, they were a big hit!

Spencer Tunick: The Base

Have you ever woken up at 3am and thought, "hmm.... I should take all my clothes off in front of 5,199 other people and stand here for the next 2 hours bare naked?" Yeah, I never had before either, but I guess there is a first time for everything....

March is Gay Pride Month in Sydney. They hold their annual Gay Mardi Gras Parade and the city becomes alive with energy. Because Mardi Gras is such a huge tourist attraction and revenue generator to the city, the Mardi Gras board was able to commission Spencer Tunick, famed photographer, to do one of his famous mass nude works. The piece would be called "The Base", and would take place in front of the Sydney Opera House. His works include, New York's Grand Central Station, Miami, Barcelona, yet, there have been very few times has he been able to get more than 4,000 people to get nude for his photos.

My flatmate asked me if I would do this with her, and I thought about it for a second, and decided yes, why not? So we woke up at 3am on a Monday morning, rode into the city by 4am, and got in line to enter the Opera House waiting area with about 5,000 other people.

At 6:30am, the sun was finally high enough to take the photos, we were told to take our clothes off and leave them in the bags provided. There was something crazy about this mass strip, we were surrounded by men, women, mothers & daughters, friends, partners - of all shapes and sizes baring it all for art. As were were part of the first group to strip we walked past all of the still clothed groups waiting their turn to take it all off. Surprisingly, as we climbed the Opera House steps, I wasn't embarrassed or self conscious (COLD as all heck - it was about 45 degrees out) but not worried. The other group clapped as we made our way up to the stairs, everyone was so supportive of everyone else- what an amazing feeling, and what energy!

After 2 hours of posing nude, we finally were given the word to get dressed. So I got dressed and went to work... no one the wiser!

What an amazing experience, I cant wait to see his final shot. As a thank you for participating, each of us will get a print of the work, a souvenir I will never forget.

Get your Bali On!

Indonesia. Temples, beaches, spices and Bintang.

Bali is a place not to be missed - I however, almost did just that.

A hot day in Bondi means one thing. People. And when there are a lot of people in Bondi there are no buses/cabs/donkeys/or carrier pigeons out of there. So after waiting 45 minutes for a bus out of Bondi and another hour on a bus to the airport, I arrived 10 minutes past the 1 hour check-in for my international flight. Long story short. They didn't let me on the flight (begging did not work with the woman at the counter- though believe me, I tried). But by some miracle, they decided to have just a bit of pity on me and book me on the next flight out (the next day) free of charge, which for JetStar is pretty much unheard of.

Needless to say, the next day I was 3 hours early to my flight and made it on without a hitch.

Bali was an amazing place, breakfasts on the beach in the morning, 3 dollar Bintang beers, $12 huge seafood dinners, beautiful temples, and amazing people.

My favorite part about Bali (besides the food!) were the temples. We visited two temples, a water temple as well as the Mother Temple: Besakih - which all Balinese people are required to pray at once a year.

Our trip was on motor bike - which was a pain in the ass - literally. Hills and winding roads, combined with dirt and intense heat made for a very uncomfortable ride. We had to take bum-breaks every 45 minutes just so that we could regain feeling. But despite the soar arses, it was the perfect way to see the Bali countryside. No roof meant you could see the high rice paddies, and look around at the constant movement of people putting out offerings and tending to their children and the myriad of animals.

The icing on the cake in Bali was definitely my birthday dinner in Jimbaran. Jimbaran is a fishing community where they have started putting restaurants along the beach. The sand is lined with rows and rows of tables overlooking the water. The fish is freshly caught and kept in tanks, ready for you to come and choose. There is no menu, and once you choose your fish, they cook it - you don't even decide how. And of course, you can get a fresh baby coconut, chopped open for drinking. Sunset, seafood and good friends was the perfect way to celebrate 26 in Bali.

Festival First Nights: Al Green Still Has "It"....

Festival First Nights at the Domain. What a great idea: Picnic. Drinks.Al Green. The Man. The Myth. The Legend. For his first ever trip to Australia.

And, in case you are wondering. He still has "It" whatever that is.








He may be 60 but he still jams like Smuckers(tm).

The Festival First Night is the kickoff to the Festival season in Sydney (January). Al Green headlined the First Night at the Domain, which sits just outside the Botanical Gardens. Oh, and did I mention, this was a FREE show. With blanket packed, Vodka, Wine, Beer, Cheese and Lindt truffles, we danced, sang and shimmied to Al.

How could you not love a guy who hires only his daughters as backup singers. Because, why else, he wants to keep the money in the family! The night was hot (and I mean hot like 85 for 10pm) and so was Al. Besides him whining a bit about not having enough time to play - he put on an amazing show to a sea of tipsy dancing Sydneysiders.

So Al, Lets stay together...

(tm) note: I cannot believe how many amazing sayings I am coming up with for this blog. I mean I thought "Schnitzeled" was good. But "Jams like Smuckers" - where do I get this stuff?!

p.s. you wont actually be able to see anything with this video I was too far back for the camera to capture it, but the audio is pretty good. You Go Al.

NYE 2010 Sydney Harbour!

20 hours of travel from SF to Melbourne to Sydney to Bondi. Please tell me it was worth it to make it back to Australia for New Years Eve!?!

Exhausted from my flights/layover/bus ride home I had only one hour to take a shower, get dressed and meet friends on the Sydney Harbour to enjoy an afternoon-evening on the boat and watch the fireworks over the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

After a few glasses of wine, some delicious Sydney prawns, pasta salad and of half a Twinkie (treats brought for the boat from the good old US of A!) I was feeling almost brand new (with the exception of a nap right around the 9pm mark, thankfully everyone woke me up before the fireworks!)

The fireworks were everything I was hoping for, absolutely stunning especially from the water. (In the video it is a bit shaky sorry! - I wasn't drunk, the boat was just rocking quite a bit!)

As I watched the fireworks I knew it was worth every hour of travel to get back to see it! But I slept exceptionally well that night!

Sunset Sessions: Fort Denison!

Although I have been living in Sydney 6 months, I am constantly being a tourist in my own city. Looking for any opportunity to do something crazy or different. And Fort Denison is a great example of this.

On the train ride home, I was reading the Newspaper about Sunset Sessions at Fort Denison: every Friday and Sunday until the rest of the summer, Fort Denison would hold Sunset Sessions where you could Water Taxi out to the Fort and sit around enjoying cocktails and food while watching the sunset over the Harbour and listening to a Jazz band play. How could I resist?!

So I got 3 of my girlfriends together, put our sundresses on and had a great time!

Fort Denison was used in the early days of settlement in Sydney as jail for the convict population. During the mid 19th century a Fort was built on the island to protect Sydney Harbour. There is so much history on the Fort, and the best part was that we got to walk around and read all about - with wine in hand!

Stockton: Tin City, Sand Dunes and Shipwrecks!

Miles (or Kilometers!) of Sand Dunes, as far as the eye can see...

The closest to what I imagine a dessert to look like with hills of sand but then all of the sudden beautiful beach (a mirage?! nope just ocean).

This place seemed like it would only exist in a movie. But instead it is real, Stockton is a great beach town with amazing sand dunes and much history. Some friends and I went out to the sand dunes to do a bit of 4-wheel driving as well as a bit of sun baking and swimming off Port Stephens.

But the added reason for the adventure was the Signa, an amazing shipwreck that is only accessible from the sand. The Signa was a 53,000 ton Norwegian coal ship that was beached during a major storm in 1974 and the wreck has become an icon and landmark for the local area. It has completely rusted over, but still has this majestic look.

The other amazing thing about the sand dunes is Tin City, a virtual city in the middle of the dunes of 10 or so tin houses.These tin houses were actually built during the great depression of the 1930s. During World War II the houses were torn down so the land could be used for an Army camp, but were again rebuilt after the war was over. Just in case it looks familiar.... Tin City was used for several scenes in the 1979 movie Mad Max. Being a child of the 80s I seem to have missed this gem, but apparently it is the claim to fame!

Such a cool place so neatly tucked away among the dunes.

Hunter Valley Day 1: The begining

I realized that I just have way too much to say about the Hunter this trip to keep it to one post.

So please get comfortable because you are going to be here for a while (I'm talking to all two if you who read this--hi mom!)

In all of my previous trips to the Hunter, I have for many reasons kept it to one day. This time because I had the luxury of the weekend, Alex and I decided to head up for a two day adventure.

Upon arriving in the Hunter we were hit with our first major dilemma: check into the hotel or hit Peterson House winery?--Thankfully not all problems in life are hard to solve and we quickly hit Peterson House for Oysters and sparking wines!

From Peterson House we made our way to the Hunter Valley Cheese Shop (a bit of food in the tummy), Tamburlaine (an organic winery), Tulloch, and Peterson's where we finally came to a halt at closing time-- around 5pm.

We figured we did as much damage as we could without missing our dinner later-on that night and because Alex was the driver, I had the job of making sure his glass was empty as well so I was a bit tuckered out by 5!

Upon checking into our Hotel (The Leisure Inn) the ladies at the front desk mentioned something about Christmas Lights. Now, being that we are just starting summer here and the day sat somewhere around 93 degrees. It was hard to think about Christmas even if it was Novemeber--but the idea of half a million Christmas Lights spanning the Hunter Valley Gardens did have us a bit intruiged.

So after a wonderful dinner, two martinis and more wine later... we deciede to WALK to the Gardens before it shut down for the night. Not knowing what to expect, we thought there may be a few strings of white lights over some shrubs and perhaps some Christmas carols to go along with it.

I have never been more wrong in my life (well maybe a few times, but for context in this story lets just say "never in my life")

There were thousands upons thousands of lights covering the entire Gardens, each area of the Garden having a different theme and music, from Storybook land, to Aussie land, each area's lights and displays worked in harmony to make a spectacular display. We even got to take our picture with Santa! There were even dolphins and a fishing Santa in the lake sitting just below the waterfall and a light-created Harbour Bridge! (see video)

It will be my first hot Christmas season here in Sydney and this was definitely a way to kick it off--wine all day, Christmas all night!

Hunter Valley Day 2: The Conclusion

After passing out at 10:00pm from a long day of arduous wine drinking. I was ready to get back in the saddle for day two!

After breakfast, we decided we should perhaps drive down to the information center and get a map! Novel idea one day later. After getting our map we headed to Pigs Peake. This had been a recommendation from a "mate" of Alex's and as it turned out, one of the wine makers there was actually someone we had run into the day before! It was meant to be. And to top it off, they had an amazing Zin! (Zinfandel is few and FAR between here in Australia, so it is very rare to find it, and when you do its even rarer to find a good one.) Our day was off to a good start!

After Pigs Peake, we headed to Binnorie cheese shop, to meet up with Alex's Dad and Stepmom, Lavinia. We did a bit of tasting then headed off to lunch at Amanda's on the Edge. More wine with our amazing lunch, and a quick look around the grounds on another 95 degree day!

We then headed just up the road to Windsons Edge in search of a wine we had a lunch. (A sparking Verdelho) Although they didnt have the one from lunch they did have an amazing Port, which when we arrived, they were just waxing (adding the wax over the cork)

Of course, I asked if I could give it a go, and she said yes! So I ended up getting to wax a few bottles of Port! (If you go, you can probably find the one I did, it isn't quite perfect...I think I need a bit more practice...) But Lavinia thought it would only be fitting for me to keep my first bottle, and got it for me as a gift! Once I had done a bit of wine bottling, we ended our trek with Sandalyn in Lovedale, where we were able to find the Sparkling Verdelho from lunch and a couple of amazing olive oils to boot!

Leaving the Hunter after two days of wine and food was rough, but I know I am going to sleep very well tonight with a sparking Rose and a Port tucked nicely under each arm.

Melbourne Cup, a day of races!

Melbourne Cup is unlike any other Horse Race. Kentucky Derby has nothing on it. When the horse race is on, the nation stops. Our agency along with the rest of Australia stopped work and started partying around 1pm, 2 hours before the big race. In Melbourne, the Cup is a recognized holiday; all establishments close down for the day in anticipation of the race and ensuing party.

I made the mistake of trying to go to the post office this morning before work, only to be turned away by a sign that read, "Closed for Melbourne Cup."

At 1pm, our agency stopped all work and had a BBQ in our upstairs bar, along with endless rows of Champagne, shots, and liquor. A bit after 1pm, the CEO who had just gotten back to the office from the client meeting, exclaimed, "I just get back to the office, and there are still shots on the table, what kind of agency is this?!" Shortly before throwing the neatly packaged shots into the crowd. Although the horse race itself is all of 5 minutes long, the party lasts all day and into the night. A good excuse to end work early and enjoy a day of fun.

The weather outside today was well into the 90s, making it a perfect day to be on the roof top of Ogilvy enjoying the sun and fun.

I had never experienced anything like this, and was so glad to be in Australia for the big race! An experience unlike any other.

An Aussie Halloween: A little bit of America

Halloween is not very popular in Australia. Too American for most people's tastes. Which when you get to know Aussie culture, this fact is quite a crack-up. Australians are very happy to have "fancy dress" parties for pretty much any other occasion, like a Wednesday for instance, however, when it comes to Halloween most cant be bothered. Because of this, I was only hours away from sitting at home in costume, sulking. Lucky for me, I invited myself to a fancy dress (costume) Halloween party and my costume got to see the outside of my apartment after all.

As many of the people at the party had never dressed up for Halloween, there were a lot of dark and bloody costumes, a few devils, and of course witches (pretty much the stereo type of Halloween attire) and then me.... the maid. The people at the party embraced the holiday and I almost forgot I was in Australia.

The funniest part of the night though, had to be when the mayor of the suburb we were in, showed up with his wife, and 7 month old daughter (all not in costume). After offering to hold the sleeping baby, I proceeded to try to have a normal conversation with him about everything from work to America. Only later realizing how ridiculous I must have looked standing there talking politics all while dressed as a french maid. I am sure he took me seriously!

But when all was said in done, I had a fantastic Aussie Halloween and was very lucky to be among some Australian's willing to give Halloween a go!

Night Noodle Markets!

As good as it sounds.

During the month of October Sydney holds it's fine foods festival, otherwise known as Crave Festival-- where almost every night/weekend there is some amazing food event happening. From Breakfast (Brekkie)on the bridge to special menus at restaurants, to fiestas and beer festivals.

This week and last have been focused on the Night Noodle Markets in Hyde Park (right in the main business district in Sydney) from 6-9:30pm the park is filled with food booths focused on Asia/Pacific cuisine along with matching entertainment and decor. Hundreds of tables sat below strings of "fairy lights" (white Christmas lights) and strings of red and multi-colored lanterns.

The group I went with decided the best way to attack the noodle markets was everyone go to a different booth and order 2 or 3 things and we would reconvene and share at our table (along with a few Aussie beers of course) So from calamari to garlic prawns, pad thai, chicken satay, red and yellow curries, dim sum, and turkish gozleme, we touched several parts of the world through our stomachs.

After dinner we walked through the park where listened to a guitarist play everything from Metallica to flamanco-style music as we walked through the open air art exhibition--where local photographs were displayed amongst the trees on huge canvases.

From the food to the art, I cant think of a better Tuesday night in Sydney.

Labour (yup with a 'u') Day Weekend: Hawkesbury River

Although I missed out on Labor Day weekend at home, I more than made up for it with Australia's Labour day weekend! (yup the Aussies spell it with a 'u')

I was invited to go houseboating on the Hawkesbury River, which is about an hour and a half north-west of Sydney city. The theme would be Woodstock anniversary, 10 girls, and lots of food and booze. Nothing better than hot weather and houseboating with a group of girlfriends, right?....Enter RAIN...and LOTS OF IT! The weekend forecast was decidedly a wet one.

We decided not to let a little rain get in the way of a great weekend. And because of the crappy weather most of the houseboats sat unrented, which allowed us to upgrade for quite a cheap fee! Now with our new huge boat we set sail along the river. Although it was storming, we spent a lot of time dancing outside on the deck doing what anyone else would do, rain dances. Days were lazy and filled with celebrity mags, girl talk, boy talk, board games, booze, bbq, and lots of dancing and laughing. Nights were filled with pretty much the same, lots of beer, wine and pre-teen girl games (hilarious to play now)

Our final day, the rain dances seemed to pay off and we had a beautiful sunny day, we bbq'd--finished the rest of the wine, and ate our lunch together on the top deck of our boat in the hot spring sun. Couldn't have asked for a better finish to the trip.

Toronga Zoo! And a Baby Elephant too!

Toronga Zoo!

Honestly, I didn't think I could be so excited to go to a Zoo, but guess what? I was. Toronga Zoo is one of Ogilvy's clients so being an employee we get free passes to go to the Zoo, and I was more than happy to use them. Just a short ferry ride out of Sydney Harbour, I was on a whole other plant. At moments, you can almost forget that you are in Sydney esp when you see all of the amazing animals, then you look up and see the Sydney skyline just above the Giraffes enclosure.

We started the day with the Giraffe's (my favorites!) where we got to listen to the trainer talk about the animals as they fed on carrots and eucalyptus leaves (see video) then we watched the Seal Show (awesome) then moved on to the Gorilla feeding, then to the baby elephant, the Bird Show, and then the sky-tram overlooking Sydney and the whole zoo. Go zoo big or go home.

The baby elephant was pretty special however, as it is actually Australia's first elephant born in captivity. His name is Puk Chai, which after looking up the meaning was quite dissapointed in the name... it means quite litterally 'Son'. Horrah Toronga for your baby elephant, but p.s. your naming conventions suck.

Festival of the Winds: Lets go fly a kite

Festival of the winds, hehe.

You can't tell me that you didn't laugh a little when you saw the title?!

Festival of the winds is not what every 10 year old thinks it is, it is a festival of kites as it is the most windy season here in Sydney. And by windy I don't mean cold, it was 30 degrees on Sat and Sunday this weekend, which is about 86 Fahrenheit or so. Not bad for the beginning of spring!

After heading down to Bondi beach, just a short walk down the road at an early 10am (it was already hot, so I had to get my sun-baking on early!) I was sad to see that the kites were not as plentiful as I had imagined (again like a 10 year old, when they say kite festival I immediately think A MILLION kites will be there) but luckily as the day progressed more and more kites came out.

The theme of the festival was "International" besides the hundreds of kites being flown (some professional some civilian) they had an international kite exhibit displaying kites from around the world, plus entertainment which included some folk dancing, Bolivian story telling dancers, and so much more. Plus, my personal favorite food stalls from around the world! yum!

After a day out in the sun, I spent the evening at Icebergs drinking and dancing. There was a great cover-band, and a 40 birthday going on, so it was my crowd! Lots of drunk crazy people, I even met my first Aussie celeb there, Dave Faulkner from the the Aussie Band Hoodoo Gurus, an 80's rock band! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kk3_FsqH3w (Please note, he no longer has the long flowing hair, it was short and balding...ahh would have loved to have met him 20 years ago!) so funny!

After the festival of the winds, I was quite winded, but well worth it!

Tea Party, Aussie Style...without Tea.

This was the first time I had been invited to a tea party since Kindergarten. Back then the tea was freshly steeped air, and cookies molded plastic that I may or may not have put in my mouth regardless of taste--just for effect. This time around, things were much different. Amen.

50's housewives was the attire, but besides jello there was nothing 50s about it. Ladies afternoon get-together filled with cakes, cheese, candies, brownies, tarts, and lots and lots of booze. I am starting to think that these Aussies have it all right.

I was invited to this little get-together by a co-worker who decided it would be fun to get some girls together for an afternoon of gab, snacking, and of course some libation. The setting was Rebbecca's backyard which was decorated with sweets, and doilies strung across the yard. The perfect setting for a tea party. After the wine, mojitos, sangria, and jello shots the chat flowed almost as easy as the drinks!

A perfect way to spend my Saturday afternoon on one of the first days of spring!