I guess the key question you are all asking: will I still be able to entertain you now that I am working?! Will all of the craziness come to a halt? No, don't you worry,after all I am still in Australia and as I am finding after completing my first week of work, these Aussies party both in and outside the office.Case-in-point: Two main perks of my job, endless supply of Vegemite & booze. "Beerthirty" begins well, usually somewhere around 5:30pm at your desk when someone makes a run to our free bar upstairs and brings down bottles of wine and beer, but if its Friday, beerthirty is a bit closer to say, 1pm!
Also, another added perk: the bar upstairs on Fridays is catered by their client: KFC! Sure makes you feel at home when the Colonel arrives every Friday promptly at 5:30pm!The work is very similar to what I was doing at home, and the people are great. I have a new nickname dubbed by the studio guys, "Shieldsy" though I am finding it sad that I cant even say my own nickname--it doesnt sounds as good with my American accent. But I am doing my best to educate our office on all things American, while they are doing their best to teach me some cool Aussie things, namely as of late, they are trying to instill in me that no one (except me) in Australia uses the word "super" I am trying to work on that one, but it comes so easily!Hope I have a "super" second week....
I can't imagine what would be better than cruising around Sydney Harbour in the middle of winter with my bikini on and a beer in my hand?! It's a rough life I lead. Saturday morning I met up with my Aussie mate Grant and some of his friends (his buddy just married an American so the bridal party was still in town) to hit the Sydney Harbour in his boat and just relax and cruise around the bay. We spent a good chunk of the morning just cruising around seeing the Opera House, Bridge and the city from some amazing water views, then for lunch we hit the Sydney Fish Markets (you can basically just park your boat and venture inside) Inside you can get raw fresh sushi, huge shrimp, oysters, and pretty much any other fresh seafood you can imagine and of course where there is fresh there is fried, so fish and chips and fried calamari abounded as well. We all ducked in, got a veriety of food and shared on the boat ...AMAZING... Some of the biggest freshest oysters I have ever had and most amazing peel and eat shrimp, all washed down with another good Aussie beer.
After a bit more cruising we docked and cleaned the boat, then Grant and I decided that it was a must to hit the Footy as there are only a few games left for the season. The stadium is in the old Olympic dome where the Sydney Olympics were held, and the match was Sydney Swans (super masculine name) vs. the Geelong Cats (I am thinking for such a manly sport they should really work on the naming) The game semi resembles soccer, football, and maybe water polo all combined. It was a super close game which I watched intently, and only partially because of the super short shorts.
After the game we hit the pub in the Olympic park to comisterate with the other Sydney fans over our loss. From Boats to Footy in one day... Fantastic!
So, I have taken up painting. I have always wanted to do it and being that I have plenty of free time in the land down under, I decided that now was the right time to start. Plus if it turned out terrible I could trash it here, and no one in America would know any better. But really who knows, I could get good at this....?
So what did I need? A canvas, paints, paintbrushes, and an easel. After purchasing my small supplies I returned home. Where would I find an easel that I could afford, or at least cheap enough that I didn't feel bad leaving it in OZ? After much searching and thinking, I came up with a brilliant plan. I would use the ladder that has been in our living room for the last few days. Genius, yes. Slightly white trash, very.
The sad thing is that the ladder itself was not the most white trash part of this scenario. The trailer park part was that I couldn't figure out how to get the canvas to stay on the new easel. I needed something to tie it to the ladder, but with what? I had no string, no yarn, no pull- ties... but I did have a plastic bag. So I rolled that up and used it to tie my canvas to the ladder.
Oh yes, my white trash easel was now complete and I could begin. I didnt know exactly what I was going to paint, I had the colors I wanted to use and an idea, but as the painting progressed what I had in mind slowly evolved. I am calling it "Outback" (very original) but it does have hints of dessert and sand with a red sky. Take a look and maybe you'll see something different.
Good Morning Sydney! City to Surf runs from Sydney city (Hyde Park) to Bondi Beach (Home!) and is 14km long, or as you know it at home 8.7 miles. It is longer than Bay to Breakers, but much calmer! I only saw 6 racers drinking! It is far more serious, but still good fun! From rock and roll bands playing on the rooftops to a brass band playing in the bus shed, it was a a great way to see and hear Sydney. And don't worry the drinking comes after, and lasts late into the night! I walked with my new flatmate Viola (from Germany) and our old flatmate (who is traveling to South America for a few months) Karen. We had a great time watching the people and getting to see Sydney from the streets. And as you can tell from the video above, there were quite a few people walking and running with us, about 100,000 to be exact!After 3 hours and 8.7 miles of walking, we treated ourselves to sausages outside the North Bondi Surf Club. Although it was a delicious "snag" the best part was that there were two young gentlemen (one wihtout a shirt) whos sole job it was to put sauces on your sausage. HA! So I played the, "oh I am here from California can I take my picture with you?!" And they obliged. I am thinking that this would do very well in the states!
The rest of the afternoon involved beer, and lots of Aussie pub fun! Great day in Sydney.
Although there weren't very many costumes, the winners were hands down the "City to Smurfs!"
Dreaming of a White Christmas?! Well, sort of.
I went in search of "Yulefest" which is Australia's celebration of all things Christmas in winter (their July and August). Because their Christmases are anything but white, (its usually 100 degrees out when the holiday rolls around) they like to celebrate when its cold--enter Christmas in July.
The Blue Mountains are known for far more than just Yulefest, although admittedly that is what I was most excited about. Blue Mountains are probably best known for well, the "Blue Mountains", a range of mountains covered in slightly blue eucalyptus trees, and the Three Sisters at Echo Point. These "sisters" are three stone peaks (about 900 meters high each) and are thought to have been turned to stone by their witch-doctor father to protect them from an evil beast! And Katoomba (the city where the peaks are), previously a mining town, is also a Guinness World Record holder for the steepest railway at 52 degrees (doesn't sound like much but when you are 415 meters up in a rail car you would think otherwise).
Before we could hunt for our traditional Yulefest lunch, we went to see the Sisters and took the ever so steep ride down the canyon on the railway and gratefully came back up in a monorail overlooking the Mountains and the Sisters. Excited from all the site-seeing, I was eager to find my traditional Christmas lunch (pretty much what you think it would be: turkey with cranberry, roasted veggies, and some sort of bread pudding type dessert!)
But after finding out that the traditional menu is only served for dinner at all the restaurants I was a bit bah-hum-bug about this whole Christmas in July thing. Luckily, I was easily momentarily distracted by a pub lunch of Guinness Beef Pie! Then just when I thought I had lost all of my holiday spirit, Alex surprised me with ice skating! How festive! Although we were shown up by an 8-year-old with pink skates, we still gave that rink the best 10 minutes of our day.I left Katoomba happy that I got to experience so much but also with the knowledge that I will return in search of my traditional Yulefest dinner....Bah-Hum-Bug!
"Alight Here for Beautiful Balls Head" How can you look at a sign like that without giggling?!
Every day on the train I have passed this sign at Waverton Station, and although intrigued on my previous trip, I never ventured to the illusive Balls Head. This time I just had to see what Balls Head really was. Apparently Balls Head is actually named after a man, Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball, Commander of the ship 'Supply' in the First Fleet of 1788. Balls Head was the original foreshore land included in the large Wollstonecraft Estate, which remained largely undeveloped at the beginning of the 20th century. It is now a reserve which contains many Aboriginal sites including archaeological deposits, art sites and rock engravings. (I saw none of these).
The Aboriginal name for Balls Head is "Yerroulbine,"definitely not as fun as Balls Head, but had to let you know for the sake of my historical documentation in this blog.The reserve is now a lookout over looking the Harbour Bridge, pretty but definitely not as spectacular as the name itself. But none-the-less, please enjoy the view of Beautiful Balls Head.
I guess the key question you are all asking: will I still be able to entertain you now that I am working?! Will all of the craziness come to a halt? No, don't you worry,after all I am still in Australia and as I am finding after completing my first week of work, these Aussies party both in and outside the office.
