Great Barrier Reef

Photos from our trip to Port Douglas and the Great Barrier Reef here.

Happy to say the Great Barrier Reef lived up to its standing as one of the natural wonders of the world.  We spent 6 days/5 nights in Port Douglas with Kristin’s family visiting from Michigan (Carol, Parker and Olivia).  Port Douglas is the easy-going resort town north of Cairns (major hub where we flew in) that serves as a launching point for many reef cruises.  The trip was great for two main reasons: 1) Snorkeling on the reef was outstanding and 2) the trip as a whole was relaxing, warm, tropical and felt like a true vacation.

First #2.  We scored a fantastic self-contained apartment right on the beach.  The 3 BR house, part of a balinese-themed compound of 8 other units, featured a fully stocked kitchen and a beautiful outdoor veranda with a BBQ so we could relax and cook all our own meals.  We also got lucky and arrived the same weekend that a monthly fishing boat shows up to unload fresh prawns, bugs (kind of like lobster) and scallops by the kilo.  We stocked up on enough for the whole week and BBQ’d to our hearts content every night.  Yum.  The house was right on the aptly named Four Mile Beach (facing east), and all the adults made it a point to watch the sunrise every morning (and I was happy to get a soft surface to run on every day).

At 18 degrees latitude, the climate in winter was ideal (sunny and mid-high 70’s) and made for a very relaxing tropical vacation.  We ate fresh coconuts that fell from the trees lining the beach.  Yes, tropical indeed.

On to the reef.  Several companies run daily boat trips out to the Reef – about 70 kms (1.5 hours) off the coast to get to the outer reef.  We chose a company that had a newer boat (faster and more stable) and made stops at three different reefs for snorkeling and diving.  At each of the three stops everyone puts on their gear, jumps into the warm water, and gets treated to a fantastic display of marine life.  Carol had a go at diving while the rest of us enjoyed the theatrics from the surface with our snorkels.  It was truly amazing.  We saw electric-blue starfish the size of a frisbee, giant clams the size of a large stuitcase, and honestly too many colorful fish to keep track of.  It was brilliant to see hundreds of fish swimming together in schools and changing directions simultaneously as if it was choreographed. But a favorite of everyone was the probably the reef shark, with it’s unmistakable profile that grabs your attention no matter how safe anyone tells you it is.  We all loved the experience so much we signed up to go back for the same trip 2 days later.

No pictures to tell the underwater story, unfortunately, but google great barrier reef snorkeling and you’re sure to come up with some good ones.

Luminous Sydney

There is a great festival going on in Sydney right now called Luminous Sydney. According the website, it’s “a festival of music, ideas, light and performance.”  The most obvious and dramatic aspect of the festival is the Lighting of the Sails. Each night from 5:30 to late -  both sides of the Opera House shells (or sails as they are sometimes called) are illuminated with colorful projections of light.  It’s pretty cool.  When i run home from work each night (yeah, i’ve been reduced to a run-commuter now), i run through Circular Quay (main ferry terminal adjacent to opera house) and around the Botanical Gardens with great views of the Opera House the whole time.  It’s really fun to see a different color pattern projected each night.

This weekend we joined our friends Jen and Michael to go to one of the shows of the Festival – Reggie Watts from Seattle.  I knew nothing of Reggie Watts before sitting down for the show… and he blew me away.  He is a one-man show creatively weaving together music, spoken word, and stand up improvisation.  He uses a little electronic mixer to record his own voice in real time to form multiple layers of a song – i.e bass and percussion – and then sings/raps over the top of it.  Really creative stuff.

Here are a few pics of the Lighting of the Sails and the Reggie Watts show.  Some of the pics were taken with our new camera.  I’ve had my eye on this one since December, but no camera shop in Australia could keep it in stock long enough to buy it.  I finally tracked one down and nabbed it – Panasonic LX3 with a brilliant Leica lense.  It rocks.

Melbourne

The rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne dates back to the foundation of Australia. Though historically the debate was more around the settlement of the the capital city, nowadays the argument seems to mainly come down to culture, weather, and sport. Melbourne is characterized as a city more fashion-forward, full of character, and a dominant cafe culture, hence it is often described as “more European”. Sydney on the other hand is a little more showy and boisterous – it is home to the famous Harbor Bridge, the Opera House, and the many beaches. The dominant culture is surf culture (but with big city long work hours…go figure).

Having lived in Sydney for around 7 months, we have begun to develop a good sense of this city and it’s unique character. So, we took advantage of some cheap airfare and spent a weekend getting our first taste of Melbourne. We stayed with our friends Kate and Craig, who were the best type of hosts. They seamlessly integrated us into their weekend, an active, yet relaxing way to experience a local’s weekend in Melbourne.

We arrived on Saturday in time to pick up Kate and meet Craig down in the CBD for lunch. Our first experience with the laneways! These charming little pedestrian walkways are full of little boutiques and cafes. We ducked into a local chocolate shop for dessert following a tasty lunch at Hell’s Kitchen, followed up by coffee on the river.

That evening we went out for dinner to a great restaurant called Veggie Bar in the Fitzroy, a neighborhood with an independent vibe that reminded us a lot of Chicago’s Wickerpark/Bucktown.

After breakfast the next morning we headed out to the Dandenong Ranges National Park, just 30km east of Melbourne. We spent the first half of the day on the trails (Galen and Kate took off, and Craig was sweet enough to go a bit slower with me) and finished up the afternoon grabbing lunch and poking around the little towns in the area. That evening Kate and Craig invited some friends over and we had a bbq and played a lively, men vs women, game of Taboo. I probably don’t need to tell you who won, you can probably guess.

Well, it is confirmed, we loved Melbourne. I’ll refrain to adding any more foder to the Sydney vs Melbourne debate, but it is sufice to say I will be looking for any excuse to return – ASAP.

Nelson Bay

This past weekend Kristin and I met friends Kate and Craig in Nelson Bay.  Kate and Craig are friends from Melbourne who I originally met in Boulder during one of Kate’s marathon training stints a few years back.  (She is an Olympic marathoner and often visits Boulder for high altitude training stints).  We finally found an opportunity to meet up in Nelson’s Bay (about 3 hours north of Sydney), where she and Craig had already planned a weekend getaway.

We spent a wonderful weekend cooking together, going for trail runs in the hills, reading magazines, and walking on the beach.  The apartment we rented  had a BBQ and  beautiful views overlooking the bay so we were quite happy just relaxing in the apartment and taking a break from the city.  I BBQ’d my first whole fish bought from the local fish monger on the docks, and Kate made us our first pavlova – an Australian dessert comprised of a crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside meringue with fresh fruit topping.  It was an excellent weekend with good friends.

A couple “snaps” from the weekend here…

Room with a view

I’m still using the hand-me-down point n shoot camera my dad gave me (after my dslr camera got stolen with my car and my  point n shoot camera broke).  Despite its limitations, it has been invaluable in documenting some of our experiences here.  We love sitting out on our balcony in the evenings and watching the colors of the sky change behind the city and harbor.  Our favorite part is when the bats rise out of the botanical gardens (just after the sun goes down) and thousands of them swoop by our balcony on their way to their feeding grounds in Centennial Park.  Some of them are so close we could almost touch them.  The camera lense isn’t big enough to capture the bats during such low light conditions, so you’ll just have to imagine it in the photo above… it’s alsmost like a scene out of Batman.  Here’s a link to a YouTube video that gives you some indication…

South Coast Road Trip

Easter is a big holiday in Australia.  Kids get a week or two off school and everyone else gets a 4 day weekend (and hot cross buns take over cafes menues for the preceding month).  The 4-day weekend is important, because no other holiday here receives such a designation (they obviously don’t celebrate Independence Day or Thanksgiving).  We took advantage by renting a campervan and driving down the south coast, stopping and camping at little beaches along the way.  Our favorites were Congo Point, which had a 4 mile long beach perfect for barefoot running and a shallow break great for body surfing.  And Pebble Beach, with wildlife that you couldn’t make up in the movies: kangaroos and giant goanna lizards mingling on the bluffs, colorful parrots swooping from tree to tree, and at one point, we looked up from our beach chairs to see 15-20 dolphins within 50 meters from the beach.  It was one of those experiences that knocks you over the head and reminds you you’re not in Kansas anymore.

After 4 days on the coast we turned inland and drove into the mountains of Kosciuszko National Park.  While their “mountain” classification would be a stretch by Colorado standards, they nevertheless offered cool autumn air and beautiful scenery.  Also notable is that Mt Kosciuszko is the tallest in Australia, and therefore one of the seven summits of the world (tallest mountains on each continent).   So of course i had to run up and tag the summit while Kristin went for a nice run/hike lower on the mountain. A campfire that night provided a wonderful ending to our first road trip in Australia.

A few photos here.

Earth Hour

Normally things like Earth Hour sort of annoy me… it feels like a hype that people get excited about, participate in, pat themselves on the back for saving the world, then an hour later it’s over and everything goes back to normal.  But somehow this Earth Hour felt legitimate, or at least intriguing.  Maybe because it started here (in 2007) and subsequently has garnered an enormous amount of media attention with landmarks all around the world participating (Golden Gate Bridge, London Eye, Sears Tower, Eiffel Tower, Opera House, etc).

So we got some takeout, a glass of wine, and sat out on our balcony until 8:30 PM rolled around, at which time we switched off our balcony christmas tree lights and watched as the city went dark.  It was pretty cool.  The Opera House and Harbor Bridge, normally aglow in the night sky, eerily went dark, and the entire skyline slowly went a few notched dimmer.

The funny part is, the next day the entire city lost power when a substation blew out (yes, the entire city), and that was like 10 times darker than earth hour the night before.  Oh well… baby steps.

normal sydney sky

sydney sky during earth hour 2009

The Pool

I admire good recreational swimmers; I mean those who go to the pool not just to swim, but to “swim laps”. They are fluid and have a way of looking powerful without looking uncomfortable. No grunting, no contorted, beat-red, sweaty, miserable looking faces. Not these folks, they look as cool as cucumbers propelling their bodies as they stretch and pull their arms rhythmically through the water, periodically pivoting their heads to replenish their lungs. It is mesmerizing to watch.

Like many neighborhoods throughout Sydney, we have a public pool less than a 10-minute walk from our place. This is an 8 lane, 50 meter, salt water, lap pool overlooking Woolloomooloo Bay. Aside from the lively kiddie section, the pool is an amazingly quite place in the middle of city. With the Botanical Gardens to one side, harbor on the other, and open air above, there isn’t even the sound of traffic to contend with.

This pool also houses a small yoga studio where the classes are good, but the view is inspiring. There is also a small outdoor café that serves good brunch and a decent cappuccino (It’s no Toby’s… but it’s not bad). But again, it is the fantastic location that makes it such a desirable to place to have a post swim juice or coffee and browse the paper on a Sunday morning.

So although we mostly hang in the outer lanes (aka where the grannies and folks with broken arms inch along) our neighborhood pool inspires us to keep coming back and join in the fun of swimming laps.

Byron Bay

Every country has a few iconic places that manage to encapsulate the true essence of the country, or at least a slice of its people,  culture, or  attitude.  These are the places you refer to when saying “you haven’t been to X country until you’ve been to Y”.  (For example, I would say you haven’t truly been to the US until you’ve been to New York or Chicago, the deep south, southwest Utah and at least 2 or 3 national parks. Obviously totally subjective, but you get the idea.)

Well, we went to one of those places in Australia this weekend that we felt truly embodied the country we are living in… a little slice of australiana, if you will.  Byron Bay.  It’s a 1:20 flight north of Sydney on the east coast (hooray for $49 internet fare sales!) and is known as a surf haven.  At 28 degrees latitude it has a climate similar to say, south Florida, so the nights are balmy and the ocean is warm.  It’s a small town and the vibe is decidedly chill.  Lots of beat up old vans with surf boards, fish n chips shops, outdoor bars, and the dress de rigueur is board shorts, sunglasses and flip flops.. Super casual, friendly people, slow pace… it was great

The highlight was taking a surf lesson with a guy named Marco (i wonder if any surfers go by their real name?).  Happy to say we both got up a dozen or so times in our 2 hour lesson and are craving more. Let’s hear it for slow waves and long boards.

I think what we are starting to understand is that even though Sydney represents 1/5th of Australia’s population, it’s not necessarily a proportionate representation of the culture or attitude  (it feels rushed and fast paced here in Sydney, a bit of a rat race at times.)

So it was nice to experience a more easy-going, fun-loving slice of this country… with many more yet to come.

Tasmania

The South Coast Track

We happily received our first family visitor this month!  My dad, Buzz, flew in from Boulder on January 30 for a 3 week visit to Australia.  After a week of trundling around Sydney, he and I left for an adventure together in Tasmania.  It had been eight years since he and I joined up on a trip like this (we traveled to Patagonia and Peru together in 2001-02), and it was good to be on an overseas trip together again.