Great sculpture installation on the coastal walk by our house right now.  It attracts so many people from all over the city that we had to wait until a weekday evening before we dared to go down there.  Pretty cool stuff…

before and after shot from smh.com.au.  More photos here.

Mars… apocalypse… Armageddon… those were just a few of the words people used to describe the scene experienced in Sydney on Wednesday.

I woke up at 6:00 AM, just after sunrise, and squinted through my sleepy eyes and saw nothing but orange.  Dark orange.  I’ve been lucky enough to witness a few spectacular sunrises since living in Sydney so i was ready to chalk this up as just an especially good one.  I rubbed my eyes.  No… this is really orange.  And i can’t even see across the street. Maybe the Santa Ana winds turned their sights Sydney?

Turns out a combination of strong nor’westerlies and dry riverbeds in the outback created a perfect storm of events that blew a maelstrom of red dust over the eastern seaboard, from Brisbane down to Sydney, and even as far as New Zealand.  Being the stubborn chap that i am, i ran to work anyway, sucking dust and fighting 80km wind gusts the whole way.  News reports said this was a once in a lifetime scenario, but everyone else seemed way more prepared than i – with most commuters wearing dust masks, scarves over their faces, and ski goggles.

Check out this YouTube video form Broken Hill, a small town in the outback which is apparently near the source of this storm (you can see why).

Despite being (or wanting to be) a modern and cosmopolitan city, it’s times like this that i’m reminded that Sydney is still an Australian city, and it only takes a strong wind to blow the Outback right back into town.

We have just completed our first week in our new apartment, new neighborhood, and what feels like a new chapter for us here in Sydney. We now live by the beach in the eastern suburb of Bronte (pronounced “Bron-tee”).  The neighborhood has a “village” vibe in that the locals are active supporters of the cafes, neighborhood schools, shops and beach that make up the little community.  We are a 5 minute walk down to the water, and we are only a bus ride, walk, or run (as Galen does to and from work most days) into the heart of Sydney.

Our new apartment feels like a significant upgrade from our old place. The space is a bit larger and this place has loads more character. Best features are the amazing amount of light we get here, the view, the kitchen and the garden. Just off of our back deck is a raised bed garden with just the essentials- herbs, cucumbers, tomatoes, salad greens and a papaya tree!

There are aspects about our old, more urban neighborhood that we miss, like the proximity to the botanical gardens and downtown, our favorite coffee and gelato spots… but our new place takes the cake.  Waking up to the ocean view and a fresh breeze blowing in the window is hard to beat. We are ready for summer.

Check out pics of our new place.

We spent a wonderful two week in Michigan enjoying the long days of summer with family.  Click on the photo to see more.

Carol, Olivia and Parker arrived in Sydney on June 27 for a three week holiday. The moment I told Carol that Galen and I were headed to Sydney for 18-24 months, she confirmed they would make the trek to visit us. No small feat to organize all that goes into international travel for 3, but Carol made it happen without a hitch.

To the question many of our Sydney friends asked, “Where is your family staying white they are here?”, the answer was, “With us..”, to which we received mostly eyes widening and and rapid blinking (translate: “5 people in your small one bedroom apartment?! What..?“). Really people, no problem.

Our time together is best sectioned into three parts: Sydney, The Great Barrier Reef, and the Blue Mountains, with an auxillary 2 days in Jervis Bay (turns out his trip rounded out the authentic “Aussie experience” for Carol, more on that later).

Sydney

Great mix of of checking off the highlights with room for those everyday life activities which become much exciting with our little gang. For example, all 5 of us went for hair cuts. Not all on the same day, and of course not all at the same place. To say Galen and Parker’s experience was a stark contrast to us gals is a massive understatement. The guys were in and out of their barber shop in less than 30 minutes total, without having to utter a single discernible word (everything is done in grunts) and only $35 lighter. The female experience was, well, let’s just leave it at different. We also celebrated a 30th birthday, saw Harry Potter at the 3-D IMAX, cooked some good meals together, and made a few indulgent stops at our local favorite coffee shop and gellatoria.  Some of the more traditional “must see” sights checked off of the list were:

• Bondi Beach and the coastal walk to Clovelly
• Botanical gardens (a favorite)
• Manly Beach (Galen and Parker swam, Brr!, and their first fish ‘n chips)
• Walk across the Harbor Bridge
• Opera House (Carol and I attended a symphony production, front row seats)
• Taronga Zoo (can’t hold the koalas, but you can get very close to them!)
• Sydney Aquarium
• Australian Museum and Gallery of NSW

The Great Barrier Reef

Galen took care of that post. It was amazing.

Jervis Bay

“The kangaroo jumped into our car.” Carol and I practiced our statement as we made our way to return the rental car. That was the truth. Not 5 minutes into Carol’s madain voyage driving on the left side of the road, the kagaroo charged right into the side of our car. And it was the nice Aussie folks who were passing us when it happend who chuckled and told us that now we have had an authentic “Aussie experience.” Not the one we were hoping for, but we’ll take it. Thank God for excess reduction.

The run in with the ‘roo was the most unique action in Jervis Bay, but the whale watching, hiking/trail running, and beach combing was fun too.

Blue Mountains

Unfortunately Galen and I were stuck with work, but Carol, Liv and Park didn’t miss a beat as they hopped a train to the Blue Mountains for 3 days. The report back was two thumbs up. They checked things off the perverbial “list” there too; daily hikes, the Three Sisters, toured the Jenolan Caves, 1000 stairs climb (Park has the shirt to prove it). They cased the little town of Katoomba and unearthed the best hostel to stay in (flat screen TVs and backpackers don’t usually go together…), a local bee keeper/opal jewller to patron, and the tastiest bakery (after tasting the ginger pear cake Carol brought back, I agree wholheartedly). Liv and Park’s hiking endurance was impressive; they were motivated! Couldn’t miss the twinkle in Carol’s eye as she proposed destinations for the next family trip…Pacific Northwest, the Rockies…endless possibilities here, gang.

No pics of their Blue Mountain trip, but you can get an idea of the terain here.

More than once during the trip Liv turned to me and said, “I just can’t believe we are here with you in Australia!” My thoughts exactly. This family makes it happen. Great family, great trip. Here are all of our pics.

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.

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.

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.

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…

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…