From Spit to Manly

May 28th

From high up in the hills

Epic 3 hour walk from Spit to Manly today. We started at Spit Bridge, a 40 minute bus ride from where I live in Newtown.

View from Spit Bridge

The three hour walk took us all along the harbour, from expensive houses overlooking the harbour, to cliffs. It was a hilly walk. After 3 hours of walking I was more than done with walking. Arriving at the wharf an accomplished lot, we took the scenic ferry back to the center of the city.

Keep it level!


Jono

Canberra: Australia's 'Bush' Capital

May 22nd

Me inside the Australian War Memorial

Woke up extremely early for the 3 hour drive to Canberra (pronounced in Australian like Can- bra), the capital of Australia. Many people, including a friend from Canberra, have discouraged me from going to the city. Canberra only has a small spread out population of about 340,000 compared to Sydney's 4.5 million. It's known as the bush capital because it is surrounded by bushland, and wildlife can wander into the city from time to time.

View of Canberra from Mount Ainslie

Canberra started as a city in the early 1900s as a result of a long held dispute between Sydney and Melbourne, both of whom wanted to be the capital. As a compromise, Canberra was planned in the center between the two much larger cities, with Sydney to the north and Melbourne to the south. It's no big city like Sydney or Melbourne, but it is definitely a must see in Australia, especially since it's the governmental center of Australia.

Parliament House, the center of Australian government

The arduous journey brought us to Mount Ainslie, where I had my first true glance of Canberra's Central Business District. The monuments were wonderfully sprawling out before me. The Australian War memorial was closest, and just behind it was the Old Parliament building and the New Parliament building. To the right I could see the mint, where Australian Dollars are printed, and the Captain Cook Memorial Jet, which spewed water meters into the air.

Captain Cook Memorial Jet

Following the descent from the mountain, we drove by all the foreign embassies. Each had buildings that resembled their country's culture. China's was stereotypically Chinese , and the American one looked sort of like a brick prison, which I guess somehow represents America.

The flag mast on top of the Parliament House

Past the embassies was the Parliament House, built right into a hill. The building was an elaborate modern show of the wealthy nation of Australia. It took almost six times the concrete as the Sydney Opera House to build and cost $1.1 billion Australian dollars!

The hall and the 2nd largest tapestry in the entire world

Inside Parliament we were greeted by a large granite foyer, followed by a great hall. This hall held the 2nd largest tapestry in the entire world, based on a painting by Arthur Boyd. The Senate and House of Representatives were further along from the great hall. The House of Representatives is covered in green just as the lower house in England, but with a lighter Eucalyptus coloured green to represent Australia.

House of Representatives

The Senate room was red like the upper house in England and featured a seat for the queen to sit in or for her Australian representative.

The seat in the back is where the Queen or her representative sits on special occasions

Government in Australia operates much like the British system. The citizens vote for parties and then the winning majority party picks the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister serves as long as his party wants him or until his party loses the majority. In Australia, voting is compulsory; any citizen who does not vote, even if abroad, faces a hefty fine.

The Australian Seal featuring the Kangaroo and Emu,
both of which are only in Australia and do not go backwards,
The 7 pointed star represents the 6 states and the Northern Territory

We went from Parliament to the National Museum of Australia. It had an entire history of the continent of Australia, starting with the oldest civilisation in the world, the aboriginals. It ended near the present day and included a really cool film that brought you through thousands of years of Australian history in ten minutes while enclosed within a moving room.

Preserved body of the now extinct Tasmanian Tiger

The Museum itself was whimsically designed and featured a tongue like object that pointed towards Parliament and then towards Uluru, representing the unity of Australian and aboriginal society.

The tongue

On the drive from the Museum to our final destination, the Australian War Memorial, we stopped to take a photo of the Captain Cook Memorial Jet, which shoots water 147 meters in the air (482 feet).

The sun sets on the Australian War Memorial

The Australian War Memorial is regarded as one of the most significant memorials dedicated to soldiers in the entire world. The architecture is beyond breathtaking, influenced by Byzantine architecture, and Art Deco. It serves mainly to honour fallen soldiers. The battle of Gallipoli marks the first major ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) participated battle. For this reason, ANZAC day is celebrated every April 25th and is a majory memorial holiday in Oz.

Australians are obsessed with large things;
I wouldn't be surprised if this was the largest sheep in the world

Now back to the city!

Jono

Ice Bar Sydney

May 18th

Going to the Ice Bar near Circular Quay today. An ice bar is a bar that is made entirely out of ice, right down to the chairs and cups. The ice bar were going to used to be a part of the Minus 5 chain, but is now under new management, and operates at -16 degrees Celsius or 3 degrees Fahrenheit.

We got to the bar and, since it was rainy, the lady seemed shocked anyone had even come. Little did she know that I'm from New England. The price to get in was 20 Australian dollars, discounted from 30 because of renovations. It included one drink. cocktails in Australia are usually around 10-14 Australian dollars (about 9-13 dollars American depending on the day), because alcohol is heavily taxed, so 20 was not bad.

The actual bar itself was rather small, but it was filled with some really elaborate ice sculptures. The bartender was really friendly, and the Eskimo gear we borrowed was nice and warm. We had fun, but after 30 minutes we had enough. I'd certainly recommend going with a big group. It will never become a regular place to go, but it is a fun one-time novelty adventure.

Maureen, Sandra, Rose, and me

Cheers!


Jono

Sydney Opera House: An Australian Hero and Some Laughs

May 15th

Jessica Watson, the youngest person to have ever sailed around the world nonstop and unassisted

Today, I saw Jessica Watson arrive at the Sydney Opera House. Jessica, as of today, is the youngest person to have ever sailed around the world unassisted, and nonstop. She is 16 years old until Tuesday.

The crowd in front of the Sydney Opera House for Jessica Watson

The crowd at the Sydney Opera House, some thousands strong, waited from 11 am, when Jessica was supposed to arrive. We got there at around 1:30, because we stumbled upon it while walking through to the Royal Botanic Gardens.

The flotilla arrives

Jessica was only half an hour from shore. At this point hundreds of boats were alongside her to welcome her home. This slowed down the arrival of Jessica's bright pink boat a bit, but it was an impressive fleet.

Jessica's boat

Once on dry land, Jessica wobbled a bit, as it had been 7 months for her at sea. She walked down a pink carpet, as a new Australian hero. Kevin Rudd, the prime minister of Australia, was there to greet her. He called her a national hero. Issues of the amount of training she did (only 6000 nautical miles) aside, Jessica is an inspiration for girls everywhere. She showed, by her journey, that it is worthwhile to pursue your dreams.

After witnessing history (no big deal), we went to see a show at the Opera house (no big deal). The show was stand up with Janeane Garofalo, and Greg Behrendt. Janeane was briefly on Saturday Night Live, and Greg is most famous as the co-writer of the book He's Just Not That Into You. Both comedians were really funny, but it was obvious they were just off the boat. They both pronounced Melbourne like it looked instead of Mel-ben, and Greg had just discovered Tim Tams, the best biscuits ever.

The best quote from the show was "Young people with their faces and their hope". I also liked a very true comment made by Jane that went something like: "I'm glad no one realises Australia is here, because there is literally almost nothing wrong with this country. Better make sure no one finds out about you guys or they'll come and mess things up."

Cheers!


Jono


Video links
Jessica Watson Arrives at the Opera House
Kevin Rudd Speaks to Jessica

Jenolan Caves

May 9th

In front of the Three Sisters

Off to go spelunking in the Jenolan Caves, 175 kilometres west of Sydney. The Jenolan Caves are the oldest discovered open caves in the world. Some areas of the caves are over 400 million years old!

Valley in the Blue Mountains

The Jenolan Caves take about 3 hours to get to and are situated in the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains are actually sand stone plateaus and beautiful ones at that. They are named such for the bluish haze that often covers the valleys.

Three sisters rock formation

Our first stop was an overlook over the world famous Three Sisters. The Three Sisters are a rock formation cut out of soft sandstone. An aboriginal legend tells a tale of three sisters, Meehni, Womlah, and Gunnedoo, who were in love with three men from a rival tribe. A battle ensued over this, and the sisters' father turned them into stone to protect them. He died in battle and never got to turn them back, or at least that's my interpretation of the story.

Can't build a developed country without logging...but these ones get replanted at least

A dangerously steep hour of winding single-lane roads later, and we were at the Jenolan Caves. The entrance required our bus to squeeze through two rock outcroppings. Once through, we parked and waited to start our tour.

The humongous cave our bus drove through

The caves run about 40 kilometres deep, and new caves are still being discovered to this very day. There are about 10 caves for tourists to explore. We went into one called Chifley.

Duck, Zach, duck!

Chifley's entrance was very small, as were many other parts of it. I had to duck down several times so as not to bang my head. It was also significantly cooler in the cave to the point where a jacket was a good idea.

Purty limestone

I can't imagine exploring these caves like they did back in the day using only flashlights. It's a sight to behold all these limestone formations and all the other 300-400 million year old formations. Oh, the artist that is nature.

This formation looks like a dragon..and to think this was all done naturally!

Back in the sunlight, we ate lunch then headed towards Govett's Leap, where the highest elevated waterfall is in the Blue Mountains. Not bad of a lookout if I do say so myself.

Waterfall at Govett's Leap

Lookout to Grose Valley
We also ran into a bunch of kangaroos in the wild, including a baby joey in a mother's pouch. I've probably seen over twenty kangaroos in the wild (never mind the zoo) since I've gotten here. Yet, they are still majestic creatures to see each time.

Now back to the city I go!

Jono

A Walkabout Sydney

May 8th

There are no ancient ruins near Sydney's skyline, so they made them

Set out for the Australian Museum today, which I knew was near Hyde Park. Unfortunately, I didn't know where exactly, so me and my friend Dora had to walkabout a bit.

War Memorial

We ended up at an ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, for recap) memorial. It was an elaborate monument complete with a reflective pool up front. Inside the actual monument there are 120,000 stars, one for each troop that Australia sent into battle during World War I.

Fallen soldier inside the monument

After walking out of the ANZAC memorial, we found our way to the Australian Museum.

Aboriginal dance hat

The first exhibit we entered was a massive exhibit on indigenous Australians. Aboriginal facts are hard to follow, because there are hundreds of tribes, and each mythology is different. It is wonderful to see efforts to preserve the mythology of many tribes. Many are in danger of being lost from human history.

Praying for dinosaurs to come back to life

The next exhibit we went through was called 'Surviving Australia'. It had a really fun portion that let you interact with deadly animals. After getting (visually) bitten by each animal you were told what to do for first aid. The animals included: sharks, crocodiles, snakes, and the Sydney Funnel Spider.

Rex

The last important exhibit we entered was the dinosaur one. This one had real dinosaur bones. I can't believe how behemoth these creatures were!

Venomous Sydney Funnel Spider cage

We ended up walking around a lot after this, as it was rather nice out. In the course of our walking, we went through the Royal Botanic Gardens, to Circular Quay, and into the customs house near Circular Quay, which had a replica of Sydney that you could stand above!

Sydney replica in the customs house

Back in the Royal Botanic Gardens, we discovered some really pretty sites. A garden pyramid was on one side of the park, and fake ruins were in another area. We ended up revisiting the Art Gallery of New South Wales (free) before heading towards Martin Place.

Pyramid

Martin Place is where several scenes from The Matrix were filmed. It is most recognisable in the famous fountain scene.

Matrix Fountain Scene
I was just standing in front of that fountain...not that many people were wearing suits

Tomorrow the Blue Mountains and Jenolan Caves!


Jono

Statue outside of St. Mary's with Sydney Tower in the backdrop

P.S. In the course of meandering we also walked into St. Mary's. Photos are not allowed inside, but it had high archways , and reminded me of much older churches in Europe. It is still in use as a church, and there were several weddings going on today! We saw a bride and groom taking photos outside.

Hunter Valley Wine Region

May 1st

Vineyards outside Draytons in Hunter Valley

Day trip to the gorgeous Hunter Valley, where many people are wed each year. Hunter Valley is the oldest wine producing region in Australia. It has a rather small production compared to other wine regions but only produces finer wines. It is located two hours north of Sydney. In some ways it reminds me of Austria or Vermont (warmer of course and with vineyards) with valleys and hills as far as the eye can see. It's how I'd imagine what Italy might look in the countryside.

Draytons Wine cellar

Our first winery was Draytons, a family owned winery that makes a small production of fine wines. This was my first wine tasting ever. We sat in a wine cellar that looked almost like it could be in someone's home and tried six of their wines.

Trying Tickled, a very light wine that almost tasted like juice

They were mostly sweeter wines, which is good because I just started getting a bit into wines, and those seem easier to acquire a taste for.

Scenery (and bird) outside Draytons

After Draytons we ate lunch then went to Bluetongue Brewery, an Australian brewer. We tried a paddle of different beers and got to choose our favourite one at the end. We received a middy of this flavour, which is a beer size in New South Wales that is slightly smaller than a schooner, the normal size you get at bars. It reminded me of Vermont again, being very similar to Harpoon Brewery.

Me and Andrew with our beer paddles

Our 2nd winery following the brewery was McGuigan, which won international winemaker of the year, and Australian producer of the year recently. I found a really palatable bottle of red wine from here that was only 15 dollars. I'm going to try to bring it home to have for dinner with the family.

One of my favourite things in the world...FOOD!

The cheese maker we went to next door to McGuigan was a small operation. It reminded me of a less processed version of Cabot Cheese. The cheese was so delectable! It was hard to hear about all the cheese samples in front of us while chomping on crackers and cheese.

Outside Golden Oaks

Our final winery was Golden Oaks, where we changed things up by sampling liqueurs instead of wines. The liqueurs included butterscotch, strawberry, and irish creme flavours. The final kicker was a chili schnapps that had an actual chili floating in it. I was the first to try it as everyone watched. Luckily, I'm used to spicy things, but most everyone else who went after me didn't look like they could handle it!

Behind Golden Oaks

What a wonderful day trip away from the hustle and bustle of Sydney! I couldn't have had a more classy day drinking wine and devouring cheese right at the source.

My findings in Australia: Dragons Breath chili schnapps from Golden Oaks, Noon Harvest red wine from McGuigan, Pioneer Tawn port from Draytons, and Villa Maria white wine from a bottleshop

Keep it level!


Jono