Live from down under part deux

ahhhh, life down under. its so calm, relaxing, far away....

 

the biggest challenge thus far has been how to call home and trying to do my real job whilst 12268 miles away. The days have been ok. not too long. its interesting to wake up, get my 150 emails from the previous work day in Canada, answer them (its great to do a whole days work in an hour), run a mile... (no really... every day. I've lost 6lbs this week) I've seen some neat stuff, (the sydney opera house, Harbour bridge), taken a ferry as a regular commute, continued to enjoy the simple pleasure of a flat white (coffee) and generally found that Manly Australia is a place i can feel very content. (yet again reinforcing the fact that at some molecular level I seem to just feel better near a beach).

 

but you didn't come here for the blathering, you cam for the stunning high quality photography skills. (And you also came for my famous wit.... I nicknamed my traveling partner an arboreal philosopher, the "tree whisperer"... its a long story)

 

stay tuned for the surf report (lots of water in my nose), stories of McDonalds (and crack heads), and more fabulouse pictures of down under....

 

peace and love!

-c

 

the following pix can all be downloaded from here: (click here to download)

 

onto the pix:

The sydney opera house, one of the most iconic buildings in the world. I take the ferry twice a day and also walk past it on the way into sydney. Here are a variety of pictures from the day ferry, night ferry, a special (and hidden) viewing platform above it, and the main walkway to it:

 

Another (slightly less) iconic view here is the sydney bridge. Its VERY big (VERY).  from the BOTTOM of the bridge to the water is 125 meters.  The high top most arch is actually a visitors walkway. Its uh... a little expensive though (about $170 USD) to experience it, but it looks pretty thrilling. I think i'll wait until a real vacation with my wife before I shell out that ridiculous sum of money just to excercise.

Onto the bridge pix, day time ferry, night time from the wharf, underneath, from "the rocks" (a neighborhood nearby)... etc.

 

 

 

The Sydney skyline:

 

Some various pictures from our small amounts of downtime.

 

 

(its not a police station anymore.... its a mall)

 

Thin guy in a little hat (that's mark, one of my traveling companions)

 

We are in Manly beach. A bedroom (and backpacker) community between the massive pacific and the prestigious and affluent sydney harbor. The main pedestrian street between the wharf in the harbor and the head of the beach is called the corso. Lots of restaurants, shops etc and lots of really interesting public spaces including these cool glowing benches.

 

I have been surfing (ok body boarding) this week and finally broke down to buy a wet suit (first new one I've ever owned...) I look dead sexy eh? (I ATE THE BABY!)

 

(and I'm NOT sucking it in)

 

We went to an Australian Rules Football game. Its a wacky game I have been watching for years and years. (its perfect insomniac's fodder - obscure, late night, hard to understand, funny, brutal etc etc) Interestingly it was formalized and organized into the AFL prior to the popularization of American football.... are you ready for this: 150 years ago. (thats right 1858). The field (and the ball) are a very large strange oblong shape. you can soccer kick or punt the ball to your teammates, handball it (kind of a volleyball punch) or run but you have to occasionally (ok rarely) bounce the ball. so its a combination of rugby, soccer, football, basketball and volleyball. we were there to support the royal and ancient sydney swans (they're 8th on the ladder whatever the hell that means)

 

the field is HUGE!  (its 225 meters by 240 meters DOUBLE the length of an american football field in EACH direction) This is the Syndey Cricket Grounds:

complete with the bill o'reily memorial stand.

GO SWANS!! (we lost like 75 to 39 which i gather is quite the drubbing)

We had fish and chips (crikey, it was good!)

including some of that there delightful american mustard: (fresh from australia)... notice the service suggestion... i think we are going to need more than one tub to make a hot dog look like that!

 

that's all for now, come back soon!