Life In Sydney

We decided to have a slow weekend in Sydney this weekend, which of course entailed more exploring. Sydney has a huge art festival every other year called the Biennale. The Biennale literally has exhibits at every large museum and has taken over some areas so we decided that we would finally check it out. Instead of going to a museum though we took a free ferry out to Cockatoo Island where the entire museum was adorned in mostly socialist art. There was an even an exhibit with life sized replicas of Mao, Stalin and a breathing Castro (it was a little much). Most of the exhibits were not what I'd define as artsy but their were a couple of huge displays that I liked, including a set of exploding cars, and getting to explore the island and taking two free trips across the harbor made it well worth it. The best part was there were zero cockatoos on the island just a ridiculous amount of seagulls.

Earlier this weekend we decided to go to the racetrack because my friend Kelsey had gone before back in the states and said it was a ton of fun. A company was offering a package deal but we just decided to do it on our own-skipped the champagne breakfast and advice from the expert and see what it was like. It was a pretty big racetrack, it least I think it was I'd never been to one before, but extremely empty when we got there just after the first race. We all decided to place a dollar bet down on the next race and waited eagerly. When my bet paid off I was extremely happy and proceeded to bet on the the last six races and win 12 dollars (despite never betting more than a 1.50 on any race). I would never want to go every weekend but its definitely something to try, especially when horses like AlittlebitofMonica, Shaketheground and OurBillyDaKid come through.

The rest of the pictures that this post/photo album revolve around are my walking trips through Sydney. Sydney has a remarkably effective public transportation system that is always on time but we still prefer to walk it because from where we live we can reach most of the city within an hour. Plus when you're walking you just get to see more things. For instance we went to Hyde Park, in downtown Sydney, and visited a World War I Memorial and what was supposed to be a life-sized chess board (turned out the pieces were only about 2.5 feet high).

Random Sydney Photos

The Emerald City! or their equivalent

Monday our entire group took a trip to Canberra, the capital city of Australia. I was psyched for it, we hadn't been told we were going to go originally as part of the trip and BU paid to fly us there and back and take us to four museums. But when we woke up at 5AM two-thirds of the group was complaining, whining and being generally intolerable because they thought it was a waste of time. That's why I really hate with traveling with large groups of people; most people are too concerned with their personal comfort and not what's being done for them or the beauty of things around them.

The actual trip was really cool. Canberra was designed by Burley Griffin, an American, who won an international design competition to come up with a design for the new Australian capital. Griffin decided to dam the local river and put a lake in the middle of the city with the city built in a triangle around it. It's a little odd but for a city that is only now eclipsing 400,000 people it works.

We went to the Old Parliament House first and it was pretty unique. In our two hours there I got to see their old version of the Oval Office, the room where the cabinet met and where both houses of Congress had sessions. Their congress is interesting because it took bits and pieces from both the US and UK. They named their two houses the Senate and House of Representatives but the color scheme is the same as the Brits with one of the chambers being red and the other green (and other influences). The coolest part for me was checking out the press gallery and seeing where the journalists sat in both houses.

Next we traveled to two rather boring museums. The National Australian Museum was a bit too much on an empty stomach and little sleep. It was smaller than the Smithsonian but was just as comprehensive in describing Australian history. The National Film and Sound Museum wasn't great either but I stumbled across an archive of old film and television and clips and came out extremely happy. They had clips of Paul Hogan (Crocodile Dundee) as a comedian, classic Australian commercials and old sports clips along with historical pieces that made the stay well worth it.

The best part of the trip by far though was the ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) War Memorial and Museum. Despite the fact Australia has only been a nation since 1901 and has not fought in nearly as many wars as the European nations they have great pride in the fighting tradition. The museum was tied for the world's largest war memorial and museum with one in England and was a place they said every Australian should visit. The museum was massive and detailed all of Australia's campaigns in WWI, WWII, the Korean War and Afghanistan and Iraq among others. But the memorial was what made it worth coming. Outside they had walls adorned with flowers and the names of every Aussie who had died in combat or because of their war wounds. In the middle of the monument they had a long pool with a undying flame at the end and inside they had the tomb of an unknown soldier underneath a spectacular dome. The whole thing was very solemn but inspiring at the same time. At the end of each day they have a bagpipe player close the museum with an ode as the sun sets-pretty unique and amazing.

I loved my time in Canberra despite the time it was so much smaller than our nation's capital. I hope you can see some similarities when you look through the pictures-the long grass fields between monuments, the terrific use of water and the overall beauty. The pictures are below:

Canberra

O ya and three days later the Labor party (the party in control) basically overthrew their leader (the prime minister) and replaced him with the deputy prime minister (2nd in command). Three years after winning a landslide victory and after being one of the most popular Prime Ministers in history Kevin Rudd lost his role to Julia Gillard (the first female PM in Australia). Three days after we left. My entire office was glued to the television all day Thursday watching this unfold after it had been first announced as a rumor Wednesday night. While I don't enjoy politics generally-the entire thing was fascinating and I couldn't help but watch. This was only the second time in history a PM had been replaced outside of elections. Now if only the US can continue their glorious run in the World Cup-gametime for today's Ghana game: 4:30 AM.

It's Winter. So What? We're Going to the Beach

It is technically winter here in Sydney which means two things: average temperatures of about 17-21 degrees Celsius (50-70) and more rain than usual. So you would think that it is not quite beach weather but in our month stay I've been to three different beaches and look forward to making it to my fourth this weekend or next. Australia's beaches are numerous (it is an island) and pretty famous- not just for their beauty but for their surfing. So we've made it a point to travel and check out some of the more popular/most breathtaking ones.

The first weekend we went to Bondi Beach-its a surfers' paradise. There are great waves with several beaches making up the larger Bondi area and the surfers looked like they were having a great time. Seeing as it was before surf camp we just decided to take the scenic 3K walk along the cliffs. All of the views were amazing as the shoreline was dotted with little towns, great vegetation and some astounding views of the ocean. The highlight of the day for me was definitely seeing a small whale just off the beach. I was under a part of the cliff in a little cover probably 60-70 feet above the ocean when this older couple said they saw a whale. At first I didn't believe them but sure enough the 10-15 foot whale came up and submerged a good three or four times before we lost sight of it. The whale had to be within 250-300 feet from shore and it was just amazing to me that this was a beach that was within 30 minutes of town by bus. I got one good photo of the backside of the whale as he's going back beneath the waves. The other cool part of the beach was that they had several swimming pools on the edge of the rocks that were being filled up by the surf. I had never seen anything like it but want to try it while I'm here. Pictures are below:

Bondi Beach

Our second trip was to Surf Camp but we couldn't bring our cameras down to the beach and the photographs taken by one of the surf instructors cost 50 bucks for all of your photos from the weekend. That's fine but I only had 12 where as one of my friends had 54-wasn't quite worth it. I'll delve into the great experience of surf camp this weekend I promise.

Two weekends ago we went to Royal National Park. New South Wales, one of the six states of Australia (where Sydney is located), has a ton of national parks but this is the only one locals recommend. We took the train for an hour and then a ferry another 25 minutes out to what turned out to be a park of 100+KM that was landlocked. As we took the ferry over we noticed how beautiful the water was with lots of extremely clear blue patches that you wouldn't see in the States. We took off on a 10K hike that day that was at times brutal but also ridiculously beautiful. The beaches were really nice and we even went wading a bit, although not on purpose. The trail took us along the coastline and through some trees and shrubs that gave us a very small dose of what the Australian bush is like. In the end we were extremely relieved when we got off the path that we were praying was the right one to see the Sydney skyline far off in the distance. The little town we took the ferry too was pretty cool as there were parrots roosting in a lot of the trees in people's backyards. They also had a WWI monument along the trail-a trend that I'll explain more about when I do a post about my trip to Canberra that I took Monday.

Royal National Park

As for what I'm up to currently and the future: tomorrow I'm going out solo for the first time with a camera crew to do interviews for a story that's airing next week. Everyone in my office now trusts me and constantly are finding more and more things to have me do which is making life a lot easier.

Today was a really unique experience as the Prime Minister (their version of the president) was replaced by his party in favor of his Deputy minister (VP). The new Prime Minister is Julia Gillard the first woman Prime Minister in Australian history (they've only had 22). It was pretty cool to get caught up in the history and I definitely enjoyed being part of such a historical event. It was only the second time in Aussie history a PM had been displaced by his party in favor of another person during their term.

This weekend hopefully I'm going to the horse racetrack, just to say that I've experienced it. We're also planning on visiting a few museums, maybe going to another beach and definitely going to the USA-GHANA game which is at 4:30AM here in Sydney. It's not easy following the World Cup down under but it hasn't stopped me yet.

Way Too Long

Just got back from another exhausting, eventful and overall fantastic weekend. We went to the Blue Mountains this weekend-a small mountain range about two hours away from Sydney by train. While we expected some ridiculous views and intense hiking we didn't quite know what we we're getting into with the town we were staying in.

Katoomba is the main town in the tourist attraction that is the Blue Mountains, so we found a cheap hostel there because it's centrally located. But by the end of the night one of our group members described it as "small town Australia on acid." I wouldn't go that far but because this weekend was there winter solstice they had a huge magic festival-go figure. Within fifteen minutes of getting into town we were watching an extremely long magic parade with a few thousand people in costumes walking by. Some were celebrating the magical theme with witches and wizard costumes, but others were dressed as snowmen, caterpillars or even dragons. There were also a large contigent of people supporting causes-including the Green Party-which is still the third party here but has a lot more support (between 15 and 20% in the polls). The magic crowd stayed in town till late at night taking in the liveshows and fireworks which we appreciated.

The actual hiking and scenery was amazing. We probably hiked/walked a good 25-30 km this weekend and went up or down it least 2500 stairs on the paths. On Saturday we walked on the only path/trail I've ever seen that has said for strong walkers only. The path took us down 900 stairs at some ridiculous angles that left all of our legs in atrophy and quivering by the time we reached the bottom. Fortunately the way up only included 780 stairs. My entire body is sore as I type this.

It was all worth it though. Katoomba is known for these three large rocks known as the Three Sisters that are sacred to the Aboriginal people. What was even cooler was the wide array of waterfalls and the fact that the entire valley was a temperate rainforest. I had never seen one before and it was fascinating. While there weren't a ton of animals, the vegetation was extremely thick away from the paths and being down in the valley was really eerie. I forgot to charge my camera before I left so I couldn't take as many photos as I would have liked and they certainly don't do justice to what I saw this weekend. I would say this was definitely the most beautiful place we've been which is saying something (the beaches may look better in photographs but this was just awe inspiring). A link to the photos is below.

Blue Mountains

I know I'm getting behind and I have so many stories I want to tell and photos and even some videos I want to post. Last week I was sick and had a paper so I couldn't do much but I'll try to upload all my photos and break down my adventures at some of the beaches, surf camp and the world cup thus far. Watching the World Cup at 4AM abroad is definitely a different experience-I've been drenched by English fans, sat in a pansy patch to watch a game and been given serious props by random Australian fans for being a Yankee who actually watches the sport.

World Cup Madness

So I still have pictures to post and stories to tell about past experiences but right now it's all about the World Cup. Last night we went down to the Harbor at 9PM to watch the opening ceremonies and we're there till 2:30 watching the opening game between Mexico and South Africa. Sydney is one of seven cities that are sponsoring official FIFA World Cup Festivals and it puts the U.S. to such shame. There were 20,000 people there last night for a game that didn't involve Australia and it was a huge party. The games were broadcast on three or four big-screens floating out on the water and at a park close to the harbor. Only four of us stayed for the game but the atmosphere and tension was great. There was a large Mexico contigent and a fair amount of actual South Africa fans along with a lot of us who just rooted for them because they were the underdogs. It was a first class job by FIFA and all the volunteers and workers and the goals brought even greater joy than usual because huge flames came out from the top of the screens (a welcome treat on a 40 degree night).

Tonight/tomorrow morning the US plays England in their first game. It's 9:30 and I'll be asleep by 10 so I can wake up at 2:30 to get ready for the US game at 4AM. A group of us are going to Cheers, not the original, to watch the game on the big screen and go nuts. Although I'm highly excited for this game I don't have the highest hopes. Two mornings from now will be even crazier when the Socceroos (Australia) take on Germany. It's another 4AM game but we will be at the harbor probably by 2AM to find seats and just soak in the atmosphere. There is Aussie gear everywhere and there are some high hopes for this team. I'll post pictures and hopefully video tomorrow or Monday of our World Cup endeavors and hopefully another post about my earlier adventures.

Trying To Catch Up

Just got back from my 6th day at Channel 9. Slowly being given more to-went on my fourth shoot to talk to a big-time social blogger about an 18 year old woman who is going to Malaysia for a tummy tuck, breast implants and vaginal tightening. If that sounds weird to you it should. I've found that most Australia news is extremely sensationalist and for the most part soft-its all about crazy random stuff, where the normal hard news is undervalued. Outside of this story the other three big stories are the upcoming national prime minister election, the death of two Australian soldiers in Afghanistan and the movement of refugees into the Outback for the first time. Its funny that the national election is given so little time and the refugee movement which has already seen over 80 people moved from an island off the coast to a small refugee town on the west coast at the edge of the Outback. On the other side the two deaths of soldiers is an absolutely enormous story, while in the U.S. it would be a minor 20 second blurb on the news.

I've started to plan my traveling for the rest of the semester and it looks like I'm headed to the Blue Mountains next weekend. The Blue Mountains are two hours west of Sydney and are home to Olympic Park-one of the major venues (tennis, basketball, track) from the 2000 Sydney Olympics and tons of places to hike and go on bushwalks. Australia is really proud of their natural landscape and outside of the Outback (desert) the bush (heavily forested areas) are their second biggest pride. At the end of my stay I'm looking at taking a 12-14 day trip that will take me to 7 cities/countries. Although all the details haven't been worked out hopefully it will include the Great Barrier Reef, Melbourne, New Zealand, Fiji and a couple other famous places in Australia.

Below is a link to some pictures I took of a high school rugby match and some random pictures from Sydney. We went to the market that morning and randomly wandered onto the field on a rainy Saturday afternoon. During our time there we got to watch an entire half-which included a couple of fights, several ridiculous hits and little to no whining. In a welcome change from American sports-the coaches did not make themselves known to the refs despite some dirty plays and the players were just allowed to play. An interesting fact about Sydney is that all private school kids have to play rugby here whereas it is voluntary for public school kids. The setting was beautiful, the atmosphere was better than any high school football game I ever witnessed in the states and these kids were great. Some of the hits would have left most high schoolers crawling off the field or on a stretcher but in the hour we watched only one player was injured. I'm hoping to see a rugby game in my time here as it dominates the winter months in Sydney, the only competition in terms of Australia leagues is the AFL-Australian Football League. In reality though the game of rugby is closer to American football then the the football they play here.

High School Rugby

Taking the Plunge

Just got back from surf camp-what an unbelievable experience and rush. Four two-hour lessons and I still can't consistently stand up but the whole weekend was great. I'm going to try to write a recap that really delves into it later this week but for now here are the photos that I took the weekend before when I went out on a harbor cruise. We left at 3pm but because its winter here it was dark by 5pm which made it even nicer to be out on the water. The harbor is massive and each little section has its own character and personality.


Here's a link to the album I'm still working out the best way to post photos online, two more albums to come:

Sydney Harbor Cruise

Still Failing, Barely Awake

So today was day three of my internship and I'm completely wiped out. I go to work at 8am and get home at 8pm. So far I've been able to go out on three shoots with the crews and journalists and am starting to get settled. This weekend we're headed to surf camp south of sydney for four surf lessons in two days. Hopefully Sunday night or Monday I'll get to finally post some details-I can't really say anything about what I've done the past two days till the stories go to air. Tomorrow's show will have one of the stories and I'm really excited to see how it turned out.

To check out some of the segments go to:
aca.ninemsn.com.au.

Failing At This

So I finally got my internet set up in my room but it costs money for internet and the most expensive drain is uploading and downloading, so I'll have to save my pictures from this weekend until I can get my wireless set up at the BU Sydney Center.

It's been a ridiculously long, busy, tiring and awesome past five days. I can't believe I've already been here a full week as of tomorrow morning. It's late at night so I'll just try to post a few quick details about what's happened and follow with pictures and fuller posts later this week when I get the wireless set up. Friday we went on a harbour cruise which was absolutely phenomenal. The Sydney Harbour is very west coast style but much cooler and with more variety. The Opera House is obviously the most famous part but everything was just unbelievable to look at and we lucked out because it was 65 and sunny-a perfect winter day here.

Saturday we went to a marketplace as a big group-I strayed off and watched the second half of the Celtics game-really the only contact I've had with American sports since I've gotten here. We then took a random detour through this residential district and after finding some really cool historical landmarks and strange signs including: "Dogs Totally Prohibited" we found a high school rugby match. I'd never watched a rugby match really and especially not up close. We got lucky because it was their 12th year game-the seniors, so the kids were big and talented. All private school kids in Sydney have to play which we all had a hard time wrapping our heads around. There were a couple of fights right in front of us and the weirdest part was the coaches were invisible until halftime. Instead of yelling and screaming about strategy or more likely the late hits and even a few dirty punches the coaches were silent-a very strange concept for American sports fans who are used to constant whining by coaches.

Sunday we went to one of Sydney's two famous beaches. Bondi Beach is a 3km beach (2 miles) that is absolutely gorgeous. We took a walk along the cliffs of the beach and were so satisfied despite the four to five hours of sleep we'd gotten the night before. The waves easily reached 10-15 feet at points which made watching the surfers even more incredible. At one point I even saw a small whale fifty feet below me-I have a pretty cool photo of it when I can upload photos.

Monday we had our first day of class. I'm taking an Australian Cinema class which I'm not sure about but the class didn't seem that bad-2.5 of our 4 hours of class was taken up by the film Australia. Today-Tuesday was my first day at work for Channel NINEMSN, one of the big three networks in Australia. I'm working on a show called A Current Affair, which is like the Aussie Version of Nightline only less serious journalism. I left for work at 8AM today and got home at 8PM. Today I mostly familiarized myself with the facility and did odd errands and tried to come up with story ideas for future shows. It's amazing how much knowledge I picked up of Australia current affairs in one day-that's what reading the internet and papers for 6-7 hours can do. I got to watch the show which actually is shot in Melbourne for the first time today though and I was really happy with the final product. Tomorrow I'm going on a shoot for a story on one of Australia's most famous tennis players-John Newcombe, a former world number 1 player.