Adventures Down Under
Nov. 1st, 2005 12:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fancytalkAustralia was awesome! I didn't want to come home. Probably a combination of not wanting to be on an airplane for 14 hours and not getting to see enough of Australia. I think I'm still combatting jet lag. Can't seem to sleep enough, but sleeping at the wrong times continues throwing off the schedule.
I left San Francisco on Wednesday for Los Angeles. I met up with Patty there. I thought that I would be able to push Patty off on RTL for awhile, but RTL ended up on a different flight to Sydney. Day 1 with Patty was OK because she was freaking out a little about traveling, so all I had to do was say soothing things every so often. We lost Thursday and landed in Sydney Friday morning. RTL waited at the airport for us. We caught a taxi out to our first hotel at Bondi Beach.
I loved Bondi Beach. All I had to do was walk across the street to be on the beach and in the water. The first thing we did was grab a some breakfast. A pot of tea for me and I was a happy camper. The hotel didn't have us in the correct room so we ended up changing rooms after showers and a little rest. This also starts phase one of the tip vs. no tip argument between RTL and her mom. RTL tips always regardless of custom. Patty had spent 3 hours in the airport talking to a girl from Brisbane who told her not to tip at all. Friday was the day to adjust and plan for the rest of the week. We made arrangements for a tour to the Blue Mountains and a backstage tour of the Sydney Opera House. I think we were all asleep by 8:30 p.m.
Saturday we were up early to go to the Blue Mountains. Part of the package was what I would call a petting zoo. Most of the animals were in a contained habitat, but the birds and kangaroos were roaming pretty much free. We oohed and ahhed over the joeys sticking their heads out of their mummies pouches. We rubbed the koalas and sniffed our hands to smell the eucalyptus. I oohed and ahhed over the ghost bats. We took pictures of all the birds for my dad. We fed the kangaroos and rubbed them lots. I sort of snuck up behind one that was standing up. RTL was slow on the camera so by the time she finally got the picture, the kangaroo was sniffing my pants. Then it was back on the bus to continue our trip to the Blue Mountains. Smells just like San Francisco. A lot of the plants are the same as here too. We did a wee bit of hiking, stopped in a couple of towns and finally caught a ferry back. And we were beat for the day. We ended up going back to the hotel and eating at the bar where I had the best beer ever after kolsh in Köln.
Sunday was another early morning. The tour of the opera house started at 7 a.m. Our guide came to get us and there we were behind the scenes literally. We started off backstage where all of the stage sets are stored. This is also where we realize that the other couple on the tour with us are the obnoxious Americans. As our guide is explaining that he will tell us when and where we are allowed to take pictures and not to touch anything, the husband has out his video camera filming and knocking on the HMS Pinafore set. The guide whisks us away to the orchestra pit before he can do more damage. I didn't realize that the orchestra pit would be that small. Our guide then whips out the conductor's wand that he has been holding and lets us all pretend to be conductors. RTL got some GREAT pictures the view of the audience from the pit. Next we ended up onstage. Wow! As the guide points out which direction the audience is, out comes a couple of machinist who raise the safety curtain. Now we are all standing onstage in front of an empty audience. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm surprised I didn't faint at this point. And then they turned on the lights. Since I wasn't going to miss the chance, I stepped forward and gave a bow. I didn't want to leave the stage, but we had to finish the tour. We explored just about every nook and cranny of the opera house - the green room, all the performance sets, behind the curtains, the dressing rooms, wardrobe . . . All the while obnoxious American was filming everything he could possible film after being asked not to several different times. The end of our tour was breakfast outside facing the bridge. Now I just need to figure out how to get a performance for myself.
RTL had to work on Monday and I got stuck with my first full day of Patty. Everything had been going well so far and I was prepared to stand my ground if need be. Patty and I didn't do much but shop because everytime we came up with something to do, we realized that we didn't want to have to do it again with RTL. Since we ended our sightseeing day early, the pool and I became friends.
Tuesday was much the same except Patty started getting on my nerves. We took the bus to the shopping center down the road from the hotel. You would think that Patty had never been on a bus. This is after Patty told me that she was going to pretend like she knew what she was doing and I said I was going to be the dumb tourist. We should have taken a taxi. You would also think that for a teacher she could follow directions. Sadly, no. When RTL finally showed up after work, I was coming in from the pool and told her that she needed to spend some quality time with her mother.
Wednesday we had to change hotels. Good bye beautiful Bondi Beach and hello inner city. Oh but the view was spectacular from the new room of the bridge and the opera house. Plus RTL swung a couple of room upgrades and we had access to the executive lounge. Nice. That was the way to travel. We goofed around the city. RTL was waiting on her work buddy to give us a call to coordinate plans. No dice. We tried to go to David Jones, but they close at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. Patty wanted to take RTL shopping, but RTL wasn't having any of it.
Thursday we ended up doing the hop-on/hop-off Sydney tour. As cheesy as they are, RTL and I try to do them wherever we go because they are quite informative. We made Patty eat chinese food in Chinatown. I ate BBQ pork buns until I was sick. We were going to have dinner with people RTL works with, but ended up getting drunk on champagne in the lounge. And we still needed to pack.
Friday we left for our early morning flight. I didn't want to go home at all. If it weren't for the damn flies, I could live in Australia. It's very much like San Francisco I think. With the taste of relaxing travel and a couple of nasty emails, RTL is now perusing the job ads. All that is another story. I'm ready to go back to Australia and see more than just Sydney. I just found a deal for travel to Australia from LAX and three flights within Australia for less than $1000. When's the next best time to go?
I left San Francisco on Wednesday for Los Angeles. I met up with Patty there. I thought that I would be able to push Patty off on RTL for awhile, but RTL ended up on a different flight to Sydney. Day 1 with Patty was OK because she was freaking out a little about traveling, so all I had to do was say soothing things every so often. We lost Thursday and landed in Sydney Friday morning. RTL waited at the airport for us. We caught a taxi out to our first hotel at Bondi Beach.
I loved Bondi Beach. All I had to do was walk across the street to be on the beach and in the water. The first thing we did was grab a some breakfast. A pot of tea for me and I was a happy camper. The hotel didn't have us in the correct room so we ended up changing rooms after showers and a little rest. This also starts phase one of the tip vs. no tip argument between RTL and her mom. RTL tips always regardless of custom. Patty had spent 3 hours in the airport talking to a girl from Brisbane who told her not to tip at all. Friday was the day to adjust and plan for the rest of the week. We made arrangements for a tour to the Blue Mountains and a backstage tour of the Sydney Opera House. I think we were all asleep by 8:30 p.m.
Saturday we were up early to go to the Blue Mountains. Part of the package was what I would call a petting zoo. Most of the animals were in a contained habitat, but the birds and kangaroos were roaming pretty much free. We oohed and ahhed over the joeys sticking their heads out of their mummies pouches. We rubbed the koalas and sniffed our hands to smell the eucalyptus. I oohed and ahhed over the ghost bats. We took pictures of all the birds for my dad. We fed the kangaroos and rubbed them lots. I sort of snuck up behind one that was standing up. RTL was slow on the camera so by the time she finally got the picture, the kangaroo was sniffing my pants. Then it was back on the bus to continue our trip to the Blue Mountains. Smells just like San Francisco. A lot of the plants are the same as here too. We did a wee bit of hiking, stopped in a couple of towns and finally caught a ferry back. And we were beat for the day. We ended up going back to the hotel and eating at the bar where I had the best beer ever after kolsh in Köln.
Sunday was another early morning. The tour of the opera house started at 7 a.m. Our guide came to get us and there we were behind the scenes literally. We started off backstage where all of the stage sets are stored. This is also where we realize that the other couple on the tour with us are the obnoxious Americans. As our guide is explaining that he will tell us when and where we are allowed to take pictures and not to touch anything, the husband has out his video camera filming and knocking on the HMS Pinafore set. The guide whisks us away to the orchestra pit before he can do more damage. I didn't realize that the orchestra pit would be that small. Our guide then whips out the conductor's wand that he has been holding and lets us all pretend to be conductors. RTL got some GREAT pictures the view of the audience from the pit. Next we ended up onstage. Wow! As the guide points out which direction the audience is, out comes a couple of machinist who raise the safety curtain. Now we are all standing onstage in front of an empty audience. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm surprised I didn't faint at this point. And then they turned on the lights. Since I wasn't going to miss the chance, I stepped forward and gave a bow. I didn't want to leave the stage, but we had to finish the tour. We explored just about every nook and cranny of the opera house - the green room, all the performance sets, behind the curtains, the dressing rooms, wardrobe . . . All the while obnoxious American was filming everything he could possible film after being asked not to several different times. The end of our tour was breakfast outside facing the bridge. Now I just need to figure out how to get a performance for myself.
RTL had to work on Monday and I got stuck with my first full day of Patty. Everything had been going well so far and I was prepared to stand my ground if need be. Patty and I didn't do much but shop because everytime we came up with something to do, we realized that we didn't want to have to do it again with RTL. Since we ended our sightseeing day early, the pool and I became friends.
Tuesday was much the same except Patty started getting on my nerves. We took the bus to the shopping center down the road from the hotel. You would think that Patty had never been on a bus. This is after Patty told me that she was going to pretend like she knew what she was doing and I said I was going to be the dumb tourist. We should have taken a taxi. You would also think that for a teacher she could follow directions. Sadly, no. When RTL finally showed up after work, I was coming in from the pool and told her that she needed to spend some quality time with her mother.
Wednesday we had to change hotels. Good bye beautiful Bondi Beach and hello inner city. Oh but the view was spectacular from the new room of the bridge and the opera house. Plus RTL swung a couple of room upgrades and we had access to the executive lounge. Nice. That was the way to travel. We goofed around the city. RTL was waiting on her work buddy to give us a call to coordinate plans. No dice. We tried to go to David Jones, but they close at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. Patty wanted to take RTL shopping, but RTL wasn't having any of it.
Thursday we ended up doing the hop-on/hop-off Sydney tour. As cheesy as they are, RTL and I try to do them wherever we go because they are quite informative. We made Patty eat chinese food in Chinatown. I ate BBQ pork buns until I was sick. We were going to have dinner with people RTL works with, but ended up getting drunk on champagne in the lounge. And we still needed to pack.
Friday we left for our early morning flight. I didn't want to go home at all. If it weren't for the damn flies, I could live in Australia. It's very much like San Francisco I think. With the taste of relaxing travel and a couple of nasty emails, RTL is now perusing the job ads. All that is another story. I'm ready to go back to Australia and see more than just Sydney. I just found a deal for travel to Australia from LAX and three flights within Australia for less than $1000. When's the next best time to go?
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no subject
Date: 2005-11-01 10:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-02 01:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-02 12:26 am (UTC)Regarding the tipping thing it really is awkward. In Australia they don't tip (Except to hotel staff when they bring your bags), however there is an expectation that Americans will most likely tip.
I would actually love you to come back. I could show you around and give you the "real Australia". What I mean by this is when I was in New York
If you think the flies are bad where you were, you should see down near my Dad's place. We were black with them!
Oh and your video taping friend? That is how we see the stereo typical American tourist :(.
I have been told Adelaide is virtually identical to San Francisco, especially with the hills as a back drop. I really think you would like Adelaide, it is such a pretty city.
Aussie beer good??? What brand? As I sure have never found a good beer here!
As for the Hop on/off tours, I agree they are awesome. We did them through Europe. You get such a good idea of where things are as well as the history etc.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-02 01:02 am (UTC)I tried to trade Patty for you. It's so much better when you have a local who steers you away from the bad restaurants. Next time? And of course if you are ever in SF, we will only see the best things to see. I'll leave you to go on the hop on/hop off tour alone as I've done the SF tour about 20 times.
Damn those flies. We couldn't figure out what the attraction was. They just seemed to swarm.
The beer was Blue Tongue. The name explains why I had to try it.
As for the videotaping fiend, I was so embarrassed. His wife wasn't much better. At one point, when he was doing something he shouldn't, I even made a comment about acting like a 2 year old. He replied that he was curious like a 2 year old. It's really sad when you feel that it is necessary to apologize for your countrymen to the tour guide.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-02 08:58 am (UTC)Oh and did you do the (harbour) bridge walk? I assume you didn't see the sunrise over the harbour or it would have rated a mention I'm sure.
The guy on the tour should be deported to some unknown country!
no subject
Date: 2005-11-02 03:22 pm (UTC)I did see the spectacular sunrise. Every morning as a matter of fact. (I kind of ran out of steam in the middle of my dissertation, sorry.) I didn't do the bridge walk or climb. :( No one else was interested or rather no one else wanted to walk. Yep, still a long list of things I want to do.
I wouldn't wish the guy from the tour on any unarmed unknown country. He was completely shameful to any country.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-02 12:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-23 12:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-09 01:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-09 06:49 am (UTC)