Thursday, September 4th~
Today I got up early and headed to the Taronga Zoo. It was cold and gray and windy, so a lot of the animals were hiding. Who could blame them? But the Asian elephants were awesome! There was this one bull standing by the water drinking when all of a sudden he dove in! Seriously, one minute he was dry, the next he was fully submerged. I had no idea elephants were so aquatic! He would dive down, then bring his trunk up for air, lift his head above water, and dive again. Hilarious! After a couple of hours at the zoo, I felt I had seen enough and was getting tired of the field-trippers, so I ferried to Darling Harbor by way of Luna Park. I took lots of pictures (for the Cass-monster), and wandered around for a bit. It was quiet and abandoned and mildly creepy in a Scooby Doo kind of way.
I got some lunch and hit up the Aquarium. I was thrilled to finally see a platypus (cue Flobots), thrilled! They are so darn cute! I want one! The rest of the Aquarium was nice; I found Nemo, so that was cool. No dolphins, but some pretty hardcore sharks. On my way out, I got surveyed by a woman who just returned from holiday in Lancaster, PA. Small world, eh?
Walking back to the hostel from Darling Harbor, I stumbled upon Paddy’s Market. It’s a massive quagmire of stalls and vendors, all of them aggressively peddling their goods and services to the passers-by. It reminded me a lot of the market in San Salvador, but with slightly better English. I wandered around for ages, talking my way out of countless massage offers (I know, sad), admiring the massive quantity of Aussie emporia, and marveling at the number of stands selling weaves. I bought some lively colored socks and continued on my way.
Back at the hostel, I repacked my bags and headed out to reception to see if anything was going on. Turns out it was burger night! For five bucks, I grabbed a kangaroo burger and an Australian beer (that is to say watery crap), so that was cool. I flew solo all day, and I gotta say, I like making friends better.
Tonight, I found myself in the company of Germans. I was just about to go to bed, when two of my roommates asked me to hang out with them to help them with their English. In exchange for a bowl of pasta, I taught them words like “condiments”. Turns out, the whole place was crawling with Germans! They were joking about how there are so many travelling in Australia, and I quizzed them on the best places to visit in Germany. It was quite a pleasant way to spend an evening, but I had to get to bed early. New Zealand tomorrow!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
A Night at the Opera
I had a really good seat at the opera. 9 rows back, maybe 10 seats from the center. As for the opera itself… well… Like I said, it was Mozart’s Don Giovanni, which is really an excellent opera. However, the director took a kind of modern approach which just didn’t sit well with me. The costumes were kind of wonky late-20th century, and the sets were super abstract, mainly orange and black. Leperello was a bum and Don Giovanni was wearing sweats and constantly doing blow. Zerlina was portrayed as, well, a slut really, with none of the innocence that I’ve always thought was the crux of the character. The director made choices, but I just didn’t feel that they synergized with the music and libretto. The cast was pretty phenomenal, vocally, but I couldn’t help but feeling that they were inhibited by the staging. Musetto was pretty forgettable. Everyone’s movements and characterization was pretty blah, no snap, no sharpness in their decisions on stage. Perhaps they were tired; it was nearly the end of the run. And when I closed my eyes, I found it to be a highly enjoyable experience.
I was sitting next to Beta (sp?) from Milan, Italy, which was a lot of fun. She’s been to two different operas at La Scalla, which is pretty cool. Don Giovanni is her favorite opera and she really enjoyed it, so I guess it just depends on your taste.
I got a cab home. The shoes were a painfully unfortunate choice.
*Update: As I pondered this post today, folding laundry, something else occurred to me. The whole production was kind of dragged into a modern setting, but Don Giovanni still killed Il Commendatore with a sword in the opening scene. A sword? If they were changing everything else, why not change that? Why not kill him with a hypodermic syringe or something? Yeah, I just didn’t like it. I think I would have preferred a much more traditional approach to the material. Call me old-fashioned!
I was sitting next to Beta (sp?) from Milan, Italy, which was a lot of fun. She’s been to two different operas at La Scalla, which is pretty cool. Don Giovanni is her favorite opera and she really enjoyed it, so I guess it just depends on your taste.
I got a cab home. The shoes were a painfully unfortunate choice.
*Update: As I pondered this post today, folding laundry, something else occurred to me. The whole production was kind of dragged into a modern setting, but Don Giovanni still killed Il Commendatore with a sword in the opening scene. A sword? If they were changing everything else, why not change that? Why not kill him with a hypodermic syringe or something? Yeah, I just didn’t like it. I think I would have preferred a much more traditional approach to the material. Call me old-fashioned!
Day 2: beautiful beaches, fun ferries, and o-some opera houses
Wednesday, September 3rd~
This morning, I took off walking down George St. in Sydney. I thought I was heading to Darling Harbor, glimpsed the Sydney Opera House and realized I was at Circular Quay (pronounced “Key”). What a pleasant surprise! I was going to hop on a ferry to get to my intended destination, but a friendly ticket salesman recommended I check out Manly. It was $12 for the roundtrip, so I coughed up four extra bucks and got myself a daytripper pass- unlimited ferry, bus and train rides. An excellent investment. The ferry ride to Manly was great! I made friends (Loren and Byron from Cali) and had great views of the opera house and coast line. Some pleasant conversation led us to realize that all three of us were attending the same opera that evening. Plans were made to meet for dinner. When I got to Manly, a pleasant visitor’s info guy gave me a map and pointed me in the direction of the Corso. The Corso turned out to be a wide pedestrian mall, lined with palm trees and cafes, that ended at Manly Beach. Beautiful! Cerulean waters framed by pale yellow sand and unusual rocks (under which I was tempted to drink tea). I followed a path along the coastline to Shelly Beach, smaller than Manly Beach and tucked back in the trees, but no less beautiful. After a spell, I walked back to the wharf and recommenced my ferrying to get to Darling Harbor to meet Shir. We ate at the I’m Angus Steakhouse, and Shir taught me various Hebrew words and phrases. It was a lovely lunch, and she got to try kangaroo for the first time, which she really really enjoyed. I left her around mid-afternoon to go and get ready for the opera.
Dressed to the 9s (well, at least 7.5s), I arrived at my rendezvous uncharacteristically early for my dinner date with Loren and Byron, so I decided to have a glass of wine while I waited, the Deakin Brut if I’m not mistaken. Delightful. I was feeling decadent. I went and met the guys and we found a restaurant that wasn’t too astronomically expensive on the walk to the opera house. Dinner was lovely (butter chicken… mmm, curry), but man! They kill you on those drinks! I had two and they probably cost twice as much as my dinner! Oh well, city living. During dinner, the guys told me all about their recent trip to Thailand. Sounds like a really cool place to go. Some day. Afterwards, I headed off to the opera house and the guys went in search of ice cream. We never did catch up again, but it was nice meeting them.
Stay tuned for my review of the Sydney Opera House 2008 production of Mozart's Don Giovanni.
This morning, I took off walking down George St. in Sydney. I thought I was heading to Darling Harbor, glimpsed the Sydney Opera House and realized I was at Circular Quay (pronounced “Key”). What a pleasant surprise! I was going to hop on a ferry to get to my intended destination, but a friendly ticket salesman recommended I check out Manly. It was $12 for the roundtrip, so I coughed up four extra bucks and got myself a daytripper pass- unlimited ferry, bus and train rides. An excellent investment. The ferry ride to Manly was great! I made friends (Loren and Byron from Cali) and had great views of the opera house and coast line. Some pleasant conversation led us to realize that all three of us were attending the same opera that evening. Plans were made to meet for dinner. When I got to Manly, a pleasant visitor’s info guy gave me a map and pointed me in the direction of the Corso. The Corso turned out to be a wide pedestrian mall, lined with palm trees and cafes, that ended at Manly Beach. Beautiful! Cerulean waters framed by pale yellow sand and unusual rocks (under which I was tempted to drink tea). I followed a path along the coastline to Shelly Beach, smaller than Manly Beach and tucked back in the trees, but no less beautiful. After a spell, I walked back to the wharf and recommenced my ferrying to get to Darling Harbor to meet Shir. We ate at the I’m Angus Steakhouse, and Shir taught me various Hebrew words and phrases. It was a lovely lunch, and she got to try kangaroo for the first time, which she really really enjoyed. I left her around mid-afternoon to go and get ready for the opera.
Dressed to the 9s (well, at least 7.5s), I arrived at my rendezvous uncharacteristically early for my dinner date with Loren and Byron, so I decided to have a glass of wine while I waited, the Deakin Brut if I’m not mistaken. Delightful. I was feeling decadent. I went and met the guys and we found a restaurant that wasn’t too astronomically expensive on the walk to the opera house. Dinner was lovely (butter chicken… mmm, curry), but man! They kill you on those drinks! I had two and they probably cost twice as much as my dinner! Oh well, city living. During dinner, the guys told me all about their recent trip to Thailand. Sounds like a really cool place to go. Some day. Afterwards, I headed off to the opera house and the guys went in search of ice cream. We never did catch up again, but it was nice meeting them.
Stay tuned for my review of the Sydney Opera House 2008 production of Mozart's Don Giovanni.
Day 1: leaving the red centre
Tuesday, September 2nd~
Holiday! Today began the great adventure! Three days in Sydney plus a 7 day tour of New Zealand’s South Island and I am ready for it! Alison’s mom, Dorothy, kindly dropped me off at the airport, and I made it to Sydney with no incident. I hopped on a train, headed down town, found my hostel, and got settled in. At this point it was around 6:30, so I took off in search of food. Railway Square YHA is right on the brink of China Town, so I wandered past countless Asian restaurants, nothing really appealing to me. So I did what any girl would do all alone in the big city with nothing to eat. I went and saw Hellboy II. It was a funtime. After the movie, I still needed something to eat, so I hoofed it to a café at another youth hostel to get a bite to eat. I was sitting there, all by my lonesome, catty-corner from a girl who was sitting there all by her lonesome. I commented on how it sucks to eat alone, and she graciously invited me to join her! Shir was an absolutely delightful girl from Israel who had been traveling around Australia for some time now. We ate dinner and dessert and then got a drink at the adjoining bar (Scubar, I believe. Check it out if you’re in Sydney). It was so nice to have a friend! As it got later, we made plans to meet for lunch the next day, and I walked back to my hostel.
A quick word about my hostel: The Railway Square YHA is located walking distance from everything worth seeing in Sydney, which is convenient. What makes it really fun is that I slept in a converted train car. It was fun and cute. I felt like a boxcar kid. But, you know, not as cool.
Holiday! Today began the great adventure! Three days in Sydney plus a 7 day tour of New Zealand’s South Island and I am ready for it! Alison’s mom, Dorothy, kindly dropped me off at the airport, and I made it to Sydney with no incident. I hopped on a train, headed down town, found my hostel, and got settled in. At this point it was around 6:30, so I took off in search of food. Railway Square YHA is right on the brink of China Town, so I wandered past countless Asian restaurants, nothing really appealing to me. So I did what any girl would do all alone in the big city with nothing to eat. I went and saw Hellboy II. It was a funtime. After the movie, I still needed something to eat, so I hoofed it to a café at another youth hostel to get a bite to eat. I was sitting there, all by my lonesome, catty-corner from a girl who was sitting there all by her lonesome. I commented on how it sucks to eat alone, and she graciously invited me to join her! Shir was an absolutely delightful girl from Israel who had been traveling around Australia for some time now. We ate dinner and dessert and then got a drink at the adjoining bar (Scubar, I believe. Check it out if you’re in Sydney). It was so nice to have a friend! As it got later, we made plans to meet for lunch the next day, and I walked back to my hostel.
A quick word about my hostel: The Railway Square YHA is located walking distance from everything worth seeing in Sydney, which is convenient. What makes it really fun is that I slept in a converted train car. It was fun and cute. I felt like a boxcar kid. But, you know, not as cool.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Teaser Entry
Friends! I have returned! I took so many pictures and journaled diligently throughout the entire trip so that I could share everything with you in excrutiating detail. Of course, first I have to decipher my chicken scratch and type it all up (grumble grumble), so as a sign of good will, I present you with these pictures from my trip. I promise, I took all of them, they're not some lame-o internet downloads. This here's the real McCoy, ladies and gents. More to come! I promise!
A sheep station framed by the grand Southern Alps.
Sydney Opera House (of course)
Mount Cook, the tallest peak in New Zealand, on the shores of Lake Pukaki.
Fox Glacier
A sheep station framed by the grand Southern Alps.
Stay tuned!
Monday, September 1, 2008
Oh! the anticipation
Since I came to the Alice 7 and a half weeks ago, I have been trying to really experience it. I hope that my blog entries have reflected that. In fact, I haven't been beyond the ranges that overshadow our backyard since Uncle Tim picked me up from the airport all those weeks ago.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, it is time to journey beyond the MacDonnell Ranges. Indeed, it is time to seek adventure outside of the Red Centre. Tomorrow, I depart for my great adventure to Sydney and then to New Zealand's South Island.
I don't know what the next couple of weeks hold in store, but I assure you, my faithful readers, that I will attack every day with the same zeal that I have shown these past weeks in the Territ'ry. With God as my witness, I am going to make the most of every day!
There have been times since the undertaking of this blog when I have felt I wasn't quite up to par with regular posting. Granted, I always said that I would shoot for updating at least once a week, and I have certainly surpassed that goal thus far, but I suppose one would always hope for more. Well, in the next two weeks, I don't know what my internet access will be like, and updates may become even more irregular. I apologize and beg for your patience on the understanding that, as soon as I return, I will regale you with tales of such excitement and wonder! Does that sound alright?
In the mean time, I put all of my pictures into a Picasa album:
They're not organized or caption-ized or anything, but some of them are quite pretty to look at regardless. I'll clean up the album when I get back.
Peace.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, it is time to journey beyond the MacDonnell Ranges. Indeed, it is time to seek adventure outside of the Red Centre. Tomorrow, I depart for my great adventure to Sydney and then to New Zealand's South Island.
I don't know what the next couple of weeks hold in store, but I assure you, my faithful readers, that I will attack every day with the same zeal that I have shown these past weeks in the Territ'ry. With God as my witness, I am going to make the most of every day!
There have been times since the undertaking of this blog when I have felt I wasn't quite up to par with regular posting. Granted, I always said that I would shoot for updating at least once a week, and I have certainly surpassed that goal thus far, but I suppose one would always hope for more. Well, in the next two weeks, I don't know what my internet access will be like, and updates may become even more irregular. I apologize and beg for your patience on the understanding that, as soon as I return, I will regale you with tales of such excitement and wonder! Does that sound alright?
In the mean time, I put all of my pictures into a Picasa album:
They're not organized or caption-ized or anything, but some of them are quite pretty to look at regardless. I'll clean up the album when I get back.
Peace.
What do you do with a river without any water?
I have mentioned the Todd River before; it is a long and wide and dry river bed that cuts through The Alice. You can't miss it, really. It is water-less almost all of the time, filling only after some really determined rain.
So naturally, what better place to have a regatta?
The Henley-on-Todd Regatta is an event so distinctly Alice Springs, it really just wouldn't fly (or float?) anywhere else in the world. Lucky for me, I left the hotel early enough on Saturday in order to see the bulk of the event.
Basically, the afternoon was filled with all different kinds of boating events, and teams and individuals compete with their "boats." The boats are basically metal frames roughly suggesting a boat, draped with banners and carried by the crew. Some of them are relatively tame, like the kayaking, which is the smallest boat manned by one person each and amounts to just a really awkward foot race. But you haven't seen awkward 'til you see the rowing Eights. Eight people stand in the frame of the boat in single file and hurl themselves along the river bed as fast as their feet can carry them; all well and good until someone in the middle wipes out and the people in the front don't stop and every one gets dragged into the coarse Todd sand... such good times. Another good one is the "Maxi-Yacht", which is teams of 8-10 carrying a considerably wider boat, but still hurdling along the same sandy expanse of river. There were some pretty spectacular collisions at the turning buoy in that one. And then there's the bathtub derby: 4 people carry a bathtub with someone in it up and down the arena (the two smart teams put a kid in theirs; the third team collapsed, including the adult in the tub).
The big end event is an all out naval battle, pitting three tricked out boat-trucks against each other. The weapons include hoses, water and flour bombs and flour cannons, and they all just chase each other around the river bed until the time is up. The winner is decided by applause, and you'll be happy to know that the pirates in their ship "The Nauteus" totally won. Apparently, it's the first time in recent memory that the Vikings haven't won. Which is cool. Because the vikings were wankers.
So this event has been happening for 47 years now. Only once has it been cancelled... due to water in the river.
Unbelievable.
(check out my pictures here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2030328&l=7838a&id=173701181)
So naturally, what better place to have a regatta?
The Henley-on-Todd Regatta is an event so distinctly Alice Springs, it really just wouldn't fly (or float?) anywhere else in the world. Lucky for me, I left the hotel early enough on Saturday in order to see the bulk of the event.
Basically, the afternoon was filled with all different kinds of boating events, and teams and individuals compete with their "boats." The boats are basically metal frames roughly suggesting a boat, draped with banners and carried by the crew. Some of them are relatively tame, like the kayaking, which is the smallest boat manned by one person each and amounts to just a really awkward foot race. But you haven't seen awkward 'til you see the rowing Eights. Eight people stand in the frame of the boat in single file and hurl themselves along the river bed as fast as their feet can carry them; all well and good until someone in the middle wipes out and the people in the front don't stop and every one gets dragged into the coarse Todd sand... such good times. Another good one is the "Maxi-Yacht", which is teams of 8-10 carrying a considerably wider boat, but still hurdling along the same sandy expanse of river. There were some pretty spectacular collisions at the turning buoy in that one. And then there's the bathtub derby: 4 people carry a bathtub with someone in it up and down the arena (the two smart teams put a kid in theirs; the third team collapsed, including the adult in the tub).
The big end event is an all out naval battle, pitting three tricked out boat-trucks against each other. The weapons include hoses, water and flour bombs and flour cannons, and they all just chase each other around the river bed until the time is up. The winner is decided by applause, and you'll be happy to know that the pirates in their ship "The Nauteus" totally won. Apparently, it's the first time in recent memory that the Vikings haven't won. Which is cool. Because the vikings were wankers.
So this event has been happening for 47 years now. Only once has it been cancelled... due to water in the river.
Unbelievable.
(check out my pictures here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2030328&l=7838a&id=173701181)
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