Taking the "Travel" out of "Travel Blog"

I've been remiss again! You haven't heard from me in nearly a month--in fact, so much time has elapsed that you probably don't exist anymore. (Well, you do, but not as a reader of this ill-kept blog.)

But, as is often I think the case, it's the pleasant kind of busy life that really keeps one away from journaling efforts. I've had a good month, travelling to Tasmania and doing quite a few last minute tourist expeditions around Sydney. Expect photos of that, and also my not-yet-posted Brisbane pictures from April, in the next little while.

So there will still be some virtual travel going on, but officially I am now back in North America (specifically the hell known as LAX), soon to be back in Canada. I left Sydney at 13:10 on 14 June and arrived here at 13:20 the same day. Definitely the longest ten minutes of my life so far!

I'll arrive in Vancouver at 10pm this evening, and Victoria some time tomorrow; I'll be there for a week, travel back to Saskatchewan for a month, and then set up shop for the forseeable future in Victoria as of the end of July.

Now that I'm no longer travelling (or "on the prowl" as Revenue Canada would put it) I do intend to keep posting photos and the occasional rambling about reading here, so should you still be out there, dear reader, do come back some time.

Today I am enamored of

WOODEN ESCALATORS.

How cool are wooden escalators. I saw one for the first time yesterday in Wynyard train station, central Sydney. I stepped onto the escalator and immediately noticed that it was not only very noisy but also appeared to be made of wood. I bent down to touch it and confirm this suspicion and it was indeed correct. The rest of the way up, I continued to thoroughly investigate this wonder, reconfirming at least once that the steps were actually made out of wood, and peering over to see if the down escalator was the same! (It was!)

As you may or may not know, escalators make me uncomfortable. Somehow when I was quite young I heard stories about people (children specifically) being horribly maimed by escalators, and my vivid imagination led me to believe that they were unpredictable and dangerous, likely to lead to bloody dismemberment! It was a fullblown fear when I was a child, and for years after I was old enough to understand that no, escalators would not eat me if my foot touched the point of steps-going-under, I continued to go out of my way to avoid them.

But this wooden escalator. It looks much friendlier. Its teeth are bigger, which somehow makes it seem a bit less sinister. Its wooden rumble is really quite cheerful. Its age and lack of blood stains (bound to be obvious and enduring on wood!) made me feel safe.

How awesome are wooden escalators?

Deja Vu on 12th April

Today reminded me of two days in Japan--the first and last days of my visit to Kyoto in September, on my way out of the country.

On the first day, I travelled an hour by train to Osaka in order to pick up some lost property. The previous day I had left a plastic bag containing my favourite black shawl and some Sakamoto Ryouma socks on the JR bus from Kochi. I had called JR up and managed to explain what I was looking for and where I had left it; they instructed me to visit the office at Osaka station the following day. When I arrived, however, my bag wasn't there; it had accidentally gone to Okayama. Thinking back now, perhaps the lost property staff were just curious to meet this shawl-and-historical-figure-sock-losing foreigner? In any case, I spent the morning going to Osaka, walking around the station for a while, and then going back to Kyoto, and that's why today reminds me of it. I left my hostel at 10AM checkout, dropped my backpack off in a storage locker at a downtown train station, and then, realizing that I had left my (new, pink!) umbrella in the hostel, went back to get it. Rather shorter than Kyoto to Osaka, and more successful, too.

On the last day in Kyoto, in spite of heavy rain I decided to go to a forested area in the north of the city. I arrived there, lightly damp, and got my feet totally soaked walking only a little ways into the forest. I glimpsed the big red tori gate of the temple in the forest, my actual goal. But the muddiness of the ground between me and the gate, and the fact that it was still raining and I wouldn't be able to take my camera out at all, lead me to give up at this point and take the next bus back to my hostel. I wanted to get to Tokyo by evening, and I didn't have much energy or enough time to do anything really good--and besides, it was raining--so I ended up heading straight to the shinkansen. It was a bit like that today. Because of my 6pm flight back to Sydney (which I will be boarding in not too long) I couldn't really do anything much, and a serious case of New Shoes Syndrome discouraged me from climing up to the Mount Coot-Tha lookout, so I spent the mid-day floating around the city on ferries and reading in parks, and then caught an earlier-than-necessary train to the airport.

I always feel bad when I waste time like this while travelling, but I guess it can't be helped.

Scientific Findings on 11th April 2009

1. Toasters are forbidden in the bathrooms and showers of the hostel where I am staying.

2. Carrying a DSLR-looking camera gains you unexpected artist cred with art gallery docents.

3. The "For Kids" summary cards for art at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art are, except for the slightly patronising tone, better (more concisely, with less pointless grandiloquence) written and more insightful than the notes for adults.

Edited to add this critical update:

4. Passionfruit is delicious.

Accomplishments on 10th April 2009

My current location is Brisbane, on a random Easter weekend journey that wasn't planned at all. And if I had stopped to think, I mightn't have gone touristing on public holidays when all of the attractions would be closed! So far the Travel Success Rate of this trip is probably about 75%.

But I'm still feeling pretty accomplished, because today I:

1. Won a staring contest with an emu.
2. Confiscated a brown paper bag from a too-hungry kangaroo.
3. Got lost on the bus in Brisbane for like the 60th time in the last two days.

I went to Lone Pine Koala Reserve. The highlights were the free-roaming kangaroo enclosure in which I also roamed free, and the flying raptor display. Note koalas absent from highlights. Those dudes just sit in trees and eat. Laaaaame.

Mardi Gras

Fat Tuesday is a little bit differen in Sydney. In fact, that's "Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras" to you! But whatever you're going to call it, I participated yesterday and had a really great time. I had so much fun, I'm STILL leaving a trail of cheerful golden sparkles.



Along with two friends who are visiting Australia from Japan, I joined the Amnesty International LGBT Human Rights float. Our sobering t-shirts reminded us that homosexuality is persecuted around the world (queer people are imprisoned in 77 countries and face the death penalty in 7!) and in gratitude for the freedom we are lucky enough to have in countries like Australia and Canada, we celebrated enthusiastically all the way from Hyde Park to Moore Park. (Google Maps says that's 2.7 kilometres, and we danced all the way, baby.) The flag you see in the photo above says LOVE FREEDOM. Sorry about the blur--I was moving AND it was moving!

A great time was had by all. After the parade, we shared excellent Thai food, and then I wandered off into the night to party until the morning bus service got started!

Kata Tjuta

The first day of the Uluru tour I went on, we stopped at King's Canyon (that's the one with the pythons!). The second day, we went walking at Kata Tjuta. In the Ananu language (the Indigenous people of the area) the name means "many mounds". It's a GINORMOUS rock foundation, which perfectly lives up to its name. Like the more famous rock, it dates back to the time when much of Australia was under water.

We went on a ~8 km walk up, through, and around some of the area. It was blazingly hot, even though it was morning--due to extreme temperatures, the trail was closed from 11AM! By the end of the walk, I was totally dead! And it was still only 11 in the morning!

Peeing Under the Stars, and Other Outback Highlights

Back to my old tricks, I packed two novels for a five-day trip, three days of which were a camping tour. Then, on the first day, pretty much as soon as I arrived in Alice Springs, I went out and bought another novel. (Home, by Larissa Behrendt, which I strongly recommend!) However, I sped through the new novel and am also almost finished one of the original two, so the third one may come in handy on the plane back to Sydney tomorrow. I guess I'm not that silly after all... and at least I didn't drag a Curious George doll all over the outback (strange things are done under the hot sun...)

Anyway, enough about books--a couple of top moments from my trip from Alice to Uluru (Ayre's Rock) and back, before I forget them! 1234978534631123 zillion photos coming up in a couple of weeks.

1. I saw a goanna, petted a dingo, and rode a camel.
2. I walked through a canyon where pythons are known to live! If that isn't conquering your fears, what is? (If I were less honest, dear reader, I wouldn't mention that I didn't know there were pythons in the canyon until after walking all the way into it.)
3. I didn't see any pythons in the canyon. YES! Actually, I didn't see any of the other many species of highly dangerous snakes I shared territory with. SUCCESS, I AM ALIVE!
4. I slept out under the stars for the first time.
5. I walked 7k in 42 degree heat yesterday, and 8k before 9:30AM this morning. I saw some really beautiful country for my trouble.
6. While dropping my trousers to pee in the bush, I saw a shooting star.

It was a good trip!

Alice Springs

HOLY SHIT IT'S HOT HERE

GIANT WOMBATS

Last week I went to the Australian Museum. I saw lots of neat stuff--VERY cool rocks, lots of crazy birds, and an exhibition of award-winning wildlife photography. But the best part was that I learned about GIANT WOMBATS.

GIANT WOMBATS were the largest marsupials EVER. They roamed Australia in the Pleistocene. It ate leaves and grass. Presumably: a LOT of leaves and grass. In the museum, they have a scale model of a GIANT WOMBAT. Because I was so in awe of the fake GIANT WOMBAT, I didn't actually read anything about it, so I actually learned all of this on Wikipedia. When I stood beside the GIANT WOMBAT, this is what I felt like:



In summary: HOLY CRAP GIANT WOMBATS!!!

Sydney Festival First Night

I spent last Saturday at the Sydney Festival First Night. Sydney Festival is a huge bunch of arts events all over the city throughout January. There are a lot of concerts, and also dance, theatre, and I'm sure other things I don't even know about. For the First Night, there were free open air concerts all over the city. I went to The Domain, a big park downtown, to see The Cat Empire. We left the house at one in the afternoon to secure a truly excellent spot in front of the stage, but were quickly foiled by people standing up in front of us. Anyway, the concert was great. Then we grooved to DJ Mr. Scruff, and finally headed over to Hyde Park to see Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings.

In summary: there was awesome. Booties were shaken. I'm looking forward to the rest of the festival.

Dudes, I was remiss about Christmas!

It's been DAYS AND WEEKS since I last posted. I am a terrible blogger. But that's OK, because while not posting I had lots of fun, and fun is good. I spent the week before Christmas doing lots of work, and I also went out dancing a few times, hit the beach, and learned about cricket from my cousin. (Yes, I listened to the rules of cricket for TWO OR THREE HOURS.)

So here's my take on Christmas traditions at home and abroad--and hereby I promise myself that as 2009 rolls along, I'll be a more responsible Albatross.

Of course, the biggest difference between Christmas in Australia and in Canada is the weather--and the difference between summer and winter then spreads out to change a whole variety of traditions. Swimming not skating, barbecue not turkey (or AND turkey), fresh mangos (mmmm) not mandarin oranges from afar... the list goes on.

Some popular Christmas things I've noticed here are outdoor markets, big carol sings--in parks or on beaches--and going to the beach for Christmas/summer holidays. But overall, Christmas isn't as big a deal here. Outdoor decorations on houses are much more rare. I think it's because Christmas isn't alone--in Canada, Christmas vacation is the only thing to be excited about in the cold weather of December. Here, you can totally ignore Christmas and still be excited about summer.

Whether it's because this is my first Christmas as a working person rather than a student, which is to say the first time I've worked right up until December 24th, or because of the different weather and traditions, I totally didn't see Christmas coming. It was just like WHAM. I spent the holidays with my aunt, uncle, and cousins--it was interesting because their family and my own have kindof similar Christmas things in some spots, inherited from my aunt's and mother's family, but it's all inflected by the climate/national traditions. So while I missed the home ways, I also enjoyed the Australian versions.

After Christmas, we all went to the coast, to Jervis Bay, for 4-5ish days. I'll tell you more about that later, with PICTURES. But let me just say there was a lot of ocean.

"Seasons greetings" to all, and I hope your holidays have been as radtacular as mine!

A Chatty Post About Nothing, Really

Yesterday I bought three mangos for five dollars and ate them all in the course of the afternoon. This was not entirely a good idea, because then I didn't feel very well all evening, but man was it fantastic at the time. I highly encourage you to try it, but only if they are good mangoes and only if you are as enthusiastic about mangoes as I am, which is not really likely but who knows?

I would say "I think I will do it more often" but today someone told me that if you eat too many mangoes (like WAY TOO MANY, like THREE IN ONE AFTERNOON REPEATEDLY) you can become allergic to them. That is not cool at all. I will act with more restraint in future.

Also, I'm working at an ultrasound clinic. This means I see three or four pregnant ladies a day two or three days a week. Or more if it's busy. Today, I saw one lady who was 19 weeks pregnant but you couldn't really tell, and one lady who was 7 weeks pregnant but looked like "WHOA THERE'S A BABY IN THERE I THINK." Pregnant ladies are mysterious. I'm also learning a whole new vocabulary of medical/pregnancy words. It's pretty cool.

I'm kindof excited because my third-of-the-year-ly book tally is super high! It's only November, so I have a month to go before the end of this four month period, but I'm already on my 21st book. I haven't been reading more just to make the number higher, or anything. I'm just excited because it's really thrilling that not being in university or Japan means I can maybe read more than one book a week. Actually, 21 so far is about 7 a month. Imagine how many more books I can read over my lifetime than if it was 4 a month! Like, LOTS! Hope this continues now that I have one of those pesky job things!

The best book I've read since September is Carlos Zafron Ruiz - The Shadow of the Wind, which I recommend if you like books, Barcelona/Spain, and/or mysteries.

What are you reading? Is it any good?

Australianism of the Year

(Because let's face it: I'm not going to get around to posting another of these before January.)

First of all, let's confirm that we're all right-thinking English speakers here. Yes? Yes. So what's that coffee drink with chocolate in it? A mocha. Mo as in moment, ka as in car. Everyone with me?

Here in Australia, it's pronounced mocka... like mockingbird. What is that! As an American friend and I were saying on the weekend (we had both encountered this strange and disturbing phenomenon independently), does a mocka really sound like something you would want to drink? No, no it does not.

Those true blue Aussies are dead set wrong on this one.

What's your philosophy of travel?

I've been in Australia for nearly two months, now. I've spent a lot (a lot a lot) of time looking for work, a lot of time just having a break (including a week paralyzed by mysteriously sprained bits that doesn't really count, because I WANTED to get out of bed, really!), and some more time tooling around Sydney in a fairly random manner. I've seen lots of stuff, but I haven't made an effort to go for the tourist sites. Heck, I still haven't seen any living kangaroos. And, since I've been here for a while now, people are starting to ask me what my travel plans are. Which other parts of Australia am I going to see?

The truth is, I've barely thought about it yet. For one thing, I don't have the funding at the moment to just go wherever I want. But for another, I'm really enjoying just living in Sydney. I know, it would be a shame to come to Australia and just hang out in one state (I've also been to Canberra--and I'll go to Melbourne, which is the next state over) and not to see rural areas. But I also don't have any huge motivation to go to any particular place. (Well, it would be nice to see Uluru [Ayre's Rock]. But let's face it--not a great solo backpack trip destination for a non-driver.)

Someone I was talking to yesterday asked me about this, and on hearing that I didn't have plans, said something like "Anyway, it's the experience of living in a different place that's important." I think that might be my philosophy of travel.

So what's your philosophy of travel? When you visit a country, do you want to see all of the famous sights? Travel EVERYWHERE? Or just get a taste of life as it is for the locals?

...and while we're at it, any suggested short trip destinations in Australia?

Lately...

...I'm such a bore! Sorry, guys--my first month in Sydney hasn't been thrilling. Oh, I'm definitely enjoying myself. For one thing, it's nice to have a break and do nothing. But I've spent a horribly large percentage of my time looking for work. So far, no huge success. (I do have a part-time job, but I'm not getting enough hours to fill a teacup and besides, it's pretty lame.) But I'm keeping my fingers crossed, and hopefully soon I'll not only be gainfully employed, but also doing more interesting things.

Until then, I leave you with more photos from Japan. I'm STILL behind!

(Oh, and isn't it great about Obama!)

Getting (Upside) Down in Sydney

So, ladies gentlemen and others, I have been in Australia for over a week and I still don't have an internet connection! What are the odds?! Actually, it looks like I won't have one for a while.

Stuff I've been up to:

- walking from Coogee to Bondi Beach (pronounced bondeye, I still can't say the bon part right) (okay, yes, I only did that once, it DOES take a couple of hours) and then getting KILLED by ocean with real waves
- shoving my resume in the face of 90% of Sydney booksellers (so far one interview! our fingers and toes are crossed)
- watching TV... my cousins have a TIVO thingy and it is SWEET
- speaking ENGLISH
- catching up with foods I've missed (dear cheese, our long-awaited reunion is deliciously pleasurable)

That's about it! I still have about 60 billion photos from Japan to upload, so I'll hopefully get to that soon.

My second musical this week...

Today I went to see the friends and family preview of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, which my cousin is working on.



It was FABulous, darling.

In Australia

Dudes, I am totally upside down right now.