Jack's Semester in Newcastle

Sydney Again!

2009-06-28T17:58:00.000-07:00

Hey all! I'm back in Sydney with my friend Alex, and I have time for a quick update. We got into the city yesterday, and checkout out a bit of the city. We also hit up this crazy market in Darling Harbor called Paddy's Market, and picked up a few souvenirs for back home. I also met up randomly with an old friend from high school that I saw was in town for the weekend, and we grabbed some sushi together, Danielle, Alex, and I, over in Chinatown.

The plan today is to go up north to The Rocks neighborhood, and maybe take a ferry over to Manly Beach. I'll keep everyone updated about the next couple days as much as possible.

Later days!

Melbourne Trip and the End of the Semester

2009-06-21T08:00:00.001-07:00

First, I want to apologize to the people reading my blog about the lack of updates. I know I said that I would hope to update more often, but those updates did not happen. The simple fact was, in between my trip up to Cairns and the Gold Coast a few months ago, nothing really interesting happened. On weekdays I would go to class, maybe grab lunch on campus, and on the weekend I would be working on my multitude of projects while occasionally going out with people for drinks. The one time that I left the Newcastle area was to go to Sydney, and even that was for an assignment I was working on.

Luckily, all these major projects meant that I did't have a single final exam to worry about, and I was left about three weeks with which to travel. And that's how I got out to Melbourne.

I was lucky enough to travel with two friends of mine, Kate from Missouri, and Lauren from Saskatchewan. We left Newcastle Airport way, way too early in the morning of the 14th, and it was a quick hour and a half jaunt down to Melbourne. After getting some caffeine in our systems, we were on our way to checking in at Cooee!, our hostel. Yep, our hostel was actually named Cooee! Not a bad place, though. We set ourselves up in one of the ten-share rooms, then went out to explore the nearby suburb of St. Kilda.

Melbourne is mostly known as the artier, more trendier of the cities in Australia. We were not dissappointed in this aspect during our explorations of the city. In our short time in St. Kilda, we had a phenomenal breakfast, took in a art faire/market, checked out Luna Park (that's the place with the giant freaking face), walked around the beachfront a little, took in a movie (State of Play, in case you were wondering), and turned in early.

The next day, after decyphering whatever maps and schedules we had, we took a tram into downtown Melbourne. The city itself is, simply put, breath-taking. There were skyscrapers, squares, fountains, memorials, antique buildings, parks, bridges, statues everywhere you looked. We started out at Federation Square, then went south over the river to the Queen Victoria Park. We then spent most of the day aimlessly wandering the city, being thouroughly impressed by the sheer beauty and character of Melbourne. So great was it, that when we walked by the university at the heart of the city, Kate and Lauren spent about thirty minutes checking out post-grad programs there.

The next day we had another early start, as we were to spend most of the day touring the Great Ocean Road. During the thirteen-odd hour trip, we were granted stunning views of the coastline, as well as a number of interesting monolithic rock formations, like the Twelve Apostles.

We left for Newcastle the next day, but, needless to say, we were all sad to leave that magical city.

Just a heads up, I should be posting pictures soon to my Picasa site as soon as I can hash out a few problems that I'm having with the system right now.

Vacation Pics

2009-04-18T01:38:00.000-07:00

I have posted a great deal of photos from my trip on the Picasa sight, so if you follow the links from earlier, you should be able to find them easily. Many of you will notice that the pictures are in black and white, to which I will say that I am going through something of an artistic phase right now, and you'll all have to bare with me on it.

Otherwise, enjoy!

On the North-Eastern Coast

2009-04-14T22:39:00.000-07:00

I got into Cairns at about 12 last night, then managed to check into my hotel at about 1. After trying not to wake up my dorm-mates, I fell asleep for about twelve hours. Not much going on today so far besides checking out the city. Alex and Tim said that they were goin skydiving today, I think, but I opted out to spend the day relaxing and exploring Cairns. So far, the most exciting thing I've seen is a bookstore that sells John D. MacDonald novels, and that's just on my street alone! (Okay, that might just be interesting to me)

The place that I'm staying at, Gilligan's, is pretty cool so far. The entire place seems geared towards people my age. There's an internet cafe on every floor, a bar and club on teh ground floor, a sweet little pool out back, and it looks like the place is situated right in the middle of town. Since the place is half hotel / half hostel, I am staying in a room with three more people. I haven't met them yet, even though two of them were there when I came in in the morning, I'm sure they're just lovely people.

Now, about Brisbane. When I last updated, I had no idea what I was going to do while waiting from my flight, besides maybe finding a quiet corner to catch some sleep in. I can easily say now that Brisbane is the most surprising place I have visited on this little trip. The city seems to be about the size of downtown Sydney, which is odd since Brisbane itself is nowhere by the ocean like every other Australia city I have seen. I had lunch in what was possibly the coolest, most charming cafe I have ever seen. I explored the Queen Street Mall and all of the massive shopping malls that border it. I met up randomly with this girl from Sweden while reading a book on a park bench, then hung out with her for the rest of the day. The day that I had thought would be filled with boredom and naps was instead filled with exploration, wonder, and sushi.

I have plans to go diving on the Great Barrier Reef, but I'll try to get another post up at some point afterwards. Later!

Somehow in Brisbane

2009-04-13T17:44:00.000-07:00

It's been a weird day or two, people. I am running on about three hours sleep as I write these words in an internet cafe in some backpackers' hotel in Brisbane. But first, BluesFest.

BluesFest may have been the single most amazing music experience of my life. The performers were incredible, the crowds were responsive, and the place was absolutely packed. It was interesting, though, just how muddy the entire venue got by the end of the night. I should have noticed that people in Byron Bay were selling wadding boots and ponchos. I should have known.

The place was bad enough when we first got there, since the rain had been nonstop for the past couple day all up and down the East Coast. The stage that we were at for most of the day, the one with Jason Mraz, Ben Harper, and Xavier Rudd, was thankfully covered and dry. When it came time to leave, we could have been walking through an open floodplane for all we knew.

We made it back to Byron Bay okay, then set up ourselves in the town bus stop. After about seven hours or so, my Greyhound bus had finally come. I allowed myself a couple hours of sleep on the ride over. I think I may have been driven through Surfer's Paradise, and maybe sat next to a couple people from Iowa State, but I can neither confirm nor deny that that was a dream at this point.

I'm now killing some time in Brisbane. I have no idea what this city offers, what to look for or what to avoid, but hey, it's a learning experience. I'm also starting my freakout phase early for the flight later tonight. God how I hate freaking out for absolutely no reason.

Talk to you in Cairnes.

Paradise - Day 2

2009-04-11T22:38:00.001-07:00

A busy day in Paradise today. It's Easter Sunday, and the streets, malls, and beaches are inundated with countless tourists. I myself have been trying to avoid the crowds as best as I can.

The rest of the Newcastle group, whom I met up with briefly last night at the Islander Backpackers Hotel, has gone off to Dreamland, the Australian equivalent of Great America. As things like that aren't all that interesting to me, I opted to instead sleep in, then hit the town.

This day, as all good days should start, was spent eating a kebab from a hole-in-the-wall Turkish place while reading Bill Bryson's epic, Down Under, otherwise known as In a Sunburned Land. I have read this book a couple times earlier, but I wanted to get Bryson's take on Australia while I am actually there, and see what connects.

Bryson described Surfer's Paradise as a sort of tourist trap with an interesting name. I do not disagree with this, and I am currently trying to see the Surfer's Paradise of 50 years ago in the high-rise setting. I am so far unable to do so. The town is too much filled with trendy skyscrapers and Condom Kingdoms (yes, its a store here) to be once considered a pleasant, restful destination. It's not to say that Surfer's Paradise is bad. It's just not a place to find relaxation, in my opinion.

I will try to post pictures of the town as soon as possible.

Hard Times in Surfer's Paradise

2009-04-10T20:52:00.000-07:00

Hello all. Yes, yes, I know that there's been a lack of updates, especially some pertaining to my birthday. But class projects and trip planning have been taking up a good portion of my time, recently.

So first, my birthday. Friday night was wonderful. I was able to go out to dinner with a large group of friends over on Beaumont Street, and good times we had by all. The day of my actual birthday, the Saturday after that, was considerably slower. Instead of going out and partying, I chose instead to have a quiet night in with friends, playing poker and drinking and the like. Pretty enjoyable, as far as 21st birthdays go.

The following week was spent putting some finishing touches on some history papers, nothing major. The rest of the week was spent stressing over travel details and what to pack.

Thursday night was when things got interesting.

At least, it was supposed to be. According to a clerical error made during the reservation process, I had accidentally purchased a ticket for the morning train ride, rather than the evening trip that I had thought I had instead. After much cursing at myself, I sulked back to International House, and bought a ticket for Friday night. That portion, the traveling last night, went off without nary a hitch. I caught about three hours sleep in about twelve hours travel, and arrived at the bus depot in Surfer's Paradise like some kind of mindless zombie.

This leads me to today's debacle. I must have spent about two hours this morning trying to find accommodation, but since it is Easter Weekend, most everything from hotels to motels to hostels had been booked solid. I was lucky enough to find a motel about ten minutes away from the downtown area, though I was feeling kind of desperate at the time, needing to sleep and use the facilities in an altogether terrible way. So now here I am, typing the results of the past 24 hours to all of my readers, the rest of the group from Newcastle at some waterpark nearby, trying to chalk this up as a learning experience, but mostly just feeling pissed at myself.

Surfer's Paradise, however, is a remarkable place. The place seems small enough, but the area is dotted with towering residential buildings and souvenir shops. The entire place feels like an odd mixture between Miami as one sees it in movies and Burn Notices, and the Wisconsin Dells. I will attempt to explain this madness after I get a few more hours of sleep behind me.

Talk to ya soon.

Slow Week

2009-03-30T18:56:00.000-07:00

Yet another slow week of school here in Newcastle. The weekend was fairly uneventful as well, with a trip to Nobbys Beach being the only excursion that I undertook.

Next weekend should prove to be a bit more exciting. As most of you know, my 21st birthday is coming up next Saturday. Nothing serious has been planned so far, save for getting a group of people together for dinner Friday night, but there will surely be more for me to do this weekend.

Oh. Also, I have found a way to make photo albums public on Picasa, so if you just follow the links from a while ago, you should be able check out a few of my travel photos. No muss, no fuss. Again, post something if there are any issues accessing the site, etc. etc.

Later days!

Hey!

2009-03-22T02:06:00.000-07:00

I'm back! Yes, after a week of being sick and immobile, I am back in action, and updating once more!

The week itself wasn't particularly interesting. I had classes during the week, and I went to them all. I am still a little sick, nothing serious though, so I am keeping my doctor's appointment that I had made a week ago for the 27th. Whether or not I will still be sick enough to see the student health people by that time is unknown.

This weekend was pretty cool. On Friday I went to a house party off campus, and the past two days I have gone to Nobbys Beach in downtown Newcastle. Between that and homework, that is pretyt much all I have been up to.

So apparently, I'm going up to the Byron Bay Blues Fest! I will be traveling with a couple international students from uni around my birthday, then seeing such musicians as Ben Harper, Xavier Rudd, and Jason Mraz the Monday after.

I'm gonna try and settle into weekly updates, and hopefully I'll be able to reach all of you more often. See ya!

Blargh

2009-03-15T21:02:00.001-07:00

Been sick the past couple days. Not much else going on. Luckily I got a doctor's appointment. For the 27th. Keep checking the site for Web Album updates.

Woo!

Pictures!

2009-03-10T20:17:00.000-07:00

I may have gotten my web album thing to work! You should be able to check it out at http://picasaweb.google.com/jkligerm

Let me know if there are any issues accessing the site.

Real Classes con't

2009-03-10T04:02:00.000-07:00

Not much going on today. I had only Photo Design classes today, and both the lecture and the studio times were relatively slow. I did get a chance to see the cameras that they would be lending out for projects, however. We also had to listen about how to change the apeture and shutter settings for about forty minutes, so there's that too.

Pictures are back up! Here's one of the ICT like I promised.

And here's another because you're all such good readers.

This is a little hard to make out, but its a picture of one of the dolphins that followed the ship on our dinner cruise about a week ago.

Unfortunately, pictures might have to go like this, bit by bit, rather than en mass like I would prefer to post them. I will try to use Picasa like I originally planned, and hopefully that will be up soon.

Laters!

First Week of Real Classes

2009-03-09T04:20:00.000-07:00

Exciting day today! I was murdered! More on that in a bit.

First off, my Professional Writing class. I was surprised today when I found that the building that my tutorial for this class was being held in the ICT, possibly the coolest school building I have ever seen. The ICT, the communications building, is built along a row of really cool, rock garden style courtyards, and the facility is itself built on the third floor of a parking garage. I'll put pictures up next time I'm there.

The TA for the tutorial is also probably one of the most badass journalists I've ever met. He is a native Australian who is working graduate school right now, and during introductions he kept referencing the time he spent interviewing Balinese kidnappers, or Columbian death-squad executioners. Incredibly interesting guy, and I'm sure to learn tons from him about writing in general.

Yeah, about my being murdered. This is called Murder Week at IH because the RAs run a game called Murder. The way the game works is, people sign up, then at the start of the week, they are issued a small plastic fork with someone's name on it. They then have to "kill" the name that they have by stabbing their target with no witnesses around.

Little had I known that the game had started this morning. As I was sitting in my room, innocently watching an episode of Spaced, my killer crept into my room and stabbed me. Afterwards, we had a pretty nice chat about the game, and I got to meet the friends he had brought along. Nice guy, my murderer.

I have Photo Design lecture and studio tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be able to rent a camera from Uni soon, then find a way to resume posting pictures. Later!

First Week

2009-03-08T03:19:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the late update again, people. I really, really, need to get myself back on schedule with postings. Anyway, the past couple days.

On thursday, my fourth day of classes, I had only my Ancient Warfare lecture. The subject matter is interesting, though we did have to watch a History Channel special about the Roman legion for about an hour.

Friday, though I had originally planned on going to the Bar on the Hill to see the Fratellis play, I decided to opt out of that to go to International House Commencement Dinner instead. The dinner itself was pretty nice, and afterwards I had a really good time going down to the Customs house, a pub and dance club, in downtown Newcastle. The only issue was finding my way back with Liam afterwards to Uni. We bought train tickets about an hour too early, so we spent that time wandering around and dodging drunks until our train came.

The next day there was supposedly a pub crawl starting at about one in the afternoon, but I was in no way feeling up to going out, so I spent most of the day hanging out with Natta and Boom, and watching Edward Scissorhands.

Today was pretty quiet too. I played a nice pick-up game of soccer with some people from IH, then went to Jesmond to get some stuff to grill with. Then, I grilled for myself, because there were a couple of people doing so by the pool.

Here's to more constant updates!

Third Day of Classes

2009-03-04T03:57:00.001-08:00

Sorry about the late post today, folks. Not much going on today to really speak of, though. I had lecture in my Australian Foreign Relations class, and so far I'm really excited with how that course will go. The lecturer gave an incredibly interesting speech on Australian foreign policy since its colonization, and it really seems like this might be one of the best courses for me to learn Australian history.

Besides that, not much happened today. Wednesday is kind of the night for students to go out during the week, so we'll see how that goes. Besides that, it should be a relatively quiet rest of the week. I have one lecture until I'm done with classes for the week, so I've been thinking about checking out the Forum, the campus workout facility, for something to do for now. Talk to ya later!

Second Day of Classes

2009-03-03T00:29:00.001-08:00

Today was a little less eventful than yesterday. I had my first lecture for my Photo Design class, which was pretty great, even though it was nine in the morning as I was in a bit of a haze due to the Benadryl I had just taken. Seems like its gonna be a pretty sweet class, though.

Afterwards I went to Jezzo with Liam to resupply a bit, which was pretty cool. Also went with Liam to Hunter Hall, a nearby multipurpose builidng to pick up tickets for O-Ball, a concert on the 13th at Bar-on-the-Hill. Should be an awesome concert. Hopefully, I'll also be able to see the Fratellis play at Bar-on-the-Hill this friday as well. Not much else going on besides that today. Laters!

First Day of Classes

2009-03-01T21:52:00.000-08:00

Today I was kinda surprised when I was watching TV. I started watching something at random in our common area, and found that there was a documentary about the Chicagoland area on, with focuses on places like the South Side and Naperville. It was surprising mostly because I am here, on the other side of the planet, and still I see the place where I come from, on the TV no less.

Classes, well, just class, since there was only one, was pretty nice. I had my first and only lecture in my Professional Writing course, where the class coordinator went over the basics of what we will be studying. Looks like we'll be doing a number of interesting writing projects, which will hopefully improve my overall writing ability. More on that later.

Now, hopefully, I'll find someone to get dinner with. Laters!

University of Newcastle - O Week

2009-02-28T17:47:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the late update everybody! The week has been crazy hectic, and the sporadic internet connections don't help too much either. Nonetheless, I will be giving a day-to-day update on my time here at Newcastle.

Saturday -

After leaving Noah's on the Beach, I had a very fasinating converstion with my cab driver about US politics. Afterwards, I was able to check in to International House without any issues, and met my first housemate Natalie, Natta for short. The rest of the day was spent getting my room together and wishing I had internet in my room.

Sunday -

Spent this day looking into meeting people and again getting my room together. I meet a ton of interesting people this day, like Vegas (because she's from Vegas), Lauren from Canada, Jono (short for Jonathan), Liam from Coff's Harbor, so many more that I have trouble keeping track of all of them. They had ice-breaker games during the evening, and we all had a pretty good time playing dodgeball and the like together. Another one of my housemates, Jae Yeon from South Korea, moved in as well.

Monday -

Monday was mostly spent checking out the university campus, as well as checking out some of the activity groups that they have here. I signed up with a group called the Goonies, which seemed like an interesting social club, and also signed up on the Ultimate Frisbee team mailing list. After that, I went with a group of people to Jesmond Mall (Jezzo for short) to get a few supplies for the room and to also get costume clothes for the Back to School Party that night. The Back to School Party is a yearly tradtion for every monday of O Week, where people dress up in childrens' school clothes and go out to a bar in downtown Newcastle. The party went over great, though there was a slight hiccup dealing with the trains on the way back, meaning that me and group of people had to take a taxi back to IH. Oh, and Michael Boom, my third housemate moved in.

Tuesday -

Today I had to get up early for the University Commencement Ceremony and student orientation. The Ceremony itself was pretty cool, as I got to see the heads of the University give a couple of speeches. The orientation was, however, not as interesting. History isn't as much of a major topic as it is back at Iowa, so I initially had a hard time finding out where to go for some info on my classes. As it turns out, History is a subsection of Education here, which is a subsection of Art. Huh. Later that night, the IH hosted speed dating in the Green Room. It went pretty well, and I was able to meet a lot of cool international girls.

Wednesday -

Wednesday I decided to forego the usual uni orientation stuff, and went to Westfield Kotara, a nearby shopping mall, instead. Besides this, I wasn't really up to all that much more this day. There were plans to go to a lawn bowling club at some point during the evening, but that was cancelled due to weather.

Thursday -

On this day I went with Vegas and Lauren to Newcastle. The original idea was to check out the beaches and to take a quick tour of Fort Scratchley, but we decided that it was nice enough out to take a walk around town, just the three of us. We ended up going to Hunter Mall, then going down Darby St. to have dinner. We took the train back into town, then did Trivia Night back at the Green Room.

Friday -

Not much happened this day, except for me going back to Jezzo to get some groceries, and then going with (Michael) Boom to the Bar on the Hill, one of the university pubs.

Saturday -

Today I slept in, recovering mostly from the long week. At night the entire first-year international house population took an absolutely fabulous dinner cruise up at Nelson Bay. I had a great time having dinner with some people from Singapore, trying out some Korean drinking games (like "Game of Death" and "Baskin Robbins - 31 Flavors"), and watching dolphins off of the front of the ship while a storm was brewing several miles in front of us. Incredibly beautiful night.

That's my week in a very quick nutshell. I will try and upload photos at some point, but for some reason Picasa is incompatable with the internet here. Look for updates hopefully more offen. Peace out!

Newcastle

2009-02-19T15:10:00.000-08:00

I'm writing now from what might be the sketchiest internet cafe I've ever been in. Normally, I would be able to update from the hotel that I'm staying at, Noah's on the Beach, but the wireless that I am getting there is incredibly finnicky, so now I'm here, in a computer lab in the basement of some building.

Yesterday was spent driving south from Nelson Bay, which took about an hour, checking into the hotel, and checking out the University of Newcastle campus. The campus is, in a word, perfect. The entire university is build in and around a forest, so the entire school has a really great, natural feel to it. I was able to meet up with a residential advisor (RA) over at International House, so I was allowed to check out the rooms and living areas before moving in. Speaking of which, I was also able to talk to a administrator at the International House, and he said that I would be able to move in on Saturday. Which I will be doing.

Seriously, I wish my wireless was working properly so I could show you some of the pictures I took of the campus. It really is something else.

Nelson Bay - Day 3

2009-02-18T17:49:00.001-08:00

I'm back at the same internet cafe as yesterday, posting before we hit the road down to Newcastle. We just finished with a quick, 2-hour boat tour of the bay, and I'm still trying to keep myself from swaying back and forth as if I were still on the water.

Yesterday was spent mostly seeing the sights of the area. The interesting thing about here is just how much it seems to resemble Door County. The way Dad and I have kind of been thinking about it is that Newcastle is Green Bay, and Nelson Bay is Little Sister. It's kind of a complex and incomplete analogy, but it helps to conceptualize the area, I feel, for those who have only seen pictures of the area. That is, after I get internet on my laptop and can post pictures again.

The plan afterwards is to take the rental car down to Newcastle, and to check into the beach hotel sometime tonight. I will update tonight if we can find a reliable internet connection.

Laters!

Nelson Bay - Day 2

2009-02-17T15:22:00.001-08:00

Greetings from Australia! I'm posting right now from a computer in an internet cafe in the town nearby our resort. My time is short, which is okay, because I don't have too much to talk about.

Nothing much has happened since last I posted, except for Dad and I renting a car and then having to help Dad learn how to drive on the left side of the road. Our plan today depends mostly on the weather, which is interesting, because it has been raining almost nonstop since we've gotten into the Sydney area. It would almost seem as if the rain were following us around, since it almost started raining in Broken Hill while we were there, and that's in the middle of the freaking desert.

I'm still a bit wary about starting school, at least orientation, next week. There always seems to be some nagging thought at the back of my mind that says that I left out one little piece of information, or I forgot to fill out a form somewhere, and I somehow won't be able to study here at Newcastle. It's mostly nerves I guess, but it's still something that's been bothing me. Probably nothing, anyway.

So anyway, back to today's plan. If the weather stays nice, then Dad and I will most likely try to rent some kayaks to take out into the bay. We will also try to make it out to one of the nature reserves that they have out here, but again, it depends mostly on it not raining today.

Talk to you tomorrow, hopefully!

Nelson Bay

2009-02-16T19:35:00.000-08:00

I'm writing this post from Newcastle Airport right now. I'm technically staying up at Nelson Bay, closer to the ocean, but we are down here now because Dad wants to pick up his Kindle and rent a car as well. Internet coverage had become a rare thing up here, and I'm seriously surprised that they had a free wifi network here at the airport. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

After my last post in Broken Hill, I had said that there wasn't much to do up there, that it resembles a post-zombie apocalypse town, etc. etc.. After spending another day up there, I maintain my opinions on the city in general, with the addendum that it really does have incredible views there. The night of our arrival, really the only day we were there, were managed to catch a tour bus up to Statuary Hill, a tourist spot a few kilometers out of town in the bushland. We managed to get there right before sunset, and we were able to take a couple really magnificent photos of the sun setting over the distant hills while fending off the flies.

There's not much to speak of about the day after that. We caught a cab to the airport in the afternoon, and took a flight from Broken Hill to Dubbo, then another to Sydney. It speaks volumes on the generally laid-back nature of the Australia people that, even though I technically didn't have a boarding pass in Dubbo (I had left it on accidentally, since we were taking the same plane that we had landed in), I was still allowed back on the plane. No worries.

I would also like to include a picture of the plane that we took from Broken Hill to Sydney. Please note that it is a propeller plane, something I thought that they didn't use, like rotary phones, simply because they didn't have to anymore. I would also like the add that I would like to never, ever, fly on a prop-plane again, if possible.

Broken Hill

2009-02-14T15:08:00.000-08:00

I'm writing this post from our motel room in Broken Hill. Normally I would be outside because it is such a beautiful day out, but the flies here are just relentless. The city itself is pretty nice, though. It is, however, almost completely empty due to the fact that it's a Sunday. Combine the empty streets, the constant crying from the birds around here, and the flies, and it all starts to feel like the city's part of some post-apocalyptic world. Not entirely surprisingly, the movie Mad Max 2 was filmed nearby in the Outback.

The trip here was for the most part enjoyable. We found the train alright, but we soon realized that we'd be sharing what is known as a berth, a sleeper room with dimensions of about 4 by 7 sq. ft. of space to share. It was a little too close-quarters for me, but we settled in just fine, and we were able to set up the bunks just fine. We arrived at Broken Hill at about 8 in the morning, and we are still trying to figure out what to do today.

Sydney - Day 3 - Bondi to Bronte

2009-02-13T17:44:00.000-08:00

Today I am sitting in the usual pizza bar at the QVB in downtown Sydney. Dad and I are killing time mostly, waiting to head back to Westin and on to the train station. But more on that later.

Yesterday was a little different from my other days spent here in Sydney. We had been recommended (by Derrin, of course) to make the famous beach walk between two equally famous beaches, known as Bondi and Bronte. We caught a taxi around noon to Bondi, which was all but deserted due to the bad, stormy weather and the shark attacks that had occurred the day before. The city around it was essentially a suburb of Sydney, mosty touristy type stuff for the beach goers.

The walk itself to the other beach was phenomenal. The distance between the two beaches are little more than a mile in distance, but the scenic walkway is riddled with switchbacks and stairways, all while walking into what felt like a wall of wind. In all, we were walking for about an hour along the cliff side, until we reached the little town around Bronte Beach. We had a quick lunch there at a little juice bar, then took the next available bus to an area known as Bondi Junction. The Junction was little more than a mall with a few store-covered avenues, so we were quickly done exploring there. We decided to forego taking the taxi back into the main financial district, the region where our hotel was, and to take the train back instead.

Though we had hoped to have dinner with Derrin that night, the increasingly terrible weather essentially stopped all travelling outside of the city, and Derrin was unfortunately unable to meet us. We ended up having dinner at Kingsley's, a little steak and seafood restaurant in Finger Wharf in Woolloomooloo.

The plan as it stands now is to meet a train at 3 o'clock, ride for about fifteen hours to Broken Hill, take a plane back monday night, then take a cab from the airport up to Nelson Bay.

Let me know you're out there!

2009-02-12T22:04:00.001-08:00

Please sign up on the followers bar on the left side of the of my blog. It doesn't sign you up for anything beyond my site, as far as I know, and I really just want to see who's reading my posts.

Thanks!

Sydney - Day 2

2009-02-12T14:31:00.000-08:00

Another warm, rainy day in Sydney today. I'm writing from Modena Pizza Bar at Queen Victoria Building in downtown Sydney, same as yesterday. The plan for today is to take a bus down to one of the beaches on the east side of the city, and do one of the cliff walks around there. I heard in the news that at one of the beaches that were planning to visit, Bondi, I think, a couple of surfers got mauled by sharks, and now the beach is closed. Sounds like fun.

Yesterday was pretty fantastic. After posting, we traveled via ferry to Taronga Zoo on the other side of Sydney Harbor. The weather, while pretty much like today's, was still warm and not too sunny, so it was absolutely perfect for walking around, seeing the exhibits. Those familiar with the Zoo in relation to the rest of the city will know the picture of the view from Taronga. The zoo is built into a hill on the opposite side of downtown Sydney, so from almost every clear spot you can see breath-taking views of the skyline with the Opera House and the bridge.

We had to cut the zoo tour a little short in order to meet our man in Sydney, Derrin. We met Derrin at the town centre, then made our way to a nearby hotel bar. Simply put, we couldn't have asked for a better city guide than Derrin. Our meeting was cut short as Derrin had to get back to work, but not without giving us the challenge of eating at Young Alfred, a pizza place by Circular Quay believed to sell the best pizza in the world.

We made our way to Young Alfred after stopping at Kinokuniya, one of the largest bookstores I've ever seen. We ordered our pizza there, and, while Dad and I are in agreement that the pizza there is very, very good, it might not necessarily be the best in the world. Certainly better than most deep-dish that I've had (that's right, I went there). To finish up, here's a picture of some koalas at Taronga Zoo.

Also, here's a picture of a place called Luna Park that we saw from the ferry. These pictures are as close you're going to see of the park, because I'm not getting anywhere near that big damn face.

Sydney Day 1

2009-02-11T15:41:00.000-08:00

The day went by in a kind of jetlagged haze. We were able to check into the hotel despite it being about nine in the morning, and the room at we were given is, in a word, amazing. Here's a pic of the bedroom area.
We knew we had to fight to get ourselves onto Sydney time, so we headed out into the city as soon as possible. First was a coffee bar at an indoor mall called The Strand. The Strand is a pretty good example of the Sydney shopping mall, things that appear pretty reliably every block or so, and contain dozens of interesting little boutique shops. And they all look amazing.

Afterward, we took a quick trip around the city on the public monorail system. Its a bit like the Loop back at Chicago, but only its a monorail, and therefore cooler. We then went on to Hyde Park, the main central park in downtown Sydney. Its mostly filled with memorials and monuments, and has a pretty cool central walkway. My favorite, as with most places, was the giant outdoor chess set.

Soon after that we headed back towards the hotel to rest up for a little while. After a quick rest we headed towards the Royal Botanical Garden. This park was pretty interesting as well, as it was a relatively quiet and peaceful park despite it being literally right next to the city. At the north end of the park we were able to find a pathway to the famous Sydney Opera House. We hung out at the cafe there for a while, took a few photos of the buildings, then headed back towards the park.

Perhaps the most amazing thing we saw on our walk back that afternoon was the hundreds upon hundreds of flying foxes that we found roosting in the trees by the park entrance. For the unaware, flying foxes are sizable, bat-like creatures that eat only fruit, and are found almost exclusively in Australia. As I was unable to photograph these foxes close-up, here's a picture from the internet of one of them flying.

We both decided afterwards that we were too hungry and too tired to press on much more, so we started making our way back to the hotel. We ended up, after much futile searching, eating at a small Japanese sushi boat restaurant. We then went back to the hotel, almost falling down from the shear lack of energy we had left, and we were both asleep by 8.

Sydney - The Flight

2009-02-11T15:32:00.000-08:00

Since Blogspot is being annoying and deleting my posts before I finish them, I'm going to do this in segments.

First, my flight into Sydney. The flight into Australia had a grand total of about thirteen hours or so, but it felt like longer. Much longer. The seats were uncomfortable, the food was lousy, and the landing was during a slight storm, yet it was all worth it to finally get into Sydney. Dad had a slight hiccup getting through Customs and Immigration, but that was sorted out quickly enough. After we got some money from the currency exchange, we were on our way to our hotel in downtown Sydney!

San Fransisco Part 2

2009-02-09T09:22:00.000-08:00

Today I'm in Corte Madera, due north of San Fransisco, sitting here freezing in a open air mall called Town Center. dow

First, a little about yesterday. After yesterday's post, Dad and I travelled down Market Street via the 71 bus to the Haight-Ashbury district in the southwest corner of the city. We got brunch after a 30 minute wait at this incredible place called Zazie's, a French bistro-styled restaurant on Cole Street. The food was enitrely worth the wait, and afterward, we ambled along towards Golden Gate Park. We were surprised at the sheer amount of people and museums there, and we were able to get some fantastic shots of the city from the observation tower of the Art Museum in the middle of the Park.

Afterwards, we went to Amoeba Music on Haight St. (yet another great recommendation from my cousin Rebecca), and explored a few of the other shops along the strip. The area itself was, well, interesting. There were a mutlitude of crazy-cool stores and such, but there was also a surprisingly high amount of homeless looking for everything from handouts to drugs. Definately a place to visit, but just something to keep in mind.

We got back into town around 3-ish, spent a few minutes recooperating at the hotel, then went on to Chinatown. This part of town was incredibly interesting, with countless tiny thriftstores and apothecaries, and were it not late and rainy, and my Dad and I very hungry, we definately would have stayed to check out a few of the stores. For dinner, we ate at a place called Nanking Palace (yet another recommendation. That's 3 for 3, Rebecca.), had a meal that couldn't be beat, then we made our way through a sudden rainstorm back to the hotel.

I've been up about two hours now, getting up early to check out of the Westin and to beat the morning traffic. The plan so far is for me to get some breakfast while Dad checks out the construction project here, then to head around the bay to Berkeley after noon, and then kill some time in town until the flight at 10:30.

Talk to ya later!

San Francisco

2009-02-08T09:18:00.001-08:00

I am typing this now from a Starbucks across from The Westin, the hotel that I'm staying at, on Market Street. The trip so far has been, well, interesting. The flight went perfectly, with a slight delay taking off at O'Hare, but besides that it was possibly the smoothest ride I've ever had. San Fransisco, for the most part, has been a mixed bag of experiences.

For one, the city looks amazing at night, with all the streetlights on the hills everywhere you go. Also, we were lucky enough to come into town during the Chinese New Year parade, though this did slow the traffic around our hotel down to a level commonly known as "New York-esque". After checking into the hotel, we explored the what was left of the parade, then after mixing up a few directions, started heading down to a part of town called Tenderloin. This, unfortunately, was quickly recognized as the bad part of town. After realizing we were lost after pasing by the same masage parlor twice, we beat a hasty retreat towards Union Square. We found a place to eat called The Grand Cafe, and after an incredible meal of lamb shank and cassoulet, we headed back to The Westin for a night's rest.

What today holds is still up in the air. We will hopefully be headed for a breakfast place called Zazie's, and eventually going to Golden Gate Park at some point, but that's all we know for now. I will be posting pictures as soon as someone tells me how to post pictures.

Later days!

Also, I'd like to wish Braxton a happy birthday!

Still in Chicago

2009-02-04T17:58:00.001-08:00

This is my first post for the blog, so I thought I'd start out with a little backstory.

When I first applied for college, I basically knew that I would be spending some time studying abroad at some point. Australia didn't seem like the natural option, yet it was so later when I realized a) that everyone there spoke English, and b) it could continue studying everything I wanted there, even journalism. I did have some moments of doubt, thinking that if I took this semester off it would irrevocably mess up my planning, but, with some support from my brother, who went through a similar study abroad phase, I convinced myself that this was the best thing to do.

So, after meeting with Lori, my study abroad adviser, and filling out what seems to be an endless amount of paperwork, I am going to be studying abroad at the University of Newcastle, in Newcastle, Australia. Well, after a couple weeks of traveling there with my Dad. And after a couple days in San Fransisco. And a couple days here at home. Eventually.