Sydney - June 17, 2006

I attended conference sessions all morning. Then a friend suggested we go to the Sydney Zoo in the afternoon. She desperately wanted to see dingoes and I gave in and we took a ferry to the zoo. The ferry ride started at Darling Harbour and went through all of Sydney Harbour (circular quay, shark island, etc.) before dropping us off at Taronga Zoo. We too the skyway (cable car) to the zoo. We didn't plan to spend too long at the zoo.

At the information desk, this lovely old lady (Irene Chen) asked us if we wanted a personal tour (for $3 per person) and we said yes. So, this lady took the two of us on a personal tour through all the Australian animals in the zoo (that's what we told her we wanted to see). She was very friendly and very knowledgeable. She explained all the unique shrubs along the way, pointed out unique characteristics of each of the animals, and more. We had a great tour of the zoo where we saw dingoes, wombats, duck-billed platypuses, wallbies (many varieties), Australian pelicans, whistling ducks, koalas, etc. All in all, it was a couple of hours very well spent. We probably learned a lot more in this short tour than we would have walking around on our own for hours.
After the zoo trip, I headed out into town walking, looking for some record shops and other shopping. I went into a Woolworths and was shocked to see some of the souvenirs I had purchased earlier available at half the price. Very frustrating. I found one record shop, but the others were closed. Unfortunately, I had to get back to the hotel in time for the 6:30 harbour cruise and dinner and so could not go shopping any further. I wish I was here for another day or so as I now know where some of the Sydney record shops are.

In the evening, we had a dinner cruise in Sydney harbour which gave us incredible views of the harbour, the opera house, Anzac Bridge, and more. I had baby octopi, clams, and more for dinner!

Sydney - June 16, 2006

As I predicted, I don't have much to report of today. The morning started with my having to give a brief introduction about ACR to the general session of the conference. It was nice to get up before the whole conference group and talk about ACR (made me feel good profile-wise), but it wasn't a big deal. I had spent very little time thinking about exactly what I was going to say and assumed that as usual, when I got up there, I would think of something to say. I did have my PowerPoint slides and knew what the two key points were that I was going to make, but beyond that, I was completely winging it. Fortunately, I didn't stray beyond my ten-minute time limit and I thought it went pretty well.

Then, I attended sessions all day, drank coffee during the breaks, mingled with other professors, etc. This evening, we have a reception at St. Andrews College at the University of Sydney. That may go quite late and then it is back here to sleep before tomorrow's sessions.

The St. Andrews reception was great. This is the oldest college in the southern hemisphere and they had bagpipes playing when we entered. Obviously, it is a Scottish college and the dinner was great. I even got to have haggis! Now I am among those few and proud who have actually eaten haggis. Of course, that was not the main meal and the salmon they served was exquisite. Very tender and well cooked. There was a ton of wine and I enjoyed it all. I was seated at the head table with the conference organizers, keynote speakers, etc. Great conversation and overall a fun night.

Maybe I'll just step out a bit tomorrow (my last day in Australia) so I can at least feel I walked out of the hotel during the conference (believe it or not, I haven't done that yet). I haven't really done any shopping of any kind and I should perhaps think of some small (light) gifts for the kids. That will be easy. Finding something for Jerrie and others is next to impossible.

Sydney - June 15, 2006

As I mentioned at the end of my last post, I was up early finishing up yesterday's blog. Unfortunately, I could not get the Internet connection to work and so had to delay uploading pictures and things until I got to Sydney. When I got out of the motel to drive to the airport, I realized what an incredibly beautiful place Hobart is. I wish I had a couple of days to explore this city. I think I need to spend about 10-15 days just wandering around Tasmania. I could do a couple of days right here in Hobart. Mount Wellington (which I couldn't visit) dominates the skyline as you can see in the photograph. The area I was staying in was quaint and designed for walking. Alas, I had to head to work.

I got to Sydney and took the shuttle to the hotel. The Novotel Sydney Darling Harbor is like almost any other big hotel in a big city. I checked in and logged in. There is a sense of familiarity in being back among the typical hotel environment I am used to, but there is also a tinge of sadness that I am "done" with my Australian adventure. Although I still have a few days here in Sydney before I head home, it is different now. The next few days will be dominated by the conference - attending sessions and hanging around with other academics. Something I have done numerous times and, in a way, quite predictable. I am not sure if the slight sense of sadness comes merely from the fact that my "vacation" is over and now it's back to work or whether it is the end of the unpredictable and spontaneous part of the trip.

All through this trip (so far), I was doing things I don't normally do. I think there was a relatively constant hint of nervousness as to what might happen that day. Living in the hostels was a new experience. Heading out for a drive alone in a country I was completely unfamiliar with was a new experience. Even walking around Melbourne with no particular goal in mind was an unpredictable and possibly unexpected journey. Back in my fancy hotel and recognized faces, some of that "excitement" is gone. I think we all want to experience a little sense of "danger" every now and then without really putting ourselves in "real" danger. Perhaps it is the same reason rollercoasters and haunted houses are so popular. So, it is with that tinge of sadness that I find myself back in Sydney in my hotel room. I think I have a pretty good idea of how the next few days are going to go ... By the way, on the left is a picture of the Sydney skyline from my hotel room window.

I spent the afternoon in my room catching up on email and getting ready for my presentation in the morning. I then decided to take a long bath and soaked in the tub for over an hour before heading down to register for the conference. I registered, brought my "bag" up to the room and then headed down for the reception at 6:30. Met several people I knew and drank some wine and beer before hooking up with a couple of Australian faculty (Catherine and Nicole from the University of Sydney) along with Ashesh (McGill) and Andy (Michigan) to head to the "Summit" a revolving restaurant in SYdney. Had a "fire sky" drink and some olives before calling it a night a little before midnight. I got to bed a little before 1 AM. I took a couple of pictures of the Sydney Skyline by night from the hotel window.

Tasmania's East Coast - June 14, 2006

What an interesting day I had today!

I was up by 6 AM and managed to say goodbye to Harvey before he headed to work. After breakfast (more Vegemite on bread) and a shower, I managed to hit the road by about 8:30 AM. It was another bright, sunny, and relatively warm day. I drove from Launceston to “Campbell Town” where I had to hang a left to head towards Tasmania’s east coast. It was another beautiful drive with the vast sheep-filled meadows and purple mountains I had described on my drive up to Launceston. The first point at which I hit the coast was Swansea on the Great Oyster Bay. It was an in incredible place. The sky was blue, the sea was green and the beach was beautiful. When I parked the car and hopped out to explore the scenery, I found the sand on the beaches here seem quite different than “American” beach sand. The sand here is VERY fine – almost like talcum powder. I went for a walk on the beach that was littered with seaweed, shells of every shape and color, clams, and even sponges. I photographed the water, the sand, and even several shells! As I continued my drive down the coast, I couldn’t help but stop every now and then and try and capture the spectacular views of the Tasman Sea. I also managed to balance my camera on a couple of rocks to get a picture of my trusty companion through this entire drive around Tasmania – my Hyundai Getz.

Finally, at Orford, the highway cut inland again and I headed south to Sorrel and then onward to Port Arthur. I decided I would wait until Port Arthur for lunch, which I estimated would be around 1 PM. Now here’s where there was a misunderstanding on my part. All I knew was that people had recommended I go to Port Arthur. I knew nothing about it. Based just on locating it on a Tasmania map, I assumed it was a beautiful little seaside town on Maingon Bay. When I got through all the winding roads, I found “Port Arthur Historical Site” is all there is. Hmmmm … historic site … My poor general knowledge shone through. I had no idea what Port Arthur’s historic significance was. I didn’t even know that it was a historic site and not a town. And, I still hadn’t had any lunch. Well, a little apprehensively, I paid the $25 admission fee and entered. Port Arthur was a penal colony for “serious criminals and repeat offenders” who were guilty of such terrible crimes as stealing a loaf of bread or suggesting that every man get one vote. This was one of the main sites of the British Empire where people were sent when they were sentenced to “transportation.” The entire place was built by convicts. It held convicts from the early 1830s to 1877 when the last of the convicts were dispersed in Hobart and other towns. By that time, the British were rethinking the entire convict punishment system and cruel and miserable jails were going out of fashion. In the 1920s, the government started restoring the place which had been abandoned in an effort to forget the “dark side” of Tasmania’s past. This place was known for very harsh treatment of the convicts. The buildings built by the convicts of sandstone are beautiful and the Port Arthur Bay where ships alighted is spectacularly beautiful. I guess in those days there were so many astonishingly beautiful sites in Australia that they could afford to sacrifice this stunning site for criminals. The site entry included an introductory walking tour where a guide essentially pointed out the buildings on the site and what we can expect to find in each of them, as well as a short harbor cruise where we were taken around this beautiful harbor. The cruise also takes us around tiny Point Peur island, which was the first penitentiary in the British Empire for kids. Apparently, in England at that time, children the age of 8 were considered to have “come of age” and to be responsible for themselves. So, they could be arrested and tried as adults. Several teenagers were therefore imprisoned here, including some kids as young as 9 (hear that, Neil?) The kids were also severely punished for offences such as “throwing bread at another boy.”

To get back to my story, I was assigned to the 1:30 PM walking tour, which was just starting when I entered the facility. They also assigned me to the 3 PM cruise. Between these, I went to the café on site and tried to get some late lunch. Unfortunately, the cupboard was quite bare. The lady at the café explained that since this was off-season, they had very few visitors and so did not make much food. So, I bought the rather sad looking old egg salad sandwich and wolfed it down. The whole site was fascinating. In fact, since this was off-season, it was quite a different experience I would imagine, walking around the site. The entire place was practically deserted, lending it a creepy ambience. As you enter the historic site, they have 5 levels of parking lots. It should let you know how empty the place was that I was able to park on the first level right by the entrance to the site. Wandering about this huge, deserted area was a little disconcerting. I imagine the place is just packed during the Australian summer (December-January).

You can spend a lot of time wandering around the entire 40-acre site and visiting the various buildings and imagining what life was like there both for the convicts and the civilian officers who often lived there with their families. By the time I was done, it was 5:00 PM. Graeme had told me about an outstanding “Ghost Tour” they have in the evenings. A guide essentially walks you around the site at night, lit only by a couple of lanterns and tells you of the ghosts and supernatural events reported there. I found out that the Ghost tour was only at 6:30 and very hesitantly decided not to wait around for it. I was already a little apprehensive about driving the narrow, winding road back to Hobart at night and to wait until after 8 (when the ghost tour would end) seemed unappealing. So, I headed off and drove to Hobart – about an hour and forty five minutes away.

The motel was not that easy to find in the city, but I eventually found my way to it. Nice, small and clean. I walked over to a “Souvlaki House” and picked up a chicken souvlaki for dinner and came back to the room to type up the blog. Somehow, I must have been so tired, that I dropped off to sleep with the computer on my lap, the TV on, and all the room lights on. I woke up sometime in the middle of the night and just moved the laptop to safety. I finally woke up a little after 4 AM and couldn’t go back to sleep. So, that’s when I am finishing this.

Launceston - June 13, 2006

Perhaps it is an indication of how "at home" I feel here that I got a late start this morning. I had a great night's sleep and didn't even get out of bed until almost 8 AM. Then I lazed around Harvey's place in the morning (both Harvey & Betty had left for work) and took my time getting ready to head out. I made myself a Vegemite sandwich for breakfast, took a shower, and left the house only a little before 10:30 AM.

My first stop was the gunpowder mill (Penny Royal) in Launceston. This is repllica of an old gunpowder mill and is an interesting little visit. I was one of the only people in the park and took the little "boat ride" in the big boat by myself. Then, they have a little replica of a schooner that they take you around in and even fire the cannons. It was all cute and fun, but would have been a LOT more fun with the kids. I think they would have enjoyed it more. This took about an hour. The $15 ticket also includes a windmill and a watermill nearby, so I walked over to those attractions too. I walked all the way up to the top of the windmill tower and had a great view of the city. However, it made me a little nervous because it is quite old and the walkway is made of creaking wood. Plus, the railing around this creaking, wooden walkway doesn't even come up to the waist. I stayed long enough to take a couple of photographs and feel my mild vertigo. The watermill was also attached to a famous sweet shop (lollies, as they say here) called "Gourlay's." I bought some traditionally English candies that I enjoyed as a kid, but don't recall having seeing in the U.S. - humbugs and bullseyes. Actually, maybe the kids will like them as I think they talk about humbugs and bullseyes in Harry Potter.

As you can see, it was another beautiful, bright, sunny day in Tasmania. I drove back into town and headed to the visitor center to find out more about the "wine route" up north. Since I was close to Boag's Brewery, I decided to stop by their "Centre for Beer Lovers" to inquire about Brewery tours. They told me there was a "big tour" at 2 PM. They have a brief tour (lasting an hour) and a more detailed "big" tour that lasts an hour and a half and goes into more detail on the brewing process. Since it was about 1:15 PM at this point, I hesitated. I wasn't sure if I would have time for both the brewery tour and my drive up north into the wine country. Finally, I decided to sign on to the 2 PM tour. I walked over to a nearby cafe for lunch and then came back in time for the tour. So, I learned all about the difference between malted barley (they let the barley germinate a little bit) and unmalted roasted barley (they dark roast the barley before it germinates), the different types of hops (Tasmania is one of the few places in the world which grows both its own barley and its own hops), what double-hopped beer is like (they add hops both at the start of the fermentation process and at the end), the difference between flash pasteurization and regular pasteurization, the lagering process (they lager their beers for 30-60 days depending on the variety), and more. Then, we got to taste Boag's Premium, Boag's Premium Light, Boag's Draught, and Boag's Strongarm Bitter. Each of the beers was paired with an appropriate local cheese (Blue cheese, creamy double brie, cheddar, and pepper cheddar respectively). I really liked the Boag's Draught and the Boag's Premium. The Strongarm Bitter was quite good and tasty, while the Premium Light was disappointingly tasteless. I thoroughly enjoyed the beer and cheese tasting, though.

It was close to 3:45 PM when I was done with the whole brewery tour and was ready to hit the road along the wine route. I drove out of town, but again could not resist stopping every now and then for a few pictures. This drive is along the Tamar River. The wineries are dotted all along the Tamar River Valley. So, as you can imagine, the scenery is beautiful. Make sure you click on a couple of these photos to see a larger size image. The first winery I stopped at was Strathlynn and I found it had closed at 4 PM. Realizing that I was running out of time, I hopped right back into the car and headed just a couple of kilometers further to the Moorilla Estate/St. Matthias winery. I tasted a bunch of wines and bought a couple for Harvey and family as well as one for myself. Apparently, the cellars of these wineries all close at 5 PM, so I knew I had to hurry up if I wanted to get to any more. I headed north and came across a small winery called Stoney Rise. Since it was about 4:45 PM by this time, I knew this would be my last winery stop. I walked in and made friends with the old man running the place. I told him I was from America and wanted to know all about Tasmanian wines. He seemed quite in the mood to talk and we chatted for a long time on everything from the australian wine glut to the development of the Tasmanian wine industry. This guy has a 10-acre vineyard and he went into some detail on what it takes to develop the vines and manage it in this relatively difficult climate. Very interesting guy. I got into the mood and even made disparaging comments about some Americans who drink wine because it is fashionable and don't appreciate the complexity of various wines. I then asked him for a taste of his wines (we had been talking for a while and he hadn't pulled out the bottles yet) and made some impressive sounding comments about the "earthiness" of the pinot noir and the "fruity bouquet" on the Chardonnay. He then told me about "Verjuice" (he was selling that too) which is the juice of a very young pinot grape (plucked when it is still green and has not turned pink yet) that is used for cooking. I bought a bottle of his verjuice for Harvey & Betty. I bought a few bottles of wine off him and he seemed happy. The tasting room was attached to his home and I even met his son, son's wife, and their baby. Very nice guy and as you can see in the photo to the right, a breathtaking view from his front window. You can see the vines and the Tamar River beyond. I told him how beautiful Tasmania was and he admitted that since he lived here, he sometimes took the view for granted. After a long and interesting visit, I left his place at almost 5:30 PM, by which time it was completely dark.

The drive back to Harvey/Betty's place was uneventful. I stopped at a Woolworths to pick up a little more banana candy and came home. Then, as if all their incredible hospitality wasn't enough, Harvey & Betty insisted on taking me out to dinner at a local restaurant. I had a "scotch fillet" (an Australian steak) that was great (though a little over done) and we enjoyed more beer and wine. I tried hard to convince them that I would like to buy them dinner, but they would have none of it. We got home, chatted a little longer and I found myself quite sleepy by 11:30 PM. Tomorrow it's off to Tasmania's east coast - ending in Hobart.

Sydney - Hobart - Launceston - June 12, 2006

So, after a shower, we left for the airport. Karen came along too and since Australians don't seem to mind non-passengers in the gate area, they came in and we sat down at a cafe in the airport and had coffee and breakfast. We admired the planes until it was time for me to board.

The flight to Hobart was short (barely an hour) and uneventful. For breakfast, they serve Vita-bix, which I had heard of, but never tried. It essentially consists of little brick-shaped chunks of crispy cereal. I added the provided milk and it initially tasted pretty good and crunchy. Then, the bricks crumbled in the milk and it turned into a pretty ugly mush. That's when I gave up on it.

As the plane was landing, I knew I was in for a treat in Tasmania. The weather was bright and sunny and the view looked amazing. I picked up my rental car at the airport (Hyundai Getz) and hesitatingly drove out of the airport (on the left side of the road). Not only am I driving on the left side of the road, but this is a manual transmission car. So, the stick shift is on my left on the floor and the blinkers are on the right of the steering wheel. It took a little getting used to. Most commonly, I kept turning on the wipers every time I wanted to use the blinkers.

The weather in Hobart was surprisingly warm (too warm for my jacket) and the sun beating down (very bright day) actually made the inside of the car quite hot. The drive was beautiful and I couldn't resist stopping every now and then to take a few pictures. Notice all the sheep in the picture on the left? As you can see, the scenery did remind me a lot of Idaho-Montana. There are rolling plains dotted with sheep and cattle with a beautiful backdrop of mountains sheathed in evergreen trees. Very vast and inspiring scenery - just like the descriptions of "Brokeback Mountain" settings. Driving along the relatively narrow road, I passed a few interesting looking vineyards. Finally, I decided to stop at one for a tasting. I saw a sign for Puddleduck Vineyards and stopped. This is one of may smaller vineyards dotting the countryside. I tried out their Pinot, a Chardonnay, and an interesting Reisling. The Reisling had a very floral bouquet, but a surprsingly earthy palate. In true "Sideways" style, I pretended to know more than I did. I carefully examined the color of the wine, stuck my nose deep into the glass, and even made impressive "sucking" sounds as I sipped the wines. I wondered whether I should buy any, but decided to wait until later as this was my first stop.

After about 25 miles of winding through the beautiful countryside, I hit the main highway to Launceston in northern Tasmania. Despite driving from southern Tasmania to northern Tasmania, the drive was barely 2.5 hours. The directions given by my friend Harvey Griggs to his place were quite simple to follow and I found myself at his house in time for lunch.

Harvey Griggs, who was in the MBA program with me at the University of Idaho, lives right by Launceston (I guess you could call it a residential suburb of Launceston) in Tasmania. The photo above is the view from his front window, taken from the front of his driveway. Beautiful views of the mountainside.

It was really fantastic to see Harvey, Betty, and little Pippa (she was only 4 when I knew her about 20 years ago!) again. They also have to be the most gracious hosts you can imagine. Given that I was just barging into their place based on our friendship of two decades ago, they were so incredibly friendly, helpful, and kind that I almost felt guilty. When I got home, Harvey had lunch waiting for me. I also met his neighbor, Murray, who was very helpful when I asked about providing me with a broadband connection. Then, Harvey and Murry sat with me and patiently explained the rules of Australian Football. I think I have a pretty good handle on it now. When Betty got home, they drove me to Cataract Gorge, just a few minutes from their place. We went for a nice long walk along the edge of the gorge, cut by the Tamar River. There are countless paths and trails along the gorge and in our relatively little walk, we only walked along one of these. You could see all the trails leading off every few steps. The photos just do not do the place justice, partly because the setting sun left parts of the gorge in darkness and the peaks in bright sunlight. This made it hard to get the light balance right. In the shade, it was chilly, but not cold.

When we got back home, I was mortified to find that poor Murray had spent hours trying to set up my broadband connection so I could access the net from my room. This had even delayed him for his bike ride. When I asked Harvey if I could do a little laundry, he offered to do it for me and over my (admittedly mild) protests did all my laundry! Then Betty and Pip made dinner of lamb, chicken, and vegetables while I was served some more beer. I came into my room to complete the blog. Later, we had a delicious meal and spent a few hours talking and reminiscing. Pippa is actually engaged (yes, the little girl has grown into a beautiful woman) and her fiance, Hayden, is a chef at a local restaurant. After dinner, we had a great apple crumble pie with ice cream, that Betty had made in the evening with apples picked from her back yard. They have an apple tree just loaded with apples.

We then did some planning for tomorrow. Both Betty and Harvey have to be out of the house to work early. They have completely set me up with everything I need for my morning coffee and breakfast before I head out for the day. My plan is to do the Gunpowder mill and Boag Brewery tour in Launceston before heading up along the Tama river into the wine region.

One thing interesting about homes in Australia. Something that reminds me of India is that most of the homes do not have the central heating so prevalent in the USA. As a result, even if the days are not very cold, the homes can get quite chilly. Certain individual rooms and even the blankets are heated, but the house itself can be quite cold. Good way to save energy. Is it really worth heating the whole house when only a fraction is used at any time? Walking around the house, you need a jacket and socks, but once in bed, you get toasty quite soon. But, like Delhi winters, it ends up feeling colder than it actually is.

Split Enz - Melbourne (June 11, 2006)

As I mentioned in my last post, we had absolutely incredible seats for the Enz concert in Melbourne. We were right up front and I could actually see the color of the performer's eyes from where we were seated. The only minor annoyance was that a couple of ladies sitting right next to me brought some batter operated sticks with brightly flashing colored lights that they insisted on holding up and waving through the concert. The problem was that the one next to me was essentially waving this brightly flashing thing right in my face. Fortunately, before I got sick enough of it to grab it and crush it under my feet (the temptation was strong a few times), they got tired of holding these things up and waving them in my face.

The sound was great, the performance was fantastic (the set list was identical to Melbourne, so I won't repeat it here) and they seemed to banter with the audience more in Melbourne than they did in Sydney. What a fabulous show. I am so glad I decided to get tickets for both the shows. This was such a different experience from the Sydney show. Sydney, we were up in the stands enjoying the show. In Melboure, it felt like we were part of the show. Being so close to the stage resulted in the whole show kinda "enveloping" us more, making it a much more interactive experience. Great time!

Review from the Melbourne Herald Sun
Review from The Age (Melbourne)

After the show, we walked back (in some occasional drizzle) and decided to check out Melbourne's CROWN CASINO. Very much like a typical Las Vegas casino. This place was huge. Graeme and I enjoyed a couple of pints and got back home only about 1 AM. My flight the next morning was at 8:35 AM and Graeme had offered to drop me at the airport. Fortunately, it was only about 10-15 minutes away. Despite fears that I would wake up at 4 in the morning, I fell asleep soon after we got home (around 1:30 AM) and did not stir until Graeme woke me up until the agreed upon 6 AM wake-up time. Finally, even though it was a little abbreviated, I got a solid, undisturbed night's sleep. Take a look at the Yarra river below (on taken on my walk back from the Rod Laver Arena). Of course, the Melbourne skyline is in the background.

Melbourne - June 11, 2006

Okay, so I woke up early this morning and took a shower. This hostel did not provide any soap and since I didn't have any soap, I improvised. First, I ran stark naked across the locker room (the showers were on one end) to the sinks and grabbed a HUGE handfull of handsoap and ran back into the shower stall. Then, when I ran out of that, I used some shampoo (Pert Plus, if it makes a difference) for the rest.

Then, sitting in my room, I started contemplating my Tasmania plan a little bit. All three people I had mentioned "Tasmania" to here immediately said "Oh, make sure you visit Port Arthur." Now, Port Arthur was not in my plan, but I thought maybe it should be. Also, it would allow me ot leave Launceston on the morning of June 14 and spend the night near Hobart airport - just so I could avoid the uncertainties associated with a 2.5-3 hour drive in an unfamiliar country before a morning flight.

So, I headed to the "free half hour" computer and started looking to see if Hobart had any Hilton-branded hotel or a Holiday Inn (I have points with both these groups - enough for a free room night). Unfortunately, no such luck. I looked through Expedia and found that I could get a room at a Best Western for about US$75 for a night, which I booked. Looking at a map, it looks like I can do a nice "circle tour" of Tasmania. From Hobart, I will drive straight up to Launceston. Then, on my return, go along the eastern coast to Port Arthur before heading back to Hobart. I'll spend that night in Hobart before taking the flight to Sydney on the morning of June 15. From various web sites, it looks like the distance from Port Arthur to Hobart is only about 100 KM. I'll probably leave Launceston early on 14th morning so I can have some time in Port Arthur (here is info on Port Arthur from Wikipedia.)

When I was walking around last evening, I remembered walking by a very interesting looking store that is essentially just a huge magazine shop. They sell nothing but magazines. The store is called Mag Nation ("You can handle anything in the store except the staff!") and it has a coffee shop as well as free wireless internet access. So, I decided this was my chance to add a few pictures to the blog and catch up on my email [Note: You may want to go back and check my past posts which I have edited and have added photographs]. I checked out of the hostel (left my big bag in their bag room) and walked over to the store (it doesn't seem quite as cold today). I ordered a coffee and opened up my laptop and started work on all you see here. Not only is this a nice store, but the people are VERY friendly. They had just opened when I got here and their coffee machine wasn't going yet. They asked me to make myself comfortable and they would bring me the coffee. Then, the guy brought me my latte and confirmed that I had connected alright. He then assured me that I could stay as long as I wanted and connect as long as I wanted with no restrictions at all. I think I'll buy a couple of magazines here just to reward their outstanding, low-key approach. Any of you ever visiting Melbourne, make sure you stop by Mag Nation (corner of Collins & Elizabeth, I think) and buy some coffee and magazines from them.

Since the Internet connection is working so well, I decided to use Skype to make a couple of free calls. Then I found that I had forgotten my "microphone-headset" in the other bag at the hostel. My backback had the Etymotic earbuds as well as the big Sony noise-cancelling headphones. So, I decided to try using the headphones as a microphone. It worked just great, with both amma and Jerrie commenting that the sound was clear. The only problem is that I was sitting in this store talking into the big headphones! I know this attracted a couple of strange looks from customers. At least no one actually came up to me to let me know that headphones are supposed to go on my head (over my ears). It's great to improvise - especially when it works!

After about three hours with the Internet (and three cups of expensive coffee and two magazines for a total bill of about $40), I headed back to the hostel. I stopped by McDonalds and grabbed a "Tandoori Chicken Sandwich" for lunch. Graeme called and said he'd been delayed, so I relaxed in the lobby of the hostel for a little bit and then decided to walk to Rod Laver Arena to see if I could pick up the tickets for the show that night. It rained on me almost all the way there, and when I got there, the place was completely deserted. I set up my tripod and took a picture of myself in front of the Split Enz sign and walked back (in intermittent rain) to the hostel. The walk to the arena (though wet) was beautiful - along the Yarra river. The hostel is a couple of minutes up from the spectacular Flinders Street Railway Station (the yellow building pictured below). It still wasn't really "cold" in any Minnesota sense, just a little wet and gloomy. Graeme called to say that he was going to be delayed further and I could either wait or take a cab to his place. Anxious to just relax (and dry out) for a while, I went back to the lounge of the hostel and relaxed, finishing the "Stillborn" medical thriller I was reading (it was okay - not as good as I expected, but not terrible either).

Graeme picked me up at about 5 PM and we drove to his beautiful home in the Melbourne suburbs, where we dropped off my bags. I met his girlfriend, Karen and immediately felt comfortable and welcome. Since we were later than we planned, we quaffed a quick beer and then headed off to the concert (with Graeme as my date). We parked at Graeme's work parking structure and stopped by a food court for dinner. I ordered another "Curry Laksa" at the Chinese place and still didn't do it as much justice as I would have liked. Then, we walked to the arena (about twenty minutes away) and sure enough, got wet in on-and-off rain through the entire walk. We picked up the tickets and headed into the arena to find that our seats (Row E) were literally the fifth row from the front of the stage. We were right there in front of the stage. Spectacular seats - a nice change from the relatively poor Melbourne seats. The opening band of Evermore was much better than I expected. Excellent, tight band with very young musicians. The incredible drummer is only 16 or something. After their set, I headed off to the merchandise booths to buy all the super-expensive merchandise. I was buying stuff for a Enz-list friend as well as for myself. T-shirts were $40 a piece. Programmes were $20 a piece. VERY expensive. In all, I ended up spending about $200 on Enz merchandise, for which I actually got very little. I'll continue the concert report in the next post. Graeme and Karen are pictured below:

Sydney - Melbourne June 10, 2006

So, I spent a relatively restless night for some strange reason. Although I was tired, I still kept waking up through the night. Finally, I just gave up and woke up at about 7 AM. By this time, I was pretty famished and so I went downstairs and ordered the "Big Breakfast"which included 3 eggs, sausage, bacon, baked beans, and coffee. The bacon here is more like what we could call "ham strips" as opposed to the "bacon"we're familiar with. The sausages look and taste quite different from what we have at home. Despite being incredibly hungry, I couldn't finish it all.

I don't recall if I provided much detail on the backpacker hostel I was staying at in Sydney. It was quite nice. It provides all the basics of a place to stay with none of the luxuries. Your room is small and contains a bed and two towels, along with a couple of small cheap soaps. That's all. No wardrobe, no table, no locker. Just enough to live out of. On the other hand, there's great security. You can't even go up to any of the living floors until you insert your room card into the elevator.

I took the shuttle to the airport and headed to Melbourne. The flight was quite comfortable and uneventful. Melbourne is definitely cold. While I didn't even need a jacket in Sydney, Melbourne needs a couple of layers and even with my three layers and the light jacket, I was cool ("cold"would be too strong a word for someone from Duluth). The shuttle brought me to the Greenhouse Backpacker Hostel. This place seems a little downscale from the Wake Up! but still has decent looking security. The big difference here is that the room doesn't have an attached bathroom and everyone on a floor shares bathrooms. Not even a TV in this one. The room, again, is still quite spartan and is essentially good enough to sleep in.

Melbourne still seems to me to be a city with more "character"than Sydney. This is an impression I formed last time and so dar, just based on the brief drive to the hostel, it seems to persist. I'll probably head out for a walk now and just soak in the ambience. Tomorrow afternoon, Graeme will pick me up and head to his place, returning to the city for the show.

BTW, something VERY interesting. The keyboard I am using has almost ALL of the keys with rubbed off labels. So, I don't know what most of the characters are. Initially, it was unnerving - I couldn't even type in the password to log in to my blogspot account. Then, I just let go and let me fingers do the typing without worrying about which keys I was hitting. Amazingly, I am actually typing this quite fast right now and finding I am familiar enough with the keyboard to be able to type with unlabeled keys for the most part. It is like I'm "feeling the force." The force is flowing through me ...

Okay, it is official - Melbourne is DEFINITELY a nicer city than Sydney. I can't really put my finger on it. I went out for a walk at about 3 PM and just LOVED walking around this city. It has so many intersting little shops. There are so many more people walking around. I don't know. For an analogy, Sydney is more like Minneapolis while Melbourne is more like New York City. I don't mean literally, but imagine yourself walking around downtown Minneapolis. Now imagine walking around Times Square in NYC. See what I mean? Melbourne is much more interesting to walk around. There are also all these little alleys bustling with little shops that remind me of Europe. This is the city I wish I had more time in. I bought a PC game - Cricket! Should be interesting. I found a store selling my bana candy and bought a couple of packs so I could make sure they are exactly the ones I always liked. Then I stopped by a little hole in the wall called the "Curry Bowl" and picked up some stuff for dinner and headed back to the hostel. Just before I got back, I found a great little used CD store called Dragonfly and found some nice CDs to bring home - including "The Best of Rolf Harris" (of Jake the Peg, Court of King Caractacus, and Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport, fame). In the room, I had my dinner (I was hungry again by this time) and decided to head down to the bar in the basement so I could stay awake for a while and adjust better to australia time (you get free wireless access if you buy a drink every half an hour!) Unfortunately, I just could not keep my eyes open and suddenly woke up to find it was 11:45 PM. Of course, I was too tired to go anywhere and I changed into my pyjamas and went to sleep. Again, it wasn't a really great night as there were people talking in the hallways almost all the night. To top it off, I found myself wide awake at 4:40 AM. I lay in bed concentrating hard on going back to sleep (it never works) and finally gave up and got up at about 6:30 AM.

Split Enz Sydney - Set List

Review from The Sydney Morning Herald

Set List
Shark Attack
Poor Boy
One Step Ahead
Give It A Whirl
Nobody Takes Me Seriously
Jamboree
Double Happy (Eddie Instrumental)
I Hope I Never
Message To My Girl
Dirty Creature
Stuff & Nonsense
Devil You Know
129 Matinee Idyll
Strait Old Line
Pioneer
Six Months In A Leaky Boat
I Got You
What's The Matter With You
I See Red
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Take A Walk
Charlie
My Mistake
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Bold As Brass
History Never Repeats
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Here are some pictures from the show that another fan just posted on the Internet:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ozrockpics/sets/72157594161127010/

Australia Day 1 - Sydney, June 9, 2006

Phew, I fnially got here. I am using a paid internet connection at the hostel I am staying at and so will make this quick.

The quickest way to summarize the trip would be to list the things I learned while getting to Sydney:

1. 15 hours is a LONG time to be on a plane for a non-stop flight.
2. Sitting down for 15 hours (in Economy class) is brutal on your tailbone.
3. If you spend a lot of money to buy a pair of headphones for a trip, make sure you know where you put them before you get on the plane. I knew I had packed my Etymotic ER-6 phones, but could not find it no matter how hard I dug in every section of my bag. The moment I arrived in Sydney and reached into my carry-on bag, it popped right into my hands!
4. Row 64 on a 747-400 is VERY noisy (maybe because it is right behind the engines).
5. You can fit a LOT of people on a plane (in Economy class) if you pack the seats real close to each other.
6. No matter how hard you pray, the person in the seat in front of you WILL lean their seat all the way back (usually right after you open up your laptop).
7. The person seated behind me is most likely to be a large person who shifts in his seat regularly and bounces you around everytime he moves.
8. Dry salmon doesn't taste too bad when you're hungry.
9. If you're super sleepy, you cannot force yourself to stay awake even if it will mean an easier transition to the destimation time zone. I had great plans on staying up for the first7 hours of the flight and sleeping for the last 8, but it never worked out.
10. If you're wide awake, you can't force yourself to sleep even if it will make your transition to the destination time zone easier.
11. Australia has VERY strict quarantine laws. As they keep saying, you can't bring in anything edible. I had purchase some boxes of dried wild rice soup mix at Minneapolis airport as gifts for people I am visiting here. The quarantine folks at the airport confiscated it along with all the packets of instant coffee (with the built-in creamer) that I had brought with me.

When I got into Sydney it was pouring with rain (it still is raining) but not cold at all (literally t-shirt weather). Then, when I checked my email, I found that the person who had said they would buy my exrta ticket to the concert had backed out. Someone else offered them a ticket closer to the stage and so they didn't want mine any more. Pretty rotten to agree to buy the ticket and then back out just because they haven't paid, if you ask me. Oh well!

The room at the Wake Up! hostel was spartan, but clean. It is incredibly centrally located - just a few minutes walk from the Sydney Entertainment Centre where the Enz concert was being held. A HOT shower instantly made me feel better and I came down. First pleasant surprise was that they sell SIM cards with $30 credit (for $30). I decided to give it a shot and asked for a "sample SIM card" to see if it would work with my US phone. The girl at the counter pulled the card out of her phone and I put it in my cell phone. The moment I turned it on, it recognized VODAFONE AU and I was in business. I bought a $30 card and I had a fully functioning cell phone here in Australia! It has already come in handy and will certainly be nice to have on the trip.

On the right here, is the view from my hostel room. Anyway, I then walked over to the Centre to pick up my tickets. I even tried to sell the extra ticket to someone who walked up to the ticket counter, but they looked at me weirdly and for some reason I felt like a criminal. I walked around Chinatown a little bit and grabbed some lunch at a "Mr. Kebab" corner. Since my biorhythm was all off, I couldn't eat much. I returned ot the hostel and posted some signs around the place to try and sell my extra ticket. I could leave my mobile number. On returning to my room, I tried to get some sleep knowing it was going to be a long night. I finally got a call from my friend at AGSM and she and her husband agreed to meet me at "Paddy McGuire's" pub (close to the entertainment centre) at 6:45 PM. She even gave me the good news that one of her friends was interested in my extra ticket.

I had some restless sleep and finally woke up at about 5:45 PM feeling exactly like it was 3 in the morning (it probably was something like that in the US). You know that sandy-eyed, droopy-eyed feeling when you get up way too early? That's how I felt - and completely exhausted. Still I dragged myself out of bed and washed my face and headed to the pub. This pub was also supposed to be a "meet-up" place for other Finn fans and I ran into Anastasia, a lovely Russian girl who was also heading to the concert. We chatted while waiting for friends to show. Giana and her husband showed up only at about 7:15 and their friend Craig (my ticket buyer) came about half an hour later. I enjoyed a few draght beers (I tried a Twoohey's,a Victoria Bitter, and Kilkenny's and probably liked the Kilkenny's the best). The five of us (Giana, her husband, Craig, Anastasia, and I) headed to the concert only at about 8:45. They assured me that the opening band EVERMORE was really not worth watching. SO, we got there just in time for the Enz show. Walking into the arena, as expected, energized me and we didn't have long to wait before they came on. I felt a part of history - it was so amazing to see Mal, Noel, Nigel, Tim, and Neil together on stage in their great costumes. The seats wer okay but not anything really great. The sound was decent, but since we were on the side, we could occasionally hear an echo off the back of the arena. Still, it was a FANTASTIC show with hit after hit after hit being played. I'll put the set list on another post. Absolutely tremendous!

We all met up again outside after the show and decided to go for dinner (Anastasia decided to stay back and wait to see if she could get some autographs from the band, but none of us were in the mood to just hang around for a few hours). So, the four of us headed to Chinatown for dinner. We stopped ata place and I ordered a "Chicken Laksa" which was delicious, but I just could NOT do it justice because of my messed up biorhythm. I wished I could have taken the rest with me. Finally, I was back in my room a little after midnight and had a rather restless night. More later ....

Pre-Trip Australia Leg 1 (Day 3 in California)

Okay, another slow day with not much to report. Spent time working in the morning. Had lunch at Anandam mami's house (delicious eggplant curry) and then ended up at Gilly's place for more wine - Paul Zinck, Rangen, Reisling, Grand Cru, 2001. He will be taking me to the airport a little later. The airline wants me checked in at least 1.5 hours before the flight and Gilly says getting there a couple of hours in advance will be fine. The big achievement was finding someone who was interested in buying my extra ticket to the Sydney show. I was getting a little worried since I was arriving only on the day of the concert, but thanks to my CH mailing list, I found someone interested in the ticket. I will have to call them when I get there to work out the exchange. In Melbourne, my friend Graeme Lemin will be using my extra ticket to the Enz concert.

More books to read: Ashok Banker's retelling of the Ramayana, and Peter Robinson's Snapshots from Hell, a book about his Stanford MBA experience.

Pre-Trip Australia Leg 1 (Day 2 in California)

Pretty slow and lazy day today. Amma had to go volunteer at a senior center in the morning (apparently she is the youngest of the group and they needed her "brawn" to set up the place) and so I stayed at home and worked. Mostly I responded to email, worked on the presentation I have to give at the conference (I still don't really have a good idea of what I'm going to say, but at least I spent some time today thinking about it), and called the airline to see if I could get any upgrades with miles (no luck!)

After amma returned, we visited a close family friend, Raghu Ram, who works at Apple Computer. Very nice campus. We had lunch at their specatcular cafe (no Steve Jobs sightings despite the fact that he apparently eats there frequently). Then, we met some other friends/relatives and eventually landed up at Gilly' place. He is off with Kyle at a baseball game and we'll make evening plans when he returns. I'll post more tonight. Obviously no pictures yet.

Had a couple of glasses of good wine before heading back to Sunnyvale for the night. Stopped at Rajjot for dinner of phulkas with aloo-baingan and palak-paneer. Amma is making me some mango lassi, but I am too stuffed to drink it right now. Maybe in a little while before I go to bed. It is already past 10 PM (Pacific), so hopefully I'll feel able to drink it within the next few minutes.

Pre-Australia - Leg 1

An amazingly inauspicious start to this trip. When I got to the airport in Duluth, there was a LONG line at the security checkpoint (longer than I have ever seen at the airport). Then, as I went through, they took my backpack to the “extra check” area and ran those strange swabs over it. You know what I’m talking about? Those round cloth swabs that they use to wipe down a part of your bag before sticking it in a machine that beeps ominously after a few seconds? Well, while I have occasionally been through the process before, never to this level. The guy took practically everything out of my bag and did a “swab wipe” of each item individually! Yes, he used about seven wipes in all, with separate tests for my camera, iPod, sunglasses, headphones, etc. He even looked through the viewfinder on my camera and wanted to take a picture. I have no idea what set this off, but he finally seemed satisfied and wished me a good flight.

The flight out of Duluth was terribly bumpy and for the first time since I was maybe 12 or so, I felt incredibly airsick. I don’t know whether it was because I decided to read the newspaper on the flight, but I suddenly started getting extremely queasy and felt very close to throwing up. I broke out in a cold sweat and turned the airflow nozzle on high, blowing on my face. Finally, I put the newspaper away and tried to relax, all the time wondering what I would do if I needed to throw up (no air sickness bags on these flights any more). More than anything, I was surprised at myself as I haven’t even felt slightly airsick in years of flying. And the flight out of Duluth was a huge Airbus A320 – not even one of those dinky little planes. I got off the plane at Minneapolis/St. Paul feeling terrible and slightly dizzy. I got myself a Snapple and walked over to the gate for an earlier flight (being on a frequent flyer award ticket, I didn’t get upgraded to First Class) to see if there was any chance of getting on it. The flight was full. Wandered through the book stores and found several books that I thought would make an interesting read, mostly in the Da Vinci Code mold – Raymond Khoury, Steve Berry, Kate Mosse, and a novel by Douglas Preston–Lincoln Child called “The Book of the Dead.” If you've read any of these books, post a brief opinion with a comment.

With all the extra time on my hands, I decided to go to my favorite California Pizza Kitchen outlet and ordered my usual Thai Chicken pizza. The good news is that mine was the last pizza order they took. The bad news is that this was because they had pizza oven problems and it took almost 20 minutes to get my pizza. It didn’t bother me as I had a ton of time before my 11:43 AM flight. The flight itself was uneventful and I got to Gilly-Sheena’s place safe after appa and amma picked me up from the airport.

In the afternoon, we watched a Hindi movie, Taxi No. 9211, which I discovered was a remake of a great movie called Changing Lanes starring Samuel Jackson and Ben Affleck. Still, it was fun. They used some strange, annoying sound editing trick of randomly inserting loud screams through the whole movie. Then we relaxed, drank some wine and made it back to appa/amma’s place for the Apprentice season finale. The choice was quite obvious though I wonder why they didn't tell us how much money each raised.

First Inspiration - Then Perspiration

Okay, let's see if this works. I was so inspired by Kamini's fascinating blog of their trip across the USA that I thought I would create a blog of my trip through Australia.

While things like this (I have made numerous failed attempts to keep a diary) always sound great, actual implementation is a chore. I can never usually find the time to keep it up. But, I must persevere. So, here goes ...