First Week in Oz

It's been a whirlwind and I've had little time to write. Even since we've come "up the coast" to Lake Munmorah and are relaxing at the beach a little most days, it's not possible to write there. This first post is just a sketch of my first week. The style and format of future posts will certainly be different, and hopefully better. Nothing earthshaking happened, but it was a good orientation to my immediate surroundings and to greater Sydney. So far I've been mostly impressed with the quality of the food. Food prices are high, though, and forget about getting a cold bottled drink of any kind when you're out and about, because a small bottle or can will cost you 2 or 3 bucks.

Day 1: Wednesday, 19 September
We arrived at the airport about 8am and were picked up by our friend Bill. We took our baggage home, then Claude went to a doctor appointment. We took an orientation walk just a few blocks to Kogarah city center where there are a variety of shops, a big hospital, Claude's Travel agent and computer guy, the community train station (takes you to downtown Sydney and connects with trains to everywhere else), chemists (Americans call them pharmacies or drug stores), and a news agent (magazine & newspaper shop). It's a wonderful small town atmosphere in the middle of a big city (4.5 million), and everything you could think of or need is right within a few blocks walking distance. We stayed up until normal bed time to try to get our internal clocks reset and get over the jet lag as quickly as possible.

Most people don't know that the macadamia nut is not native to Hawaii but is actually a Queensland nut originating from Australia. They were imported to Hawaii in 1882, where they were made famous. Australia has appropriately taken the lead as the world's largest producer of the nuts, though. Claude has this beautiful Queensland nut/macadamia tree in his back yard. Please excuse this crappy snapshot. It really doesn't do this gorgeous tree justice.

There are nine species of macadamia, but only two are edible - the others are poisonous. The Wikipedia page is very interesting reading to me.

Day 2: Thursday, 20 September
The day after arrival was mostly spent taking it easy and recuperating from jet lag, not that I really noticed much other than being a little more tired than normal. I walked to downtown Kogarah by myself and did a little shopping to replace some sundries that were in my checked bag the airlines mislaid. One of the things I bought was a 10-pack of these:
I'm a real fan! My first taste of Bundaberg Ginger Beer was on the QANTAS flight over. In comparison, American ginger ale tastes like sweet dirty water. This stuff really tastes like ginger, and isn't so sickly sweet.
I quickly decided that even being a pedestrian can be hazardous when you're used to expecting cars coming the opposite direction in the various lanes. Thinking the lane you're crossing is empty because you are looking the wrong way can be scary!

Day 3: Friday, 21 September
We went to Bill's and played with his Jack Russell Terrier Tessa, tossing her brand new and newly favorite toy beyond the swimming pool to give her exercise, and sometimes having to fish the toy out when it doesn't quite make it or the oddly-shaped squeaky toy makes a weird bounce backward. The early spring weather has been in the 60's and sunny up until now, but it became overcast and misty this day. Regardless, we drove down to Cronulla, saw all the beaches in that section of coast and the landing place of Captain Cook. Our tour wrapped around to the south side of Botany Bay. For lunch we went to one of Claude's clubs and had a cheap but tasty Chinese meal. Back home, I finally received the final bit of paperwork necessary to have my motorcycle shipped to Australia. For dinner we met Bill and a couple of friends at the Alexandria Bowling Club and had another cheap meal but won nothing in the meat raffle. :-(

Day 4: Saturday, 22 September
Went to the Tempe Tip (a particular Salvation Army store) and picked up a new smaller computer desk. We took apart the huge old desk and removed it. The new desk is on rollers and is much more satisfactory. Then we dropped some by Bill's (but he wasn't there so we just said hi to Tessa and didn't stick around). We went to a local candy outlet and got some cheap "lollies" that were nothing like what I've seen in the USA. I laughed when we had "traditional" Turkish pizza, but was impressed with the flavor, as it lacked tomato sauce and was influenced by lamb, which I've decided I really love.

Day 5: Sunday, 23 September
This was my introduction to downtown Sydney and public transportation. We walked a few blocks to Kogarah town center where we took the train to downtown Sydney and walked past the Cenotaph to Circular Quay (pronounced "key"), between the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. Here's the view from near the ferry.

From there we took the longest ferry ride east of the bridge past the harbor mouth to Manly, checked out the very busy beach and had a quick lunch of "kebabs" (which are pronounced key-babs, not key-bobs as Americans would, and are actually what is called a "gyro" in america, not the skewered cubes of meat Yanks would expect). After arriving back at Circular Quay, we strolled past the Conservatorium of Music, and through the free Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens. We checked out the Mitchell Library and ambled through Hyde Park adjacent to St. Mary's Cathedral and elaborate fountains. We investigated the QVB (Queen Victoria Building) building with its elaborate tiling, stained glass windows and amazing clocks, finally taking the train back to Kogarah. After dinner we cruised by car back through downtown to Mrs MacQuarie's point (it was well after dark and I didn't see the chair, but I did see this:
The Harbor Bridge and Opera House from Mrs Macquarie's Point on the east.
We then crossed the Harbor Bridge to views of the bridge
and opera house and skyline
from the north, then headed back through Potts Point to Kings Cross and home again.

Day 6: Monday, 24 September
By this time we were getting back into our morning routine of cribbage and cuppa (cup of hot tea). After working on various issues and overcoming obstacles and red tape, I finally was able to mailed the last piece of paperwork necessary to get my motorcycle shipped to Oz. We then picked up where we left off with our tour of Sydney beaches with all the beaches of Botany Bay south to north, wrapping around to Coogee. This is Maroubra Beach (just south of Coogee) from Jack Vanny Memorial Park:

And this is Mahon Pool and the surrounding rocks in Jack Vanny Park:
We had dinner at The Cauliflower, where I experienced my new favorite Aussie beer, Carlton Black.

Day 7: Tuesday, 25 September
Between preparations for a trip up north, we found time to venture down to the Royal National Park and the Woranora River. Steep, rugged hills with vegetation clinging everywhere.

Cockatoos and other birds in the park.
Claude, who once had a cockatoo as a pet, tries to sneak up to one:
- But this is as close as he got...

Preliminary conclusions:
Sydney is a beautiful city. It is pedestrian friendly and there is lots to do and see, and the sheer number and quality of the beaches is mind-boggling. The ocean is clear, and although it's currently too cool for me to be comfortable swimming, lots of other people are doing it and summer is on its way. People are friendly, and drivers are generally much more courteous than I'm used to. The cost of living is pretty high, with restaurant fare and both soft and alcoholic drinks being almost twice what you would pay in the USA, although if you're a smart shopper you'll find that cooking meals yourself isn't much if any more than in the USA. Other things vary a lot, sometimes equivalent items varying from cheaper than you could find in the USA to two or three times as much, so it really pays to shop around. Vehicles are one thing that you really get screwed with, though, because over here the best you're going to do is about 60 percent more than you could get the exact same thing in the USA.

One thing I really like about Australia in general so far is that even though there are some big box chains, most communities support their own compact shopping areas with pretty much everything you could need in daily living. Lots of the shops are specialized, for example butcher shops and fruit and veggie markets that have all but disappeared in the USA.

With one notable exception, I've been very impressed with the food here. The portions tend to be more than sufficient, but not as huge as in the USA, and the quality and flavor are impressive.

As a car guy, one thing that interests me is that the variety of vehicles here is amazing. They go from lots of tiny car models smaller than all but a couple of models available in the USA to the same full-size pickups and SUVs available in the USA to box trucks bigger than pickups but smaller than the box trucks I'm used to, all the way up to semis bigger than anything in the USA. And the variety of shapes and marques is amazing. They have many of the marques I'm used to in the USA, plus Chinese Chery and Great Wall, and even some Indian models I saw earlier today but can't recall. They also have what they call "utes", which can simply be a flat-bed compact pickup, usually with an all-aluminum box with low sides that can fold down on the sides as well as the back, but the category includes vehicles comparable to the Ford Ranchero and Chevy El Camino that were discontinued decades ago in the States, that are also available in aluminum flatbed versions. This ute category is extremely popular.

I realize this is a very long post and don't plan to do future posts in this style; they will simply be on specific events or trips rather than a day-by-day log. For now, I'll paraphrase Charles Osgood: "See you on the Intertubes". (Don't worry if you don't get it, it's a geek thing.)