Southward bound

Port Macquirie was a bit disapointing at first. The town was not nearly as quaint as I imagined, very built up and touristy. Also, the "sailing club" raced dinghies in the river, not yachts on the ocean--- no thanks.

Nonetheless, I spent a pleasant afternoon on the shore doing some writing and practicing my Cyrillic. Met up with German bloke Adrian, we got on and cooked dinner together. After, it was a bottle of wine and a walk down to the beach with lovelies Mimi and Regina. Happy times after all.

Yesteday was an easy drive south a bit, headed towards the Blue Mountains just outside of Sydney. I wound up in Cessnock, gateway to the Hunter Valley wine region, just in time for a sunset wine tasting at the stunning Tallavera Grove vinyard. Joined by an Australian couple, Shane and Matthew (visiting from their home in Beijing), our host, John, poured several tastes along with sharing some great vintner info. The 2003 reserve Semillon was excellent: crisp, acidic, but not harsh. I also liked the 2005 Semillon/Verdelho blend, similar to the Semillon but with a bit more body. The 2005 Chardonnay was too buttery, but the 2005 Joker's Peak Sauv Blanc was very nice with a burst of passionfruit in the middle. A lovely way to spend the late afternoon.

After the tasting, I drove up to find the Blue Tongue Brewery for dinner and a tasting. I tried the Blue Tongue alcoholic ginger beer in Mission Beach and really liked it, so I was keen on visiting the brewery. Their different beers were very good, the natural taste of the ingredients was very prominent in each one. The food was a bit over-priced and just so-so in flavor, and the ambiance didn't really suit a brewery... and the beer was expensive, too! I'd suggest skipping the brewery and picking up a six pack at the bottle shop instead.

This morning, I got up early and attended to some more consular matters. I'm going to hit the road now and try to make it to the Blueys!

Coonabarabran parting shot

So where was I? Ah yes, bedding down in Tenterfield.

Next day, I pressed on through the still lovely countryside, trying to get to Coonabarabran in time for the 8:00 showing at the Skywatch Observatory. With an hour to spare, I rolled into town and checked into the Imperial Hotel. It's the nicest pub/hotel place that I've stayed in. Charming, cozy immaculate and a steal at $25 a night. Who needs backpackers? The air is getting quite cold at night, so it was great to amble into the pub for a quick meal, sit down by the wood burning stove and enjoy a Coopers Pale after the road. Did I mention that I really liked the Imperial Hotel in Coonabarabran?

After scarfing my food, I drove up the road to the Skywatch Observatory. Upon arrival, I was a bit skeptical when I saw the putt-putt course skirting the base of the telescope dome. Hmmm. The gift shop was obviously prominent, but the "museum" of questionable science had me nervous that I was going to be looking through a viewmaster instead of a telescope. Not to worry though, because we were shortly escorted to the dome by the manager of the Siding Springs Observatory, Peter. Peter proved to be very knowlegable about all things astro and gave us a great tour of the galaxy. Through the main 12" reflector telescope, we looked at the Orion Nebula, Saturn (the rings are awesome!), Jupiter and moons, and the Omega Centauri globular cluster.

Then, we went outside and checked out the lovely Jewel Box in the 8" cassagrainian and Alpha Centauri in the 8" reflector. The Jewel Box was particularly pretty. My stomach still gets a tingle when I ponder for a moment the fact that a photon has traveled for thousands or more years across such a distance, narrowly missing space dust and the like-- just to plop down into my retina. Awesome.


We also talked about constellations, even the Aboriginal type. Did you know that the Aboriginals use the dark patches in the sky to form their constellations instead of the stars? There's a big emu up there that's really easy to spot. The night was really chilly and the sky was perfectly clear and I wound up back in the pub writing postcards and enjoying one more Coopers before sliding into bed with my electric blanket! Did I mention that the Imperial Hotel in Coonabarabran was very cozy and comfortable?

The next morning, I showed in their delightfully country/art deco showers. The steam from the hot water had that old timey whiff of old pipes and wood smoke. Primally luxurious. Did I mention....

Anyway, after wasting enough precious water, I got out and went up to the Siding Springs Observatory, home of Australia's largest telescope at nearly 4 meters. The tour there lasted for over two hours, guided by Peter, the fellow from the night before. Up on top of the observatory, the view of the surrounding Warrumbungles is fantastic. I'll have photos up soon that will give a better detail of my time spent up there.

After the observatory, I went back down the road to the Warrumbungle Glass House cafe, had a tasty late lunch and wound back into town. I was weirdly tired at this point and not ready to leave town, so I checked back into the Imperial, got some dinner and watched the finale of Australian Biggest Loser. Adro won. I knew he would weeks ago. Good on ya!

So now we're caught up. Russian visa is taking longer to get rolling than I thought. Not surprising though, and I've still got time. All the better to practice my Cyrillic.

ДO CBИДAHИЯ -- CKOTЛЙ

Coonabarabran: It's more than a mouthful.

Left Byron on Tuesday morning, after my last post. Made it halfway to Nimbin before I remembered that my camera's flash card and my usb stick were still in the computer back in Byron. Drove back to Byron. Finally made it to Lismore and the road up to Nimbin where I picked up hitchhiker Sonny, a 40 something dude looking for a lift to heaven in the hills. Cool guy, we chatted all the way up, zipping past some very pretty hills.

Nimbin is a trip, and suprisingly charming. I was expecting a lot more schlock, but the town has a heady relaxed feeling, sorta like when you walk into a massage therapist's office and the smell of essential oils hits your nose and the sound of a little fountain hits your ears.

Sonny gave me the lowdown on Nimbin's, er, economy. The hippies never left after the 60's and the authorities actually turn a blind eye to the open circulation of "bush weed" and associated products. There's the Hemp Embassy, a museum and shop dedicated to legal issues, and an adjoining coffee bar where you can actually, a la Amsterdam, light up in public without fear of harrassment.

I spent the afternoon poking around town and then drove back down the hill, pointed west. As the sun set, I pulled over the Great Dividing Range and into the oak lined streets of Tenterfield, one of the first in a series of towns I visited in the New England region of New South Wales. The oaks were all turning colours everywhere and it made me happy and comfy. Felt like home.

They're closing the internet cafe! I'll post the rest of the story later.... stay tuned.

ANZAC Day

Hey Everyone,

I'm back on the road again, so I expect posting frequency to increase again.

Invigorated, in fact. It was about a month in Brisbane total. A lot of that time was spent recovering from the two months of travel before I landed there. The last week or so was spent in self involved reflection-- readying my heart for the journey ahead. Pictures from some of my last adventures in Brissy should be up in a few days.

I left B-bane yesterday afternoon, saying goodbye to Ant, Jason, Michelle and Hugo who were gracious enough to have me in their home for so long. Taking my time, I wound down the coastal route, ending up in Byron Bay for dinnertime. I stayed last night at the Arts Factory Lodge, a busy but very chill hostel on the outskirts of downtown Byron. Blaz is supposed to be working here, but I couldn't find him last night. I'll have to see if I can locate him before I leave today.

Went to bed very early last night so that I could get up at 4:30 this morning. Today is ANZAC Day in Australia, sort of a combination of the USA's Memorial and Veterans days. The Australia New Zealand Army Corps were "volunteered" by the British in WWI to take the Gallipoli from the Turks. The loss of life was massive and to this day, the ANZACs don't really forgive the Brits for using them as cannon fodder. Interestingly, there's actually close kinship with the Turkish soldiers, with whom the ANZACs established great respect. The grandfather of my sailing instructor, Lachlan Wilson, (same name) was an ANZAC brigadier general of some reknown.

So anyway, the ceremonies today started at daybreak with a service at the local memorial park , which I attended. A few prayers were said before the crowd of 80 or so, then everyone went back to the RSL Club (think of your local Veteran's Hall only with a public bar, restaurant and video poker) for a beer and brekky. So yes, by 5:30am, I'd had my first beer of the day. I stayed at the RSL for a bit and chatted with young Obie, just out of the service himself at 24, now a personal trainer here in Byron.

After the ceremony, I took advantage of the quiet and early hour to call my grandparents at home. It was great to talk to them-- they've both got colds at the moment, so send them a happy thought! They were also the first to hear about my new travel idea that I started in motion just before sitting down to write this entry.

I'm applying for visas to China and Russia, my intention is to spend May in Australia, make my way to Beijing in early June and then take the Trans-Mongolian and Trans-Siberian Railroads to Moscow, arriving sometime around the end of July. At that pace, August can be spent in and about Eastern Europe before I set back to NY in time for Dr. Michaels' wedding.

In order for that to all happen, though, I need to get my hands on a Russian Visa, not a completely easy task. I've contacted a travel agency in Russia (recommended by Lonely Planet), for the first bit, which it to get an invitation letter. That will take over a week or so. Then, I have to bring my passport and the letter to the Russian consulate in Sydney and wait another week or so to get the visa. After that, I still need to get my Chinese visa, which can take a week or so, too. The point is that if I'm to leave Australia by June, I don't have much time to waste. I've submitted the request for the invitation letter today, so hopefully by next week, I can get the visa going. I'm getting a certain excitement from dealing with all these logistics. Wheee.

I'm not going to linger here in Byron. I want to make some headway into different territory, so I'm going to start driving out west again. Goal #1 is to have a snack in hippy haven Nimbin and then make it out to see the big optical and radio telescopes near Coonabarabran. Then, I've got to decide whether to head down to Sydney first or to hit up Melbourne and then finish up in Sydney. Details to be figured later.

Ocker Quiz results soon!

Picture updates

I've finally caught up with all my pics.

First, I've fixed some of my Canarvon shots. This one has an audio clip added. This one has been repaired from the damage inflicted by the auto-levels.

Second, I've put up my pictures from my recent adventures around Brisbane.

Lastly, I've also published the pics from Kasen's Buck's Party. They aren't commented, but they're interesting.

Ocker Quiz #4

Hey Gang,

Before we get to the next quiz, I have a correction to make. I accidentally left Guru out of the results of OC#3 (it was his fault). I've updated the results, so please scroll down and have a look at the updated score.

As I mentioned, this quiz has a visual element. Here goes:

What do these Aboriginal rock carvings (as found at Carnarvon Gorge NP in Queensland) represent?

Click on the thumbnails for a closer view.

I give Velma inside odds on this one.

I miss Gary Cohen

The new guy is okay, but Gary had a rhythm. Mets' home runs don't seem nearly as cool without his unrestrained "IT'S OUTTA HEEER!"

Ocker Quiz #3 Answer

Wow. Good effort, team. We'll have these Aussies licked at their own culture in no time.

The answer to:

You're walking through a Queensland supermarket, let's say Coles. You're looking for a sign that says "Manchester". What are you looking to buy?

is:

Sheets and bedding and linens and stuff.

which means that Karl got the answer right! Mind you, he should, being from Queensland and all. Which is better than Mike, also from Queensland, who's been living outside of his native Oz for so long he's forgotten. For shame. Mike didn't even play, but he gets -3 points.

Karl, you would get 3 points for the correct answer, but Jason answered first, and I think he was alluding to the correct answer, too. So Jason gets 3 points. Karl, you get 2.9 points.

Matt got the answer correct, too. But he, like Jason, cheated and used wikipedia-- which is fine, but the difference is that Matt admitted to cheating. Bad Matt. Next time make up a story about a long lost Australian half-cousin. Matt gets 2.5 points.

What gnuheller doesn't know is that while the supermarket (Coles) here in Queensland doesn't sell machetes, the supermarket in the middle of Santiago, DR does indeed sell them and an accessory leather sheath. The sheath at $6 cost more than the machete. Very thorough answer, gnuheller. You get 2.5 points.

Lenny (uslennar), you took Jason's answer to heart-- I'm guessing it reminded you of that night we got really drunk in Chinatown and wound up sharing a bed together at your hotel. No wait, that was with Dan. How did you find out about that? You get 3 points if you agree not to tell anyone else.

Mom (prblmslvr), hmmm. Good guesses, but very wrong. I love you and all, but I can't show favoritism. Fortunately for you, being in Australia, I can show favouritism, so you get a point.

Dad (Dad)--- you worked in a Seinfeld reference. Excellent. 2 points.

G-Dawg (Guru)-- did you patent that? Put it through CPOL and make me a co-inventor. Here's 1 point-- you'll get 20 more when the check comes through.

Mark (espd) said cheese. No. But I like cheese. Thanks for reminding me. 1 point. Next time remind me of something more animate, with a nice backside, and earn more!

Whew. Who knew that all these extra responses was going to create so much snarky work for me. One more thing, the current standings:

gnuheller 3.6
Dad 3
Jason 3
Lenny 3
Karl 2.9
Matt 2.5
Mom 1
Rich 1
Mark 1
Guru 1
Velma 0.5
Mike -3

The next quiz will be up in a day or two. Get your optics polished, it's going to be a picture question.

It just looked wrong

Mike Piazza hit a home run in his first AB of the season today. I went online and watched the video clip. I was very happy for the dude but when they zoomed in and showed him rounding the bases in a Padres uniform, my eyes got misty.

A fan abroad

Now I know how all those Aussies and Brits feel when they live in the US and the rugby/soccer/footy game is on at an ungodly hour. It's 2:12am here. The Mets' opening game starts in under an hour now. I've decided to stay up to listen. If you're online and watching/listeing to the game, pop me an email!

So I'm still in Brisbane. I like it here. I'm going to stay for a bit. The Easter holidays are coming up and it's a terrible time to be on the road, so I'm going to weather the storm here in Ant's garage. At least for another couple of weeks. I'm starting to get a picture for the rest of my trip, too. I'll give the whole play-by-play shortly.

Need to go close eyes for a bit. Let's go Mets!

Dang, that feels good to say.