It has been raining for over a week, but it began after a sunny and warm Australia Day. Andrew and Elsja invited us to their friend Alex’s house for an authentic Aussie barbie on the harbor. We swam in the pool, jumped in the harbor, fished, ate shrimp on the barbie, tattooed ourselves with Aussie flags and shouted Aussie catch phrases like “Crikey” and “Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!” To be honest, I only personally did half of these things but it was an epic day regardless.

Grilling some shrimp on the barbie. Click here to see the rest of the Aussie Day pics.

Last weekend, Hayley and I took a ferry to the Darling Harbour Maritime Museum. The museum has a large collection of nautical treasures on display, including a sailboat made of beer cans and a few large models of mythical sea creatures such as the Kraken and a half-monkey mermaid. More interesting though was the collection of century old whale bone crafts- including whale bone bones (dominoes) and a chair made from a whale vertebra. My favorite item by far was an old captain’s journal from the late 1700s. Old journals rule.

Afterward we walked about a hundred kilometers (or at least it felt like it) to the Rocks and collapsed at a table in an Irish tea shop. I had the raisin scones with my tea, and they were damn fine scones.

Mmmmm… delicious. Click here to see the rest of the pics from the day.

And now back to the rain.

From our pátio on Saturday.

Looks like it’s finally clearing though.

Tags: Australia, maritime museum, rain, Sydney, tea, the rocks

‘09 was a pretty sweet year.

January

Nice waves in Del Mar, California.

February

Rugby Sevens in San Diego, California.

Rare powder at Mt. High, Wrightwood, California.

March

Noodle Scrabble in San Diego, California.

April

Crazy weather on Mt. Baldy, California.

White out at Mt. Baldy, California.

May

Hayley graduates with a Masters Degree in Journalism. San Diego, California.

June

Bellagio at night, Las Vegas, Nevada.

July

Visiting friends in San Francisco, California.

Epic surfing at Pipes in Cardiff by the Sea, California.

August

Tower Bridge in London, England.

Don’t stop! Somewhere north of Johannesburg, South Africa.

Elephant crossing in Kruger Park, South Africa.

A hyena and vultures feeding on a dead giraffe in Kruger Park, South Africa.

Just before one of our many elephant scares in Kruger Park, South Africa.

Impala horns in Kruger Park, South Africa.

African sunset over the bush in Kruger Park, South Africa.

Wine tasting in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

“Jackass” penguins- after you know what- in Boulder’s Beach, South Africa.

Hiking up Table Mountain on beautiful winter day in Cape Town, South Africa.

Monster surf at Sea Point in Cape Town, South Africa.

Protea at Kirstenbosch near Cape Town, South Africa.

Kudu Crossing in northern South African farmland.

Cheetah sighting at Pilanesberg, South Africa.

Trampoline at Sun City, South Africa.

Township homes outside Johannesburg, South Africa.

Playing with lion cubs in the Lion Park, just outside Johannesburg, South Africa.

September

First cockatoo sighting in the Royal Botanic Gardens. Sydney, Australia.

Flying foxes in the Royal Botanic Gardens. Sydney, Australia.

Dust storm in Kings Cross, Sydney, Australia.

October

Destroying my only surfboard. Sydney, Australia.

Walking to Cremorne Point, Sydney, Australia.

November

Ford Ranger Cup. North Sydney, Australia.

Balmoral Beach, Mosman, Sydney, Australia.

December

Opera House, Sydney, Australia.

Work holiday party at the Watson’s Bay Hotel. Sydney, Australia.

Attacked by cockatoos in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, Australia.

NYE Sydney, Australia.

Tags: california, kruger park, photography, photos, san diego, satara, south africa, surf, surfing, Sydney

Hayley, Elsja, Andrew, Ben and I met at the Bondi swimming club, Icebergs, to start our Saturday afternoon Bondi-to-Coogee trek. The well maintained trail hugs the coastline for six kilometers, all of which sport breathtaking views of the eastern Sydney beaches. Dividing the crowded beaches, rocky cliffs drop off into coves of crystal clear water, offering snorkelers and scuba divers secluded- relatively speaking- access to some of the most spectacular underwater life in the world.

So that was my sales pitch. Did I do well? Perhaps this was all I needed to show you?

Gordon’s Bay, Sydney’s premium snorkeling location.

The walk passes through many amazing sites, none more unexpected and remarkable than Waverley Cemetery, final resting place of many Australian politicians, poets and athletes.

Not a bad place to spend eternity.

The McMurray grave, containing a small child-sized coffin, looks away from the ocean but is nothing short of spectacular.

Is that paint splattered on the side or something else entirely…?

Of course no Australian walk would be complete without seeing unique Australian wildlife. I present to you the Golden Silk Orb-Weaver, a toxic widow spider that spins webs strong enough to be used as fish nets.

One of three that were roasting in the sun near the trail.

The walk ends at Coogee Beach, where we went for a dip and ate yummy toasted sandwiches.

Coogee beach, definitely worth the walk on a weekday…

Afterward, Hayley and I split off from the group, riding forty minutes on a bus to Circular Quay. We watched a street performance and then boarded a harbour ferry back to Neutral Bay.

Definitely a fun day.

Tags: Australia, bondi, cemetery, coogee, snorkeling, Sydney, waverley

I woke up bored and peevish. I will dub today “Blue Saturday” (a rip-off of “Blue Monday”), the most depressing Saturday of the year, when the holidays have passed and endless work awaits us on Monday.

Well, I was not going to succumb to the depression. I got dressed, tied my shoe laces and ran out the door, leaving my iPod on the counter. I ran west- inland- towards Crow’s Nest and cut north. I ran over the highway and passed an old World War II monument and a stone clock tower. Shortly after I came to the most remarkable monument, Long Gully Suspension Bridge.

Before Tunks Park was created, Long Gully Bridge (aka Cammeray Suspension Bridge) crossed over the Sydney Harbour.

I walked across the bridge, then continued down to Tunks Park. The view in all directions is stunning, the harbour lies to the east, Jungle surrounds the entire park and to the west is that stunning stone bridge. It just so happens that this park is situated in the middle of Northbridge, a beautiful community that is rich with Aboriginal and European history.

I realized at this point I was lost. That can happen easily when trotting aimlessly around the meandering Sydney harbour without a map. I hiked up a hill to the south and back down a side street. It terminated in the back of Green Park, where I regularly play tennis- very lucky, indeed.

On the way back to our studio, I picked up a Frangipani flower for Hayley. It seemed like the perfect souvenir from such a wonderful place.

Hopefully Hayley won’t mind that I share her gift with the world.

And so that was the start to my day and my weekend. So much for “Blue Saturday.”

Last weekend wasn’t bad either. Hayley and I opened our Christmas presents and did Christmassy things. We packed up around 11 am, took the bus across the Harbour Bridge to the Sheraton on the Park in downtown Sydney and checked in to our new home for the next 24 hours. We spent the entire day relaxing and using the facilities, and at night we ordered room service, cracked open some champagne and watched a movie. The next morning we enjoyed a free buffet breakfast. The short vacation was just what we needed after several months of hard work.

Somethings never change, no matter where you are.

New Years Eve was also a success. We claimed our spot at St. Leonards Park around 4 PM. We relaxed, read books and drank champagne until midnight. The fireworks show spanned five different barges, not including the spectacular Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Cheers to a great year and another excellent one to come!

Tags: Australia, bridge, cammeray, harbour bridge, new years eve, northbridge, Sydney

I’m home sick with a cold. Instead of wallowing in my own misery, I created my own rendition of Jingle Bells with Garage Band and my cheapo classical guitar. I spent an hour recording and arranging the piece before the repetition drove Hayley insane.

Enjoy! Jingle Bells

Tags: guitar, holidays, jingle bells, mp3, music

Our college friend Dana Facebook messaged me last Thursday with the exciting news that she would be stopping off in Sydney for twelve hours on her way to New Zealand. We chose the busiest tourist attraction possible as our meeting place, the Opera House, and took the obligatory jump-as-high-as-you-can-in–front–of-the-Opera-House picture before grabbing a quick bite at a nearby café.

Afterward, we walked around the sea wall up into the Royal Botanic Gardens where we encountered a flock of cockatoos. The first parrot we saw was drinking from a tall sprinkler head. I was amazed by his ingenuity; he had wrapped his legs around the tall pipe and was dabbing his beak into the sprinkler head. I snapped a few photos then walked back to Hayley and Dana, who now had more parrots walking casually around them. We fed them Dana’s trail mix and in came the whole flock!

It’s ok buddy, do what you gotta do!

We all took turns feeding the birds. After a while we gained their trust and they were eating straight from our hands. The birds then took this a step further by flying up to our shoulders and climbing on our legs. I’d be a liar if I said it didn’t freak me out, but I was also enjoying it immensely. The birds were surprisingly gentle. Not once did they snap at any of the food we offered; instead, they were very polite and relaxed. We took a few photos, set them back on the ground, and went on our way.

Hayley being attacked by wild parrots. See more cockatoo pics here.

Our tribute to the Jackson Family Route March continued as we meandered through the park, around the Opera House, through Circular Quay, and into the Rocks, where we settled for a mid day snack. Dana and I both ordered the chicken sandwich and Hayley had the veggie delight. We were all very pleased. We talked about everything from traveling to college buddies, and watched a few lorikeet scavengers pick away at leftovers on recently deserted tables.

A rainbow lorikeet on a red chair with fruity, colorful drinks behind him.

Afterwards, we walked back to the Quay, said goodbye to Dana, and boarded a bus back to Neutral Bay. Hayley and I rushed off the post office to mail out a package, which is probably still there due to postal strikes. Afterward, we shopped for groceries and prepared for the Carols in the Domain concert. We left at 3:30 pm and arrived to a completely packed event. We found a small patch of grass in the far back section between two other parties, and setup camp for the evening.

Our view… note the bats going mad in the top left corner.

The event featured the winners from both Australian Idol and Australia’s Got Talent, the full Wicked cast in costume, the Wiggles, Engelbert Humperdinck, and Kate Soprano. While none of these people interest me in the least (except maybe the Wicked cast), we were looking forward to Ronan Keating’s performance since his version of “When You Say Nothing At All” was the song we chose for our first dance at our wedding. Unfortunately his performance was recorded “live” from somewhere far away and projected on all the video screens around the venue. To make matters worse, it was a duet with Kate Soprano who was there at the venue, which made for a pretty awkward performance. We had a great time though!

Sunday morning I went surfing with Freddy and the Sydney Surf Group at Freshwater. Surprisingly we got a few good waves. We surfed an hour and a half and topped it off with breakfast at a nearby café. Thanks for the wrap, Freddy!

It was an hour or so later that I started feeling sick. For the last few days, I’ve been taking it easy. I’m eating Zicam Rapid Melts like candy in the hopes that I’ll squash this bug quickly so we can enjoy our holiday to the fullest.

Which is exactly what I wish for you- a full and happy holiday that is. And do something grand for New Years, will you‽

* Forgot to mention that I created a new, extremely simple theme for my website, http://mswebby.com.

Tags: Australia, Carols in the Domain, Circular Quay, cockatoo, lorikeet, Opera House, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney

This post features pictures from my new Hanukah toy, complements of Hayley, Lauren, Andy, Jackie, Mom and Dad. Thank you for this amazing gift! Two months ago, the shutter in my Canon Digital Rebel 300D died (embarrassingly this was the last photo). Thanks to the users of the slickdeals.net forums, I found an incredible deal on a Canon 450D. I’ve taken it on several outings over the last week.

Last saturday morning, we walked down to Primrose Park. It was a nice little morning stroll, and I took my first photo with the 450D by the water.

The harbour is always so calm in the morning.

Freddy arrived with his surf buddy Hanna an hour early, so Hayley and I quickly packed the beach gear into the car and we drove out to Mona Vale. While we surfed, Hayley was awesome and took photos of us surfing.

I’m on a nice little wave here while Freddy’s being a champ and leaving it wide open for me.

Afterward, Hayley and I had lunch and relaxed at home for a few hours before heading downtown. P&O Cruises was hosting a party for their new ship, the Pacific Jewel, so we thought we’d go check it out. We arrived early, and so we spent most of the afternoon browsing the arts and crafts of the Rocks street market. Still too early for the cruise party, we walked around Circular Quay to the Opera House, which is absolutely stunning and really never gets old. We finally walked back to the cruise party, but it was a complete bust so we left after five minutes.

Hayley relaxing on the empty Opera House steps.

The next day, we walked from our house down to Cremorne Point Reserve and hiked around Cremorne Point to Mosman Wharf. We saw another Kookaburra on the way!

Mr. Kookaburra, eating something delicious.

Yesterday, I attended the ABC holiday party at the Officer’s Mess in Watsons Bay. After the standard presentations and speeches, we kicked back, drank beer and played trivia. The venue is set next to “The Gap”, a beautiful vista point overlooking the Pacific ocean.

The Officer’s Mess in Watsons Bay.

Afterward, a few of us walked down to the Watsons Bay Hotel for dinner and drinks. While the food is pricey, between $20 and $30 per plate, the drinks are reasonable and the views are spectacular.

The pátio restaurant and bar at the Watsons Bay Hotel.

We watched the sunset, then picked up a cab just as a thunderstorm rolled in. What a start to the weekend!

Sunset over downtown Sydney from Watsons Bay.

Tags: Australia, canon 450d, cremorne point, Opera House, Sydney, Watson's Bay

Andrew and I met up at 6:45 this morning to play a quick set of tennis. Somehow, both courts at our usual park were taken- do Australians sleep? We would have been third up as well, so we walked down to the Primrose Park courts that I’d run passed recently. Set on the edge of a cliff, in the middle of a flourishing, green forest and overlooking one of the harbour inlets, the courts look spectacular, especially since they were empty. They are similar to the courts my Dad and I played on Maui- carpeted with sand in a tropical like setting with abundant bird life chirping away. We walked through the unlocked gate and played a full set; unfortunately, Andrew came out victorious, 7-6 in a tie breaker. A good game though, Andrew, a good game.

I climbed up to the top of the fence to take this shot with my iPhone.

Afterward, Andrew was chased down by the Pro Shop employee to pay the $20 per hour court fee. He had no money on him and I had already walked up the trail on the other side, so we escaped without paying a dime! Next time we will though. $20 may sound expensive, but the courts are spectacular, especially if you split it four ways by playing doubles.

I filmed three kookaburras afterward, but as usual they didn’t laugh, damn kookaburras. Whenever I hear them laughing, I run outside with my camcorder but they always stop laughing just as I press the record button. I hate those stupid birds.

Solo Kookaburra that was hanging out behind two others. Taken with my camcorder… the new SLR is coming soon!

At 10:15 I went surfing at Freshwater with Freddy and a friend of his. The report predicted windy conditions and two foot surf, but we probably had three foot surf that was surprisingly glassy. I left the wetsuit in the car and trunked it in the warm sun. Blue bottle jellies littered the beach on our way in, which was a little sketch. Luckily, I made it out sting free. On my last wave though, I narrowly avoided a rogue longboard. I turned, digging my fins into the nose of the other board but cracked the rail on mine. It should be illegal to suck at surfing and not wear a leash- I just don’t understand how the lifeguards permit this garbage. Anyway, no big deal- I’ll just fill up the ding with some sun cure and it will be good to go.

Tags: Australia, freshwater, kookaburra, primrose, surf, surfing, Sydney, tennis

Every morning I make the trek from the north shore to the CBD in downtown Sydney. This commute includes a short half kilometer walk to the bus stop, a ride over the Sydney Harbour Bridge to Wynyard Station, a short train ride to Central Station and another half kilometer walk to the ABC building. It is a very interesting commute, one that warrants an entire blog entry to enjoy.

Generally the walk to the bus stop is pretty standard. I join a route march with ten or so other people that slowly pick up more commuters as we make our way to the Watson St. bus stop. It’s like one of those broadway films gone Hollywood where one guy is walking down the street, and as he walks, more and more people jump out from shops and alleys to join him. I sometimes wonder what would happen if I just started dancing and singing some popular song. Would people join me or would I be labeled crazy?

Buses show up regularly, one every three minutes, and they all take the same short route across the Sydney Harbour Bridge to the Wynyard train station on the other side. Sometimes you get lucky and the buses arrive close enough together that everyone has boarded the first bus, leaving a few empty seats on the second. Usually, I am forced to test my luck by standing in the center row as the crazed Aussie bus drivers whip their way around turns. I think the drivers play a game where they try to knock over as many standing commuters as possible with wide turns and jerky accelerating and braking. I’ve seen a few single guys use the game to their advantage, giving up their seats to pretty girls only to fall on them around the turns.

Sick and bruised, everyone de-boards in a mad rush and walks briskly underground to the Wynyard station. Getting to the train is always a challenge with people criss crossing every which way. Veteran travelers make their way past the long ticket lines to the ticket validation machines where people stack up at the machines, creating a bottleneck. Occasionally, someone will disrupt the momentum by inserting an invalid or upside down ticket into the machine, at which point everyone piles up, trampling those in front of them, until the clog has cleared. Trains arrive every few minutes and I usually pick the last car to seek refuge from the crowds for at least a few minutes.

The train ride is pretty uneventful, taking a route under the city for two stops. I usually play iPhone games or read my book, stepping off at Central station, which is always complete madness. After passing through another set of clogged ticket checking machines, I walk under George St. in a pedestrian only tunnel that a few bikers will rebelliously ride through.

The George St. pedestrian tunnel filled with commuters and tourists.

Lining the sides of the tunnel are performers whose only spare change filling their hats and guitar cases is their own. Thousands of people walk by, pretending to be too busy to stop and listen. I avoid eye contact as much as possible, but occasionally I will acknowledge a unique act, albeit silently and out of the corner of my eye. Noteworthy acts include:

1. A dead beat, god-awful Aussie with long hair that sings horrible renditions of Hotel California and The House of the Rising Sun.
2. An obese, blind woman who sings medieval opera, using her walking stick as a microphone stand.
3. A Chinese man who has authentic Chinese music playing behind his Geisha puppet show.
4. A metalhead who plays brilliant but loud guitar and looks like he’s only there to hear himself play in the enclosed tunnel (brilliant acoustics!)

My favorite of course is the accordion player who torments everybody by playing the classic horse racing song over and over again, faster and faster. It’s the perfect theme for the tunnel where everyone is in a mad rush to get out. I see him smiling regularly as he watches the crowds pass by. It’s his acoustic “F you” to corporate Australia and I love it.

Lining the sides of the train station and portions of the tunnel are small, shady shops that cell books, bags, sweets, donuts and sushi. Yes, sushi, like a burrito style roll in a paper bag that includes a mini soy sauce for the road. Last week I stopped off for a $10 haircut. It wasn’t too bad to be honest.

The Wynyard bus line during rush hour.

I arrive at work barely seeing any daylight at all since the ABC is just on the other side of the tunnel. I walk in, pass through security, pack into an elevator then sit down for ten hours, only to do it all again in reverse. C’est la vie!

Nine days ago, we hopped on the bus to downtown for some shopping and errands. First stop was Telstra where I signed up for a new pre paid mobile plan. Within one hour I had spent $7.50 setting up my voicemail. I guess Virgin wasn’t so bad after all. Luckily Hayley had purchased some nice caramel chocolates next door, which did wonders for my mood.

It’s already the holidays down under.


We walked by the three-story Apple store to the “Pitt Street Mall,” which is actually a bunch of shopping malls that are joined by Pitt Street’s walking-only blocks. The main mall, Westfield’s Sydney mall, is absolutely stunning inside with elegant decorations, an enormous hanging clock, titanic spiraling staircases and a $50+ tea room on the top floor. A small designer mall next door reminded both Hayley and I of a mall we went to in London with Nick Boucher and his girlfriend.

The main Catholic church of Sydney.

Afterward, we walked down the street to Hyde Park where we found an amazing Catholic church. We walked inside and around the church grounds, then walked across the street to the war museum grounds. We went inside a guard room, which from what I gathered, was used by the British during the old Aussie prison island days. It started to rain so we walked back to the train station. On the way, we encountered a random protest for Iranian democracy. Tired and wet from the rain, we walked down into the desolate St. James train station to catch the CityRail back home.

Spreading awareness has never been so ineffective.

Another week of work and we were ready to start our weekend all over again! On Saturday, Hayley and I went for a walk up to Crows Nest, a nearby neighborhood, where we did a little bit of shopping and garage sale-ing.

Chillin’ in Crows Nest.

I saw the nastiest insect ever on the way back. Here, check it out:

Happy dreams. It’s the size of a really big thumb.

Afterward, I went surfing with Freddy. I was out for a little over an hour before cruising back to shore to lie out on the sand and perfect my farmer’s tan.

On Sunday, we packed a lunch and walked down to St. Leonards park to see the New South Wales “Speed Blitz Blues” take on the Tasmania “Tigers” in the Ford Ranger Cup. Cricket is slower than baseball, but I love it. A few interesting things to mention:

• The batting team is not on the field while their teammates are batting.
• The batting team bats for hours.
• A Zamboni-like steamroller grooms the pitch in between innings.
• People go to cricket games with books and other things to entertain themselves. They drink a lot of beer too.
• The fielders sign autographs while the game is in progress. That’s how slow it is.
• They have free water. Beer is $5.
• You can bring your own food and picnics to eat while watching the match.

Swing, batta!

Check out more Cricket photos on my Flickr page, http://www.flickr.com/mswebersd.

We get thunder and lightning all the time now. I was sitting on a couch on the ninth floor of the office building, surrounded by windows, when lightning started striking everywhere, all over downtown Sydney. It was apocalyptic.

Even now there’s lightning outside. Here’s a pic that I took five minutes ago from our patio:

Damn power lines!

Back to the grind. Enjoy your week.

Tags: sydney australia cricket westfield "speed blitz blues"