Wednesday, July 31

[Birds will peck your eyes out]

I suddenly remembered two Sydney stories that I neglected to tell, and I think they are worth recording.

Firstly, I was innocently enjoying a pleasant stroll around circular quay, taking in all the sights and sounds that this picturesque location affords. Suddenly I was completely surrounded by a swarm of vile seagulls. Wings, beaks and dander filled the air as these loathsome creatures flocked about me. Instinctively I stopped dead in my tracks and shielded my eyes, and waited for the horrible organisms to depart. I felt like Tippi Hedren in that horrifying final scene of The Birds. Yuck.

Then I nearly missed my flight home. Somehow I underestimated how much time I would need to get the train from the city to the airport. I'm usually really good with that sort of thing, preferring to arrive insanely early rather than allow any possibility of lateness. However, this occasion was different, and I arrived only 5 or 10 minutes before the flight closed. Whilst I was stressed and somewhat panicky, it did cross my mind that being forced to spend another couple of days in wonderful Sydney was not too big an imposition.

posted by pete at 18:33

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Monday, July 29

[Big city]

OK, I wouldn't have been true to form if I hadn't located an Internet cafe in Sydney and blogged on about the place.

I can truly say that I really do love this city! I've explored it thoroughly over the last couple of days, and I've got just a few more hours now before I have to catch a train out to the airport. It's been so fun catching up with Sonia over here, and the perks have been worth every cent of the plane fare. We've been staying in gorgeous luxury accommodation (Saville apartments in Chatswood) and despite my (admittedly half-hearted) protestations, Sonia has provided virtually all of my meals and cab expenses. So it has been a very cheap yet very indulgent holiday.

I just need to write about Sydney Tower (aka Centrepoint) and Skytour. Going up Sydney Tower is probably worth it. The view is spectacular and it helps you to orient yourself. However, included in the rather steep student price of over $15 is a thoroughly lame 'attraction' called Skytour. This involves traipsing around utterly unconvincing artificial environments and donning headphones to listen to banal commentary about 'Australian life'. One would believe from this experience that Australia consists of Sydney, the Great Barrier Reef and some abstract concept known as 'The Outback'. Then there is one of those ridiculous virtual reality 'rides' where you get shaken around in your seat whilst watching a screen. The worst part about this is that they spray you with mist to accompany the vision of a horse sneezing. I'm sorry, but it's bad enough being sprayed with water, let alone having the fleeting thought that it might actually be horse mucous.

posted by pete at 09:24

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Friday, July 26

[Sydney]

I am so excited about going to Sydney tomorrow. I leave Adelaide at 6:30am (hellish) and arrive in Sydney at 8:55am. I'll be spending the weekend with Sonia, who's working over there at the moment, so that means free luxury accommodation, hopefully a fair bit of free food and free cab rides. Excellent. After a few lovely days in Sydney I get back to Adelaide at 4pm on Monday. Just in time for my lectures. :)

posted by pete at 09:10

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Monday, July 22

[Food budget]

While in New Zealand, I spent somewhere between five and six hundred dollars on food alone.

That statement deserves its own paragraph in order to make me reflect upon it. To spend over $500 on food during two weeks seems incredibly excessive. Admittedly we did eat out every single day and night, and ordered countless coffees and snacks. Nobody was even remotely interested in cooking anything, ever.

The contribution I've made to the NZ economy can only be a good thing. And I enjoyed every second of it!

posted by pete at 20:39

[Home]

I'm back in Adelaide now, having safely arrived about an hour ago. Today's road trip with Jess and Lisa proved pleasant and included the requisite junk food and dinner at a dodgy roadhouse diner.

Sunday afternoon's flight from NZ was smooth and uneventful, apart from an exceedingly annoying child who sat behind me. Unfortunately I was unable to spend much time in Melbourne, as I had gotten mixed up over days and dates and we needed to leave earlier than I realised.

I massively enjoyed Dunedin. Very beautiful and very fun. And it has a very impressive art gallery, not to mention plenty of restaurants and shopping opportunities galore. The lure of a pair of red and yellow ASICS trainers proved too irresistable, and duly I presented my credit card and made the purchase. The night before, Melita and I had met a rather eccentric but perfectly nice thespian-type in a cafe. We participated in much discussion about such bracing subjects as the impending war between Spain and Morocco, and the health of the arts in New Zealand. Beer and red wine were also involved.

posted by pete at 20:18

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Friday, July 19

[Dunedin]

Although I feel that it has about 950,000 residents fewer than I'd typically like, I really feel that I could live in Dunedin. I've just dined on quasi-vegan food at a cafe on 'the octagon' (they seem to consider sour cream 'vegan'), and following a tasty bottle of New Zealand red wine, Melita and I have found our way to a rather pleasant cafe that offers free Internet and tasty NZ beers, amongst other attractions.

This is a beautiful Victorian city with lots on offer. The services available, given the population, are quite impressive. Tomorrow I intend to use my Mastercard to effect the purchase of many fine and probably unnecessary items. Life gets better and better.

posted by pete at 17:54

[Invercargill to Dunedin]

I am very excited about going back to Dunedin. It is an edgy university-city with heaps of young people and loads of cool things to see. We've spent the last few days in the depths of the Catlins, and are currently in the somewhat dull Invercargill (although I think the Lonely Planet guide is partly responsible for the formation of that opinion) which has creepy similarities to Pt Pirie only with nicer architecture and the sulphur smell replaced with that of burning timber.

Our food fiesta continues; I shudder at the thought of how much I've spent in restaurants and cafes!

posted by pete at 07:35

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Monday, July 15

[Christchurch]

I have to wonder about myself sometimes when true feelings of joy occur upon the discovery of Starbucks coffee franchises. There are two such establishments in Christchurch, maybe more. I had the biggest latte possible.

Anyway, Christchurch is a truly lovely city. Frighteningly similar to Adelaide – I had to do a bit of a double-take when I glanced down a broad avenue towards suburbia encroaching upon distant hills. I could have been on Flinders St.

For a city of around 300,000 people, Christchurch is remarkably well serviced. I mean for goodness sake it has its own Burberry and Louis Vuitton stores, not to mention some form of deregulated shopping hours. It is very 'English' looking (not that I've been to England) and has some beautiful architecture which draws influences from around the world, but consists mainly of Gothic variations. Lovely gardens and public art, as well as a stunning central cathedral. We're staying in a very convenient location, and have spent much time eating, which is reasonably expensive. It has been raining a lot.

Unfortunately we won't be able to take the Tranzalpine Railway, because track maintenance is occurring and hence we'd need to bus about half of the distance. Not interested.

P.S. Lake Tekapo is stunning.

posted by pete at 19:23

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Saturday, July 13

[Maze]

Kyle, Melita and I attempted a massive maze at some sort of puzzle land thing in Wanaka. The aim was to navigate to all four corner towers and then find our way out. Kyle did spectacularly well, but Melita and I got so bored and frustrated that we escaped out of one of the emergency exits. Says a lot about our tenacity really... but we decided that we could cope with this level of failure. :)

posted by pete at 14:22

[Treblecone]

Kyle said Treblecone was a super ski-field. He went there yesterday; I would have loved to have gone, but my fate took Melita, Goss and I to Mt Cook. The drive was beautiful, but unfortunately the mountain was blanketed by thick fog, and we only glimpsed it once on arrival and then again on our departure. Thankfully the Tasman Glacier was visible in all its glory and it truly was a spectacular sight. This majestic river of ice hurtles (in glacial terms) down the valley at 200m per year, before breaking up into an icy lake in a rock-strewn valley. I've never seen a glacier before, and I think in many ways it is one of the most beautiful things I've seen so far.

posted by pete at 14:15

[Light aircraft]

How terrifying. Today we travelled to Milford Sound, which is an incredibly beautiful body of water flanked by immense snow-capped mountains and sheer vertical surfaces. However, we travelled there in a single engine aircraft which we could barely squeeze into. Genuine terror surged through me as the plane was tossed and heaved about by whatever air currents the mountains below cared to direct towards it.

As Melita, Lisa, Goss and I exchanged faux-reassuring smiles, our tiny vehicle buzzed along above seemingly endless ranks of mountains and valleys, before finally plummeting down to the Milford Sound airport. The cruise on the Sound provided welcome stress reduction time, and for a while I considered forfeiting my return flight and taking the seven hour bus trip instead. The return flight was far more enjoyable – I even started to fall asleep – but I was just so grateful to be back on terra firma. I don't think I'll ever get into a plane like that again.

posted by pete at 14:03

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Thursday, July 11

[Latte]

One of the best things in New Zealand is their lattes, which come served in bowls. Seriously, bowls. No handles or anything. And huge. So, so good!

posted by pete at 15:12

[Head injury]

Yesterday I dropped my skis on some poor woman's head. It was such a freakish accident; they just slipped from my grasp. In any case, she completely over-reacted, telling me that she "didn't know" whether or not she was okay, despite my repeated questions as to whether she felt dizzy or sore. It's not like I chucked the skis at her deliberately. I should have thrown a hissy fit and asked her how she thought I was feeling about it all, and told her not to ever touch my skis again. :)

Well today was my last day of skiing at the glorious Cardrona, and what a good day it was. Such fun... and Melita is very quickly turning into a total ski-bunny.

posted by pete at 15:11

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Tuesday, July 9

[Skiing]

We went to Cardrona today. The skiing is so incredibly good. Here are some reasons:

-The snow is of wonderful quality – even the terrifying black runs seem manageable with the soft powder beneath
-The scenery is breathtaking
-The ski runs are very long, resulting in less time spent in queues
-There seem to be fewer people per square metre than there are in Australian ski fields, and better still, fewer snowboarders
-The ski runs are generally wide and invite exploration

I quickly got back 'into' skiing and I'm looking forward to the next few days. Who knows, we might even give the rather formidable Treble Cone a go.

posted by pete at 15:58

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Monday, July 8

[In NZ]

We were welcomed to New Zealand with a Scottish fanfare and free miniature chocolate bars at Dunedin airport. The Dunedin region was settled by Scots, so that explains the seemingly irrelevant nature of the festivities. As if that wasn't exciting enough, it turns out that our hire cars have CD players, and I'm still getting over my excitement about that. Immediately apparent was the cold weather and incredible landscapes that abound in this country.

We are staying in a terrific apartment in Wanaka with mountain views, balcony, stainless steel kitchen, shiny bathroom fixtures and all the appliances one craves. This country is unbelievably beautiful, with majestic scenery that constantly varies and surprises. Today we went to Queenstown, which purports to be the extreme sports capital of the world. Such a title means very little to me as I'd rather be sitting in a coffee shop than throwing myself off flimsy platforms suspended miles above the forest floor. We did go for a gondola ride, which afforded breathtaking views.

The scariest part was taking a different road on the way home, which led us through snowy mountain passes laden with rockfalls and possibly icy roads. I'll claim that my nerves of steel got us through these perils, but Melita and Kyle might tell a different story.

I'm going skiing tomorrow. Tonight we're being very bohemian and having a cheese and wine evening in our apartment. That is, if I ever get out of this Internet cafe.

posted by pete at 17:20

[Melbourne]

Melbourne is always fantastic. We left at 5am from Pt Elliot, which I'd bussed to the night before. My goodness I love Melbourne. I found Melita on Bourke St, thank goodness, and we partook of really good sushi before walking to the other end of the CBD with a rather large and awkward bag between us. We met up with the Sallys, who were resplendent and gorgeous as ever, have a lovely new house and own gorgeous creatures, and also with Brooke, who never fails to be wonderful. We had dinner on Brunswick St – which required a fairly lengthy wait and wasn't very delicious – but the atmosphere and company more than made up for it.

Melita and I then bunked down in a single fold-up bed for the most uncomfortable night's sleep I've had for a while.

posted by pete at 17:09

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Friday, July 5

[Pre-travel tension]

I am stressed and overtired. My bed is adorned with countless piles of clothes, most of which belong in the "might take these" category. And some of them probably belong in the bin. I can't find one of my padlocks, I don't know how many tshirts to take, I still haven't correctly fitted my backpack and nothing has been placed in my backpack yet. I leave in less than two hours.

I'd better get a move on.

posted by pete at 12:02

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Tuesday, July 2

[Excellent]

My new Macpac backpack is in my possession. I'm rather excited. The thing with such backpacks is that one tends to be confronted by a bewildering array of straps and harnesses. Best leave those sorts of adjustments to those in the know. It's a bit like the fear so many adults have when learning to use computers for the first time; you know, scared that they'll wreak havoc and devastation if they click on the wrong thing. I actually felt fearful about adjusting anything, and even now I'm not overly convinced that I repacked everything as it should be.

posted by pete at 22:27

[Footwear]

No one seems to know what shoes to bring to New Zealand. Purely from a functional point of view, it is difficult to know what will be appropriate. The amount and type of snow that we'll be trudging through is difficult to estimate, but I've survived with trainers in the past so I think I'll risk them again. There's nothing to stop me hiring or purchasing some decent boots in any case. Maybe I can find some vegan-friendly version. Not that I'm vegan.

posted by pete at 10:36

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