Arrived in Sydney

Hey hey� !

 

I�ve hit Sydney.

I have finally met up with my friend Almira, on who�s pushing I started to plan the trip to Oz in the first place. We have taken up residence on her cousin�s living room futon for the last week and a bit, trying to get the jobs/apartment/life things together. Her cousin and her roommates have been awesome � which is a very good thing, because Almira and her cousin had only met one before.

 

Sydney is quite a contrast to Melbourne. Where Melbourne has a clearly defined city centre, highly designed buildings, and lots of arts/culture bent, Sydney seems to be a whole bunch of neighborhoods connected by streets. Like someone built a city out of puzzle pieces (we�ll stick the Italian bit over there, the bohemians get that corner, move the yuppies up�funnel all the tourists over here and stick the students there� yep that looks good.)

 

And just like you hear every time someone meets a celebrity� the Opera House is smaller than I thought. And scaly � I assumed it was smooth sails, but it�s more architecturally interesting than that. It�s funny, you form these visions in your head about famous landmarks, and it always strikes me how they rarely seem to match what you expected.

 

It�s Mid-November, and the Christmas trees, golden bells and boughs of holly are up, the �Season�s Greetings� cards are on sale� but it�s 25 degrees and sunny here and I cannot get my head around the fact that it�s nearing Christmas.

 

I do finally have some coordinates for you � Australian cell is +61 04 1514 8048

(I�m a day and 5 hours behind you)

 

And on Monday we move into an apartment in the Glebe.  We found an apartment with an extra bed and a huge living room because we have guests solid from December through mid-February or so, with maybe a couple spares in there. Anyone else that�s coming over (I think I will see more buddies over here than I saw in Vancouver on a weekly basis!) let us know and we�ll figure it out.  

 

We are only about 15 mins from downtown Sydney - 9/260 Glebe Point Road, Glebe NSW 2037 (right next to two hostels� can�t get away from those backpackers! Makes us easy to find)

 

Almira also brought a computer, so I am going to finally get some photos up on the blog for ya.. if you are interested� www.taraknight.blogspot.com

 

Miss you all �

 

Tara

PIC - Sydney Opera House

Sydney Opera House,
Sydney Opera House - I'm Here!

PIC - Melbourne Cup, Maykbe Diva

Melbourne Cup,
Maykbe Diva pulling ahead - history in the making!

PIC - Tara and Donna at the races

Tara and Donna at the races,
Check out the head gear - Donna and I in the Member's area drinking Champers

Maykbe Diva didn't make me a winner

All right! So, while I was very sad to leave NZ (mostly because we finally had sun and heat in Kaikoura and Christchurch - I even got to wear my shorts!) next stop was the famous Melbourne cup horse race in Australia.

Arriving in Melbourne, I met up with the fabulous Donna Martin, my first tour guide for Melbourne. Donna told me over coffee way back when I was in Vancouver, that I couldn't come to Oz in November and miss the cup - so now that she had drug me 1/2 way across the earth, she was determined to show me a good time.

First - a hat. Ladies do not attend the cup without a hat. Women in need of "the perfect outfit" are a nasty piece of work. After giving a few good elbow jabs and body checks (hockey *does* come in handy) we were able to clear a path at the local fabric store and get some supplies to match an incredible flower Donna had picked up for me. I then spent the rest of the day trying to dodge fratic shoppers as they picked up their last essentials for the cup the next day.

Now, Cup day is a public holiday in Melbourne - the racing fans like the other race days better because Flemington race track is INVADADED with everyone that can get a ticket. The big news this year, was Maykbe Diva - 2 time winner of the cup, and going for a history making 3rd try.

Getting to the races, it was amazing - like visiting an entire city that was going to the prom (this analogy will make more sense shortly). Ladies in fabulous summer dresses, huge hats, matching shoes and purses, lots and lots of colour, suits, ties, outlandish outfits. The train station looked like quite a party. I basically spent 1/2 my time at the races just people watching.

You get to the races, and instead of beer gardens - you buy a bottle of champagne (champers) and a flute glass for $30 - this is what you will be drinking for the day. People come out and have picnics on the grass, and everyone is betting and toasting each other and generally having a fabulous time. Donna (did I say she was fabulous?) got me into the "members section" which meant my ticket included free champers and finger sandwiches and great company for the day. Not to mention some of the best seats for people watching, and the race.

So... I didn't bet on Maykbe Diva... so many people had her as a favorite, I decided to spread the betting around. One of my horses was in the top five for the first 1/2 of the race, but Maykbe Diva blew them all away at the end. I have a photo of her making history from the stands - it was an incredible day. We don't really have anything like it at home - I have never seen a sporting event like it before.

Half the fun of the rest of the afternoon was people watching again - because after the cup race, everyone seems to reach the apex of their drinking. The lovely ladies start to wilt, the shoes come off, the ties are loosened, the drunken slurr makes an appearance and the whole race looks like a party that went on too long. No one can walk straight because they have all been drinking champers in the sun for the last 6 hours, and the train ride home we were treated to drunken song battles between Kiwis and Aussies (the kiwis did a drunken Haka on a swaying train - I wished I had taken a photo). In town, everyone files into bars, enormous hair pieces still on their head, and proceeds to really earn their drinking reputation.

Donna invited me to her rotary meeting early the next morning (and I actually made it) and the best treat? watching everyone do the walk of shame home in their significantly wrinkled finery at 10am through the office traffic.

Yea for Melbourne!