Working and Evening Bike Adventure

When in Sydney, I noticed the people were all pretty dressed up for work compared to American standards.  Granted, I was mostly in the 'CBD', central business district - pretty much what we call downtown.

When in Melbourne, the morning after going to the Aussi Open and before heading back to Sydney, I chilled in a coffee shop near the Southern Cross train station, one of the big main stations in Melbourne.

And while I was there around 8:30 till 10 ish, I was blown away by the amount of peeps all dressed up for work.  This may reveal that I seriously need to get out into the real world back in the US, but seriously.  Every time the traffic light changed, swarms of suits, high heels, mostly black polyester, silk, and other dress-up material would cross the street coming from the direction of the train station.  It amazed me -  all the dressed-up-ness and that so many people were coming from the train station.  Like an army of work people that kept coming in droves.  All walking to work.

~

Jump forward to that afternoon, back in Sydney.  With Marilyn at work till 9pm, and Vladimir out running errands, I had some free time on my hands.  Vladimir encouraged me to go for a bike ride.  I was a little hesitant at first .... left side of the road, bike I'm not used to, city I'm not used to .... I kinda started piling up the excuses in my head.  But, with nothing else to do, I headed out.  And boy, am I glad I did.  I had planned out a route that, on the Sydney cycling map, was a green dashed line all the way along the Harbor (meaning it was a separate bike lane along low to medium traffic roads).

I had no idea what a treat I was in for.  First, it was a wonderful pedestrian and cycle trail, with trail map signage every so often.  I got to the harbor and was treated to an awesome view of the Anzac bridge.  The view would pretty much follow me all the way to the part where I actually crossed the bridge.  Once I got closer to the bridge, there were tons of bikers and runners.  Bike commuters on their way home from work.  And, something Marilyn had told me about but I had yet to experience: people running to and from work, all sporting those backpacks with the waist and chest straps.... running.  Mostly in dri-fit shorts and shirts, with backpacks.  Running, home from work.  Impressive.  And, back to those bikers.  Dang!!  They be flying'!  Going over the bridge, there was a separated lane for bikers/pedestrians from the main lanes of traffic.  Since most people were coming from the city, traffic in the one direction was pretty heavy.  The bikers, passing walkers and runners, would fly down the other lane (the one I was conveniently in).  It felt like we were playing chicken, seeing who would ditch first.  Of course, they always slid over to their lane again, sliding right in front of a runner just in time :)

Resource Efficiency in Australia

I started to get the feeling energy and resource efficiency is a way of life Down Under.  While I didn't meet enough Australians to be able to make general claims about their way of life, there were specific examples that exposed me to energy efficiency, waste reduction efforts and recycling availability.  The couple we sat next to at the Botanical Gardens for the NYE fireworks mentioned family friends that just live simply and have only the appliances they need.  The plugs on the walls oftentimes had little switches where you could turn off the power supply while things were still plugged in.  The following pictures and video are some things I came across while traveling throughout the country that pointed towards good stewardship of natural resources.

Energy Star Ratings on appliances

Small washing machine and drying rack

A page from a pamphlet explaining Sydney's Zero Waste goals. Great Resource: http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/zerowaste/

2 buttons to choose from!  1 button is a full flush, the other is a half flush  

100% Degradable Bag in Cairns 

Garbage and Recycling Station at Featherdale Wildlife Park in Sydney

100% Compostable napkin and tray from Pie Face, a popular meat pie cafe in Australia (taken at Sydney Airport)

Sydney Airport food court

Garbage and Recycling at Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne

Calorie counts were published at all fast food restaurants.  This also gives you an idea for how expensive things were. At least to me, Australia was more expensive than the US, and other travelers I talked to had the same impression.  

Our guide in the Daintree Rainforest talking about resource and energy efficiency up in the Rainforest!  We were riding in the van back from the night walk through the forest, and once he started talking about the rainwater collection, ecotourism, and electricity, I started filming :D

The Australian Open

Big smile: the whole 30-minute walk to Melbourne Park.

Is that it?? First sighting of Rod Laver?

Ooo programs. Big glossy magazine… :)  The vendor's got quite a big stack.  Several go up to him to get one.  Red Australian 20's get handed over.  A glossy magazine comes back in return.  How much are they??  Pshhh.. no way. I don't need one that bad. I'm here to see the tennis. 

10 am.  Gates open.  Like a free for all.  People swell into the park.  Where to?  Practice courts.  Is that Serena?!?  Holy cow!!!

I think I understand how some of my friends feel about ACL and SXSW now...

Another program vendor…  Yes!  I need one … it’s only 20 bucks... 

Rod Laver.

Wow.......

No national anthem? No big ceremony?

Coin toss … warm up

Wow, I'm seeing this in person?? Is this real?  Sharapova?

To the lady in the row in front of me with the big fancy, high clicks-per-second camera … Wow! I want one! The pictures you’re reviewing on your camera are amazing clear and zoomed-in! 

Ball kids. Way more interesting in person than they are on TV.  Have a much higher appreciation for them now … they’re pretty entertaining to watch (granted I am here on Day 1).  They have to be super quick.  Good at making split-second decisions.  Able to run back and forth and change directions quickly.  Able to stand in one place for a long time… in the sun.  Strong attention span to be able to respond to sudden stimuli quickly after long periods of inactivity.  Ball kids … I’m proud of you.  Congrats for making it through try-outs! 

Sharapova just bageled her first round opponent.  Gotta head out there.  See what's going on.  Like putting my head above water in heading out of Rod Laver.

Berdych on the practice court.  A guy from the USA.

There's just so many to see.  Kinda feeling like I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off.  All the outside show courts seem to have lines into each entrance.  And, they’re in the hot sun.  Realization: there is a ton if great tennis going on everywhere.  I'm not goina see it all.  That reserved seat in Laver in the shade is starting to look better and better.  Sam Stosur from Australia is playing.  I can feel the Aussi home pride.  Djokovic comes next.  Amazing!

The day goes by soooo fast.  I look down and the watch tells me I’m crossing from lunch to dinnertime. Gotta get some quick grub. Pizza.

After the day session in Rod Laver ends, I head outside to catch side court action. It's a mix. Sam Querrey is from the US.  His day match turns into a night match after the second set, and with the departure of the sun comes the cold night air.  One of the souvenir player towels comes out of the package and I wrap up in it and become pink and 'ausopen2013' is sprawled across my back.  Others in the crowd start to look the same way.  Querrey wins and at Margaret Court I find a seat surprisingly easily.  It's a totally different crowd: loud, spirited.  Flags.  Songs in different languages.  The crowd is hugely in favor of Baghdatis.  It's fun, and even though it’s a cold 10pm, the ups and downs of the match and the crowd are all the adrenaline I need to stay very alert.

The day goes by sooo fast.  I blink and 12 hours of tennis have gone by.

Thank you free Melbourne tram back to the hostel and I'm home by midnight.

The Next Morning

I see several bright blue Aussi Open t-shirts walk by.  And there goes one of the Aussi Open tote bags, and some ticket lanyards walk by, walk past, in the other direction.

Day 2 starts in about 2 hours.  I imagine all the players, the stands, the so-silent-you-could-hear-a-pin-drop stands, the yellow fuzz puffing off after serves, the sun, the sunburns, the big tennis bags walking by, the cool night, all of it about to start.

And I keep walking the other way... toward Southern Cross Terminal, back to Sydney.  I'll watch it all in TV.  I'll see the matches on TV.  But now, I'll imagine everything else that comes with the Aussi Open.  The crowds.  The practice courts.  Hearing the cheers from the other courts.  The stands.  The colorful stands.  The lines to get into the side courts.  The swarming in and out of people from the stands when the players switch sides.  And those ball kids… the second round of entertainment… the side dish, if you will.  The game that goes on besides the game of tennis. It's their own game.  Some say tennis is a boring, slow sport.  Well my friends, may I introduce the ball kids.  Quite an amazing network of activity to watch and follow.

And so I'll go home, wake up at 3 am, and watch it all on TV.  But Aussi Open, I'll never see you the same way.  You'll always be the first Grand Slam I went to.

And hopefully chances will come again.  The yellow fuzz, the players’ grunts, the swarms of crowds, the sitting, the standing, bee-hive like movement of people at changeovers, the sweat, the sun, the tennis, being there, at the tournament, in the middle of all the excitement.

Till then,

I gotta get some rest.  That 3 am comes fast :)

Pictures!! :)

In RLA after the 3 day session matches had ended

Wide panorama of RLA

Day match on Show Court 3

Sam Querrey from the USA on Court 6 warming up for his 1st Round match

Massive stringing operation!  Sam Querrey had new rackets delivered during the middle of his match.

Lively Marcos Baghdatis on Margaret Court for his 1st Round match

Back from Australia! :)

As I look through the many, many pictures I just downloaded, I scroll through a rich color wheel that represents the very different landscapes of Australia I visited:

Green, lush vegetation, clear blue skies, and amazing views of the Blue Mountains near Katoomba.

A pitch dark sky with splashes of colorful fireworks from NYE's in Sydney near the Harbor.

Deep oranges and reds of the Australian Outback near Alice Springs and Uluru.

The mix of shades of blue water and sky out on the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Cairns.

Greens and browns and all the sounds coming from the Daintree Rainforest. 

The signature blue of the Australian Open in Melbourne. 

I added pictures on Google+ (easier to share photo albums :)
Link to photo albums

Some ideas I have for future blog posts about my trip Down Under :)
- 'Conquer the Emperor'  ... a card game I learned from fellow travelers on a train.  It's tons of fun and Marilyn and I taught it to everyone we played cards with.
-Australian Open thought stream ... so Amazing ... I have tons of notes - just gotta get them in a somewhat readable format :)
- Thoughts from an evening bike ride through Sydney
- Research on World Heritage Parks, working visas, and energy efficiency in Australia

Virgin Eyes is Australia Bound!!!

I'm visiting Marilyn and Sydney!!!!!!!!!  I'm so excited.  Marilyn and I met on an ORGT backpacking trip, and have been crazy ever since!  Working overseas in Japan and Korea makes our visits fewer and farer in between than they should be, but that just makes them ALL the much sweeter when we are in the same city!!  Australia - here we come!!   Can't wait for 3 straight weeks full of adventuring, hiking, biking around town, going on errands, sightseeing, driving on the LEFT side of the road!, traveling, and cooking tons of good food.... ahhh sleepover every night!!  Paradise!

NOW, about Australia.  New country - new continent!!  So excited to be travelingggg again!

About Australia:

• 22.8 million people (AUS ranked #52 highest ... for comparison,US has almost 315 million) 
• About 88.2% of the population lives in urban areas (as of 2005, so that might be even higher, now)
• Land mass wise, it's about the same size as the US
• >80% of the pop. lives 100 kilometers from the coast (aghhg! Metric system.. 100 km=~62 miles from the coast ... no wonder they are such happy, friendly people!)
• It is the lowest and flattest continent in the world (hello biking!!)
• "Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth, with the least amount of water in rivers, the lowest run-off and the smallest area of permanent wetlands of all the continents." (maybe explains why they all live so close to the ocean?)
• "Australia is richly endowed with marsupials— there are more than 140 species." (!!!)
• Wow:  "About 85 per cent of flowering plants, 84 per cent of mammals, more than 45 per cent of birds, and 89 per cent of inshore, freshwater fish are UNIQUE to Australia."
• "Among Australia’s best-known animals are the kangaroo, koala, echidna, dingo, platypus, wallaby and wombat."   ....Sounds like I should try to see all of these!
• Interesting history: "Australia’s national day is held on 26th January in recognition of the arrival in 1788 of the First Fleet, a group of 11 ships that sailed from England to establish a colony in Australia."
• "At the end of 2011, export revenue from MINERAL and ENERGY commodities accounted for 60 per cent of Australia's total export dollars"

Sources: http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/our-country and http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/43654/Australia

They speak English!  Oh my my!  Can't wait to see everything - the public transport, the biking, all the national parks, the Accent!!, the natural resources, the beaches, the food!! (of course!!), how they do energy, what kind of religion is popular, all the natural wonders...

LOGISTICS 

VISA / Country Entry & Exit:

I got an Electronic Travel Authority (more info here) for traveling to Australia.  It costs 20 AUD, and is just electronically linked to your passport (AKA... no cool VISA sticker).  Super easy to get one - took like 10 minutes to browse the site and complete the form.  Just for kicks, here are some of the perks of getting an ETA:)

• You can enter Australia as many times as you wish during a 12 month period from the date the ETA is granted or until the expiry date of your passport, whichever is earlier.
• You can stay in Australia for a maximum of three months on each visit.
• You must not work while in Australia unless advised otherwise by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.
• You must not study for more than three months.
• You must be free from tuberculosis.
• You must not have any criminal convictions for which you have been sentenced for a total combined period of 12 months or more, whether or not the sentence/s were served.

Source: https://www.eta.immi.gov.au/ETA/etas.jsp 

Phone/Internet:

I'll be using my iPhone with AT&T again.  I'm signing up for the $10/ month for 50 text messages, which I think should be sufficient for most communication I need to do.  Turning off the iPhone's Cellular Data will ensure I don't accidentally incur high data usage fees.  When in wifi, I can use Skype to call home or call Marilyn if need be.  And, in case I do need to make calls while traveling and not in a wifi zone, I just installed the AT&T Call Int'l app, which allows you to call at a reduced rate/minute.  And, all this planning may be overkill cause Marilyn mentioned she has an extra phone that I might be able to use once I get there :)

Currency:

The current exchange rate:  1.06 USD = 1 AUD 

At least it is close to one, which makes for quick and easy conversions.  As compared to the Chinese Yuan, where I'd have to remind myself not to freak out over spending a couple hundred yuan at dinner.

Last time, I lost money because I converted money here at my US bank.  It was my first time traveling overseas... and I wanted the peace of mind of having some cash with me when I got there.  However, I think it's generally better to convert money once you get over there ... cause the country you go to will have tons of whatever currency you need, as opposed to here in the US, where they have to order the currency for you.

Plan of Attack for MONEY:

• Take a couple hundred USDollars with me
• I can convert my USD at Marilyn's bank for a 1% conversion fee
• Use my BOA debt card to withdraw AUD cash from certain ATMs
• BOA is part of an international ATM alliance:  I can use my BOA debt card at any Westpac Bank ATM in Aussi and New Zealand.  The $5 non-BOA ATM fee will be waived and the conversion fee between USD and AUD is 1% of the USD I withdraw (with a max of $1,000 USD per day limit... ).  
• As an alternative to cash, I can use credit cards.  My MasterCard has a 1% foreign transaction fee
• I have a Discover card through my parents... Discover (Diner's Club International in Australia), they have a 0% transaction fee..YAY!

This is what I'll look for :)

Source: http://www.westpac.com.au/ 

Westpac Banks are everywhere, so no worries there..at least in Sydney.  (All the magnifying glasses with +'s inside indicate multiple ATMs in that one area).

Don't know how widely-accepted Diners Club is... but I'll use the Discover Credit card since there is no transaction fee!!:) 

Ok, enough logistics funsearch :)

T-1 week till I leave .... More exciting info to come very soon!!