Sydney v. Melbourne

...in posting the rest of the Australia tales. Life has interfered, it seems, and is prohibiting me from getting anything written up! In the meantime, I can offer an entertaining teaser or two. (well, hopefully they're entertaining!)

One of the questions that followed me around Australia was "Which city do you like better? Sydney or Melbourne?" The proper answer was, of course, Melbourne, because the people asking me were from there and therefore heavily biased. :) There is a long-standing rivalry between these two cities--the national capital, Canberra, was created and built simply because the two cities could not agree which one of them would be the capital. To further soothe the rivalry, Canberra is situated halfway between the two cities. Melbourne, though, hosted the government until the city was finished.

These two cities did have their differences, as well. Very different moods prevailed in each place, and I walked away with distinct impressions as a result. Whether they were a result of my experiences in the city or the city itself, it's tough to tell. Anna gave an interesting description of each place over some cheese naan and wine while in Tassie....

Sydney

Sydney, according to Anna, is like Paris Hilton. She's blonde, ditzy, a showman without much below the surface, popular, and everyone likes her. Sydney shamelessly flirts with you, but doesn't really want any sort of long-term relationship.

I'm not sure if this assessment is entirely fair, but I agree with a lot of it. I found Sydney to be this pretty, sunny city full of smart-looking professionals enjoying their morning tea and evening opera, as well as lots of tourists (including myself) walking around, gawking at the sites. The locals were fairly happy to shove you in the direction of whatever site you were looking for--here's the Opera, there's the Harbor Bridge, and over there is Bondi. Tourist activities were openly advertised and promoted, and gosh darn it, everyone is just so happy you're here. Though I wouldn't say that Sydney was as flighty as Paris Hilton, there were definitely a lot of similarities. The sunny personality, for instance. Everyone knew they were living in a beautiful city, surrounded by beautiful things and other beautiful people. Life was, and is, good, and they knew it.

Melbourne
Melbourne, according to Anna, is like Angelina Jolie. A bit darker, more complex, and oozing sex appeal. A lot higher 'cool factor', and someone that it would take time to get to know.

Several parts of Melbourne reminded me of New Orleans. This is because New Orleans is this very interesting city. People flock there to visit (or, at least they used to), and there really wasn't much there to cater to tourists. It was as if the citizens of the city said "Hey, we're glad you're here, but we've got our own thing going, and you're going to have to figure out things to do on your own." I found the same to be true in Melbourne. Of course, the hospitality was INCREDIBLE (if I spend the rest of my life thanking A-M and AD, it just might cover it), but once I ventured beyond their walls, I felt like I was very much on my own. I had to work a little bit harder to find ways to amuse myself. There wasn't much in the way of "Hey Tourist! Over here!" The rewards, though, were just as sweet as those in Sydney. Melbourne had plenty to offer, she just made you work a bit more for it, and was not going to go out of her way to shuttle tourists into a particular area. In that sense, I left feeling like I had gotten to know the city a bit more, because I had to really beat the streets (sometimes several times over) to divine what to do and where to go.

Towards the end of my stay in Melbourne, this conversation came up with AD (using initals to protect the innocent) while walking back from the Queen Vic Markets. AD's take on Anna's assessment was that Melbourne was like a geeky girl. She was a bit awkward and into nerdy sorts of things like art and such, and was the sort of city/girl you'd blow off initially, because she's not very flirty. However, if you stick around and get to know her, you find that there's a lot of substance, and that she's really quite cool and has a complex personality, and then you fall for her. In his mind, Melbourne didn't have the sex appeal of Angelina Jolie, but she had a lot of charm and personality just the same. In his mind, I think, that was worth more.

So there's your teaser. Both descriptions have given me a lot of food for thought, and I wanted to share them with everyone. I've been thinking about what sort of personality Chapel Hill and North Carolina has. I don't have an answer yet, but I'm working on one. The trees are going to start turning here in a couple of weeks, and then she'll really have the charm going---I love autumns up here--but otherwise, I just don't have a good personality for this place. I'm willing to entertain ideas, though!

Update 2.full

Okay, funsters, here is the rest of the update, now that I've got some internet time on my card again!

You got the surf update. The rest of Noosa proved to be quite a learning experience. This experience came in the form of the other people I was staying with. If you are looking for Americans in Australia, go to Noosa. That's where they're hiding. In one hostel, split among two rooms, were six Americans: myself, two girls from California, one girl from St. Louis, one girl from New York, and a guy from Maine. It was hanging out with them that I learned a few things about travelling. First, I learned that I am very glad I am travelling alone. The times that we all went out together, we tended to hang about as a group and talk about American things--the news in the States, our respective lives back home, etc. When I struck out from the group and did my own thing, I was much more likely to engage with the locals. And every time I went out on my own (say, to dinner) I received an invitation to share a table, or share a drink with a crowd. I met lots of very lovely people doing that, and learned about how life is outside of my own little bubble. (A lot of similarities, and some differences, too).

Second, I learned that many other people are REALLY crazy. A lot of the Americans (one in particular) claimed that they came to Australia to find answers. To what, they didn't know. All they knew was that they were going to do all sorts of things (one day of surfing, one day of hiking, one day of meditating in the mountains), in the search for these answers. I'm not sure how they were paying for this operation, as they didn't have a working holiday visa, and were there for several months, but that wasn't my business. They seemed shocked that, after my tale of how I got there, that I wasn't searching for answers of my own, but rather, just here to enjoy life and all it has to offer. The statement "I did my soul searching, already, thanks," just mystified that crowd. I didn't have time to help them find answers to questions they hadn't defined, so I didn't hang around that crowd a whole lot.

That was Noosa.

On to Sydney!

Sydney is a very charming city. It's big-huge, really, when traversed on foot and bus, and four days isn't nearly enough time to see it all. I spent the first evening getting to my lodgings--by the time I got plane and train sorted, it was rush hour, and getting dark quickly, and ended up walking from Central Station out to Glebe. This wouldn't be a bad walk if it were just a ramble, as it's only 3 or 4 km. However, this distance became huge when loaded down with 50 lbs. worth of stuff and sporting two blisters (earned in Noosa). I was not a happy girl by the time I arrived, and so I just stayed in and vegetated the first night. The first full day in Sydney (Tues), I decided to strike out and aquire opera tickets and wander around the city and see what it had to show me. I successfully navigated the bus system, and stumbled upon Hyde Park Barracks, a museum dedicated to the history of the City and the different roles the building had played over the years since its construction: convict barracks, legislative building, and records storage. It also documented the archaeology and restoration of the building to its' present museum state. I wandered around the courtyard, and stumbled upon a group of schoolchildren in a tour group, learning about how the earliest settlers lived..and the were all wearing slop shirts (1860s cut--history dork!) and making bricks out of wet sand. The difference between what these children were doing and activities that you would have schoolchildren do in the States was astounding. (For the record for the Aussies reading this, it would depend on the site, but would likely be some sort of farming activity, though the convict colonies were S. Carolina and Georgia, so they might be making bricks there) Then again, you might find something equally eye-opening at a Civil-war era site that didn't apologize for slavery. Tough to say. At any rate, the museum was interesting, aside from the choice to include mummified rats in the displays (I understand they made a mess of the building and made the lives of the occupants hell, but do you really have to include the mummies?)

From there, I wandered up and found the Opera. I went up to the window to get my ticket, and was quietly informed that if I bought a backstage tour of the opera for $35 (which I wasn't going to do, despite being mildly interested), I could get any ticket for that night's show for $50. For reference, the cheapest seats for the opera started at about $100, and after Noosa, I was looking for a deal! I dashed over and got my tour ticket, then came back and scored a seat in the stalls that normally ran for $198 for a mere $50. Woohoo for that! And I got a very interesting tour of the Opera to boot. I was glad I did it, in the end. It went into the details of construction of the opera, and took us through all the different concert spaces. In addition, we got to wander in and listen to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra rehearse (Sans-Saens cello concerto) for a few minutes. It was really cool stuff. There was another tour that took you all through the backstage, but it was only once a day, starting at 7am, so no luck there. While on the tour, I ran into a couple other tourists (a comedian from Los Angeles and a tourist from Germany) and we ended up wandering around together for the tour and having lunch afterward. It was quite pleasant.

After all that, it was time to return home, clean up, and get back for a 7:30 show. I wore my cute new Fluevogs, along with a really great dress I got at Kohls (great because its a wrinkle-free jersey). While sipping champagne and watching the lights from the ships move about the harbor before the show (It was the Sydney Opera, how could you not??), I was chatted up by two little old ladies who commented that they loved my shoes. They came to the opera often, because they loved the music and loved watching all the people. There's no dress code at the Opera there, so it provided ample opportunity for "what on earth are they wearing?" moments. :) You could see everything from formals to converse sneakers and jeans. One of the ladies runs a bed and breakfast three doors down from the hostel I'm staying in.

The opera itself was wonderful. It was just the way opera should be: beautiful music, beautiful singing, decent costumes (Fidelio is set in an 18th C. Spanish prison, there's not much room for pretty), and HORRIBLE acting to match the overdone story arc and absolutely over-the-top lyrics. I'll definitely seek out some opera in Raleigh.

After the show, I was hungry, and wandered into the only shop serving that late (10:30pm). It was a Guylian Chocolate shop, and I thought "I'm on vacation, why the hell not?" and ordered myself an incredibly decadant dessert for dinner. And another glass of champagne to go with it. While waiting for my death-by-chocolate dinner to arrive, I was invited to share a table with three very charming women: Imalayah, from Sydney, her friend (name???) visiting from the Phillipines, and her friend's aunt Tess, who also lives in town. Within minutes we were laughing like we'd known each other all our lives. One of the lovely serendipitous moments that could only happen because I was travelling alone...

Today was a trip to Bondi beach, to see the place where all the Beautiful People play. It was cool and windy, and the water was pretty cold (I checked with my toes), but the surfers were still out in full force, and they looked to be having a pretty good time. I'd seen pictures of the place on Christmas day, when every square inch of sand is covered by people with their coolers and inflatable Christmas Trees (I could do Christmas like that), but the beach was much more empty today. I was surprised by how small the beach was--maybe 100 yards long, and surrounded by a rock outcroppings upon which townhouses perched. What it must be like to live that close to the ocean, far enough south that you can live reasonably certain that you won't be blown away by a hurricane/typhoon? Seems amazing to me.

At any rate, I'm out of time (again), having spent the entire hour writing this, so I shall return in a couple of days for another update!

Up next: the rest of the day at Bondi, and a daytrip out to the Blue Mountains. Then on to Tassie!

Sheet in ze boosh

Well, that was the words of Stefan, the French surf instructor...that to surf well, one needs to look like they are "taking a sheet in ze boosh, not ze Eiffel Tower" This wasn't my problem with surfing. I had lots of other problems! The last two days were really instructive, and it was good, because the waves got progressively harder as the time wore on (nature's doing, not the school's)...I got up once or twice, but in general just struggled. Surfing, I have decided, is REALLY HARD. It didn't help that I am a switchfoot, it seems--I surf equally poorly with both my right and left foot out front. Sort of like trying to bat right or left handed...I was switching back and forth. I'm not really surprised that I was doing this, as I do it for lots of other sports (tennis, bowling, etc), and so I knew that it would probably be frustrating (if I let myself be frustrated)...but I didn't care. I was out, having fun playing in the ocean, so all was well. But my instructor got a bit frustrated, because he couldn't figure out what was making me so horrible at the whole thing. In the end, though, I think I'd like to try surfing again...I suppose I'll have to head out to the Carolina coast when I get back.

Noosa in general: I heard (once I got there) that iwas one of the top three most expensive streets in Australia. I believe that...Sydney is cheaper! One can dine on The Rocks (bayside views of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge) for the same price or a little less than what is found in Noosa. It's insane.

Well, the Internet cafe tells me I'm out of time. I have lots more to say, but it'll just have to wait until tomorrow.

Bec, signing off

Australian Trip Update 1

Well, here's the first update from Aus.

The plane ride was very, very long. I was sort of successful in my attempt to sleep all day in an effort to ward off jetlag. I slept on both legs across to LA, and woke up feeling pretty alert and awake, but grungy. I had 5 hours to kill in LA, and spent the better part of them looking for a shower so I could clean up and change into the sweats I had brought for the long flight (I thought wearing pyjamas on the plane might be a bit much...). This turned up as a fail, with everyone telling me "sorry, there's no showers available at the airport." *sigh* So instead, I spent 5 hours pacing the terminal, as there wasn't anything interesting to look at. Also, if any of you are looking to make money somewhere, may I recommend opening up a yoga space in the airport? That would be awesome, and it's something I'd definitely pay to use!

Flying on the huge jet was interesting. I sat behind the wing, which is fun for me, as I like looking at what the wings do (dork!). So I found it very interesting that it was so difficult to feel all the normal things one feels when flying--the wheels leaving the runway, the g-forces in your seat as you climb, the bumps from crossing layers of air..none of that came through that big jet. it was like flying in a plane padded by jell-o. At this point, it was midnight CA time, and I was feeling pretty tired. I managed to stay up through the dinner, and then watch one of the movies on offer--Mary and Max, which seemed particularly apropos. It was an Australian animated film that A-M worked on. :) I can't give a particularly good review of it here, as I was too tired to pay proper attention.

Brisbane was interesting. It seems to me the entire city is under construction. There was a lot going on near the hostel, and also a lot on the bus ride up to Noosa. I spend the day in Brisbane at the Lone Pine Koala Sancutary, this little wildlife sanctuary (that's half the price of the zoo...) that has all sorts of local animals. It worked out well as I was in a jet-lag-induced daze, and so nothing more was required of me than to stay awake, walk around, and look at the animals. I saw the world's most poisonous snake (with a pane of glass between me and him), and got to hold a koala (and get my pciture taken with her) and pet the kangaroos (who were being lazy and hanging out under the trees). The koala felt a bit like a sheep--he was wooly and and felt like a bit like a sheep. The kangaroos had wiry fur and felt like horses, but with longer hair.

I spent dinner at some local backpacker pub, and ended up finding myself entered into a pool competition after playing one good game (and winning) against a local guy. Now Patsy knows that I'm an inconsistent pool player at best...and lost the next match by a long shot. It was pretty pitiful. Ah well, such is life.

The next day (friday), I took the bus up to Noosa. It's about ~100 km northwest of Brisbane, and is this cute little resort town. Even in winter, it's exorbitantly expensive, so I'm not sure how much shopping I'm going to do. I found an adorable dress at an Indian import shop, but they want $100 for it. It's cute, but I don't think it's that cute. Even if I could wear it every day (it's looks exotic, but not "costumey", so I could wear it to work). I wandered about the beach, took a nap, and then went back to get ready for the surf lesson.

Surfing was a lot of fun, even if I spent most my time falling off my surfboard! We were given wetsuits, so it was chilly getting in, but once I was in there and moving around, I was just fine. I struggled with getting up to a standing position, and did more falling off when I was half-way there than anything else. I think I was thinking about it too much, and the way that we were being taught to stand wasn't working so well with the way my center of balance works. I talked to the instructor about that a bit after a break, and was shown 2 or 3 alternative methods. I tried one of those, and while I still fell off, I had much more control until the last second when I fell. I finally picked my wave, got going, and stood up the very last time around. So the advertisements were right: guaranteed standing by your first lesson. *grin* I'm glad I have two more lessons, though, as I can now do something with it! I'm not too sore, either. My shoulders are a bit tired, but I'm not aching like I thought I would be. The swimming prior to coming helped a lot.

Today, I'm headed out to Eumundi, the next town over (10 min. bus ride), to go to the open-air market, and then will head back for another surf lesson. I think I'll spend the rest of the afternoon then hiking through the national forest that's next door to the hostel. It's nice that everything close!

Have not been eaten by a shark, have not been hit by a car.

Next update: somewhere in Sydney!

Ain't nothing like the last minute

Hey everyone, so I'm keeping this short, because I'm leaving in 12 hours and I'm still not done packing and, well, an update is low on the priority list. I know you procrastinators would say that I have oodles of time. It'll all get done...but a headache is starting to set in, thanks to the combination of no sleep and caffiene from the past couple of days. Sleep may win. I'll fight back with a couple of movies and some sudoku.

Anyway, this is where updates will be posted. I'll try and get to it every few days, whenever I have a bit of time that needs killing. I'll post pictures as I am able, but I'm not making any promises.

See y'all in September!

Some of what I've been doing

Poor blog. You are so neglected. The primary reason for this is because I have been out doing things and living life, rather than writing about it. So, what has been filling my days? Hopefully in the next few I can show what I've been up to lately.

First, in the crafting realm. I have been asked to do a very interesting craft project. The story goes something like this: Once upon a time, my friend Ann caught me in a moment of weakness with regards to a central park hoodie (CPH III on ravelry, for those who care about the details). As she was sporting her new sweater atone of her studio homes, co-worker Scott inquired about my ability to develop patterns from scratch. My ability? Just fine, thanks. I was asked then if I would be able to create one of these:



Now, I've done some pattern drafting here in NC, but nothing like what I was doing in Texas. Haven't had the time, the space, the energy, or frankly, the need to develop anything. So this is a very welcome challenge. Spaceman MINI (that's his name) truly is mini--he stands about 3 inches. The mini I'm creating currently stands at 15 inches. That's what...400 times bigger? After discussions about colors and materials, I laid my hands on some fleece, pulled my muslin out of storage,and have set to work making a mock up. The results so far have been..interesting. Something of a disaster, I'm afraid. I actually hesitate to post this on the internet. Then again, maybe it's for the best, as it will dispel some myths from some of you about things springing forth fully formed from my fingers!

At any rate, the biggest challenge is his face. The embroidery part will be interesting enough on its own. I'm going for "Silk and Ivory" needlepoint thread for that. Gorgeous from my perspective, and, in my imagination, fully capturing the character--Scott's requirement! But the edge of his space suit, the fact that it's recessed, is proving to be a very interesting structural challenge. After a lot of thought, I came up with the idea of building a triangle-wedge-donut around his face. See the angle? If that's the hypotenuse of a triangle, then dropping down a piece of scrap fabric vertically around the outermost edge, and extending the plane of the face horizontally would make a triangle inside him, that I could fill independently and keep that shape. So the theory went. Not so much...well, here's the results:


Looking all flat and innocent. I wasn't thrilled with my skill at aligning the face to the grey part to the body..but was willing to let it go for the time.



Frankly, I think the poor guy looks like a giant tooth. The white doesn't help. This, I think, can officially be termed a design fail. The likes of which I haven't done in a long time. Like I said, I feel bad sharing this one with the world, and frankly, I hope the intended recipient doesn't think any less of my skills for this one! Ha! As a matter of fact, this one was the second attempt. The first one went straight into the trash--I must have been tired, or overly arrogant, because the first results were so bad I had to simply throw them away without a second glance.

So what's next for the MINI? Well, I have another design in my head, which I didn't really want to do because it will be more complex and difficult to assemble, but I'm fairly certain I'll get a decent result out of it. I'm going to extend the plane of the face (and the fabric it rests on) out to the side seams, and then build the front half of him outward from that. The challenges include having three pieces of fabric along the side seams (rather than just two), and turning is from wrong-side out to right side out, as well as attaching the grey part of his suit to the face. My ideal situation is to use a zig-zag stitch to get the black lines, but it's also a fairly heavy stitch. And a bitch to rip out. So, on the real thing, if I make the tiniest error, I'm utterly screwed, because I'll have heavy-duty zig zag sitting right next to a hand-embroidered face. I'm terrified of having to rip that seam back--I don't think the face would survive it very well at all, and it'll take hours just on its own. Oh, and I'm going to try to stiffen the grey portion with glue-soaked gauze. Because it's not complicated enough yet.

The glue is finally dry, and I'll attempt the mock-up tonight. Wish me luck!

ETA: for those of you who want to see Scott's other artwork, you can go see his blog here.

Pretties

One of the casualties of the divorce was my creativity. About this time last year, I couldn't make anything for love nor money. I could knit, because, to me, knitting isn't all that creative (blasphemy, I know!)...not in the grand scheme of things. I could follow a pattern fairly easily, and with my only instruction being "make it fit", well, that doesn't require too much thought from me, usually.

The creativity is back, at long last. Yay!

Sewing, on the other hand, took something of a nosedive. Ironic, considering I was still paying for The Cadillac, but there it is. Sewing projects tend not to take as long as knitting projects, though, so if I get a yen to do so, I could potentially blast through the stash pretty quickly. I'll maintain that the reason I haven't posted anything is because I have busy doing things...and without further ado, the evidence!

First, a top. I bought the fabric (paid more money than I care to admit) in Asheville when Kat and I met up in November. The woman in the shop told me it was fiddly, but I had to have it-a sage green linen mesh. It was floaty, and draped like a dream on the sample. I ignored her statements about how difficult it was. I shouldn't have. If satan could inhabit two dimensions, this is what form he would take. This stuff is utterly hateful. It's worse than velvet. Does pretty have its limits?

Second: a bit of cuteness I whipped up this weekend for a co-worker who's having a baby. There's lots of other babies in my world right now (LOTS) who need niceness like this...and I intend to give them some! This one just got it first:

Long Story Short

Yes, I know I've been remiss in posting. What can I say? I tend to spend more time living life than writing about it. That and I write all day long--that's my job--so writing at night tends to take a back seat. It shouldn't, though.

Some good news, though. My last check from Robert came today. I've been spending some time in thought recently about what to do for myself to end the separation on a good note. What to do to celebrate my freedom from a rotten personal time. To celebrate the potential I see in myself for the future, even with all the nervous uncertainty in the newspapers today. To celebrate that I am looking forward to the future, I bought myself a fantastic summer vacation: Australia. If you've interacted with me on even a remotely regular basis, you know that I've been talking about this place for...oh, a year or more. There's lots of reasons for this choice...some of which I've shared and some I choose to keep to myself. Needless to say, I'm very excited. And I promise to do my best to not become one of those annoying travellers that updates everyone on every aspect for the sole purpose of making those around them jealous. But, for now, the answers to the basic questions:
1. August. (Yes, it's partially a birthday present to myself)
2. Yes, I can take the time (Yes, I love almost every part of my job, too.)
3. Yes, I'm going by myself.
4. No, I will not die.
5. Yes, I will meet some people there. Locals and fellow travellers alike.
6. It's cold and I will not be getting in water deeper than my ankles (just so I can say I did it), so sharks would have to be pretty desperate to eat me.
7. I'm more afraid of running out of photo cards than I am of any other disaster that might befall me. Brave? Maybe. Stupid? Probably.
8. Yes you can come, if you like. My accommodations will not be ending in "Hilton".

Hope all is well in cyberspace, and I hope also to post more frequently this spring. Hooray for daylight savings time!

Welcome 2009!

Whew....what a year! Though I will expound on this in other places, it seems like 2008's catch phrase should be "the agony and the ecstasy"...often at the same time! At any rate, I'm glad it's done. On to another year, a new plan, and the tools to accomplish it!

Somewhere along the way, I adopted the idea that the way I spent my New Year's Day was indicative of how the year was going to be. Maybe it had came about as an expansion on the idea that eating black eyed peas on NY Day brought good luck for the year, or perhaps I heard it from someone. At any rate, more than just the first opportunity to carry out resolutions, it strikes me as a somewhat auspicous day. To that end, here is how I've spent my day:

1. Crafting. Yes, it was needlepoint, which is not my primary mode of creation, but it's a project that has been languishing for a while and I sat down and just plugged through the part that was slow-going. Now all that's left isn't too fit-inducing. I do want to do more of that this year--get craft work done both for the sheer joy of it and for the reduction of stash.

2. Cooking: As opposed to eating out, which is how I took far too many meals in 2008. I want to cook more, and cook healthier. I know how, it's simply a matter of doing it. Once I finish with the peas, I'll have enough to last me quite a while!

3. Working out: well, this will happen as soon as I finish this post. I need to go. Badly. 'nuff said.

4. Knit night: I'm excited that most everyone decided to go ahead and keep to our schedule. I'll get some knit time AND time with friends, which, in the end, is far more important than the knitting. This rowdy crowd has lent tremendous support in 2008 and I look forward to hanging out with them in 2009. Don't believe knitters can be rowdy? Ask the Panera staff! ha!

Smaller, life maintenance things have been done, too...like laundry, but all in all a pretty good day!

Have a Happy New Year, everyone!