SHARK BEACH PART 2

yesterday we went back to shark beach and made an underwater video while swimming. now i really see why they call it shark beach!



just kidding! in fact, yesterday i went with visiting fellow northern hemisphereans to the sydney aquarium. it was worth a visit just for the shark tunnel. but we are going to the beach today...

CAFE UNKNOWN

i have no idea what the name of this cafe is but i wish i did. all i know is that it's in the suburb of alexandria and it made for a nice photo shoot.

IT'S NO DJOK-OVIC

being in the southern hemisphere has its benefits and this week we're enjoying the benefit of getting to watch the australian open (that's tennis). at home we don't get to see live play of this tournament since the matches are for the most part played during the witching hours. here we get prime time tennis and it's been pretty damn exciting. at the moment we're particularly enjoying serbian novak djokovic kicking aussie lleyton hewitt's arse. sorry aussies but we just don't like his manner - never have. but it is a good match. as was the 4 1/2 hour federer-tipsarevic match we stayed in all saturday night to watch. and it was only the third round. yes, we're lame. we just like watching the tennis.

SHARK BEACH

although in the past we've claimed ourselves to not be beach people, we may have finally found a reason to be beach people. admittedly, i don't mind a day here and there on the beach - when at home, on the cape, and in sydney, on bondi. but it is definitely one of j's least favorite activities. until now.

last weekend we grabbed the 325 (that's a bus) up to the neighborhood of vaucluse and spent the afternoon at nielson park, a.k.a., shark beach. and it was lovely. i should tell you straight away, it's not called shark beach because there are sharks...or so we've been told. apparently it's been named after nearby shark island which was called such because it's shark-shaped. still, shark beach has shark nets. big ones that stick out of the water. so it makes you wonder.

nonetheless, nielson park is shady with fig trees, hilly and green. the park rolls down onto the small beach and to the beautiful water that's calm and warm. it's a harbour beach so you can sit all day and watch the sailboats, kayaks and ferries sailing past. or lie on the rocks that form out of the cliffs that surround the park. or hang out at the cafe - of course there is a nice cafe and a coffee kiosk at the beach. god love australia and its coffee obsession!

so because of this nice little spot on sydney's harbour, we can finally be beach people. shark beach people.

MORE ENZED: WELLINGTON

we actually flew into the city of wellington on the north island, before heading south for the queen charlotte track, and spent our first two days in this small capital. it's a lovely city that we could actually see ourselves living in. it has a good mix of cosmopolitan appeal with great cafes and bars and charming architecture, and a laid back feel with many of its residents walking around bare foot - a kiwi thing we've been told. it also has a pristine harbour, nice beaches, an awesome botanical garden, and beautiful rolling green hills surrounding the city. it kind of reminded us of cambridge, but plopped in an amazing landscape setting. they call it the "windy city" and we were even warned about flying into it as allegedly pilots need special licenses to be able to fly a plane into wellington airport. but i guess we were lucky as we had warm and tame weather while there. we also had a great extended lunch, before catching our ferry south, at a cafe called FLORIDITAS where many glasses of new zealand gewurztraminer (who knew) were drunk. anyway, here's a bit of our time there...

ENZED

during our first few days in new zealand we hiked the queen charlotte track on the marlborough sound at the northern tip of the south island. it was hard. the track is normally done in 4 days but we attempted to do it in 3 and quit after 2 in a very confident decision that we'd seen enough of the sound. each of the 2 days was a long eight-hours of walking with just a few breaks for food here and there. nonetheless, the views were breathtaking, the walking was challenging (in a good way), and the camping was fun. here are a few shots of our starting point in picton harbour, some views from the trail, and the well-deserved beer that we savoured at the end of day one.

REASON TO LOVE SYDNEY #1

ok so there have been many more reasons to love sydney, but since i haven't been numbering them in the blog, this is number 1. last night, after a sad afternoon saying goodbye to my parents, we did two of possibly the most fun things to do in life in order to cheer me up - we had a picnic and watched a movie. since it's summer here, there are many outdoor activities going on around the city and one of them is called "moonlight cinema" where they show films every night in sydney's centennial park. they rent out bean bag beds to lie on and allow you to bring in whatever food and drinks you want. so we brought a spread of salads, babaganoush, olives and olive pate, cheese, pears, breads, crackers, a kit kat, and a bottle of red. it was a great spread. the movie we watched was "rescue dawn" and it was good but it almost could have been any film as the experience of picnicking at night in a park, sipping wine on a bean bag bed and getting a little movie escape was fantastic. we have tickets to do this again but in the botanic gardens, with seats overlooking the opera house and harbour bridge. that should be pretty good as well.

WE'RE BACK

after a long hiatus from sydney, we're finally back home and it feels kind of nice. i think it took going away and then coming back to really make it feel like home here.

tonight we especially appreciated sydney in all its summer glory as we walked home past an outdoor concert featuring de la soul. we're not huge fans, but the notion of being able to hear a concert outside that's not the rolling stones circa 2007 or sting in a specially licensed appearance at fenway park is kind of nice. on top of the music, it's not in many cities where you can stroll through a park on the way home and feel like you're walking through an episode of "wild america" with the cute possums (sorry australia, but they're cute) and giant bats.

speaking of wildlife, in our travels over the past three weeks, we've seen koalas, seals, dolphins, sheep, cows, eels and...lots and lots of bush flies (ugh). more to come on our trip in future posts...hopefully.