Flashback to Oz

I did keep a running week by week journal while in Australia to document most things I did.  You can find pictures of it on my shutterfly web site, which is linked here.

Overall, I loved Australia.  If I become a snow bird one day, I will not be traveling to Florida to spend winter there, but will be going to Australia.  Specifically the north head in DeeWy or Manly.
I took a surfing lesson while there and LOVED it.  It was a great workout even when I barely could catch even one wave.  Lake Michigan just isnt making the froth like the coasts do but it is where home and family is.   Surfing will have to stay as a vacation activity.

Enjoy.


First 1/2 week (oct 14 - 18)
My first few days in australia consisted of going to a client site with two other collegues and sitting in meetings.
Unfortunately I thought I was the one who was to be running these meetings but based on politic stance and the uncertainy of my ability to read people across a culture basis, I was voted down to listen to the meetings and let the Australian manager run them.  By all means it was not uninteresting, but I have heard it before - usually running the meetings myself keeps things more interesting.  As faue pa as it may sound, I still was shocked to hear the multitude of different sounding accents.  The business men in the meeting I was attending were from all of the different australian states and hearing the vast difference was very interesting.  So the next time someone tells you American's sound all alike, turn it back on them and say well then *insert nationality here* must all sound a like as well then.


When the weekend came I took to the streets and walked and walked.  Some of the things I saw were very interesting but nothing about Sydney really struck me as stunning with one exception.  The Sydney Harbour, especially at night, is one of the most beautiful things.  I do love a good skyline and in fact my favorite skyline remains as the skyline of Chicago.  Yet this harbour harbors (*wink*) a different sense of heir that is beautiful in its own right.  I meet some people from the Sydney Manhattan Associates office that Friday night and was late in meeting them not because I was lost, but rather caught up in wandering the harbour.  In fact I was in such awe by its beauty that I did not take any pictures of it yet during the night time.  Although I do plan to when Matt is in town visiting so stay tuned.

Other things I saw that weekend included many of the old sandstone buildings which of what few still stand are very beautiful. While walking down the street, I realized that people were looking into the sky as well as taking pictures.  I looked up and didnt see anything at first, but then realized a small plane was writing "Jesus is Life" in the sky. Later I saw advertisments which concluded that the local community of Bapists had a weekend event themed as such.

My hotel was also right next to Chinatown so I was able to scope out the small shops carrying useless and shabby souveniors made in china.  Chinatown's best assett were the numerous small restuarants whose food compared quite nicely to my familiarity of Chinese food from London's Chinatown.

Week of Oct 19 - 25
The business portion of my week included visiting a current client of ours in North Sydney, Chanel Perfume.
Unfortunately no samples, but they did have the basic range of 6-8 different perfumes to use in the women's bathroom.  Wednesday - Friday that week I flew with the local manager to Melbourne to meet my current client, Plush Sofas.  After discussions and the usual hoops to jump through, it has turned out to be a fairly simple project but to be completed on a tight deadline.

The weekend was kicked off with a couple of beers with the local manager in the Quantas airline Executive lounge, followed by some wine on the 50 minute flight back to Sydney.

Saturday I visited the beautiful and elegant Chinese Garden of Friendship.  It is situated immediately in the middle of the city but is so calm and beautiful.  I will be visiting here again for a picnic before I leave Sydney.
On Sunday, I signed up to walk 25k which is 15.6 miles for charity.  Thank you to all who donated in fact!
I meet beyond my goal - especially since I signed up the day before the walk.  It is called the 7 bridges walk,
although we definately walked more than 7 bridges, because it spans over the main 7 bridges of Sydney creating a circuit walk.  What made this 7 hour walk more adventurous was that it waas thunderstorming and a downpour for more than half of the walk.  We were soaked and cold - but even colder if we stopped, so we kept going!  Once we did stop, the muscles and tendons tightened up and it took the rest of the next week to stretch them back out.  It was still worth it and proud to have completed it.

Week of Oct 26 - Nov 1
This business week was busy and consisted of flying back out to Melbourne Monday - Thursday.
I realized the warehouse I am working with is a group of kindergarten boys, which makes me feel right at home.  The following week is Melbourne Cup day on Tuesday; an official holiday and no work for the Austrailan state of Victoria.  Melbourne Cup day is the middle of a week of horse racing.  The guys in the warehouse bought in for $5 each to pull a horse for the big race - 23 horses total.  I got involved and bought 2 bids myself clearly knowing my chances to win were slim.

Thursday night I flew back to Sydney and spent Friday working as well as putting together my Halloween costume; a dress made out of a cloth shower curtain.  My costume was entitled "in the shower."
"What are you dressed as?" "In the shower"  I added to my dress belt a metal shower caddy with shampoo, conditioner, toothbrush, and toothpaste super glued onto it as well as a cheap shower sprayer, a shower cap, and hotel slippers. On Saturday I met up with the 3 other friends I walked the Sydney Bridges walk with at 11:30 at the Sydney wine & food festival.  The desserts were so delicious that I could not decide which ones to have!  The wine was also wonderful, especially The Brothers X was very refreshing for sweet and light wines.  Afterwards we went by my hotel room to apply the cheap temporary tattoos we purchased on the way as well as enjoy a bottle or two of wine and wash up. Next stop was to Shangrila Lounge on the 47th floor near the water, we had a cocktail there just in time for the sunset.  Accidently my friend split the candle and its hot wax on the pants of another friend - which ended our time there fairly quickly.  After dinner we made our way to a bar near the water for a costume party, but did not stay terribly long.  As 11pm approached, we all got our own cabs and went home to sleep another adventurous day off.

This week - I have found myself back in Melbourne.  Although I worked from my self-service apartment on Tuesday when the rest of the state of Victoria went to the races, also known as "the carnival" - I was still able to watch the races on TV.  To my 'shocking' amazement, one of my two horses WON the race!  The horse's name is Shocking and I won $120 Australian dollars, which is just over $100 American dollars.
I will be spending the rest of this week, the weekend, and the next week in Melbourne, very happy to not have to get on a plane again and be able to stay in one place for more than 3-4 nights.



Month of November
Matt visited me for 8 days in Sydney.  It was just so amazing to have someone to share it all with.  We did A LOT of walking around.  I moved to a 1 bedroom apartment just a 3 minute walk from the famous surfing beach, Manly beach.  It is beautiful here.  I may not see much more of anything else Sydney has to offer.
The ferry ride from Sydney Harbor to Manly Wharf is just stunning because the ferry passes the Opera House and Bridge with more than beautiful views.
We of course visited the Opera House, the Bridge, took some night pictures from key points along the water, and just enjoy another's company.  We rented a car for the day and traveled to the Blue Mountains - outside of Sydney.  We hiked as much as we could that day because a good majority of trails were closed due to it being too dry and hot outside and the fire hazard associated with the weather.

I continued for another 2 separate trips to travel to Melbourne supporting the Plush Furniture software implementation.  The entire project turned out to be a bit of a IT nightmare but it all worked out in the end and they are using our software today.

I really enjoyed Melbourne and the different type of city atmosphere here.  I walked through the botanical gardens and all around the central area - in the Queen Elizabeth Market and to the water.  The best area is the few blocks of hands-down great restaurants and bars near the water.  I spent a warm Saturday afternoon in a bar having a Pimms & Lemonade (or two) while listening to a live 3 piece jazz band's set.  I even spoke with the band's members during their break about jazz music in Chicago.  I would suggest anyone going to Melbourne to not miss a visit to the St. Kilda area.

December
Work continued to come in but I made sure to take time to swim (even if the water was freezing) or surf almost everyday.  Being so close to the beach also provided for multiple evenings at the bar while listening to live music, nightly walks on the beach, and/or dinner outside.

I flew back to the UK on December 12th and landed on December 13th, 2009 in London.  On December 16, I got back on a plane and traveled back home to Chicago to celebrate Christmas

Australia is two months of my life which only make me want to go back and see more!