Apparently these Australians are alright at cricket on their day. I thought i'd go and check it out...
Now firstly, I bring you sad news... my camera appears to have met an untimely end at the game.. so there shall be no more photos... a blessing in disguise, I wont be seeing the end of this trip through a camera lens.. anyway, today...
Bloody hot.
I know this will amuse a great proportion of you... but if i thought I was tanned before this... I am well and truely burnt as of today. It was 35degrees and I had no hat... at least for the first session anyway. I officially look Trinidadian.... but never mind... I'll deal with all of y'all when i get back no doubt...!
Aside from the boiling heat, the cricket was fantastic. As those of you that follow it will know, it was quite a first day... I wanted to see Tendulkar bat, so the lack of a collapse was something of a disappointment, then again, I did see Ponting play some imperious shots, and Symonds was above average... Hogg punched well above his weight, and 'Arpy' Singh bowled very very well...
Enough cricket... I suppose if you're counting, thats another 'Ozzie' thing i've done that can be ticked off the list... its not so much a list than a couple of words scrawled on a redundant napkin as of now.... what is left is for another trip...
It will be soon.
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Wednesday, 2 January 2008
Tuesday, 1 January 2008
364 left
Today was a day of reflection... reflection and extreme tiredness. Looking back, its kinda counter productive spending a day of your holiday musing about how little of your holiday is left... but lets be honest... we've all done it. I clearly just have....
To say I don't wanna come back is a bit of an understatement, I actually miss the family, I miss you guys... but its not really relative. When I leave here its going to be a huge wrench, both my nieces are now sticking to me, as the only remaining visitor..! Which is going to make it really tough to go...
Figuring out what i'm going to be doing with the next few days... booked tickets for the cricket tomorrow.... here is hoping Tendulkar gets 100, Lee grabs a 5 for, India get knocked over for 150 and I get to watch Ponting, Clarke et al wrack up 300+... it would not be a bad days play =p
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ooooo resolutions, before I forget... i'm at a bit of a loss this year... any *constructive* recommendations will be gratefully received.
To say I don't wanna come back is a bit of an understatement, I actually miss the family, I miss you guys... but its not really relative. When I leave here its going to be a huge wrench, both my nieces are now sticking to me, as the only remaining visitor..! Which is going to make it really tough to go...
Figuring out what i'm going to be doing with the next few days... booked tickets for the cricket tomorrow.... here is hoping Tendulkar gets 100, Lee grabs a 5 for, India get knocked over for 150 and I get to watch Ponting, Clarke et al wrack up 300+... it would not be a bad days play =p
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ooooo resolutions, before I forget... i'm at a bit of a loss this year... any *constructive* recommendations will be gratefully received.
NYE & The Turn Of 2008
Its a lil weird to think technically i'm writing this in a different year to the one you guys are currently in. Besides which, i'm glad i'll get the chance to wish you guys a happy NYE, and a prosperous NY before you actually get to experience it.
My cousins from Canada that were also visiting left NYE morning, very sad... i expect to see them at some point again in the near future, be that at the end of the Summer or next Xmas, but even so, seeing them off was emotional. I'm beginning to develop a love hate relationship with airports...
Back home... obviously i'd had the obligatory 3hours of sleep, and was dying in the 30degree heat... so passed out on the sofa... only for the lil niece to proceed to either, kiss me on the cheek, slap me silly or just jump on me.... I wasn't asleep for long.
Around 6-7 me and my cousin (the immigrant) set off for Darling Harbor and then Circular Quay (to get a view of the Harbour Bridge). Now, I don't know about you, but i've always watched the fireworks on tv given the chance... and Sydney's are always the best. I was quite excited to see it for myself. Obviously by the time we got there... every popular vantage point was closed and patrolled with excessive levels of security. After satisfying ourselves that the view of the bridge from between two levels of overpass was good enough... we slipped through an un-guarded fence into the docks. What followed was probably one of the most testing 3hours of my entire life.
If Zak is reading this, or any London football fan... they'll know the pain of the tube on match morning. Imagine that... then apply it to around 1,000,000 people, in a dock... all jostling for the best view.... and when i say jostling... i lie, they were straight out fighting. I saw cat fights, punches, the whole load. We saw the 9pm introductory fireworks quite serenely, nobody really caused too much of a fuss. As it approached midnight... the situation changed.
11:50pm... the police cordon which had been in place for about an hour finally breaks (they were trying to control the crowd)... they all decide to find their own places.
11:50pm 5seconds... PUSH!... en masse! .... I cannot explain just how painful the next 10minutes were. I'm currently not an insubstantial figure.... some would say 'Rohan-esq'... a series of buffets and lazyness has ensured that... and for swathes of time i was actually lifted off the floor as people pushed from side to side and forwards and backwards. Naturally, I knocked over a few idiots, and managed to manoeuvre myself into a position to see the whole show. When it kicked off, it was worth waiting for.
The Australians know how to put on a show.
Watch it all on tv... seriously, it was incredible. I seem to be using that adjective a lot in this blog... I make no apologies. Again, I have video... very good video.
Anyway, once again, wanna take the chance to wish all of you guys a fantastic new year, i hopee 2008 will be a great one for you =)
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My cousins from Canada that were also visiting left NYE morning, very sad... i expect to see them at some point again in the near future, be that at the end of the Summer or next Xmas, but even so, seeing them off was emotional. I'm beginning to develop a love hate relationship with airports...
Back home... obviously i'd had the obligatory 3hours of sleep, and was dying in the 30degree heat... so passed out on the sofa... only for the lil niece to proceed to either, kiss me on the cheek, slap me silly or just jump on me.... I wasn't asleep for long.
Around 6-7 me and my cousin (the immigrant) set off for Darling Harbor and then Circular Quay (to get a view of the Harbour Bridge). Now, I don't know about you, but i've always watched the fireworks on tv given the chance... and Sydney's are always the best. I was quite excited to see it for myself. Obviously by the time we got there... every popular vantage point was closed and patrolled with excessive levels of security. After satisfying ourselves that the view of the bridge from between two levels of overpass was good enough... we slipped through an un-guarded fence into the docks. What followed was probably one of the most testing 3hours of my entire life.
If Zak is reading this, or any London football fan... they'll know the pain of the tube on match morning. Imagine that... then apply it to around 1,000,000 people, in a dock... all jostling for the best view.... and when i say jostling... i lie, they were straight out fighting. I saw cat fights, punches, the whole load. We saw the 9pm introductory fireworks quite serenely, nobody really caused too much of a fuss. As it approached midnight... the situation changed.
11:50pm... the police cordon which had been in place for about an hour finally breaks (they were trying to control the crowd)... they all decide to find their own places.
11:50pm 5seconds... PUSH!... en masse! .... I cannot explain just how painful the next 10minutes were. I'm currently not an insubstantial figure.... some would say 'Rohan-esq'... a series of buffets and lazyness has ensured that... and for swathes of time i was actually lifted off the floor as people pushed from side to side and forwards and backwards. Naturally, I knocked over a few idiots, and managed to manoeuvre myself into a position to see the whole show. When it kicked off, it was worth waiting for.
The Australians know how to put on a show.
Watch it all on tv... seriously, it was incredible. I seem to be using that adjective a lot in this blog... I make no apologies. Again, I have video... very good video.
Anyway, once again, wanna take the chance to wish all of you guys a fantastic new year, i hopee 2008 will be a great one for you =)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Monday, 31 December 2007
Penultimate day of the year
Another day, another buffet.
The last buffet. The buffet to end all buffets.
Sydney Tower is amazing. The restaurant (with incredible food) is the top floor of the building, a circular section which rotates, with views of the entire city. One rotation takes 90mins and our alloted time period was 90mins... uncanny.
I've said it before and believe me... i'll say it again. Sydney is the most beautiful city in the world. If I don't end up living here at some point in my life, i'll have made a serious mistake along the way. The views were incredible, it helped that it was 30 degrees and a cloudless sky... we could see, well, as far as the eye can see..! All in all, when combined with the limitless gourmet food... well worth the $50... around, 28quid...
Walked around all day and it didn't occur to me once that it was almost NYE (as i write this, it is NYE)... the weather still hasn't hit home with me. All i know, is that i don't wanna go back home!
Anyway, evening, and the 'kool' party; for all the non-freshies out there, 'kool' is something like a seafood stew from SL... I'm not a fan, but my cousin made it and she is an amazing chef. Hence... it was edible. Myself and the emigrated cousin (he shall be called the emigrated cousin for simplicity's sake) then set about a lil firework display for the kiddies at the house... well, was fun for us too, but for the kiddies.
We set a few fireworks off, dodging the burning embers as they fell down to earth... for the last one we set off; it came off at an angle we didn't expect, so cousin dearest told me to run. I ran, and an ember landed about 30cm in front of me. Not being sure which direction to run, we just stood there... fun! Anyway, neighbours complained, so we moved the party to a park.
For the park, we decided, rather than one by one, we'd light a few (6) all at once. 3 cars came along for the ride, and my and the cousin went outside whilst everyone else sheltered in their cars. We found a bench, and lined up all the fireworks. Lighting them all with lit sparklers, the first 5 were lit, the cousin once again didnt tell me he had started, so by the time i had lit my 2nd firework, his were popping... tried lighting the last one, but figured i didnt wanna be too close by the time they all went off...
Anyway, twas all very spectacular.. ended... and we lit the last one. Now this, had 6 rockets in a circle around a benign core... they all fire off one after another once one has been lit.... we lit it... 3 fired off nicely, then all of a sudden, we see a flash going sideways rather than... well... up. That one flew by the top of our front car, the second flash flew straight into the front garden of an opposing house. Meanwhile, we ran behind the nearest tree... didnt fancy dodging any metaphorical bullets. (met with much hilarity by everyone in the car as they saw us waving our sparklers one minute, then the same sparklers streaking towards the trees the next).
Thankfully we missed both cars (by centimetres) and made a hasty exit from the area... leaving a nice fog of smoke behind us....
Good times!
xxxxxx
The last buffet. The buffet to end all buffets.
Sydney Tower is amazing. The restaurant (with incredible food) is the top floor of the building, a circular section which rotates, with views of the entire city. One rotation takes 90mins and our alloted time period was 90mins... uncanny.
I've said it before and believe me... i'll say it again. Sydney is the most beautiful city in the world. If I don't end up living here at some point in my life, i'll have made a serious mistake along the way. The views were incredible, it helped that it was 30 degrees and a cloudless sky... we could see, well, as far as the eye can see..! All in all, when combined with the limitless gourmet food... well worth the $50... around, 28quid...
Walked around all day and it didn't occur to me once that it was almost NYE (as i write this, it is NYE)... the weather still hasn't hit home with me. All i know, is that i don't wanna go back home!
Anyway, evening, and the 'kool' party; for all the non-freshies out there, 'kool' is something like a seafood stew from SL... I'm not a fan, but my cousin made it and she is an amazing chef. Hence... it was edible. Myself and the emigrated cousin (he shall be called the emigrated cousin for simplicity's sake) then set about a lil firework display for the kiddies at the house... well, was fun for us too, but for the kiddies.
We set a few fireworks off, dodging the burning embers as they fell down to earth... for the last one we set off; it came off at an angle we didn't expect, so cousin dearest told me to run. I ran, and an ember landed about 30cm in front of me. Not being sure which direction to run, we just stood there... fun! Anyway, neighbours complained, so we moved the party to a park.
For the park, we decided, rather than one by one, we'd light a few (6) all at once. 3 cars came along for the ride, and my and the cousin went outside whilst everyone else sheltered in their cars. We found a bench, and lined up all the fireworks. Lighting them all with lit sparklers, the first 5 were lit, the cousin once again didnt tell me he had started, so by the time i had lit my 2nd firework, his were popping... tried lighting the last one, but figured i didnt wanna be too close by the time they all went off...
Anyway, twas all very spectacular.. ended... and we lit the last one. Now this, had 6 rockets in a circle around a benign core... they all fire off one after another once one has been lit.... we lit it... 3 fired off nicely, then all of a sudden, we see a flash going sideways rather than... well... up. That one flew by the top of our front car, the second flash flew straight into the front garden of an opposing house. Meanwhile, we ran behind the nearest tree... didnt fancy dodging any metaphorical bullets. (met with much hilarity by everyone in the car as they saw us waving our sparklers one minute, then the same sparklers streaking towards the trees the next).
Thankfully we missed both cars (by centimetres) and made a hasty exit from the area... leaving a nice fog of smoke behind us....
Good times!
xxxxxx
Sunday, 30 December 2007
The Day Before The Day Before New Years
Oppressive heat... I love it!
It is the last couple of days of my cousin's stay here in Oz (The Canadian ones... its not worth trying to work out who in truth, for those of you that know, im both impressed, and surprised)... as such, we're cramming as much as we can into the next few short days. Twas clubbing last night, and it was a trip to the slightly blue mountains today.
It wasn't a particularly early start today thankfully... we did get in the car and set off around 11... en route we did a scenic eye tour thing, which I wasnt too impressed by. The blue mountains are stunning, don't get me wrong, but i'd seen them from the air before, even walked a little in there... I had even seen a brown snake in the wild... it was never going to impress me that much. I did drink plenty of fresh mineral water from the mountain though... very cool.
Then off to the Jenolan Caves; the oldest known caves in the world. We were due to explore the 'Lucas Cave'... which we did. Obviously, as with all of my journeys, the photos are absolutly amazing. I must have a good 100-200 just from within the caves itself. It is difficult to believe wonders like it are naturally created, but again, I am not the sentimental type, so i'm going to stop waxing lyrical there... more of that to come later =)
On the route back, we got Chineese (i've had more Chineese here than i've had ever..!) and stopped one more time at the 'Echo point' in the mountains. At this point (11pm) in the pitch pitch black, my cousins blind folded me and dragged me to the edge of the cliff (the rail told me it was the edge..!)... I opened my eyes to probably the most beautiful view i've ever seen. The three sisters. They were all lit up in orange, and just looked fantastic...
For those that don't know, the 'Three Sisters' are a rock formation on the mountain range, imagine these humungous rocks against a pitch black starry sky (the stars down here are ridiculous.. i'm going to come home with neck ache!) being lit from around 10-15km by some ridiculously powerful orange lamp. Perfectly. The light is focused on that part of the valley exactly, and they just look unreal. Even photos wouldn't do it justice, not that we could get photos... stars being far away and all...
Anyway, on that note, wait for a bunch of 'sights' to be posted on facebook... or pester me for photos at will...
I'm gonna go to bed... another buffet tomorrow!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
It is the last couple of days of my cousin's stay here in Oz (The Canadian ones... its not worth trying to work out who in truth, for those of you that know, im both impressed, and surprised)... as such, we're cramming as much as we can into the next few short days. Twas clubbing last night, and it was a trip to the slightly blue mountains today.
It wasn't a particularly early start today thankfully... we did get in the car and set off around 11... en route we did a scenic eye tour thing, which I wasnt too impressed by. The blue mountains are stunning, don't get me wrong, but i'd seen them from the air before, even walked a little in there... I had even seen a brown snake in the wild... it was never going to impress me that much. I did drink plenty of fresh mineral water from the mountain though... very cool.
Then off to the Jenolan Caves; the oldest known caves in the world. We were due to explore the 'Lucas Cave'... which we did. Obviously, as with all of my journeys, the photos are absolutly amazing. I must have a good 100-200 just from within the caves itself. It is difficult to believe wonders like it are naturally created, but again, I am not the sentimental type, so i'm going to stop waxing lyrical there... more of that to come later =)
On the route back, we got Chineese (i've had more Chineese here than i've had ever..!) and stopped one more time at the 'Echo point' in the mountains. At this point (11pm) in the pitch pitch black, my cousins blind folded me and dragged me to the edge of the cliff (the rail told me it was the edge..!)... I opened my eyes to probably the most beautiful view i've ever seen. The three sisters. They were all lit up in orange, and just looked fantastic...
For those that don't know, the 'Three Sisters' are a rock formation on the mountain range, imagine these humungous rocks against a pitch black starry sky (the stars down here are ridiculous.. i'm going to come home with neck ache!) being lit from around 10-15km by some ridiculously powerful orange lamp. Perfectly. The light is focused on that part of the valley exactly, and they just look unreal. Even photos wouldn't do it justice, not that we could get photos... stars being far away and all...
Anyway, on that note, wait for a bunch of 'sights' to be posted on facebook... or pester me for photos at will...
I'm gonna go to bed... another buffet tomorrow!
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