Great Trip to L.A.

The day started off very stressfully as my shuttle driver picked up the wrong person at my hotel and then had to circle back for me. That got me to the airport 30 minutes late and with the incredibly long lines to check in and do security, I got the the gate with just minutes to spare. But the day quickly turned around when I got seated next to three great people who made the 14 hour flight go quickly.

On the down side, the audio/video consoles in our row weren't working so we went the whole way without any movies, but on the plus side, the airline gave us a comp from the duty free shop to apologize for our inconvenience.

On the down side, my body was not cooperating with my sleep goals, so I'm writing this pretty much exhausted. But on the plus side, it was a really pleasant trip with excellent conversation and laughs and to top it all off:

Peter Buck from R.E.M was sitting five rows ahead of me! I finally got up the courage to talk to him while in line for customs. He was really nice and waved to me later as I was leaving the airport. What a great day!

At friend Susan's in L.A. now. Going to bed soon and will fly to Philly tomorrow afternoon.

Sunday in Melbourne

Melbourne is well set up for tourists. I walked about 10 minutes from hotel to catch a free tourist tram that goes all around the city, and is narrated so we can learn about the city while we travel. My goal was to get to the Queen Victoria Market which is huge. A giant sort of flea market with all kinds of clothing, crafts, foods, and and Aussie items. Did my shopping, then trammed it back to another area where I had to return my "loaner" cell phone, then walked back to hotel. This footbridge that I had to take is actually a piece of public art. Sounds and song snippets come out of speakers that you pass as you walk along. The effect is that you're overhearing various conversations and interactions and musical exchanges as you would as you pass by any groups of people on a street or bridge. These voices and songs, though, represent different countries. It made the hike from the main part of the city to East Melbourne, where my hotel was, that much more enjoyable.

I was met at the hotel by Andy who's David (from Sydney's) best mate. Andy showed me around last time i was in Melbourne and was kind enough to do it again this trip. We went out to dinner in an area where there are lots of restaurants by the Yarra River.

FYI, I didn't realize when I booked this Melbourne trip that the Grand Prix would be underway. Have seen many many crowds, and was advised not to take a taxi today due to the traffic congestion. Plus there was an Aussie Rules Football game going on right near my hotel. That's why I spent much of the day on foot.

Melbourne/Earth Hour

I woke up in Sydney feeling a bit under the weather. Just a head cold so not a big deal. Had an easy one hour flight to Melbourne. Got to hotel and just relaxed by the pool for an hour or so. Then I went for a walk to no where in particular. Just wanted to grab a bite to eat and see a bit of the city. Turned out great because I found myself in the middle of a big event: A festival to celebrate Earth Hour. A big stage, musical pefromers, including some of Australia's top singers of the moment. And some comments by Peter Garrett, lead singer of Midnight Oil who is now Australia's Minister for Environment! Very cool! Then at 8:30, some of the lights went out and the bands played on. Also at this festival, a bank of bicycles were set up and people were peddling away, so that the energy they created could be stored and used to power the lights for the concert.

Final Night in Sydney

This pic was taken on my final night in Sydney. Love that skyline!

Various Bits from Sydney

Catching up a bit on various things:

The woman who's gorgeous home at the coast I spent several nights at, also has a flat in the city. I'm there for two nights now. Her name is Louise and she was one of the Rotary exchange program team members that I hosted last year. The other woman who stayed at my house during the exchange was Sophie. Last night, Sophie and Louise and I went to dinner and enjoyed catching up.

Today, one of the guys from the exchange, Evan, and his wife took me to Koala Park. They enjoyed it as much as I did joined me in the koala photo taking frenzy. In the gift shop Evan put this goofy hat on my head so here's a pic for you to use as blackmail.

Then it was a rush to get to the post office to ship some things back home that were making my luggage heavy. Then I had a great hour sitting outdoors and drinking coffee and eating a most delicious jam donut. After really having a sort of busy vacation, doing a lot of travelling and visiting and doing, it was nice to finally be able to relax and people watch on this lovely street in a quaint beautiful neighbhorhood. The bakery owner was very friendly and told me that Russell Crowe is a regular customer there!

Speaking of Russell Crowe, and totally by coincidence, the restaurant I just ate dinner at is in the same building as where he has an apartment! This is a nice waterfront property with a great view of the skyline. Dinner tonight was with another guy from the Rotary exchange, along with his wife. Nice that we were able to reconnect on this trip.

More Koalas

Okay, I admit, I'm obviously obsessed with koalas. I went to the Koala Park today outside of Sydney and loved every minute of my time with the adorable marsupials. After standing in line to get the photo of me with koala, I hung around and just watched the critters hang out in the trees, as well as walk around their enclosure. The sight of them waddling is really quite cute! I got still shots and video and there really wasn't anyone else around so it was really a great day to get up close and personal with "Tadpole" (the name of the 2 1/2 year old female in the photo) and her friends.

More from Sydney

Today was a good day, in large part because all my technology problems have been resolved. My new BlackBerry is working (thanks for sending it, Mom and Dad!), I got some recordings done and sent to clients, and I tracked down an elusive but recommended microphone that will lighten my load for future travels. It's a USB mic that plugs right into my laptop, meaning I won't have to carry around that other piece of recording equipment.

After taking care of all this tech stuff, David and I had a quick lunch and he dropped me off at the Central Train Station in Sydney, where I took a 90 minute ride up to Gosford and then Louise's employee picked me up at train and took me back to her house.

FYI: The GPS in Australian cars is very polite!! The voice says "PLEASE turn right ahead." Interesting cultural difference, I thought.

It was another perfect weather day. I hear tomorrow's going to be about 10 degrees warmer.

In South Sydney

Flew from Hobart to Sydney yesterday and was met at the airport by David and his wife. David's a wonderful radio guy who I've known for many years. His home and family, including adorable dogs, are lovely and I'm very comfortable here. After I did some voiceover recording at a studio here, we drove around so I could see different neighbhorhoods, styles of architecture, and the famous Sydney skyline from different vantage points.

It was a beautiful sunny day in the low 80s. Perfect weather for sitting outside at a restaurant having lunch, watching the boats come in and out of the harbor, and watching sea planes as well.

Will be getting up close to the opera house on Friday so I'll post pics later in the week.

More pics from Hobart

My friends and I spent our four nights together at this wonderful cottage on a private beach about 30 minutes from the city of Hobart. It was rustic, for sure, but perfect for the kind of time we wanted to have together, cooking dinners, listening to Cat Empire tunes, and catching up. It was fabulous to walk a few steps down to the beach by the river, and then walk a bit further to where it fed into the Tasman Sea. By the sea is where we watched the night sky, hoping to see the Aurora Australis.

Look at what we saw outside the kitchen window! A wallaby who seemed as interested in us as we were in it.

Another nice photo I want to show you is one I snapped while we were driving from the city, back to our cottage at sunset. I snapped this as Gerald was driving.

Hobart and Mt. Wellington

Saturday we went into the city of Hobart to check out Salamanca Market which was really great. A beautiful day made for nice shopping at outdoor stalls selling handmade crafts, jewelry, handpainted silk scarves, wooden items carved from a certain type of pine tree that's only in this area. Then we drove to the top of Mt. Wellington where we got to enjoy a pretty spectacular view.

It was windy at the top as you can see from the pic of the three of us. We had to climb some rocks to get to this pinnacle where we took the photo.

Concert

As I mentioned, one of my goals in making this trip was to see the Australian band The Cat Empire perform in their home country. I had seen them in Camden, NJ two summers ago and was blown away. One of those life-changing shows when I just knew I had discovered something super exciting and would be a fan for life. They did not disappoint!

They played for almost two hours at a wonderful venue called Moorilla Winery, about 30 minutes north of the city of Hobart.

While it was a bit of a bummer to have to stay in the back of the venue, inside, wearing earplugs, due to my ear problem (hyperacusis...sensitivity to loud noises), I managed to enjoy a really memorable show that was full of awesome music and dancing. Thankfully, my flailing arms didn't knock over any wine glasses. This was meant to be my reward for being good and following doctors orders since August and not seeing concerts. Cat Empire show was well worth the trip. And they've just released a live CD/DVD so don't be surprised if I invite you over for a viewing party!

Gerald was a dear and offered to go up near the stage to snap some photos of the lovely lead singer, Felix. Look at these great pics! Isn't he dreamy? ;-)

Southern Lights

There were two reasons I scheduled this vacation for the end of March. One, was to see the Cat Empire play at a really wonderful venue. The second was because I read that one has a good chance of seeing "Aurora Australis" while in Tasmania around the time of the equinox.

Well, I didn't see any "Southern Lights" in the sky. We walked to our private beach around midnight two nights in a row and saw beautiful stars, including the Southern Cross, but no aurora. Still, it was kind of fun to hang out and listen to the waves and look at the sky. On the walk back to the cabin, Gerald noticed some light coming from the water. Turns out its some luminescent algae. Very cool to splash our hands in the water and see the water light up!

In Hobart

Hi Friends and Family. No photos at the moment but will post tonight or tomorrow when back in Sydney. Quick note to say the trip continues to go great. More scenic beauty, good times with friends from Adelaide, and a very memorable performance by The Cat Empire!

Yesterday a wallaby was right outside our cottage kitchen window! I took a photo so you can see it. Haven't seen any Tasmanian Devils, though. Just in the zoo in Sydney...go figure...


Anyway, all is great. Hope for you too! :-)

Will be leaving Hobart in a couple hours to fly to Sydney.

More Pics from Tasmania

Here are some more photos of our day yesterday exploring the natural wonders here on the Tasmania Peninsula.

FYI, the Aussies refer to this place as "Tassie". They like to shorten and abbreviate everything.

So much to write and not enough time and access to internet! Gerald and Cathy are about to pick me up and we're going to drive up to Mount Wellington which a local told is something we "must do" while we're here. Should be a nice view, as the weather is perfect. Hope to post more Monday when back in Sydney.

I am doing really well and loving this vacation, as I knew I would.

Hope you are doing great. Thanks for posting your nice comments!

Cat Empire show is tomorrow. Woo hoo!!!!

Tasmania

Tasmania is gorgeous! At the moment I'm in city of Hobart at a coffeehouse using their internet. Will be back in Sydney Monday night and hopefully can write and post more when have a better internet connection. MEantime, just wanted to get some quick pics posted so you can see the natural beauty I'm surrounded by. The pic on the left is the view from our cottage. Pretty amazing right?

I'm here with my wonderful friends from Adelaide, Gerald and Cathy. (If I haven't yet told you the story of how these people came into my life, please ask! It's a story I love to tell...)

Anyway, they flew in from Adelaide and I flew in from Sydney. We met at the Hobart airport and have been having such a great time together. Our cabin is rustic, we've been eating dinner at home every night and then just enjoying chilling out and catching up.

Yesterday we went driving and saw such amazing scenery along the way. Photo on right is just one of dozens of lovely scenes.

Ferry Ride

This morning was spent sorting out my technical problems. Got a temporary mobile phone. My recording equipment has been damaged so I'm taking that as a sign that I'm not meant to be working this vacation.

This afternoon was nice as Louise and I, along with three of her best friends, took a ferry to Palm Beach in North Sydney. A quaint community where we enjoyed a delicious relaxed lunch and then strolled a bit and enjoyed the gorgeous weather.

Tonight we went to the movies. Theatres are very big and nice. "Confessions of a Shopaholic." Cute. A good way to veg after a very busy day.

Now, as promised, a photo of what we saw yesterday. Mommy kangaroo resting with her baby in her pouch. Its feet were sticking out the whole time so Greg gently approached, and Mom let us have a peek at the baby. Adorable, right?

Koalas and Kangaroos

Another beautiful day here in Terrigal. Sunshine, blue skies, felt like 75 to 80 degrees. Greg was an excellent tour guide today. We went to the Australian Reptile Park where, in addition to the slimy snakes and lizards, they have wombats, kangaroos, and koalas.

I learned it is illegal in New South Wales (where we are) to allow the public to hold koalas, but I was able to get up really close and pet this adorable guy named Barney.

We also enjoyed hanging out with kangaroos. There were plenty of the smaller ones (like the one that attacked me on Kangaroo Island, all for that chocolate chip cookie that was in my pocket) and also a big red kangaroo. The one in this photo would have been over 6'2" if standing upright. In this shot you can see him going after the food I was holding.

Tomorrow I will probably post a photo of one of the highlights of the day. We saw a joey inside a mommy 'roo. Amazing.

Then we went to the Ken Duncan Photography Gallery. He is famous for capturing the beautiful scenery of Australia. Then we went to a few high elevation places to catch breathtaking views of the ocean.

Thank God for digital cameras! I'm taking lots of pics. Have a wonderful day!

Dinner at the beach

Monday night I enjoyed dinner on the beach about 10 minutes from Louise and Greg's home. Weather was beautiful all day, though got a little breezy, and I'm always cold, so that explains the jacket in the photo. ;-)

Anyway, there's a little takeout fish and chips place right near where we're sitting down. We added that to the wine, Pellegrino, and fresh salads that Louise's friends made, and it was a really pleasant evening.

For those who don't already know...Louise was part of the Rotary Exchange Program last year. I hosted her at my house in Philly and spent a great week with her and the other team members while they were in NJ/Philly. A lovely woman who runs an advertising agency. Her home is just beautiful and is a great place to start my vacation.

Having not gotten much sleep on the long flight, and just being a little road weary, it worked out great that while she was at the office yesterday, I just relaxed on her sundeck reading magazines and taking in the beautiful scenery and listening to the birds.

It's now Tuesday morning and I'm happy to say I got a great night's sleep and am ready to enjoy another day here. The plan is for Greg to take me to a park that has koalas and then a gallery of a famous Aussie photographer (who takes pics of koalas, as well as many other beautiful things in Oz.) Then I'll have more time to enjoy the weather before having "Girls Night" with Louise.

Will try to update again tomorrow.

Hope you're all well!

In Australia

Hi from Terregal, 2 hours north of Sydney. It's a beautiful sunny day here, feels about 75 degrees. The trip was long but really fine. Both legs of the journey (NYC to LA then LA to Sydney) were on schedule and enjoyable thanks to a wonderful seat-mate and Qantas' great personal on-demand video offerings. I really liked "Vicky Christina Barcelona."

The only down side of the day is my brand new BlackBerry which I bought specifically for the purpose of staying in touch while in Australia...is broken! My friend's friend is working on trying to fix it now.

But I won't let this technical glitch spoil my vacation. It is beautiful here and Louise's house is gorgeous. The plan is to have fish and chips on the beach tonight.

Will try to post some photos tomorrow.

Hope you're all well.

G'Day!

Lisa

at airport

Hi. I am at JFK Airport just waiting for my flight to take off. Departure delayed about half an hour but what's an extra 30 minutes when I'll be travelling over 20 hours??? Not a big problem.

Will have 90 minute layover in LA and then will arrive in Sydney early monday morning.

Rotary friend Louise has arranged shuttle to meet me and take me to her beach house 2 hours north of Sydney. Looking forward to seeing her and enjoying a day of relaxing at the beach. Weather forecast sunny and near 80. Nice!

Thanks for all your good wishes! I love seeing the comments!

Will post again after I settle in at the house.

Until then, take care!

Going to Australia

Most of you know I have this great affection for Australia. I've been lucky enough to get there three times already. Each trip, I've been able to see (and sometimes hold) koalas, who I believe to be the most adorable creatures on the planet.


This will be my 4th visit to the Land Down Under. I've planned a two week stay including Sydney and Tasmania.

1996 was Adelaide and Sydney
2000 was Adelaide and Sydney
2003 was Adelaide and Melbourne

I'll have my laptop and camera with me so I hope you come back to this blog to see some new pics and updates.