Month: November 2013

What have I been up to?

What have I been up to?

  • I had heard a lot about Bronte Beach and how pretty it was, so since I’d never been, I decided to go on Wednesday, one of the two nice days we had last week (guys, it’s been raining A LOT).  I walked around Waverley Cemetery, which I had also heard was pretty, and indeed it was, although a stark, somber contrast to the gorgeous beaches surrounding it.  It’s right on the Eastern Beaches Coastal Walk, so you can see the hills of spires and tombstones as you walk by.  I walked from Clovelly up to Bronte and back. It’s a fantastic photo opportunity. Also, I went to the much-talked-about Three Blue Ducks for dinner–my burger and beer were pretty tasty.  (It’s supposed to be an awesome place for brunch.)
  • I went to the Museum of Contemporary Art in The Rocks for something to do, and hey, it was free and an excuse to get out of the house.  I’m not a big fan of contemporary art, and that still holds true.
  • I also went to the Art Gallery NSW in The Domain (a big grassy area where they have sports fields and concerts and such) and really enjoyed it.  There’s currently an exhibition on American art (America:  Painting a Nation), so I felt I had to go see it–and I was glad I did.  The Museum itself is a gorgeous building that is worth a visit just on its architectural merit, not to speak of all the gorgeous works it contains.  It’s free (unless you want to see one of the visiting exhibits), so you really have no excuse not to go.
  • I’ve also been watching a lot of Tom Hiddleston videos (he’s Loki in the Thor and Avengers movies, in case you don’t know).  It’s a little embarrassing (I can’t believe I missed seeing him in Sydney last month!).  But this is going somewhere, I promise:  I was rewatching The Avengers on Netflix (Australia doesn’t have Netflix, but there’s a workaround and finding it made me feel like an evil genius).  However, the internet went out (it seems to do that every time the phone rings–are we still living in the ’90s?) and I happened to look out my window.  Drawn as I am to shiny things, I had to find out what the one is in the top righthand corner of this photo, and I couldn’t figure it out even using the really awesome but overwhelming Star Chart app I downloaded, so I decided that the next night I would go on a tour of the Sydney Observatory.  The Observatory itself was pretty cool (it’s on a hill that affords a pretty great view of the ANZAC Bridge too), although the tour was sort of informal.  The group was asked if we had any questions, and there weren’t many, so the guide was sort of spouting off information nonchalantly.  He had a good sense of humor at least.  The Observatory itself has a lot of neat things worth looking at, old telescopes and charts and books about the transit of planetary bodies and objects over time and that sort of thing–you know, as an observatory should.  Day tours are free, so I hope to go back and check it out again at some point (if you actually want to see the telescopes and the 3D movies, you have to pay extra, but when you think about it, if you’re going to see the telescopes, shouldn’t you see them at night so you can use them?).

    The shiny thing is Venus…I think.
  • Friday I went back to The Village Bizarre in The Rocks in an attempt to actually do some of the stuff there.  I managed to get an appointment to have my hair fixed up, but I would have to wait a couple of hours.  Well, that was how long I waited in line for the fortune teller seated across from the hairdressers (hey, I was curious what she had to say even though I take it with a few grains of salt, although I am a little ashamed to admit that I waited that long).  I was worried that it would finally be my turn for the fortune teller when it was time for my hair appointment, but I had just finished my consultation with her in time to get my hair done, so that worked out.  And if what the fortune teller had to say was true, 2014 should be a pretty awesome year…

    Me after getting my hair done
  • This week, I’ve been battling a sore throat.  I’m hoping it doesn’t turn into anything worse.  I’ve been downing vitamins, hot water, tea and honey in an attempt to make it better, and today it does, so hopefully the worst is over.  I would hate to be travelling to Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road while sick!

Until next time…

Things I’ve discovered

  • Glebe Market:  A huge market of food and vintage clothes, among other things.  It’s in the Glebe neighborhood, which is eclectic with lots of restaurants, cafes, and specialty stores…and a giant mall.
  • Balmain:  More spread out than Mosman, but with more to offer and closer to the city
  • Kangaroo and camel are tasty
  • Australia’s biggest horse race, the Melbourne Cup, is always on the first Tuesday of November at 3 p.m.  It’s basically their Kentucky Derby.  No, I don’t know why it’s on a Tuesday in the middle of the afternoon, but many stores shut down at least long enough to watch the race, although some close for the afternoon or indeed the entire day.
  • The New South Wales Writers’ Centre:  I signed up for a creative non-fiction writers’ conference here last weekend and found out that this place is not all that far from where I now live in Balmain.  Cool place (with free WiFi!) that is offering space to those participating in NaNoWriMo (which I sort of am, but in a very non-committal way…)
  • Powerhouse Museum:  Like a science museum with a lot of interactive exhibits, clearly meant for kids but worth a visit for anyone.  I went mostly to see the exhibit about the Beatles’ sole trip to Australia at the beginning of their illustrious career.  I also enjoyed the Playing With Light exhibit.
  • The David Jones department store in downtown Sydney is huge and is what most every American department store wishes it could be.  Also, I want to move into its Foodhall.
  • None of the malls I’ve been to here make any sense to me.  They are big and difficult to navigate and sometimes flow seamlessly into other malls.  For example, The Galeries, the QVB, the Strand, and the Westfield shopping center downtown are all essentially in the same place.  And one of the two David Jones stores was an astounding 8 floors. Also, why must people walk all the way around the world to get to the next escalator?
  • I really wish I’d brought more long-sleeved shirts.  We may be going into summer here, but there are still plenty of days where I wear my North Face jacket unabashedly.

In actually exciting news, I’m going to see the Great Ocean Road in two weeks!  Look it up on Google Images and you’ll understand why I’m excited.

Until next time…