Up until 1985, Uluru was known as Ayers Rock. In 1985 Australia gave back Ayers Rock to the Aboriginal people. Both names seems to abound. Our resort was Ayers Rock resort.
The Sounds of Silence dinner was lovely. Met a nice couple from Boston, Alan and Nancy, BoSox fans, who were going to be camping the following night. Given that there are about 8 thousand things roaming the Outback that can kill you on any given normal day, I found this very brave. Nancy had been a High Tech Recruiter for Sun in the 1990's. Alan was a retired dentist and they had travelled extensively all over the world.
We had buffet style food, including Kangaroo meat (which I declined) which was very good, a didgeredoo player and an astronomy lesson complete with a close look at Saturn and the Seven Sisters (Pleides). Just delightful.
Kerry and I knocked off early since we were doing a Sunrise hike the next morning. She's doing a great job of detailing the itinerary so I'm just going to do color commentary. Uluru is huge and incredible and the desert is breathtaking. I am so glad we decided to include this leg of the trip.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
The Harley Davidson Expedition
Happy Birthday to my sister, Jo and Welcome to the World to Duncan Edward Heffner my cousin Pat's first grandchild and Heather and Drew's darling little boy!!
I'm here in the Crowne Plaza lobby where the Internet exists but at $10/half hour. So, I'm going to be blogging now and uploading later.
I need to go back and recap some things. Most notably the Harley Davidson excursion in Sydney. It seems like a life time ago.
I had promised my friend's Lori and Bill that I would pick up some Harley Davidson t-shirts while in Sydney. No worries. We saw an H-D dealership on our way in from the airport so I knew I was covered. A quick search of the internet and the front desk revealed that that dealership was the only one available in Sydney. [I had hopes that there might be something closer in but a little trek would be fun.] So, on Friday I planned to take a bus out, see the outskirts of the city and nab some spiffy souvenirs.
I would like to take this opportunity to say that 99% of the people I met in Sydney were fabulous. They were friendly, cheerful, helpful, charming. Sadly, the bus drivers never got the memo.
After our exhilarating trip up and over the Harbour Bridge we went to the Circle Quay. I asked around and was told that the #309 bus would take me out to O'Riordon and Doody which were the nearest cross streets to H-D.
I get on the bus, driven by a tiny, somewhat surly Asian woman. When I asked if the bus went to O'Riodan and Doody, she said,"O'Riordan and Botany. No Doody." I asked about Harley Davidson. She just looked at me. I had used up her bus conversation quota. I said okay thank you.
The buses in Sydney are clean with courdouroy seating in bright blues and reds with designs that look like the graffitti has already been done. Kind of a preemptive strike. We cruised out to the outskirts of town. At an intersection where three roads come together (we were on Botany), the driver stopped at the stop just passed the intersection and said, "Botany. You get off now." I said, "Where is O'Riodan?" She said, "You get off now." I got off now.
Funny thing about Sydney, actually all of Australia, it feels very safe. I was out in the middle of industrial nowhere, a BMW dealership, car repair and what looked like a warehouse on three corners. I looked about and finally found a sign that said O'Riordan and an arrow. Very helpful. I started to walk. It was about 3PM in the afternoon. Not too hot, a bit of humidity but something of a breeze blowing in my direction. After a block of blank buildings housing automotive parts and what-not I saw a building number. I was at 17 O'Riordan. The H-D dealership was at 75 O'Riordan. No drama, as the Aussies say, only 6 or 7 blocks. Funny thing about industrial areas, they are like New York City in their concept of what constitutes a block.
So, there was walking....and walking....and walking....a couple of passersby - a schoolboy, a business man and a woman picking up her car from a repair place....more walking... the occasional little deli shop and a big Housewares center that I was seriously thinking of visiting, just to get out of the heat but realized that the trek across the immense parking lot to get to it would probably kill me....more walking....a baffling intersection where the lights changed on some rotation known only to the RTA....and finally, the big showroom.
I arrived in a sodden mess, sweating from every pore. The poor saleswoman must have thought I was melting or insane. Probably a bit of both. I found the t-shirts, also a gift for Kerry's friend Kaaren. I tried not to drip on the counter. I explained that I had taken the bus and been dropped off up at Botany and O'Riodan. The clerk looked at me and said in that delightful accent and full of sympathy,"Oh dear. There's a stop just on the next block. Bus 305. Should still be running. Oh my, you didn't have to walk all that way." I was going to take a cab back but the 305 sounded so easy. She asked the office clerk to look up the schedule and sure enough, the 305 was still running. Just pop down through the back of the building and right across from the Post Office, there you go.
So, clutching my purchases, there I went. Sure enough, the 305 stop was there and sure enough it arrived on time. This time a middle-aged, dark-haired man was driving. He didn't like that I had not purchased my ticket previously (where?!?) and seemed to take it as a personal tribulation that he had to make change. I asked him which stop for the Circular Quay and he said, "No Circular Quay." "Darling Harbour?" "Train Station." "Central Train Station?" He turned away. Once again I had used up my quota.
So. I rode the bus to the Central Train Station where Kerry and I had been the day before to catch the bus to Bondi Beach. I briefly considered finding that bus and remaining at Bondi Beach for the rest of my natural life but the sunscreen was back in the hotel room so I thought better of it. Getting off at the Central Train Station was....well....walking. Suffice it to say it was a banner headlining pedometer day. I did my 5 miles and then some. A whole bunch of some.
I'm here in the Crowne Plaza lobby where the Internet exists but at $10/half hour. So, I'm going to be blogging now and uploading later.
I need to go back and recap some things. Most notably the Harley Davidson excursion in Sydney. It seems like a life time ago.
I had promised my friend's Lori and Bill that I would pick up some Harley Davidson t-shirts while in Sydney. No worries. We saw an H-D dealership on our way in from the airport so I knew I was covered. A quick search of the internet and the front desk revealed that that dealership was the only one available in Sydney. [I had hopes that there might be something closer in but a little trek would be fun.] So, on Friday I planned to take a bus out, see the outskirts of the city and nab some spiffy souvenirs.
I would like to take this opportunity to say that 99% of the people I met in Sydney were fabulous. They were friendly, cheerful, helpful, charming. Sadly, the bus drivers never got the memo.
After our exhilarating trip up and over the Harbour Bridge we went to the Circle Quay. I asked around and was told that the #309 bus would take me out to O'Riordon and Doody which were the nearest cross streets to H-D.
I get on the bus, driven by a tiny, somewhat surly Asian woman. When I asked if the bus went to O'Riodan and Doody, she said,"O'Riordan and Botany. No Doody." I asked about Harley Davidson. She just looked at me. I had used up her bus conversation quota. I said okay thank you.
The buses in Sydney are clean with courdouroy seating in bright blues and reds with designs that look like the graffitti has already been done. Kind of a preemptive strike. We cruised out to the outskirts of town. At an intersection where three roads come together (we were on Botany), the driver stopped at the stop just passed the intersection and said, "Botany. You get off now." I said, "Where is O'Riodan?" She said, "You get off now." I got off now.
Funny thing about Sydney, actually all of Australia, it feels very safe. I was out in the middle of industrial nowhere, a BMW dealership, car repair and what looked like a warehouse on three corners. I looked about and finally found a sign that said O'Riordan and an arrow. Very helpful. I started to walk. It was about 3PM in the afternoon. Not too hot, a bit of humidity but something of a breeze blowing in my direction. After a block of blank buildings housing automotive parts and what-not I saw a building number. I was at 17 O'Riordan. The H-D dealership was at 75 O'Riordan. No drama, as the Aussies say, only 6 or 7 blocks. Funny thing about industrial areas, they are like New York City in their concept of what constitutes a block.
So, there was walking....and walking....and walking....a couple of passersby - a schoolboy, a business man and a woman picking up her car from a repair place....more walking... the occasional little deli shop and a big Housewares center that I was seriously thinking of visiting, just to get out of the heat but realized that the trek across the immense parking lot to get to it would probably kill me....more walking....a baffling intersection where the lights changed on some rotation known only to the RTA....and finally, the big showroom.
I arrived in a sodden mess, sweating from every pore. The poor saleswoman must have thought I was melting or insane. Probably a bit of both. I found the t-shirts, also a gift for Kerry's friend Kaaren. I tried not to drip on the counter. I explained that I had taken the bus and been dropped off up at Botany and O'Riodan. The clerk looked at me and said in that delightful accent and full of sympathy,"Oh dear. There's a stop just on the next block. Bus 305. Should still be running. Oh my, you didn't have to walk all that way." I was going to take a cab back but the 305 sounded so easy. She asked the office clerk to look up the schedule and sure enough, the 305 was still running. Just pop down through the back of the building and right across from the Post Office, there you go.
So, clutching my purchases, there I went. Sure enough, the 305 stop was there and sure enough it arrived on time. This time a middle-aged, dark-haired man was driving. He didn't like that I had not purchased my ticket previously (where?!?) and seemed to take it as a personal tribulation that he had to make change. I asked him which stop for the Circular Quay and he said, "No Circular Quay." "Darling Harbour?" "Train Station." "Central Train Station?" He turned away. Once again I had used up my quota.
So. I rode the bus to the Central Train Station where Kerry and I had been the day before to catch the bus to Bondi Beach. I briefly considered finding that bus and remaining at Bondi Beach for the rest of my natural life but the sunscreen was back in the hotel room so I thought better of it. Getting off at the Central Train Station was....well....walking. Suffice it to say it was a banner headlining pedometer day. I did my 5 miles and then some. A whole bunch of some.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Uluru (Ayers Rock)
Okay, sport's fans, it's abundantly clear that I do not have this blogging thing down. My travelling companion, Kerry, does though, so for a recap of our first seven days I refer you to:
http://kerryatlarge.blogspot.com
She's hit the high points and posted photos which feature yours truly. Don't miss the slideshow in the right column.
So, what have I been doing in the meantime? Mostly reading Bill Bryson's "The Sunburned Country" and laughing my a** off. My friend Amy recommended it ages ago and I didn't get to it til the plane ride over. My reading skills have deteriorated over the years. I wasn't able to finish it before we landed. It's all about Australia (Oz) and I have been delighted and fascinated. Now that I'm done I'm hoping to blog more consistently (at least more than say my present, nothing). :)
We are in the bar at the Desert Gardens Hotel waiting for our room to ready. It must be 90 degrees out. They recommend a liter of water an hour when outside. We have 4 days of hikes planned so we are in the bar presently, drinking beer and using the wifi connection that is only available here and in the lobby. We will be buying water by the gallon later. Tonight we are attending the Sounds of Silence dinner. We saw Uluru and some camels on the way in. This feels as far from Sydney and civilization as you can get. The ground is red and covered in scrub and some eucalpt trees. Strangely, there is no dust. The resort is a bit of an oasis.
http://kerryatlarge.blogspot.com
She's hit the high points and posted photos which feature yours truly. Don't miss the slideshow in the right column.
So, what have I been doing in the meantime? Mostly reading Bill Bryson's "The Sunburned Country" and laughing my a** off. My friend Amy recommended it ages ago and I didn't get to it til the plane ride over. My reading skills have deteriorated over the years. I wasn't able to finish it before we landed. It's all about Australia (Oz) and I have been delighted and fascinated. Now that I'm done I'm hoping to blog more consistently (at least more than say my present, nothing). :)
We are in the bar at the Desert Gardens Hotel waiting for our room to ready. It must be 90 degrees out. They recommend a liter of water an hour when outside. We have 4 days of hikes planned so we are in the bar presently, drinking beer and using the wifi connection that is only available here and in the lobby. We will be buying water by the gallon later. Tonight we are attending the Sounds of Silence dinner. We saw Uluru and some camels on the way in. This feels as far from Sydney and civilization as you can get. The ground is red and covered in scrub and some eucalpt trees. Strangely, there is no dust. The resort is a bit of an oasis.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Leaving for OZ on March 1
Kerry and I leave for Sydney on March 1st. I'm going to try to chronicle our travels on this blog. Stay tuned.
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