Sydney Opera House

Okay, we're in Sydney, so I guess we have to go down to see the clam shells.

The Sydney Opera House is located right smack on the water, on the north side of Sydney's downtown area. To get here, head for the area called Circular Quay (say: KEY) or to the area just to the west called The Rocks. You can easily walk to the Opera House from either of these two areas.

The Rocks runs down into Circular Quay, and the whole area is very festive. You'll find it crammed full of restaraunts and bars with magnificent views. The air is filled with aboriginal didgeridoo techno vibes from the street performers -- welcome to Down Under! And the entire skyline is framed by the magnificent Harbor Bridge. Day or night, this is a spectacular place to hang out!

the Harbor Bridge frames it all

We actually took the Opera House Tour, which much to my museum-hating suprise was really cool and interesting! Like the guidebook says, it's "strongly recommended". It was quite interesting, and, you get to sit down in comfy seats while the guide talks! No sore feet from this tour!

resting up for the tour

Some interesting tidbits about the Opera House:

• The project was a public works fiasco, complete with fights with the architect, who left the project halfway through construction, and didn't return to Australia until very recently. (See About The House > History here)
• The "clam shells" are called "sails", and serve no structural purpose. They are purely decorative. And no, they don't open and close.
• The main lobby is carpeted in a luxurious purple. Purple, according to italian-theater superstition, is evidently the kiss of death. So the famouse italian opera singers refuse to perform at this marvelous venue

I-ta-lia! I-ta-lia!

Welcome to Oz

Well, just a few days after arriving in Sydney (Google map), we've had our first brush with death.

Never mind the close calls in New Zealand, what with all that sky-diving, the ferocious possums, the treacherous drives on razor-thin canyon roads, nor the rabid wild dolphins of Kaikoura.

Yes, we've just seen our first poisonous critter. The feared Red Back Spider! Hiding out in a bucket in the backyard, just waiting to devour a couple a tourists! Luckily my handy-dandy sandal put a quick end to the threat and we've lived to see another day!

Manly Ferry

The first thing you should do when you get to Sydney is exactly what we did: hop on the ferry from Circular Quay to Manly and back again.

Take the ferry just before dusk, so you see the city by day, or just as the sun sets.

Then you can have dinner in Manly, and see the cityscape by night for the return journey. It's bright and beautiful, as you can see!

The famous Opera House is haunting as you drift by in the quiet night:

Oh, if you're taking the bus, there's a day-pass that includes ferry rides, for around AUD$15.00 at the time of publishing. The pass is called the DayTripper. Get up early and ride boats all day long! Sydney Harbor is HUGE!

Picton Poi

I always thought that poi was a Hawaiian pudding — made from some sort of root — that you ate with two fingers.

WRONG!

Tonight we are sleeping in the little hamlet of Picton (Google Map) at the Juggler’s Rest backpacker’s hostel. This place, by the way, is far-and-away our favorite hostel to date.

Anyway, we have just spent thirty pleasant minutes on the spacious porch enjoying Nikki’s fire-show, which we have learned is also called poi. It turns out that poi is a form of juggling, or twirling. Poi is the Mauri word for ball, and people who do poi twirl balls from the end of strings or chains.

To make this ball-twirling more interesting, some folks light the balls on fire, as we saw this evening! Have a look at Nikki in action!

Steepest Hill in the World

Welcome to Dunedin (say DUHN-NEE-DIN), New Zealand. Dunedin has a scottish feel to it, and is nestled amongs some seriously steep hills. It’s great to go “city-hiking” here because you can get a full workout in only 150m!

One notable bit of Dunedin is Baldwin Street (Google map), which is supposedly the steepest hill in the world. If you look for the circular area in the lower-right corner of the satellite map, you’ll be staring at the top of the hill, where they’ve erected a bench for conquerers to rest upon, and put a drinking fountain right next to it. Nice touch, Dunedin city council!

For some reason, being on the steepest hill in the world makes everyone do silly things and go all goofy, as prooved below:

Baldwin Street Angular Contrast Study

The Great Arch of Baldwin Street

The hill is so steep, that, as a workman was driving his truck up the hill, his shovel fell right off the back! The next photo shows you the steepness of the hill, and the kindness of japanese tourists, who are waving the shovel for the man to retrieve:

The Return of the Shovel

The World’s Southern-most Venti Mocha Frappuccino

It seems that we tourists are forever preoccupied with the Biggest, Longest, Tallest, Highest and generally Most Extreme that a place has to offer. Well then, welcome to Invercargill (Google Map), a bustling metropolis on the southern end of New Zealand’s South Island that did not disappoint our Guinness-book-of-world-records quest.

It may not be the most difficult-to-pronounce name in all of creation (well almost), and it may not be the city with the most sheep in all of New Zealand. But Invercargill, Ladies & Gentlemen happens to be the proud home to:

The World’s Most Southern Starbucks

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, that’s one more extreme checked off our list, baby!

Rush Hour in the Catlins

I suppose every traveller to New Zealand has some sort of experience like this. Nevertheless, we’ll force you to chew up your bandwidth and download a picture of our version of the story!

Let's just say that we ran into quite a slowdown while driving the side roads in the Catlins (Google Map), way down at the southern tip of New Zealand’s South Island.

MooooooOOOOOO!!!!!

Or: mooooove over!, as it were! And by the way, that’s my forehead in the rear-view mirror…