What a Decade Brings

As I am typing this, the American east coast is less than an hour away from welcoming the start of a new decade.  Ten years ago I was in a very different place.  We were welcoming in a new millennium, and geographically speaking, I was about as far away from where I am now as I can be.  It was also about ten years ago when Sydney hosted the 2000 Olympic Games.  During the coverage of the Games, the idea of coming to Sydney first snuck into my consciousness.  I specifically recall watching footage of an NBC broadcaster doing the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb.  In retrospect it seems a bit silly for the bridge climb to have been my initial inspiration, but that's what I remember.

Going into my final year of school, I started looking into spending a part of the year in Australia.  I had the application filled out and recommendations lined up from a couple teachers, but finances proved to be a bit tough to pull it off.  Furthermore, I had my college education to start thinking about.  My initial sites were set on going to university in New York City.  In fact, I was supposed to visit the city to have a look at NYU and Fordham the second week of September.  Fortunately, my plans were postponed and I spent September 11, 2001 writing a perspective piece for my local newspaper back home.

Still, Sydney stayed on my radar.  During orientation at my university, I heard several fairly unoriginal speeches that dropped "opportunity" and "possibility" into every second sentence.  Yet, my ears perked up at the "opportunity" to spend a semester overseas.  In August 2005, I landed in Australia to kick off the beginning of my last year at university.  Nine months later, I returned to Sydney with my degree under my belt and no real plan of how long I'd be here.  Since then I have traveled up and down a good portion of the Australian east coast.  I've photographed wild kangaroos on the beach, learned to surf, dove at the Great Barrier Reef, and of course climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  I've ticked a lot of the "touristy" boxes and I would encourage everyone to do the same.

That being said, I've also had an incredible amount of really unique experiences here.  I've met and developed great relationships with so many people.  I've also found that sometimes being an outsider is the perfect perspective for discovering or even really appreciating a city (or a country for that matter).  Over time I realized that my open mind led not only to the city becoming my home and adopting me, but myself adopting much of the city and embracing it.  Will I ever leave Sydney?  I'm sure someday I'll be keen, but for now I am happy being an American Sydneysider.  Of course, I'd be a bit happier if I could get into the habit of updating this blog more often.  Perhaps I've found myself a New Year's Resolution to take on.

Sculpture by the Sea...

So I started to mention Sculpture by the Sea in my last post, but I neglected to post the images I took.  In case you didn't make it this year...

This shot looks back at Bondi beach in the distance.  You'll notice people all along the cliff walk.  Local runners love to go jogging along this path, but I have yet to figure out why they put themselves through the headache during the two weeks of the event.

There are always a handful of sculptures standing at the top of the head overlooking Bondi.  This one just reminded me of the vintage images I've seen of people carrying longboards at the beach.

This sculpture actually moves in the wind so that the linked pieces of lime green move into different positions.  You'll notice the moon starting to rise in the background.

This life-size sculpture is by far my favourite this year.  The best way I can describe it is as a wicker shell.  The inside is hollow, but it's woven out of what looks like pieces of straw.  I loved looking at this in the late afternoon light.

This was another horse sculpture during the walk.  Made of various pieces of metal, this Trojan horse looks back at the wicker one on the opposite ridge (you can just make him out at the bottom right-hand corner).

This was probably my best shot that afternoon.  I thought it was a nice moment, and it doesn't hurt that it's off my favourite piece this year.

One foot in front of the other...

Ok, so I've got to be honest.  I have had a nice birthday week of chilling out and relaxing.  I haven't worried too much about anything.  Unfortunately that included posting anything on this blog.  I have had some images sitting here on my desktop from Sculpture by the Sea (which ends tomorrow).  This annual event is one of my favourites.  Not only does it always happen around the same time as my birthday, but it's a great event that utilizes Sydney's best asset, her natural geography.  Over a hundred sculptures are publicly displayed along the Bondi to Tamarama cliff walk.  The cliff walk is stunning all on it's own, but the sculptures provide extra visual interest as well as beckon SydneySiders to get themselves off of the couch and out the door.  You can tell that there are heaps of people who get there and without fail think to themselves, "This is a stunning setting. I need to get out here more often."  I know this because I often find myself in pockets of Sydney that I have never been or rarely visit and wonder why I don't go exploring more often.

Last night, I went with a mate to the Bicycle Film Festival at the Chauvel Theatre just up the hill from me.  The feature was about a group of cyclists who decide to take on the herculean task of cycling from Cairo to Capetown along the Tour D'Afrique.  Several of the people in the group were cycling neophytes.  I debated the motivation in this particular section of the group.  Was it an overwhelming curiosity?  Or was it a passion for adventure?  Perhaps it was a way of making up for a failed New Year's resolution to start going to an RPM class at their local gym.  In any case, it was inspiring.  Granted, I have no aspirations to traverse the same trail, but it definitely gave me the sense that I need to get outside and see more, if even in my own backyard.  At first I had a sip of the bike culture kool-aid and reckoned this would require purchasing a bike, but the reality soon set in.

The fact of the matter is that I already have everything I need to get out and about.  My own two feet and a decent sense of direction are two blessings I take for granted.  Moreover, I have a lot of additional resources at my disposal.  For instance, last year for my birthday (or maybe it was Christmas, but let's keep with the b-day theme), my colleagues at work bought me a box set of cards with walking guides around Sydney.  While several of the routes mirror treks I make through town on a regular basis, a large portion of the set are trails I have yet to blaze.  Over the last couple years I have heard about so many neighbourhoods and areas that are worth the visit.  So what's been stopping me?

Like a lot of people, I just get too busy worrying about ticking the boxes.  I need to make sure I get to work on time.  I want to get to the gym a couple times a week.  I personally keep meaning to get back into photography (perhaps in your case it's a different hobby or project).  I have friends to catch up with.  I have things I should take care of around my apartment. Et cetera, Et cetera and the list goes on.  In actuality, if I took a hot minute to stop and think, I could actually cover more ground that I realize.  If I simply grab my camera and walk out the door, I could get some basic exercise, take some photos along the way, AND venture off the beaten path.

It seems like a good idea, but just like new year's resolutions, or even aspirations to bike across Africa, few people see the idea through to fruition.  So wish me well and watch this space.

Cup Shots

Here are a couple snaps from yesterday's Melbourne Cup...

A pair of frocked up ladies wait to hail a cab on the corner near my office.

You'll notice the one on the right sporting a classic fascinator in her hair.

You have to love the classic view behind me.

Sporting the traditional yellow rose on my lapel

'the Race that stops the Nation'

I know I know, I do one entry and then I fall off the radar for over a week. Not a great start for a brand new blog. What can I say? I’ve been a busy American SydneySider. It’s the truth. In the past week I’ve run a very American Halloween party, and today I’ve been enjoying the ‘race that stops the nation’ here in Australia. In any case, I’ve got some catching up to do….

Without further ado, Happy Melbourne Cup Day! If there is any Australia holiday or, in this case, tradition that I have fully adopted it’s the Melbourne Cup. I’m not even a die hard when it comes to following horse racing, but I do love the fuss made over the day. I think it really goes back to my first cup four years ago when I got to see Makybe Diva win her third Melbourne Cup in a row and a one way ticket into the history books. I love the quote that trainer Lee Freedman said, "Go and find the youngest child on the course, because that's the only person here who will have a chance of seeing this happen again in their lifetime." What a Cup to start with?!

Plus, it doesn't hurt that during my first cup I won my first ever 'sweeps.' For those of you unfamiliar with how a sweeps works it's where everyone in a group puts the same amount of money into a pool. Then a horse is randomly drawn for each person. It gives everyone someone different to cheer for and if you win you get the biggest slice of the pool. Usually first, second, and third get cuts of the prize money, and in many cases last place gets their money back. Melbourne Cup is designed so that every horse has a reasonably fair chance of winning, and often the favourite doesn't win. It keeps it interesting and nothing is a sure bet. This is a large part of why this race captivates the country. For my fellow Americans, think of it as the Kentucky Derby that gets the same audience as the Super Bowl.

On the first Tuesday in November, from the moment you walk out your door, you're likely to see fascinators on well-coiffed ladies and the fellas donning suits with a flashy tie and perhaps the traditional yellow rose on the lapel. Many offices will go out for lunch or will make special arrangements to watch the race and have a pretty casual day. Often a Melbourne Cup lunch will start at the reasonable time of 12Noon; however, the race isn't until 3PM so the lunch tends to get a bit boozy and ends up lasting until roughly 4:30PM which comes conveniently close to quitting time. Why go back to work?

The last two years, my office has been fortunate enough to go to the top of a hotel overlooking Sydney's iconic Circular Quay. It's a great setup. You have a nice long lunch leading up to the race. And just in case you forget where you are, you've got the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge outside the window to remind you. Aside from taking an interstate flight to see the Cup in person, this is one of the best ways I've found to watch the cup.

Now since my initial luck in 2005, I haven't had any big wins on the ponies. Don't get me wrong, I've been happy to break even or win a little because my horse came up second or third in a sweeps, but picking the winning horse is not my forte. My abilities are best used elsewhere on race day. A part of the festivities during racing carnivals in Australia is the Fashions of the Field. For ladies this means a chance to win prizes for an unusual (and often over-the-top) hat or fascinator in conjunction with their race day frock. But just to make sure the gentlemen don't slack off, their is often an award for the best dressed bloke. Being a big fan of vintage throwbacks, I've acquired my share of old-school hats and ties and Melbourne Cup gives me the chance to big them out in full force. Last year I was lucky enough to walk away from the function our office went to with a bottle of champagne. This year I figured I better step my game up. So I threw together a suit I think Sinatra would have been proud of (or at least would've got me an extras role on an episode of Mad Men), and I ended up walking away with an even bigger bottle of champagne this year.

So it's been smiles around for me today. I broke even thanks to drawing the third place horse, Mourilyan, in the sweeps at work. I had a beautiful lunch with my colleagues. And just to top it off I got a couple compliments from ladies on the street on how good I looked on my way home. So while Sydney has been a sweltering 37 degrees (almost 100 degrees Fahrenheit) I have felt nothing shy of cool on this fine Melbourne Cup.

Just Add Water...

"The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house. All that cold, cold, wet day." -Dr Seuss

When it comes to the seasons in Sydney, I always tell people the same thing. You can either view Sydney as having something like eight seasons, or you can consider it to have two: Summer and Not Summer. Summer lasts approximately eight months and Not Summer for four. Not Summer cannot be called "Winter" as anyone from Boston, London, or even to some degree Melbourne, knows that what Sydney experiences is not a proper winter.

Back in Boston, when it rained in winter, or even spring for that matter, you might consider how much colder it would have to get for it to become snow. In Sydney, this is as silly as wondering what meteorological circumstance would be necessary for the rain to become $1,000 bills. It's a fanciful option. Don't get me wrong. Sydney's climate can get interesting. For instance, the recent week's dust storms got worldwide coverage as the city awoke to a Martian-red haze. However, what suits Sydney best is sunny Saturdays with a cool harbour breeze. It's what tourists come to Sydney hoping to experience, and it suits the city. Rain on the other hand, causes the city to recoil it's charm. Sydneysiders scurry between buildings wrapped in the jacket they rarely use, cafes feel a little less inviting without their alfresco options, and let's face it, the sails of the Opera House simply look dismal. Sydney is Australia's blonde bombshell. Everyone knows her and she looks best when running scantily-clad along Bondi or Bronte or whichever of her ninety-odd beaches you choose. So a challenge is presented to every Sydneysider when the rains come and don't show signs of leaving: What does one with a cold, cold, wet day?

You could watch a season's worth of your favourite tv show on dvd or chat with faraway friends online. Or maybe, just maybe, you'll start that blog you've been thinking about doing for ages.