Sunday, July 4, Sydney

Started with the Australian National Museum and saw the exhibits on Indigenous art ("Indigenous" being the current politically correct word for "Aboriginal") and Australian wildlife. Australian museums don't seem to mind people taking photos, so I took lots.


Across the street from the Museum is Hyde Park and the Anzac War Memorial. There were a few other people in the Memorial but it was absolutely silent; no one even whispered.

A block from Hyde Park is Sydney Tower, which stands out above the city skyline. The observationn deck is at 260m; it's a rather unsettling feeling to be looking down on skyscrapers.

From the Tower, it's a short walk to the Pyrmont Bridge, which takes you across Darling Harbour to the National Maritime Museum. Josh went aboard the submarine Ostlow. I had tea and a scone, which in this case was a sweet hard biscuit with sweet butter and jelly. When the people at the next table left, the gulls swooped down on their table and grabbed french fries, until I shooed them off. We also took a look at a replica of HMB Endeavor, a display of Indigenous art dealing with rays and sharks and such, plus other exhibits I'll remember when I sort through the photos.

Josh still wanted Chinese food, so we set off for Chinatown; after dinner, we headd back to our hotel. There is a district between Liverpool St and William St where most of the shops and restaurants are open until 10pm; one we got outside that area, most things were closed--although to be fair, it is Sunday night. Finished a Charlie Stross book, Family Trade, and started The Farside Cannon.

Note: Next time I go on a vacation like this, get in training to spend all day walking.

Saturday, July 3 Brisbane to Sydney

Got Josh's stuff packed and hauled it, via bus, a few blocks of marching, and train, to the airport. Flew to Sydney, getting some photos of the Opera House a few minutes before we landed; Josh also saw a whale. Checked in at the Challis Lodge, which is two houses converted into a hotel. The rooms are quite small and there's one bathroom and two showers per floor; there's only one light per rooom, no reading lamp; and there's no internet access. On the other hand, it's a few minutes walk from the Botanical Gardens and perhaps half an hour from the Opera House.

So we set out around 3:30 and went to the Opera House, then walked around the Circular Quay--the tourist area. Most of the restaurants are offering dinner for $25-30 and there are shops for Australian souvenirs--mostly opals and bush clothing--as well as shot glasses and post cards and such. However...at 5:30, shops started closing and by 6:00, the restaurants were about the only thing open. Josh wanted Chinese food, but there were none there and none to be found on the march back to the hotel. We went past the State Library, Parliament House, Hyde Park Barracks Museum, and St Mary's Cathedral, which tried to be Gothic but failed. We got to Harry de Wheels shop and Josh gave in and got a chili dog. I wanted something more typically Australia, so got a meat pie with mushy peas and sauce (ketchup) and ginger beer. Then we walked the rest of the way home through dark, deserted streets, feeling completely safe. One of Josh's Australian buddies had once explained, "Sure we could mug you, but we'd rather just have another beer." Got back to the hotel around 7:30, read for an hour or so, and lights out.

Brisbane, July 2

Friday night: slept from about 4:30pm to 10:30pm, by which time Josh was asleep. Played poker with a couple of the other guys in the suite, then watched Holland beat Brasil in the World Cup quarter finals. Somewhere around now, I finished Those Who Hunt The Night.

Day 1

Flight Norfolk to DC was uneventful. DC to LA was interesting because of the differences in the terrain as you head west. In the East and Midwest, you have square green fields, with darker green trees clearly marking out watercourses or covering hills, brown rivers, beige highways. In the central states, farmed land has green circular irrigated fields; elsewhere it's dust colored. Farther west it looks dry, with canyons that were obviously formed by water, but the rivers are small and seem to disappear rather than join other rivers. Then mountains, some with snow. California has yellow brown hills and irrigated green lawns, then Los Angeles is miles of low buildings in neat grids, and highways.
The flight from LA to Syndey might have been interesting if you could see--"there's Hawaii, look, there's Fiji"--but we left at 10:30pm and arrived at 6:30am, while it was still dark. I shared my seat row with two college coeds, Paige and Alicia, who were pleasantly talkative. Watched about twenty minutes of Lost in Translation at Alicia's insistance, but went to sleep in the middle--not the movie's fault, it was just a long day. Slept a while, then watched How to Train Your Dragon .  Then it was time for breakfast and landing.
Getting my luggage took long enough that I missed my flight to Brisbane, but they had another one half an hour later and it only took a little jogging to catch that. Still no scenery, though, as it was overcast.
On the train into Brisbane I met Brodie, a five year old bull rider, who had never met an American before. I showed him American money and gave him some change. He wanted to know my favorite "footie" team, which apparently refers to rugby.
Met Josh, who has lost some weight since February. We walked around the Queen Street Mall, which is a market street and doesn't look much different from what you might find downtown in an American city, except there are more Asian influence than you'd see on the East Coast. When we went to Portigal a couple of years ago, you could tell at once that you weren't in the US because the people all looked similarly Iberian, their clothes looked a little dated, and nobody smiled. In contrast, you couldn't look at the people of Brisbane and tell you weren't in America. Everyone's helpful and lots of them are smiling.
Went to the Maritime Museum and I'll upload pics at some point. Then came to Griffith University and found Josh's dorm room, where we'll stay tonight.

Australia

Well, I'm off.

Australia schedule

[re-bumped] The schedule, including flight departure and arrival times (given in local time for each airport), is:

• June 30: depart Virginia, carrying a thick book four books and a suitcase.
• Norfolk to Dulles, 12:50 to 13:49
• Dulles to LAX, 15:00 to 17:26
• LAX to Sydney, 22:30 to 6:30 July 2. I'm crossing the International Date Line and don't get a July 1st. As my mortgage is due on the first; I assume this means I don't have to pay my mortgage.
• July 2: Sydney to Brisbane, 8:05 to 9:35. This is a continuation of the Norfolk to Australia trip. I have no idea how many hours I'll be spending on a plane. Frankly, I'd rather not know. 
• Things to do in Brisbane: Get Josh, see Griffith University, get Josh's stuff, empty his bank account, flee ahead of any pitchfork-wielding mobs which just happen, by coincidence, to be in the area. 
• July 3: Brisbane to Sydney: 11:15 to 12:50. Because at the end of this trip, we only have one day in Sydney, and one day is, we've been told, not enough. 
• Stay at the Challis Lodge, Potts Point
• Things to do in Sydney: Take the Harbor Ferry, visit the Rocks District, visit Manly, see the Opera House, possibly climb the Harbor Bridge ($200 each to climb it? ROFL). 
• July 5: Sydney to Cairns, 14:00 to 17:15. 
• Staying at Cairns Colonial Club Resort.
• Things to do in Cairns: Josh goes scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef for three days and two nights. 
• I'm taking a one day snorkel trip--can't go to Australia without giving the saltwater crocs (also sharks, sea snakes, killer jellyfish, poisonous octopi, attack snails, etc etc, yes, I know) at least one shot at me. 
• Drive to Port Douglas along the coastal road and see the rain forest. Drive to Kuranda. Stay an extra day after Josh's dive expedition so he can, literally, decompress.
• July 10: Cairns to Ayers Rock, 7:15 to 9:35.
• Staying at Outback Pioneer Hotel
• Things to do at Ayers Rock: see the Rock. Climb the Rock. Walk around the Rock. Ride a camel?
• July 11: Ayers Rock to Alice Springs, 10:15 to 11:00.
• Things to do at Alice Springs: get to the train station. 
• July 11: Alice Springs to Adelaide, leaving at 15:00 via the Ghan Train .
• July 12: arrive in Adelaide
• Staying at the Hotel Grand Chancellor on Hindley
• Things to do: 
• July 13: Adelaide to Sydney, 14:55 to 17:15
• Stay at the Challis Lodge, Potts Point
• July 14: Wave goodbye to sunny Australia
• Sydney  to JFK, 10:15 to 17:25 (it's a lot longer than seven hours in flight, remember all times are local)
• JFK to Toronto, 20:00 to 22:00
• July 15: Staying at an undisclosed location in Toronto. Niece's wedding rehearsal dinner.
• July 16: The Tominator and his motley crew plan to escort me on a recon of the Royal Ontario Museum, including the Chinese terra cotta warrior exhibits. 
• July 18: Fly home
• Toronto to Philly, 17:44 to 19:15
• Philly to Norfolk, 20:29 to 21:28

Yes, this does equal eight thirteen planes and a train in less than three weeks.

Things I've been asked to buy (or otherwise obtain) in Australia: opal, flag, shot glasses, sheep, dice, two boomerangs, koala, aborigine art, something surferish.

Let A Thousand Nations Bloom

Hat tip to  Marginal Revolution for a pointer to Let A Thousand Nations Bloom:

Our blog begins with the truth of Winston Churchill’s comment on democracy–that it is the worst form of government except for all the others that have been tried. Unfortunately many then falsely deduce that democracy is superior to all forms of government which can ever be imagined. We believe this assumption to be deeply misguided.

Like any technology, democracy was once a radical innovation, thought unlikely to work. Now, it is the industry standard. Our aim is to find, analyze, and debate the innovations in governance today that may become the standards of tomorrow, especially those that utilize the best technology for social organization ever developed–the market. We are particularly interested in the meta-innovations that will alter incentives in the governing industry to improve the rate of innovation.