Farewell to the Land Down Under

After 6 months of planning back in 2007 and close to 12 months living and working in Australia I am getting ready to board a flight out of Australia back to Boston via a 4 day lay over in Hawaii.

The past 10 months have been amazing. I have met some great people and I have been able to see a part of the world that I never thought I would have.

Australia is a great country with a very proud population. I will miss the land where everyone is your 'mate'.

I could write a long blog about my times here in Australia but I felt that pictures could tell the story much better than I could. I hope you enjoy the montage I put together that encapsulates my time Down Under!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

ANZAC Day and Two Up

Yesterday was a national holiday in Australia. ANZAC Day. ANZAC is an acronym for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. April 25 is the annual date in which these two countries celebrate and remember the soldiers who have fought side by side from WWI to the current conflicts in the Middle East. It is also on ANZAC day that the game Two Up can be legally played in pubs and bars across Australia. Here is a quick break down on how you play Two Up. Two coins are thrown up in the air and how they land determines who wins. If both coins land on heads and you bet heads then you win. If they both land on tails and you bet tails you win. If one is heads and one is tails its considered a 'no spin' and the coins are tossed again. The way you wager is interesting. You hold up the money in one hand and yell out either 'heads' or 'tails' and the dollar amount of the bet you are willing to wage. You then wait for someone who is willing to match your bet and is betting on the opposite outcome of the coin toss. The person who bets 'heads' holds onto the money. Not sure why, its just the rule. Betting is then closed off for the round and the coins are tossed in the air. At the Story Bridge Hotel where I went yesterday there were hundreds of people playing. With each toss of the coins the excitement and noise level rose to thunderous levels. I decided to stick with 'tails' on each of my bets and I ended up walking away with $80 in my pocket!

Another custom on ANZAC Day is to drink the drink of choice of the ANZAC soldiers in WWI. The drink of choice....... rum and milk. Yes that is correct. Rum and milk. This was one custom I decided to pass on!

Two Down - Five To Go

This past weekend I fulfilled a life long dream and I saw one of the seven wonders of the natural world. Now that I am 40 years old I can say that. A life long dream when you are 20 doesn't have the same weight as it does when you have reached the milestone of 40 years. When I was a young kid I remember watching a Jacques Cousteau special on PBS television when he was exploring the Great Barrier Reef off of the coast of Northern Queensland in Australia and I instantly fell in love. The colors, the fish, and the scenery are something that I couldn't imagine actually existed. When you are 10 years old it is hard to believe that an ocean can look anything other than the Northern Atlantic.

A two and a half hour flight from Brisbane proved that the colors, the fish, and the scenery are real! I spent 5 days outside of Cairns (pronounced 'Cans') at Trinity Beach and on one of those days I boarded a Quick Silver Boat out to the Algonquin Ribbon Reefs on the outskirts of the Great Barrier Reef. The ride on the tour bus from our hotel to Port Douglas, where the boat left from, was one of the most beautiful one hour rides I have ever taken. You ride along the coast the entire time with nothing but beautiful blue water and mountains on one side and on the other side rivers and salt water crocodiles! Up in this part of Queensland there are some of the most deadly animals on earth. Some are big like great white sharks and crocodiles and others are just as deadly and only the size of your thumb. Those are the box jellyfish and the blue ring octopus. I made sure I was going to keep a safe distance from anything that could end my Australian adventure short.

After a one 90 minute ride on a high speed catamaran we made it to our destination on the outer reef. I did two SCUBA dives and some snorkeling! The entire day was amazing.

Just as nice was the day trip we took to the Sky Rail in Cairns. This tour has you riding high above a rain forest in a four person gondola to a picturesque town over 2 miles up in the mountain. After having lunch and doing the 'tourist thing' we boarded an old fashioned train for the ride down. I felt as though I had boarded the same train that brought Harry Potter to Hogwarts so many times!

This trip is may be the last time I travel outside of Brisbane while in Australia. If that is the case then I can say that I ended my traveling on a high note!

I had to change the title from One Down to Two Down. I was reminded that I had seen the Northern Lights which is also a Natural Wonder. I did see them in all of their glory when I was up at UMass Amherst. So now I only have 5 wonders to go!

The Great Brisbane Bike Ride

This past Sunday I set my alarm clock for 6:00 AM, showered, and got myself mentally prepared for the Great Brisbane Bike Ride that was ahead of me! 5 of my coworkers and myself signed up to do a 35K (21.75 miles) bike ride in and around Brisbane and the Brisbane river. The start and finish line was in South Bank which was only a 2 minute bike ride from my apartment. We decided to meet at my apartment, ride over together to register, and then after the ride I invited everyone back to my place for brunch. We had great weather and the ride went off without any complications. We took our time, stopped at both rest areas and finished up in just under 2 hours. I had my Polar fitness watch on and it registered that I had burned over 1600 calories on the ride! This was all before 10:30! The riders who accomplished this from CS were: Emily, Nicole, Nicola, Lindsey, and Claudia. Congratulations to everyone!!

It is a 'Business Decision'

This past Thursday Caryl, Loc-Uyen, and myself were informed that the company had made a 'business decision' to end our ex-pat contracts early. Our new contract end date is May 9. We were told that the decision should not be viewed by us as a reflection of the work we have done over the past 10 months.

The time here has been great and I will always cherish the time I spent in Australia and the opportunity to see this part of the world.

Heading back to Boston in May isn't a bad thing either. I haven't experienced a Winter for over 14 months and now I have another 9 months in Boston before I have to worry about ice and snow!

Bring on the Red Sox and I will see you guys upon my return in May!

Easter at Lamington National Park

Last weekend Australian's were treated to a four day Easter break. Good Friday and Easter Monday are both national holidays. This is the final swan song to Summer. In Brisbane the Brisbanites are not getting ready for the harsh Winter ahead. Temperatures will dip to 45 degrees in the middle of the night and the daily high will not get out of the 70's! Hopefully no one will succumb to the cold.

Loc-Uyen, her sister, and myself decided to head out of the city along with everyone else for the four day weekend. Since all of our other mini escapes have brought us to the coast we decided to head inland to a rain forest. We booked our accommodations at O'Reilly's Rain forest Retreat at the top of the Lamington National Park in Queensland. The ride to Brisbane is 2 hours. It takes 1 hour to get to the park then another hour going 30 mph on a treacherous mountain road that winds its way around the park. This road is scary! No guard rails, drops of about 1000 ft and you are literally 12" away from going off this road. Portions of the road are one way.... for two way traffic!!

The 2 years that were taken off of my life on the ride up was well worth it when we finally made it to the top! O'Reilly's was a quaint resort that reminded me of being up at Camp Fatima in New Hampshire, only MUCH more expensive! My room had a single bed, a shower stall, a toilet and that's it. No TV, no phone, nothing to do but relax and enjoy what nature had in store all around you.

Due to the rains of the Summer the trails were still muddy and slippery but we took our time and managed to do a couple of nice hikes. The rain forest was amazing. The waterfalls spectacular.

I also earned my good points of the day on Easter Sunday. Coming back up from our hike to the waterfalls we passed a group of Asian tourists. The trails are so narrow you have to give way for others to pass. I noticed an elderly couple behind the main group. They had to be in their early 70's. They were dressed like the people you see in Boston collecting cans on trash day. The guy had on water sandals (Tiva's) with socks and covered with mud. The woman had on sneakers that looked liked Keds.... zero traction, and covered with mud. There was a younger woman just in front of them and a guy in his 30's or so behind them. We gave way to let them pass and I thought to myself that they must be crazy to be hiking with that footwear and at their age. Within 20 seconds of them passing the tranquil sounds of the rain forest were shattered by screams. I knew instantly that something was wrong with the elderly couple. The three of us, Loc, Loc's sister, and myself, ran back down the trail to where the screams were coming from. When we got there my worst fears were confirmed. The couple had fallen/slipped off the trail and were holding onto roots to prevent them from falling down a slope of mud and brush that was at about a 70 degree angle and a distance of about 300 yards. If they continued their fall they most likely would have survived but due to their age, the angle, and the distance they would have had very serious injuries. The next minute was surreal. The two elderly people were screaming, the younger Asian woman was screaming, and the younger Asian guy was standing in shock. I instantly braced my right leg around a tree on the edge of the trail and grabbed the guys hand. Pulling with all of my strength he wasn't moving. He was also holding onto his wife. I was telling him to help me by using his feet. They knew two words in English 'thank you' and 'okay'. Realizing this guy was going no where, either up or down, I reached down to grab the elderly woman and pulled her up by her shoulders. She couldn't have weighed more than 90 lbs. I got her up on the trail then tried to get the guy up again but he was much heavier. Fearing I would pull his shoulder out of his socket I decided to bend down, put both arms under his shoulders, and dead lift him up onto the trail which was successful. So now everyone is safe! The 4 Asian people are thanking us profusely. I am asking them if they are 'ok'. They reply 'Thank you'. Then to my shock and horror what do they do? They CONTINUE ON THE HIKE DOWN! They were 1/4 of the way down and the trail only got steeper, more narrow, and more slippery. I was like WTF are you guys doing? You almost fell to your death or serious injury and you are continuing? Loc-Uyen and her sister said to me 'Bean, you know how us Asians are. We'll risk anything for that right photo opportunity.' We shook our heads and continued on our way back to O'Reilly's.

Mardi Gras..... Sydney Style

Patrick, Chris and Tony flew down from San Francisco on the Air New Zealand Pink flight which was marketed towards gay people going down to Sydney for the 30th Anniversary of Mardi Gras! After finding the three of them we headed to our apartment in Sydney and over the next several days we explored, dined, and partied like we were in our 20's! The parade was amazing. 2 hours of non stop top notch floats. It was at night which threw a whole different perspective onto it. After the parade was the Mardi Gras party in which 27,000 tickets were sold! Yes...27,000! The party was held in the Fox Studios in 5 different venues. We moved around between the different venues and after about 4 hours we had seen and heard enough and made our way back to Oxford Street. On Sunday we had dinner at Bondi Beach at Icebergs. One of the nicest restaurants in all of Sydney! Another highlight was doing the bridge climb with Patrick on Friday morning.

After Sydney we headed up to Brisbane for one night. We had dinner at a nice steak house with Loc-Uyen, her sister, Ellen, Caryl, and the four of us. After having a few pints after dinner we headed back to my apartment to get a good rest prior to heading to Byron Bay.

On our way to Byron we made the trek to Nimbin. It is basically a town that the Grateful Dead would have been proud of. The small town is a complete throw back to the hippie days of the 70's. Lets just say that when you are offered 'cookies' you should check to see what all of the ingredients are in them prior to eating! You could be setting yourself up for one psychedelic trip!

The remaining days were spent in Byron Bay. We went to Kings Beach, had great dinners, and made our way to the light house. We stayed at a great apartment complex 5 minutes from the main beach and the center of town.

It was VERY sad dropping off the three of them at the Gold Coast airport on Friday morning. I had a great time with them and wish they could have stayed much longer.

Thanks guys for a GREAT time, an amazing dinner at Icebergs and Patrick thank you for the bridge walk. It was something I will never forget.

Bring on Mari Grass! (That is Nimbin's answer to Sydney's Mardi Gras)