Asia Update #32 - New Zealand

I spent a week on holiday in New Zealand. Figured I was already in Australia, so it would just be a short 3 hour flight (as compared to the 11 hours from Korea) to New Zealand from there…

The main goal of the week was to relax and drink lots of Guinness. Everything is cheap by American standards in New Zealand, and Guinness was no exception. A pint ran between $2.25 and $2.50 US, which is about half of what I pay in the States and a quarter of what they cost in Korea. And drink Guinness I did - I arrived on St. Patty's day, so worked my way down to an Irish Pub. 2 days later, I went to Palmerston North and hit another Irish Pub (this one had a pickup band playing Celtic music). Down to Wellington for a few days, and hit 2 different Irish Pubs (both with bands playing at them). Lots of Guinness drinking opportunities, which I availed myself to.

Between beers, I did also get some sightseeing in. This is a shot from the Auckland tower. At the viewing deck, they have these glass floors which you can walk on and look straight down from. Kind of freaky to stand there above so much open air.

This is from Mt. Eden, which is a volcanic crater in Auckland. Very cool. I even got to walk down to the bottom and poke around the volcanic rocks there. New Zealand is much like California - it has lots earthquake faults running straight through it. On the whole, though, New Zealand seems to have more volcanoes than California does.

Here is a shot of a kiwi bird and a kiwi egg. Funny looking critters. This one is actually a stuffed one, not a live one. I did see a live one at the zoo, but they are nocturnal and kind of shy, so I didn't get any good pictures of it. But the zoo seemed to know that this would happen, so left this one for us tourists to photograph.

This is a picture of Wellington, where I finished out the week. Neat town. And it seems to have lots of open space around, complete with trails. The ones I saw were all open to bikes. I stopped at a bike shop, and they said that there were lots of trails and most were open to bikes. Cool.

Asia Update #31 - Gladstone, Queensland, Australia

Gladstone? Where the hell is that?

Turns out it is in Queensland, which is the state of Australia which covers the whole north-east of the country. Gladstone is on the coast at the edge of the great barrier reef. Has a few different industries mostly related to processing mining materials, such as an aluminum smelter, coal port, and magnesium processing plant. Basically, it is a blue collar town.

Getting to Gladstone involves getting on a puddle hopper for a flight to the local airport. The airplane was small, loud, and didn't handle turbulence well. Below is a picture of the plane we flew on. The airport at Gladstone did have a paved runway, so at least that was a step up from what it could have been. And the airport's terminal did have room for two of these airplanes, just in case both planes that flew here decided to fly up at the same time…

Stretched my culinary experience while here. Had some more kangaroo, some emu (a big bird, but the meat tasted more like beef), some ostrich (an even bigger bird), and some crocodile (tasted like chewy chicken).

Actually got to see some native Australia critters here (besides what we ate). Was told that there are lots of wallabees (small kangaroos) once you got outside of town, but that they were only out at evening or morning and slept during the day. Didn't see any during the day, which matched what we were told. But I did get out for a run on Friday morning. Chose to run to an area where I was told I might see some wallabees (and the sign above would support that they'd be there). Got there, and saw some bouncing away and got some photos from a distance. Quite cool.

After the run, I talked with the Aussie who was with us. He had said that Wallabees where the small ones. These guys I saw were large to me - almost as tall as I was. I told him that if these were the small guys, I sure didn't want to see the full sized ones. He asked me for a description and it turned out that I actually saw kangaroos, not wallabees. Grey kangaroos, to be specific. They can be as tall as a person. Not the largest in Australia - those are the red kangaroos - but they sure seemed very large to me.

Gladstone is on the edge of the Great Barrier Reef. An hours boat ride from here would get you to some great diving areas. If I had known this before coming here, I would have allowed some more time here to get a few dives in. I guess I will have to finagle a trip back in the future. Until then, I am of to New Zealand tomorrow…

Asia Update #30 - Sydney

I flew up from Melbourne on Friday and spent the weekend in Sydney. My company put me up in the Darling Harbour area for the weekend, before moving me to the burbs during the workweek (closer to our office). Darling Harbour is definitely a happening place - always a buzz of activity. Lots of restaurants, bars, tourist stores, museums, and other places made to remove money from people's pockets. Thankfully, the money here is only worth half as much as the US dollar, so they really weren't taking too much from me…

I added to my list of interesting foods. Had Kangaroo steaks. Tasted just like beef. The next morning, my stride on my run felt a little springier. I wonder if the 'roo had anything to do with that? Maybe that's the secret behind all of the medals that the Aussies won at the last Olympics?

Had to visit the photos spot called Mrs. Macquaries Chair, where you get a good view of both the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Here's the required photo from there:

Did go to Manly Beach, which is a well known place for tourists. What are the tourists doing there? They are enjoying the view. In particular, they are there to enjoy the topless bathing suits which many Aussies are known to choose. I think I could like it here.

Haven't seen any koalas, kangaroos, or wallabies yet (well, besides the 'roo on my plate). Did go to the Sydney Aquarium and got to see a platypus, among other animals. And also did see a road sign saying koala crossing, but none decided to cross the road as we drove by.

Off to Gladstone tomorrow. It is in Queensland, which is in the north east. It is a smaller town and on the edge of the Outback. Perhaps we will see some interesting stuff there.

Asia Update #29 - Snipe Hunt?

On Saturday I was snowboarding with John McBirnie. It is Wednesday, and I just got back from a run where I was wearing shorts and a tank top, and still sweated up a storm. No, the weather in Seoul hasn't taken a turn towards summer (actually, it was supposed to snow some more last night). But instead I got myself out of Dodge and headed South. Way south. I am currently in Melbourne, Australia.

Australia feels like California, except they speak funny and drive on the wrong side of the road. Melbourne is in the midst of a multi-year drought, so many of the plants have a golden brown tinge to them, much like California in the summer. Even the prices seem the same, until you realize that it is in funny money Australia dollars, not real money (divide the Aussie price in half and you have the rough US price). Means everything is cheap to those paying in real dollars. Nice to hear English and see English signs and all that. Also good to see people out exercising (lots of cyclists and runners around).

This trip is a week and a half in Australia and then a week in New Zealand. Melbourne, Sydney, Gladstone, Auckland, Palmerston North, and Wellington. Four of the Australian cities are common places for visitors to go to. Gladstone has a plant which we are trying to sell to, so off I go. Most maps of Australia don't even show it, so that means I get to fly puddle hoppers to get there (2 of them each way - it is small enough that there are not even direct flights from Sydney). No industrial plants in Palmerston North, just agriculture plants (and probably lots of sheep). But going there for a holiday to visit a Kiwi friend (who, surprise-surprise, works for the New Zealand Government in dairy-related research).

On my run, I saw various birds of interest. One that stood out is the purple swamphen. Beautiful bird with shimmering purple-blue breast, about the size of a crow. Here's a picture of one:

I bet they taste like chicken. I sure hope for the swamphen's sake they don't migrate to China.

Saw the picture below on a sign describing the local flora and fauna. Surprised me - I always thoughts that snipes were a made up animal for boy scouts to use to trick younger scouts to go on 'snipe hunts'. Up there with sending a scout out to find a 'left handed smoke shifter' or to go cow tipping. Maybe they are real animals? Then again, I didn't see any on my hike. Maybe they are fake and this is the Aussie park service having a good laugh on us tourists?