Hiya all!
We're back! For those of you interested at all in my Aussie holiday, please click the cut for details. It was a great time!
Landed in Oz early in the morning and checked into the hotel. The place as a bit shabby, but we don't mind that, and it was right on the beach, which was great. Slept for a bit and then headed to the Modern Art Gallery to see the Annie Leibotwitz exhibit. It was EXCELLENT! Shocking and poignant and fascinating, all at once. They also had some great aboriginal art in the permanent collection.
The next day, we took the train to Hawksbury River. The ferry cruise turned out not to be running that day, but the ferry to Dangar Island was still going, so we took that and then hiked around the island. It turned oiut to be awesome. Dangar is a car-free community, with loads of fascinating nature and some beautiful, custom-designed building. Highly recommended walk. Back in Sydney, we had just enough time to tour the Museum of Jewish History before it closed. Then it was drinks at the Shark Lounge with a friend who's studying in Oz for the next few months. SOOOOO great to see her again!
Tuesday, we went to the National Gallery to see the Terracotta Warriors, since I missed them in England and wanted to see it. That turned out to be a bit of a disappointment; it was far too crowded to see much. But the rest of the gallery was so fascinating that we spent the whole day there! I just loooked at my watch, and seven hours were gone! We saw some amazing art - really incredible stuff!
Wednesday we went to the zoo; I'm a massive nerd for animals and a trip to the zoo is still just as exciting to me know as it was when I was a kid! This was a really good one - lots of big enclosures instead of cages and happy, well-cared for animals. Kangaroos! Koalas! Gliders! SO MANY PYTHONS!!! After that, off to the beach! Lovely!
We met some cool backpackers staying in our hotel that evening, so drank away the night with them. It was like being back in school!
The next day we got up late and were a bit hungover! So we went for a luxury brunch, then spent the whole day lounging of the beach. Bondi has to be one of the world's best beaches - a huge crest of golden soft sand and stunning blue ocean. Masashi went surfing, but I just sunbathed all day. Korean BBQ feast and kareoke at night.
Friday, we visited Sydney University, which looks exactly like Hogwarts! They also have a great ancient history museum, with several mummies! Very cool.
Then we caught the flight home,. SOOOOO long, and the flight from Tokyo to Sapporo got rerouted, so I was EXHAUSTED! When I get tired, I get hyperactive, so Masashi had to stop me from chatting the ears off random strangers: "Honey, we don't know these people. They don't need to know about your diet history." LOL. So good to be home in our own bed - slept for 11 hours!!!
It's gonna take me some time to catch up with my flist, especially as the computer is going in for repairs on Tuesday. I'm going to try to read 20 missed entries a day, but please help me out and let me know about anything awesome you've written or drawn or whatevered in the last week!
Hope you're all well and having a great 2011!
We're back! For those of you interested at all in my Aussie holiday, please click the cut for details. It was a great time!
Landed in Oz early in the morning and checked into the hotel. The place as a bit shabby, but we don't mind that, and it was right on the beach, which was great. Slept for a bit and then headed to the Modern Art Gallery to see the Annie Leibotwitz exhibit. It was EXCELLENT! Shocking and poignant and fascinating, all at once. They also had some great aboriginal art in the permanent collection.
The next day, we took the train to Hawksbury River. The ferry cruise turned out not to be running that day, but the ferry to Dangar Island was still going, so we took that and then hiked around the island. It turned oiut to be awesome. Dangar is a car-free community, with loads of fascinating nature and some beautiful, custom-designed building. Highly recommended walk. Back in Sydney, we had just enough time to tour the Museum of Jewish History before it closed. Then it was drinks at the Shark Lounge with a friend who's studying in Oz for the next few months. SOOOOO great to see her again!
Tuesday, we went to the National Gallery to see the Terracotta Warriors, since I missed them in England and wanted to see it. That turned out to be a bit of a disappointment; it was far too crowded to see much. But the rest of the gallery was so fascinating that we spent the whole day there! I just loooked at my watch, and seven hours were gone! We saw some amazing art - really incredible stuff!
Wednesday we went to the zoo; I'm a massive nerd for animals and a trip to the zoo is still just as exciting to me know as it was when I was a kid! This was a really good one - lots of big enclosures instead of cages and happy, well-cared for animals. Kangaroos! Koalas! Gliders! SO MANY PYTHONS!!! After that, off to the beach! Lovely!
We met some cool backpackers staying in our hotel that evening, so drank away the night with them. It was like being back in school!
The next day we got up late and were a bit hungover! So we went for a luxury brunch, then spent the whole day lounging of the beach. Bondi has to be one of the world's best beaches - a huge crest of golden soft sand and stunning blue ocean. Masashi went surfing, but I just sunbathed all day. Korean BBQ feast and kareoke at night.
Friday, we visited Sydney University, which looks exactly like Hogwarts! They also have a great ancient history museum, with several mummies! Very cool.
Then we caught the flight home,. SOOOOO long, and the flight from Tokyo to Sapporo got rerouted, so I was EXHAUSTED! When I get tired, I get hyperactive, so Masashi had to stop me from chatting the ears off random strangers: "Honey, we don't know these people. They don't need to know about your diet history." LOL. So good to be home in our own bed - slept for 11 hours!!!
It's gonna take me some time to catch up with my flist, especially as the computer is going in for repairs on Tuesday. I'm going to try to read 20 missed entries a day, but please help me out and let me know about anything awesome you've written or drawn or whatevered in the last week!
Hope you're all well and having a great 2011!
