Thurs March 5 - Abu Dhabi to Sydney

I had an opportunity to go to Sydney and Adelaide with good friends, Vicky & Pete and also Casey flew in from Texas to join the Mardis Gras fun.

The three musketeers got our E-Gate passes which expedite us through passport control in the UAE. This is helpful to me since I washed my old passport in the laundry and you can't read the residency visa very well. Oh yes, they like to make fun of me for that one. It's a 15 hour flight direct from AUH to SYD. Les Miserable. Vicky and I checked into the room we would be sharing with Casey when she arrived.

Once in Sydney we get just a bit of rest, then go out with Pete's Aussie friends, who are all really great. I kept thinking Casey had arrived a day before us (it was really the next day) and was panicking a little because she was out wandering around maybe looking for us. Turns out it was okay haha. We stayed out late and I started looking like hell I'm sure, but I was a having a blast. In fact I stole someone's tie I think. Really, really late. Or maybe really early. 10am at any rate. We found some abandoned crates in the early morning hours. These would serve as our platform to watch the Mardis Gras parade later this weekend.

Fri March 6 - Bondi Beach and 'Foam'

Much to my relief it was THIS morning that Casey was to meet up with us in Sydney. She was sharing a three-bed room with myself and Vicky. When she came in, we had had about 2 hours of sleep. Vicky was asleep in her bed face down and I shot up and was wearing my underbritches and a tie that I had no idea where I got it from! But we were ready to go out and about and see the sites of Sydney. I missed Casey so much - I hadn't seen her since College Station in January and Portland before that. Her flight from Austin went without a hitch.

Bondi Beach is the site of the so-named television show. It was a HOT people watching site - we had a blast. Vicky wanted to get some rest and the Aussie crew wanted to do some shopping, so Pete, Clancy, Casey, and I did some shopping up Oxford and Crown, and then took the bus (Pete is a transport planner) to Bondi Beach and had one of the most relaxing days ever.

I bought a cool T-Shirt that looked like the United Nations because (1) the Mardis Gras theme this year was 'Nations United' and (2) I love the United Nations and our ambassador to the UN, Rice.. but I digress.

There is one picture that Casey and I spent hours looking at trying to figure out what was going on. We're not sure if it was the wind or an alien baby or a Gila Monster in her stomach. You be the judge.

The Foam Party was that evening. It was a proper foam party as only a major beach-side town can do. I got a compliment and was called 'an eight' - it was the most surprising and flattering moment of my life. Then I found out it was out of 100 (just kidding). At some point my cool United Nations t-shirt went missing and then so did my sandals (I found one). After Vicky went home I thought I saw her floundering in the foam and I dove to save her to find out it was some stranger - embarassing, but maybe I saved a life: my parents were lifeguards, they'd be proud. I let her drop back into the foam. I stayed with two of the Aussies from our goup and a crowd that was still going, until sunrise and we hobbled home, which is completely acceptable in beach-side Sydney. It was very 'MTV Spring Break 2005'. A couple cameras were at the foam party. These pictures will not be displayed here, LOL.

Sat March 7 - Sydney Mardis Gras

We got a chance to see the Sydney Mardis Gras Parade and it was a lot of fun. It turned out to be a great idea to grab the abandoned crates because we made a crate city of about 9 people and had great views. They don't take great pictures though.

Following the parade, the nine of us walked back through Hyde Park to our four hotel rooms. I got into a pillow fight with Clancy while Vicky & Casey got ready for the Afterparty, which started at 1am. All proceeeds from the tickets go towards the parade. Then Clancy wouldn't leave so the three of us threw stuff at him all the way out the hallway till he headed back to his and Pete's room to get ready for the Afterparty:

The afterparty was fun, and we wandered home just after sunrise around 8am. The scandalous pictures have been censored out of this, because, as usual in Sydney, aparently, people become scantly clad and sweaty and gross, lol.

Sun March 8 - Manly Island Trip

The next morning, Vicky, Casey, and I shot out to Manly Island and Beach. It was such a wonderful trip. I have to say it was one of the most relaxing days of my life. We took the ferry out from Circular Quay for about a half hour to Manly Wharf. Then walked across the island to the beach.

We played for a bit on the beach, and then we saw dark clouds and knew it would be one of those short but heavy tropical showers, so we ran into a bar that was open to the street and sat under shelter and had a beer while it rained. We sort of champagne-bar hopped until we got to an amazing Brazilian restaurant. It was wonderful.

The ride on the fairy was tumultuous, but in a fun way, as the storm left, the sun set, and the fog rolled in.

That night we went out for a short bit, and came home to watch some movies and crash; for tomorrow, we would be going to ADELAIDE! At the club that night, everyone got mad at me because I tipped the bartender, and then they were in line behind me and would get bad service. Clancy said I was ruining the economy.

Mon March 9 - Adelaide

The next morning, we flew to Adelaide. It was about 9 Adelaidian Aussies and me, vicky, Pete & Clancy on Qantas.

Pete, Clancy, & Vicky went to a music festival, and I met up with my friend, John, whom I'd met in Gibraltar and is an advisor to the minister of infrastructure.

Got some good pictures of Adelaide urban planning and design. There's quite a history of the grid structure of the streets, etc.

Tues March 10 - Animals

Today we went up to Cleland to look at the animals. I was enthralled by the Dingos and the little wild-running rodents and the ducks. Vicky and Pete were excited about the Koalas. You'll notice I simply wasn't thrilled by the Koalas, but whatever.

That night we went to some of the Fringe Festival stuff. The state of South Australia is known as the Festival State, and there were a couple going on. Vicky and I also got a chance to visit the Garden of Unearthly Delights (think 1930s fairs).

Wed March 11 - Glenelg Beach

This day was spent at Glenelg Beach, a beach-side area of Adelaide connected to downtown by streetcar. The day was great, and Clancy, Pete, Vicky, and I treated ourselves to a nice dinner at the Marina. Vicky and I went back to the Garden of Unearthly Delights. Outside of it was a regular bar, but I made the mistake of tipping (Vicky: 'You're ruining it for the rest of us!') and we had great service and nobody else did.

I learned that Aussie money was supposed to be indestructable. I took Heath's $100AUS and got OCD and tried to tear it for a while. I found out how you can tear it: teeth after a while. Now I owe Heath's $100AUS.

Thurs March 12 - Adelaide Wine Country

We shot out to the wine country of South Australia. So much of it reminded me of the wine tour of Texas. ESPECIALLY the Texas skies! I haven't seen that in ages.

Had a blast and bought some great Temprenillo and Pete was the DD for Vicky and me. Vicky and I got the case of the giggles, and Pete pretended not to be annoyed haha. They said it would be bad weather, but it was perfect.

That night we had a very lovely dinner with Pete's mother and father in Adelaide's chinatown.

Fri March 13 - Victor Harbor & Clancy's Birthday

Today we shot out to one of the nicest beaches in the world (second only to Melbourne, Florida). John (from Gibraltar, remember?) joined Pete, Vicky and me; and we had a blast playing on the beach, getting sun, and swimming in the south ocean, only about 4,000 miles or so from ANTARCTICA! It was a cool little town like Stuart. Those pictures will be up when Pete gets home to Abu Dhabi because we used his waterproof camera.

Clancy's birthday was fun and Luke and I mashed together bits of other people's dinners (Vicky had Kangaroo!) and made a makeshift candle for Clancy to blow out. Later that night the whole Birthday group shot out to (once again) the Garden of Unearthly Delights. We had an awesome time with the bumper cars haha. Claire and I were joking and decided that the grass was all dead because America stole all the water. That night we went out to some live music that was WONDERFUL indie-rock, but then I looked over and the boys were bored as shit, so we went to Mars for Clancy's birthday and listened to more 'Ump-chk, Ump-chk' techno music. The next morning I was flying alone to Sydney. Pete & Vicky would be staying in Australia for another week or two.

Sat March 14 - Sydney

I flew to Sydney and checked into my awesome hotel. I got a couple of good urban planning pictures and met some GREAT folks at Central Hotel (many of the bars in Sydney are called Hotel this-and-that and are related to hotels, strangely - kind of like Abu Dhabi, but much cooler). James, Graeme & Grant were really great; then we pulled in some others. They're all from different walks of life, etc., and we had a great time getting to know all of each other over a few beers. When we met Julie, she asked how long I've been in Australia and I couldn't understand her accent, so I said, 'What beer is that??' thinking she'd said a type of beer..

Sun March 15 - Last Day

For my last day in Sydney, I had until 9pm to be at the airport, so I checked out, left my bags at the hotel, went shopping and relaxed at a cafe or two reading magazines and things. This was a very, very, very, VERY relaxing day.

In Lewisham, at a pub, there was a Swedish flag. How could I not join in fellow ABBA folks for the Swedish Melodifestivalen? The winner of the festival was some weird opera-pop song, but it was okay. Might be worth youtubing Malena from the Melodifestivalen. Eh, since it's pop-music only, it wasn't exactly my thing, but I had a really good time with good people, and got to make fun of a lot of performers with Graeme. One of the jokes was that I was guarding the women's restroom since the chair pulled up for me was next to it. I became keeper of the door, and very nicely let women in and out hahaha. There were Swedish jokes that I didn't get. Had a blast, but then had to go to catch a flight.

Thurs March 5 - Abu Dhabi to Sydney

I had an opportunity to go to Sydney and Adelaide with good friends, Vicky & Pete and also Casey flew in from Texas to join the Mardis Gras fun.

Fri March 6 - Bondi Beach and 'Foam'

I bought a cool T-Shirt that looked like the United Nations because (1) the Mardis Gras theme this year was 'Nations United' and (2) I love the United Nations and our ambassador to the UN, Rice.. but I digress.

There is one picture that Casey and I spent hours looking at trying to figure out what was going on. We're not sure if it was the wind or an alien baby or a Gila Monster in her stomach. You be the judge.

Sat March 7 - Sydney Mardis Gras

We got a chance to see the Sydney Mardis Gras Parade and it was a lot of fun. It turned out to be a great idea to grab the abandoned crates because we made a crate city of about 9 people and had great views. They don't take great pictures though.

The afterparty was fun, and we wandered home just after sunrise around 8am. The scandalous pictures have been censored out of this, because, as usual in Sydney, aparently, people become scantly clad and sweaty and gross, lol.

Sun March 8 - Manly Island Trip

The next morning, Vicky, Casey, and I shot out to Manly Island and Beach. It was such a wonderful trip. I have to say it was one of the most relaxing days of my life. We took the ferry out from Circular Quay for about a half hour to Manly Wharf. Then walked across the island to the beach.

The ride on the fairy was tumultuous, but in a fun way, as the storm left, the sun set, and the fog rolled in.