Kiwi Cricket

Ben lost a bet to Alexis a few weeks ago. Ben paid Alexis with his cricket ticket. Alexis sold this ticket to me. And so two Sundays ago I participated in a true cricket experience: The Australians versus the All Blacks at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It was a great day but there were a few too many kiwis flapping amongst us. We met up at Bar Cleveland in Redfern for a few critters (Little Creatures) before heading over to the official grounds. Somehow we made friends with some other rowdy groups and next thing you know the game is on TV. This is a "one dayer", a short version of cricket, so we better hurry! Not quiet. While a true cricket match, called a test match, lasts up to five full days and can still end in a draw, a one dayer is not short. A typical one dayer lasts about eight hours. Yeah, short version. After breaking free of the (other) rowdy bunch we hiked over to the SCG and settled into our seats. The SCG was first set aside for recreational use in the mid-1800s. In 1882 Australia beat England in the first Ashes test match played on the grounds - the sixth Ashes. I think this set the base for a tremendous future of Australia destroying England in the game the English invented. It's a beautiful stadium, and I appreciate the design of the Members' Stand (1878) and Ladies' Stand (1896). The game was great fun, but we couldn't seem to separate Glenn & Simon. Oh and the free Daily Telegraph hats provided excellent shelter from the sun. Thank you Daily Telegraph.

All kiwi cricket photos here.

*Note: Australia beat the All Blacks but barely. My brother, Ricky Ponting, embarrassed us with an early LBW. Shame.

Google Plane Grounded

Google, the company that provides this lovely blogging service to me for free, screwed up this past weekend. They did. They made a big hub-bub, a big to-do about a hired aircraft that would fly low over Sydney and its beaches, taking high-res photo-graphic metallic plates to add to their Internetified map service. It was big news! All over the papers there were articles with Google boasting about its first detailed photo of a city. People made plans and went out early with signs for a non-profit cause, an expression of love as a surprise for the lovee, a request for forgiveness or just for fun... and yeah some people were looking to take advantage of the free advertising.

So what happened? Nothing. Or next to nothing. Google posted this lame-ass update to the site. That space covers less than 10% of what they said they would and hardly any of the beaches and parks where people had started to prepare since early morning. Google, you are responsible for the [continued] failure of Aaron Schwebel's marriage. People will also be less inclined to Vote Climate, and, thanks to you, David Hicks will not be brought home. Possibly your biggest loss, Google, is that poverty will NOT be made history. I hope you're proud of yourself.

Yes, Google was providing a free service, but it also set expectations that it could not meet. It turned out that they did not have clearance to fly over the city and that Sydney airport would have had to have been closed to satisfy their demands. Google, c'mon, maybe if you're packing the right goods, but an aerial camera... {scuffaw}

We were out there with a big white sheet ($9) on which I spray-painted ($8) "DWARBI'S ROOF". Google, kindly send a refund of $17. And thanks for this free blogging service.

Australia Day 2007

This past Friday was Australia Day, Australia's celebration of the landing of Captain Arthur Phillip and the First Fleet at Sydney Cove on 26 January, 1788. Another name for this day is Invasion Day. Depends on the way you look at it. Similarly, Dana and I arrived on Australian soil on 26 January, but in 2005. We call this day Australian Anniversary Day. Another name for this day has recently surfaced: Dana and Denis Sepo Invasion Day. Depends on the way you look at it. Somehow people came out to celebrate with the Sepos Dana & Denis on Australia Day!

In an attempt to reduce gang violence we did ban the Australian flag, but both Sams brazenly ignored the ban and waved the flag to and fro. Thankfully everyone played nice. Except Glenn Hinton. If you look at the photos it's pretty clear he doesn't know how to play nice. The party started nice and early with set-up beginning at 1, and friends coming and going into the night. We must of left a window open because there were kiwis in our apartment until after 3AM. Who knew kiwis could fly into an eighth story apartment!

Also, Google was scheduled to fly a plane low over the Sydney to add high-resolution images to their Google maps service. I was ready with a giant "DWARBI'S ROOF" sign but the Google plane didn't come very close us. In a few weeks we'll be able to check!

View all photos here.

NZ Day 8: Last Full Day

While we fully enjoyed our last day in New Zealand, there was a bit of sadness knowing that the next day we would be returning to Sydney. Being depressed about going to Sydney, Australia, should give you some idea of how great New Zealand is. We left our Queenstown B&B in the morning, skirted Lake Wakatipu and continued north past a few submerged towns, such as Cromwell, The Land of Giant Fruit. There's a story here: After realising that putting a lake on top of your town isn't the best thing for tourism, the town leaders - still soaking wet I assume - contracted a farmer to grow enormous stone fruit to attract international visitors. Unfortunately the farm was quickly overrun with monstrous fruit flies and the farmer was killed after giant bat poo fell on him one night. They managed to save some of the fruit and have enameled, as seen above.

It was back to square one for the good ole Cromwellites. "By jove," the town crier cried, "I've got it! We shall create a parking lot and next to it we shall lovingly reconstruct that which was flooded in the early 90's, demolished in the 80's and established in 1862! Complete with a plastic horse!" And so New Cromwell was founded.

Tekapo, located on Lake Tekapo, was our stop that night, but we decided to take a detour to see Aoraki/Mount Cook, NZ's highest mountain. To took the detour but didn't see the mountain. The clouds were too low. It was still a beautiful drive, and Lake Pukaki was gorgeous. The sky above it shimmered teal from the colour of the lake below it. The mountains around Mt Cook were also stunning. You may not know it, but you've probably seen Mt Cook. It was featured in Lord of the Rings and The Last Samurai as a stand-in for Mt Fuji. It's also a big climbing spot, despite the tremendous number of deaths. Over 200 people have died on it in the past 100 years. Two died last week. We were there in the middle of summer and the avalanche warning was high.

Back around Lake Pukaki and along Lake Tekapo we went. The other side of Lake Tekapo is lined with the snow-capped mountains of the Southern Alps. Add in an old stone church and a statue of a dog and you have one of the most picturesque towns in the South Island. The Church of the Good Shepherd, built in 1935, holds services for three denominations. Catholic mass is held once a month. I assume there is one priest for the entire county who racks up some serious mileage. The statue nearby is dedicated not to one collie dog who saved a boy from drowning, but to all collie dogs who have ever saved a boy from drowning.

Driving into Tekapo provided us with some amusement. There isn't really a town but a large rest stop right off the highway. Imagine our surprise when the sushi restaurant we ate at was quite good despite its position between a gas station and a gift shop. Besides the view, the town has some good restaurants and B&Bs. Our B&B, Grandview, was an excellent choice. What a view from our window! We left New Zealand extremely happy with all of our accommodation choices. What a trip.

View all of the photos from day 8 here.

New Year's Eve - 2006/2007

I've got one more New Zealand post left but I have to get this New Year's Eve one out before the end of January. We landed in Sydney the evening of the 31st and were home long enough to shower and shave before heading out. We got some sleep on the plane but adrenaline helped much more. Luna Park offered amazing music (Carl Cox) and a great view of arguably the best New Year's Eve fireworks in the world. The beverage selection was less than impressive. Todd and I both went to bed with shaky stomachs and woke up not feeling too hot even though we had only had a handful of VBs all night. Terrible beer. (This Todd is not the Bungy jumper from the previous post, it's BA Todd.) Dana and I took advantage of some of the great rides at Luna Park. The Wild Mouse was the best, but the Coney Island section with its classic - and dangerous - attractions was also worthwhile. Todd and I went to head to head in a potato sack race. I won. Candice beat Dana though. The music kept us going until about 3 and the trip home wasn't that bad. I was also impressed by the orderly trash. Kudos Sydney! On ordinary days I've seen workers scrubbing garbage bins and mopping sidewalks, but a neat New Year's Eve takes the cake!
Enjoy the photos here. Oh and a short video clip from the farewell to 2006, a pretty good year for me I'd say:

NZ Day 7: Bungy Jumping and Wine Tasting

Here's Dana standing next to our room at the B&B. OK not really. This is a replica of a house from "Old Chinatown" near historic Arrowtown. Arrowtown boomed during the gold rush, and since Chinese people were not welcome in the white town, they built their own self-sufficient dwelling in the hills nearby. The park and exhibits are interesting, way more so than the tourist trap of Arrowtown itself. Unless you want to buy a rock the size, shape, colour and price of a gumball... from a gumball machine. Now if you have a kid, don't worry - there is a disclaimer for your 5 year-old to read that will set him straight before he spends that coin he borrowed.

From Arrowtown we went straight to my 11:30AM bridge jump booking. I have a fear of heights so I was expecting to be scared out of my wits. It was quite cold as I prepared to jump - and the drizzle didn't help - but I wasn't very nervous. I can get over my fear with logic and the jump felt very safe, even thought they basically just wrap a hand towel around your ankle, run a cord through it and push you off the ledge... maybe because it's all just so official. At the jump centre they weight you and write the weight on your hand in permanent marker... 91 kilos (201 pounds)?!?! No way! I was about to ask for a re-weigh without my shoes but decided to wear the weight on my hand for a while to keep it in mind. I still have not washed that hand. I jumped backwards after the crew recommended against my idea of attempting a flip. "First jump, keep it simple," they said. The length of the cord was measured perfectly with my weight so that I could get as close to the water as I wanted. My arms and head submerged. And by the way, I have washed that hand. Many times. The 91 will just not wash off. It's like it's a curse. If you're going to Queenstown, bungy jump. It's well worth it. Video here:


What goes great after bungy jumping? Wine tasting! Dana and I spent the rainy afternoon exploring Central Otago and trying wines from some of the best emerging wineries in the world. I must make special note of Peregrine: best pinot noir. Fantastic. And the setting for these wineries could not be better.

Dana and I popped back by the Kawarau Bridge Bungy for another look. While I was taking photos, some guy asked if we wanted a photo together.
"Sure!"
Photo taken.
"Thanks! Lots of Americans around these days."
"Ah yeah, I'm from New Jersey."
Dana pipes in, "I'm from Jersey! Where are you from?"
"I'm from [somewhere in NJ]."
"That's right by me, I'm from Highland Park."
"I have a good friend from Highland Park."
"What's his name?" (long shot)
"Adam Ravens."
"No way!"

It turns out Don was best man at Adam's wedding. Adam married Alicia, a long-time family friend. Dana was their baby-sitter not long after and had actually met Don before! Small world. So we ended up hanging out with Don & Todd (who was bungy jumping) that night in Queenstown, along with some packpacking pommies we met. Great fun. Oh, and that's Todd standing on the bridge behind Dana and Don... because of all the excitement we nearly missed his jump!

NZ Day 6: Queenstown - Holy Shit

Apologies for the crude subject, but holy shit! How can a city like this exist? For once I trust the photos will speak for themselves as far as natural beauty, then top that off with the resources available, the stability of the nation and the nations surroundings and the height above sea level... not a bad place to live. We arrived at Queenstown after driving through a street sheep pasture, racing a steam train and rounding Lake Wakatipu to get to our B&B, Coronet View. The B&B was great and location perfect. We set off immediately for a good tramp (hike/bushwalk).

A good tramp up Queenstown Hill gave us spectacular views down onto Lake Wakatipu and Queenstown. We could also look across at the "hill" with the gondola on it and way off into the distance at even greater mountains. The hike was steady and intense, but not overwhelming. We also got a good look at beautiful poisonous mushrooms and drunken wood pigeons.

Back town at sea level - or at least lake level - we headed over to the gondola and opted for a gondola + luge deal. Our gondola followed a delivery of milk (hey, no roads up there and obviously the cats are hungry). See photo evidence. The top was quite busy but we didn't have too much trouble getting a pair of helmets to go with our luge-ka-bobs, or whatever they are called. I expected the luge ride to be pretty lame. It was not lame. The twelve year-old in front of moved, but his mom zig-zagged back and forth, slowing us down until I finally pinned her to the side while Dana passed and we left her in the dust. The ride was a lot like the old Alpine Slide at Action Park before it closed after too many deaths. It was great to be a land free of lawsuits and full of opportunities to seek enjoyment at the risk of harming oneself. The hill also offers a scenic bungy jump.

Nightlife in Queenstown is also good fun. We had dinner at Dux de Lux - great beer made in-house and massive NZ mussels. Afterwards Dana and I walked around Lake Wakatipu before seeking out more Emerson's. Mini-Bar was the place, and the bartender made us feel like locals...most of the other patrons were Queensland service staff out for the night. Highly recommended.

Glad to say that this was not our last day or night in Queenstown…

Photos from day 6 here.