Sydney, NSW -16 January 2011 at 9pm
Kansas City, USA – January 16 at 4am
The Blue Sox Win the Division
Kansas City, USA – January 16 at 4am
The Blue Sox Win the Division
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| The Aussies |
The weekend has been a whirl wind. It started with the celebration of Jason’s 40th birthday on Saturday. His birthday was technically on the 13th but I was on the boat so we celebrated on the 15th with his friends and a couple of the American’s I’ve met since I’ve been over here. We started with lunch at Ribs and Rumps…Jason’s favorite restaurant.
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| The Americans |
There were about 15 of us present. We had a wonderful time exchanging stories about ourselves and how we ended up where we are at this point in our lives (it looks like a table divided - Aussies vs. Americans but really it wasn't). After lunch most everyone went their separate ways before heading out to the Blue Sox game that night. Lisa and Luke (the other American’s), Jason, Katie (one of his friends) and I went to a girl’s baseball game (yes, girl’s baseball game – these chicks were tough!) to pick up another one of their friends, Maria, who is from Argentina and then we went to a pub for some drinks before the game.
After the pub we headed out to the stadium for the Blue Sox game. Okay, most people in Sydney, well in Australia for that matter have no idea that there is a professional baseball system. The ABL (Australian Baseball League) is owned and operated by Major League Baseball. The overall standard of play is equivalent to about a AAA team in the States but since it is summer here and winter in the States we did get to see a few of the “major leaguers” play. Rich Thompson from the Angels was there (didn't play b/c it wasn't his night to pitch) as well as Goose Gossage's son Todd. The game was a blast. The stadium held about 2,000 fans and the promotions and game entertainment were equivalent to that of a minor league stadium…cheesy but still fun to watch. This was the Blue Sox last game of the season so there were lots of season ending sentiments….they honored their most dedicated volunteer by having him throw out the first pitch and their General Manager came out to give the season ending speech, thanking all the fans for their support. The Sox were playing the Adalaide Bite and won 6-2 which meant that they clinched the division and the Bite came in second in the division….so now they are in post season play….congrats to the Blue Sox!
Additional Photos: Blue Sox Game
Calling All Animal Lovers
The next day (Sunday) Jason and I went to Featherdale Wildlife Park. My feelings about Zoo’s are torn. I love to see all of the animals but I hate that they are pinned up and not in their natural environment. After seeing an elephant in the wild in South Africa…it is tough to watch them walk around such a small area. Anyway, Lisa recommended it and said it is one of the better zoos in the area, so we went. It was actually very cool…the only animal that really seemed too big for his designated spot was the crocodile…so sad. All the animals are native of Australia so even though they couldn’t leave the premise at least they are in their natural environment.
The koala and kangaroos are some of my favorites…and of course anyone who knows me knows that I love roosters!
Check out this beauty!
Click here to see the full collection of animals…absolutely amazing!
Sydney, I'm Sorry, I Was Wrong About You
Monday I took a "to do list" day...catch up on emails, do laundry, work on my resume (life can't be all fun and games), yada, yada...
BUT......
On Tuesday, Lisa and I met bright and early at 8am for brekky and then a FULL day of fun out and about in Sydney.
I must apologize first to the city of Sydney. I know I compared you to every other large city on the globe and assumed that you would be like all the others...dirty, fast paced, touristy, annoying....but I was wrong... you have so much more to offer...you are charming, charismatic and full of flavor...I might just stay forever if you'll have me...wink.
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| Who is the idiot tourist? |
We started off the day in North Shore (where we had brekky) and began walking toward the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Lisa has been here for a few months now and is definitely a Sydneysider by my standards. She knows the ins and outs of this city. She had a whole day planned out of all the things she wanted to do and show me. It was fantastic. We walked around the area of Kirribilli and saw the Prime Minister’s house in Sydney and then took a stroll across the Bridge taking in all the views from each angle...breathtaking!
Next we walked down to The Rocks (the historical area of Sydney) and stopped in an old time grocery store and picked up two bottles of Sarsaparilla to drink later. I’ve never had it before since it is regional in the US but it has been mentioned in the last two books I read so I figured I should give it a whirl….its not too bad.
After walking around the Harbour and taking some photos of the Opera House and the Bridge, we to took the train over to Town Hall to walk around Darling Harbour on our way to the fish market for lunch. The fish market is crazy. It was jam packed with people and it wasn’t even their busy time of day.
Apparently, every morning (7 days a week) all the chef’s from the local restaurants go to the fish market to buy that days fish and crustaceans for the restaurant…I hear it is nuts…people fighting over fish and haggling with the vendors about the price…at some point I hope I can see this action with my own eyes.
After checking out all the fish on display we decided to get some lunch (fresh fish of course) and enjoy a little rest since we had been walking all morning. Not knowing portion size and wanting to try a variety of dishes we thought we would get a couple of oysters ($3.50 each) and buy two entrees and share them. We soon found out that this was a bad idea….see photo.
We could have fed the entire Royal Australian Air Force. It was ridiculous how much food we had….but it was worth all $55 dollars…yumm-o. We tried New Zealand lemon sole, calamari, scallops, shrimp and some other fish…all of it was delicious!
After the fish market and lunch we headed back toward Darling Harbour to head toward Paddy’s Market which is a large market that sells “trinkets” (i.e. stuff you don’t really need….faux designer bags & sunglasses, hats, t-shirts, etc… but they also sell produce, flowers…and according to the book, live chickens). Unfortunately, Paddy’s Market was closed but at least I know where it is and will probably come back later in the week just to experience it. We walked past Chinatown on our way back to the train station...got on a train to head back to Sydney Harbour where we were going to board a ferry over to Mosman Bay. The ride on the ferry was beautiful as always. We made a few stops before we exited onto the South Mosman Bay dock. We walked up the hill and caught a bus to the main street in Mosman.
I was actually very excited to make it to Mosman. As mentioned in a previous post, my parents own a business called Mossman Lumber Yard & True Value Hardware. Being that my mom's dad...my grandfather DeVere Mossman (spelled with two “s”) started the business I had to find the local hardware store for a photo op. Thank goodness Lisa has a sense of humor... And we found The Mosman Daily so I have a newspaper to bring back to Gramps!
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| Gramps and Me with our family crest |
We walked around Mosman, which is an absolute adorable township. If I moved to Sydney I would live in Mosman…it is so cute!
We walked down (thankfully) a giant hill on our way to Balmoral Beach which is another local beach with an amazing view. We stopped to enjoy the area and then headed to Lisa & Luke’s apartment where we found Luke…working. I got a tour of their apartment before we parted ways for the day…they were off to a Cerner function and I was headed to get a Thai massage….ahhh so relaxing.
Additional Photos: A day in the life of a Sydneysider
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