Adventures in weather and sightseeing
The day started out with heavy drizzle and ended in a clear, cool evening of the finest deep blue sky kind. The day's first adveture was the Melbourne Aquarium, perched not far from the Yarra River. I'd forgotten my umbrella, but fortunately the rain took pity on me and kindly stopped before the train arrived at Southern Cross Station (aka the station formerly known as Spencer Street).

The aquarium has its charms, but is really not nearly as interesting as the one back in Sydney. It seems a bit sparser, with less variety and more 'dead' space given over to cafes, shop, educational area et al. Admittedly part of the place was under construction, but all the same it just didn't have much of a zing. That said, it was a great place to while away a rainy morning. Among the highlights were the jellyfish tanks, as there weren't many jellys in Sydney. The baby turtles were pretty high in the cute rankings plus anyone who's seen 'Finding Nemo" can't help but coo at the clownfish.

Part two of the day was a trip to the Immigration Museum, situated in the glorious old Customs House. The museum, which is very new, is beautifully conceived with fascinating exhibits on immigrants to Australia from the 18th C all the way to the 21st C. The various exhibits traced both the general history and specific immigrant stories from all eras, elegantly bringing to life the full range of immigrant experiences. And the museum managed to explore immigration - to my eye - in a very even handed way - i.e. without being patronizing to the immigrants or being overly PC.

Before this trip, I knew very little about Australian immigrants, especially those who came later on in the 20th c as part of managed migration, thus the museum wa a valuable learning tool. Among the immigrants profiled were a Scot, two young Sudanese refugees, an Italian, a Greek Woman, a Chilean dissedent and a Cuban. Different eras, different reasons, different experiences, but all with the common thread of Australia.

After lunch, I had the pleasure of interviewing Li Cunxin, a former dancer with the Houston & Australian Ballets and the author of an award winning autobiography "Mao's Last Dancer". I'd grown up watching Li dance with the Houston Ballet, and he was my favorite dancer back then, so it was a realy treat to get to talk to him in person. He's now a successful stockbroker here in Melbourne and does a lot of motivational speaking. Not surprisingly, he's very well spoken, but also very warm and down to earth.

Unfortunately I spent a bit too long walking through Chinatown, so I arrived too late at the Melbourne Museum to get into the exhibits. The day ended at the Melbourne Central Shopping Center, which is huge, but has about the lowest useful to bleah store ratios I've ever seen. Lots of mediocre ladies clothes boutiques and a distinct lack of anything terribly practical. Basically five floors of worthlessness on top of a train station. Melbourne Public Transportation seemed to trying it's best to take after NJ Transit, in that our express train was standing room only, travelling mostly at a snail's pace with periodic stops just jerky enough to send everyone stumbling around.

The Power of Quadblock...
Thank goodness for the tube of quadblock (Aussie uber sunscreen) in my backpack or my arms would have been burnt to a crisp. I've become very faithful about smearing my face in a thick coat of sunscreen since getting reddish at Bondi Beach, but my arms got forgotten. Cue the hurried application at the Botanical Gardens which seems to have done the job.

Melbourne is quite a different city from Sydney, but I love it for all of its unique charms. The 12 train ride from Sydney was in parts depressing and fascinating. I was fortunate enough to sit beside a woman who lived up near the mountains on the border of Victoria and New South Wales, and she was a font of information about the area and it's various features/animals/history. Unfortunately, right now much of the area is in the middle of a dire drought, the landscape looking painfully dry. They've not had a decent amount of rain in four years, so the irrigated fields are about the only flashes of green in a desolate landscape. I always thought Scottish sheep were pretty hardy, but the diet these sheep seemed to be living on would make the Highlands look like the tropics.

Yet, despite the pervase dryness, it's amazing how diverse the landscape is between the two cities. Towards Melbourne it becomes much more forested and flat, whilst the New South Wales parts are hilly, rocky and lightly sprinkled with gum trees. Not much native wildlife visible, but I spotted a few roos hopping about.

The train is hardly the fastest mode of transportation, but well kept and pleasant. Students get about 50% off of tickets, so I 'splurged' for first class which is a bit nicer than regular seats back in the UK. In comparison to UK trains, I think the seats are a bit comfier with more space, and the aisles are definately wider.

In general, the service harkens back to a more relaxed, genteel time. The train ambles along at a respectable pace, stopping at lots of little towns. Unlike the UK, they've tenderly taken care of the old railroad stations, so in most towns you are treated to the site of genuine Victorian era stations, the detailed metalwork freshly painted in a panopoy of bright colors, planters full of cheery flowers. And for tea, breakfast, lunch and dinner, you get to reserve your choice of hot meal, then proceed later on down to the dining car to pick up the food & pay. At 4GBP for a hot dinner, it's a pretty good deal. Munchies are available the whole time.

Today I introduced myself to Melbourne. The sun was blazing, making me reget having worn jeans. Twas definately a shorts n' sandals kind of sun beating down on you day. It was shopping first, as one of the local guides mentioned a great little CD store in one of the shopping arcades. It turned out to be easy to miss - just a single door leading down to the stoor - and a wonderful place to find music. It has that Aussie relaxed feel, and the staff will happily play any disc on their special system which leads to individual headphones. Essentially, it means that you can preview just about any disc before laying down the cash. I splurged on two albums byMelbourne area bands.

Melbourne has great public transportation as it's crisscrossed by trains, trams and buses. For about 30 GBP, I could buy a week long all access pass for all three forms of transportation. Anyone who poo-poos the idea of trams in Edinburgh should come here - they're efficient, quiet and practical. Here you either validate your ticket on the tram or buy a new one from the on board machine so there's no queue-up trying to get in the door. Same goes for the trains, though I'm not sure about the buses.

My grand debut on the tram was a quick trip up to the Botanical Gardens. The Gardens are actually surrounded by other parkland, so it's a huge expanse of green, and pretty darn gorgeous under the clear blue skies. After meandering around myself, I took the free tour. Which further made it clear that you can escape Scotland, but not the Scots. Of the five people, there was me, a woman originally from Ayshire and her English husband who she'd met in Edinburgh and a Singaporean woman who'd done her business degree at Strathclyde in Glasgow. Itty bitty world it is out there. I enjoyed getting to know the highlights of the garden and getting to ask about the many plants and birds.

Apologies for the lack of pics, but I've not had internet access where it's feasible to upload many images.

Sydney Swansong
The first part of my trip is almost over - I depart tomorrow on the 7:45am train to Melbourne. Sydney has far exceeded my grandest expectations despite the first few days of iffy weather. It's so amazing to be just minutes from some of the most beautiful coastline in the world, and to meet so many friendly people. Not to mention getting to take surfing lessons at Bondi Beach. Hopefully I'll get to return in the not too distant future to improve my very lacking surfing skills.

Yesterday, we all went out to the Blue Mountains, where the weather was surprisingly cold. Since standing still to watch the Three Sisters - a well known rock formation - was a chilly proposition, we ended up hiking along a trail on the side of the steep slope. Duncan ID'd birds for us and I took tons of pictures. We hiked VERY CAREFULLY down the stone steps out to the base of the Three Sisters to admire the view. I'm certainly not afraid of heights, but the steepness of the stairs made me uber nervous. A small slip could lead to a long and scary fall.

We had lunch in Leula - a touristy, but pleasant town in the midst of the Blue Mountains. The main drag is full of stores plying everything from 'faketiques' to Christmas ornanments to elegant carved wood figurines. Our actual meal was at a cozy little restaurant where our table was in front of a warm fire. That's Australia for you - one day you're surfing at the beach, the next, enjoying the heat of a warm fire up in the mountains.

After our adventures, Elisabeth and Brandon returned to Clovelly to celebrate their first weddding aniversary (!!!) and Duncand and I headed out to Manly. Having heard many stories, it was neat to finally meet his maternal grandparents. Getting from the station to their house turned out to be an adventure of which culminated in a geographically-challenged taxi driver. Lubricated by several glasses of wine, the dinner table conversations were varied and fascinating. I also had the honor of meeting the three resident canines, who quickly realized that I was a soft-touch - cozy up and I would instinctively reach down to scratch ears/tummy/head etc.

The rattling windows of Friday night were replaced with the sound of steady rain. Given the droughts that have plagued much of the area in recent years, the rain was a welcome respite.

Today was more relaxed - I caught the 9:25 Manly ferry back to Circular Quay, and the day's entertainment was centered around eating and shopping. We walked around to Coogee for lunch, no easy task given the not always gentle undulations of the coastal path. Later we embarked on an ultimately unsuccesful bikini shopping expedition. Elisabeth and I were both amazed at how many ugly or impractical bikinis exist in the world. The best options were to be found at the 'sportier' stores like Speedo or Quicksilver, which appear to be alone in employing bikini designer who appreciate the variations in female anatomy. Sigh.

Lions and tigers and bears oh my...
After hitting the beach yesterday, today was zoo day. My sunburn and I headed over to Taronga Zoo with my cousin Duncan, who's living in Australia for a few months. The zoo is arrayed on a hill overlooking the harbor, so is best accessed via ferry.

As far as zoos go, Taronga is high on the list. It's a large selection of animals in modern, well-landscaped enclosures with excellent signage/information. For me the Australian animals were the highlights - all matter of kangaroos, koalas, wombats etc. At the end of the day, when the zoo was fairly empty, we were even treated to the sight of moving koalas. Since they spend more than 20 hours a day sleeping, to see them even twitch a muscle is pretty rare. Plus there was a baby. So that's kind of the koala grand slam.

The afternoon was punctuated with a dramatic thundershower. From the zoo, we could see the storm moving in from downtown Sydney, the skyscrapers disappearing into the gloom. After about 15 minutes of wind & rain, the storm moved on leaving the zoo in a delightful "freshly washed" state.

After the zoo, Duncan and I headed to a hotel for drinks until my friend was finished with work. We ended up having dinner at a rather posh, but pleasantly quiet restaurant overlooking the bridge. Our decidely less fancy desert was ice cream at Circular Quay.

Bondi heaven..
I did it...sort of...yes, I took a surfing lesson, no I didn't managed to get upright on the board. The only slots available were in the 9:30am class, which meant an 8am start in order to make the one hour walk to Bondi. You don't get better morning walks than from Clovelly to Bondi - a long winding path which overlooks spectacular wave-worn cliffs. And boy do the Australians get out - both at 8am and 5pm, the path was full of joggers, walkers, dogs, kids and the occasional tourist. Plus it's so clean - in general Australia is one of the least trash strewn countries I've been to - Brits and Americans would do well to emulate the Australians.

Bondi is certainly easy to fall in love with - soft sand, great waves, nice cafes and warm sun. At this point in the spring, it's not yet chock-a-block with people so rather relaxed. Bondi does have a reputation for being a place to be seen, so perhaps my opinion would have been different had I first come during the peak season. The surfing school (www.letsgosurfing.com.au), which is at the north edge of the beach, is quite a bargain - 59 AUS$ student rate for a 2 hour class with no more than six students. That includes wetsuit, board, sunscreen and class.

After slathering on sunscreen and squeezing into wetsuits, it's off to the beach to get boards and learn the basics. There were about 10 of us - all but one were Europeans - and I ended up in a class of four - me, another Brit, a Swiss guy and an Austrian woman, all in our mid-20s to early 30s. Leo, our instructor, is Brazilian, but has lived in Australia since he was a kid.

You quickly learn that surfing is very physical and very tiring - it takes a lot of energy to carry the board down to the water, then swim out beyond the deeper channel to where the waves are good. And then there's the actual surfing!

We were taught the basics on the beach, and then Leo helped to position us on our boards to catch some small waves. At first, we just lay on the boards and pushed up with our hands to ride the waves on our stomachs, but after another on-shore demo, we attempted to stand. Leo, in his infinite patience, helped to tow me and another girl out since we were getting knocked about by the waves a bit.

I didn't manage to stand up - probably a combination of insecurity and lack of leg muscle - but now have at least a basic idea of how to surf. Not to mention, a great deal of respect for those who can surf. It takes so much strength & agility, plus the ingestion of enough salt to meet one's daily need for weeks. I certainly won't be needing to salt my food for awhile.

After shedding several layers of sand, the four us headed over to grab a well deserved lunch at one of the beachside cafes. Follwing lunch, the other Brit and I did some shopping at the Bondi surf store. Then of course, we took full advantage of the sunbathing possibilities of the beach. There was a fair breeze blowing, so it was a bit chilly when the sun ducked behind a cloud. After a good long snooze, we had tea overlooking the beach before parting ways.

The leg muscles were definately sore on the walk back, but it's hard to complain about getting to take such a scenic walk. I think the most fascinating part of the walk is the graveyard - most of the graves are from the 1940s or earlier, and it's intriguing to read the inscriptions. Many plots hold several people, with each grave a story in its own.

So, tomorrow it's off to the Taronga Zoo and dinner.

It was a day of the lost being found - first the sun and then my poster!

The day started out cloudy, but what a difference in the temperature!! Over the space of two hours in the eary morning, the temperature went up about 8 degrees C. 27 C at 10am would be record setting in Scotland, but it seems normal here.

Not knowing when the poster would be delivered, I opted to hang around in Clovelly for the morning. After throwing a load of laundry in, grabbing my mobile and slapping on some sunscreen, I headed out to walk along the coast to see the beaches. Right across the street, and down a steep slope from the Elisabeth's flat is Clovelly Beach, which is a deep and protected. Much of the beach is sandy, but the sides are lined with stone/concrete piers from which you can swim or sit & watch the scenery.

From Clovelly, the path winds along the top of bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It proceeds through a graveyard, and the alongside Bronte Beach. Bronte, like Bondi is a broad crescent of sand with great crashing waves. On one side is a wonderful salt water pool, refreshed by a pump. It must be incredible to have these beaches close by, to be able to jog or walk along the ocean each morning. Even midweek, there were a number of people swimming and chatting alongside.

Despite the clouds, it was hot and muggy, so I didn't walk any farther than Bronte. (From Bronti the next large beach is Bondi).

Meanwhile, the poster seemed to be in eternal customs limbo. But the Qantas rep I talked to midday seemed horrified at the idea that I'd sit around waiting for it when I could be doing more interesting things. So I headed into Sydney to do the Harbor Tour.

I really enjoyed finally getting to see Sydney from the water, and exploring the nooks & crannies of the various bays. Even better, the clouds finally moved off half way through the cruise, leaving the city with a bright blue backdrop. It was finally the the version of Sydney that you always see in the photographs. The Opera House looks even more dramatic in the sunshine - it's still mindbloggling for me to be seeing it in person.

The poster finally arrived around 9pm, a bit bashed at one end, but intact.

If the weather holds tomorrow, it's surftime!

The sun will come out tomorrow...
Or at least that's what the weatherman is saying. Today was another grey, dampish day, though the temperature was quite pleasant. Still, it'd be nice to get a sunny day with less wind so that I can go on one of the harbour cruises to see the sights around Sydney Harbour.

Though I still have brief periods of eyelid-opening-failure, the only real effects of jet lag seem to be a new propensity for waking up early in the morning. Becoming more of an early bird would be a bonus for my thesis work, so let's hope that it's not reversed by the jet lag on the way back to Scotland.

This morning, as on Monday, I took the bus in to the Central Business District (CBD) with Elisabeth & Brandon. From the Circular Quay I zig-zagged - intentionally and not - across to the Victoria Building to check out the shopping possibilities. Nothing demanded to be bought, though had I lived in town I'd have done serious damage in the massive kitchenwares bargain basement. After picking up some postcards, I zig zagged some more over to the Martime Museum which is located on the far side of Darling Harbour. The museum is free, a relatively rarity in Sydney, but would be well worth a visit even if there were an admissions fee.

The exhibits cover a huge range to topics. The lower gallery, funded via a centennial year gift from the US to Australia, explores maritime connections between the US and Australia. Other galleries examine the relationship between Australians & the water, give a fascinating glimpse into the history of the Australian Navy and provide a history of immigrants who have come to Australia via ship. In addition a navy helicopter and a range of historic boats are suspended from the soaring ceilings and/or tacked up onto the walls. Currently there is also an exhibit on pirates, so the space echoed with the footsteps of the classes of 'junior pirates' being marched around by their pirate-educators.

After my maritime education, I walked over to the Chinese Garden of Friendship, a pretty Chinese style gardens built during Australia's 100th year in collaboration with designers from Guangzhou, China as a symbol of the frienship between the two countries. The garden is an oasis of peace in the middle of a bustling city, though I could have done without the initials carved into the bamboo. Why do people find it so necessary to deface every public surface?

Crossing back across Darling Harbour, I detoured through the main drag in Sydney's Chinatown on the way to Hyde Park & the Australian Museum. Upon entering Hyde Park, I lunched at an open air cafe just across from the ANZAC War Memorial. Not quite the same people watching potential as NYC, but delicious tomato basil soup and a chance to rest my sore feet.

The final cultural/tourist stop of the day was at the Australian Museum which houses natural history displays. My impression was that much of the space is not being utilized, but what was there was done well. The highlight is the fascinating, if a bit discomifiting exhibit on the native peoples (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) of Australia, looking at their culture and the not so pleasant history of their treatment by the colonizing Europeans. The first floor is home to a great display of gems & minerals, and the 2nd floor birds & insects. The other current exhibit was literally a work in progress - the Museum is collaborating with a museum in Alberta, Canada on the excavations of dinosaur fossils in Alberta, and the exhibit is centered around scientists who are right there and then working on the fossils brought over (encased in plaster). So you can read the journals of the workers, look at other fossilized skeletons and then actually see the excavated fossils being worked on. There's even a big drawing of the current skeleton, with the bones shaded in as they're uncovered and chipped out of their rocky prison.

From the museum, it was a short trip by bus to the funky neighborhood of Paddington. Built around the backbone of Oxford Street, it's an area filled with little boutiques and cozy streets of brightly colored row houses with eleborate wrought iron railings and fences. It seems almost like a place out of the Carribean - bright colors, wooden buildings and sense of whimsy. Yet the place had almost unexpected rough edges - for every well kept house with a tiny, tidy front garden, there was one with a porch full of junk and straggly weeds. The impression was more of a lack of care than a lack of money to do the caring with. A shame. But the neigborhood still is charming. One thing that really struck me - in stark contrast with Scotland - is the plethora of flowers. The suburbs are splashed with bright colors and heavenly perfumes of all sorts.

Since the Sydney Bus Authority seems to be allergic to maps of any sort, it required a mobile conversation with my friend to determine the correct bus route home.

Upon arriving back in the flat, I took a deep breath and plunged yet again into the world of lost luggage. The news is good - my poster arrives in Sydney tonight - and bad - I have to hang around tomorrow until it's delivered. Judging from the notes the Qantas rep read out, it took three requests to get the poster sent from London. What exactly was so fascinating about my poster that they didn't want to part with it in London? Does someone in Heathrow have a food poisoning fetish? In anycase, if you're going to lose luggage, I reccomend doing it on the way to Australia. The Qantas reps in Australia have been the most relaxed, helpful and personable people I've ever encountered in the airline customer service world.

Elisabeth and I had dinner at the Clovelly Hotel, the local "pub" in the very loose, Australian use of the word. Good food, and they even had two kinds of Strongbow cider. Which is one more than I've ever seen in the UK!

So it's off to bed with wishes of sunny days and delivered posters!

Exploring Sydney..
One bag found and delivered, one to go. Still no clue as to why the poster decided not to proceed farther than London, but hopefully Qantas will shed some more light on the current situation when I can tomorrow. Either than or they're going to be coughing up the $80 or so to print a new poster.

My eyelids crashed & burned by 10pm last night, but so far the jet lag has been very tolerable. I think that by the time you travel half way around the world, your body is so confused that it doesn't know that it should be distressed. Today I went into Sydney, taking the morning express bus with my friend and her husband. The buses are efficient, but public transportation here is not generally a bargain. Tickets tend to be point to point with no free transfers, so the cost for a trip requiring multiple stops quickly escalates. So, as in Scotland, walking is the most practical and cost-effective method of getting around.

I started out with a quick trip to Darling Harbor to see a well-reviewed exhibit on the Great Wall of China at the Powerhouse Museum. First thing on a Monday morning the museum was relatively quiet, and the exhibit was fabulous. A nice selection of artifacts on loan from the National Museum of China were used to illustrate the history of the wall, tracing it from it's early beginnings to the present day. The museum pieces were complimented by videos of the wall and a well designed website, available to view on a huge computer screen. My only complaint would be that the descriptions of the artifacts were sometimes a bit sketchy. There's no need to overwhelm people with facts, but I think that a label should at least specify what material(s) an artifact is made from.

From the museum, I proceeded by bus and foot - not always in the right direction - back down to Circular Quay to meet my cousin who is staying with his grandparents near Manly. The two of us wandered through the center of Sydney, stopping off in the gorgeous Victorian era shopping center, the Victoria Building. It's a multi-level masterpiece full of wrought-iron detailing, twisty staircases and very posh stores. We poked our noses into several stores and then spent some serious time in an antique print shop drooling over hand coloured Gould animal prints. And one of us didn't walk out empty handed.

Down in the basement we had an inexpensive and very satisfying lunch at a great Thai/SE Asian cafe. It's the kind of food that sticks to the ribs and cleans out the sinuses. With any luck, the spices blew the last of the stale airplane air/germs out of my system.

After lunch, we proceeded back to Darling Harbor to see the Sydney Aquarium and the new adjoining Wildlife Center. The aquarium is definately the stronger of the two, full of tanks containing everything from massive crocs to tiny reef fish. Several of the large tanks can be viewed via underwater tunnels, allowing a panaromic view of the marine inhabitants. The highlights included some huge rays, some delicate baby sharks and the little penguins. But the best of all was the 'fish ballet', a tank where huge schools of fish glided by accompanied by excerpts from Saint-Saen's "Carnival of the Animals". It was as if the fish were swimming in time to the music, and the effect was positively mesmerizing.

The Wildlife Center contains a selection of typical Australian animals & insects in sparkling new exhibits. Not nearly enough birds for Duncan's taste, but it was fun to see animals that don't normally make it into zoos outside Australia. I sure hope I don't meet any of the insects or snakes in the wild - the very name rhinocerous cockroach gives me nightmares! The cassowary was fascinated by the little girl looking through the class and vice versa. And of course, there were the koalas who were holding a clinic in the various ways to sleep in a tree. Not even a twitch of a paw - these beasties take sleeping seriously. Apparently because their diet of eucalyd leaves is very nutrient poor, they sleep in order to preserve their energy for necessary things like eating.

After some more window shopping, Duncan headed back to Manly via ferry and I ambled over to the opera house. I've seen it so many times in photos and movies that it was quite a thrill to finally see it in person. With time to burn, I got a ticket for the final tour of the day. With just five of us (two Americans, a Swede and a Dutch couple), the tour was very intimate. The story behind the building is fascinating - the Danish architect who created the building has never seen the finished project, though his son - who is helping with work on redesigns to the interior - has been to Sydney. We were lucky enough to see the Sydney Symphony Orchestra rehearsing on the theatre-in-the-round stage of the concert hall. It's an immense complex containing two theatres with 1500+ seats, plus at least three other smaller performing spaces and several rooms for public or private events.

The day ended with an entertaining dinner with my friends at a local German restaurant. It's Oktoberfest time, so our hearty German fare was accompanied with German music, dancing and lots of leiderhosen. After a quick stop for tasty ice cream, it was home to rest the tired feet.

Hopefully the weather will improve tomorrow so I can start on the outside explorations of Sydney. And perhaps even squeeze in a surfing lesson at Bondi Beach!

Kate

The Journey....
I am finally here in Sydney, but my luggage unfortunately seems to have had other plans. With any luck my suitcase will arrive tonight, but the poster decided to stay in London. And, according to the American/Qantas Airlines records, it's apparently sprouted wheels. Needless to say, I'm not overly confident that they know where the poster is, let alone can get it to me in the next few days.

The Edinburgh - London flight was uneventful, albeit without any food thanks to weather related delays in London. In fact, with the new restrictions on carry-ons, flights are quite relaxing because there's no rush for the limited space in the overhead bins. Apart from an uninteresting selection of movies and a plastic fork not up to the challenge of the lunchtime chicken dish, getting to LAX was uneventful. Until I got there. For reasons unknown, the US requires that all bags going via a US airport have to be claimed, go through customs and be rechecked. Even if you're just connecting through. So my big back full of clothes quickly appeared, but no sign or information on the poster. And no way to do anything until two days later in Sydney.

Qantas had good food, a great selection of on demand movies and an excellent flight crew. But after moving to accomodate a woman who needed my aisle seat, I ended up being nearly pancaked into my new seat by the malfunctioning seat in front which tilted too far back. Thank goodness that most of the 12hr flight was given over to sleep and the wee babies near me stayed blessedly quiet. But it does make you wonder why an airlines that has just installed such hi tech entertainment systems can't afford to make sure all their seats are properly functioning and don't have gaping holes in the seat covers.

What should have been a stunning morning entry to New Zealand was dampened by low clouds, but it was still pretty darn amazing. There's water all around, acres of green grass and mountains in the distance. The clouds were still hanging around when I finally had the utter joy of stepping off my last flight and into Sydney Airport.

The joy was, of course, short-lived. After oh so carefully filling in my Customs Declaration Card, the lack of any arriving luggage robbed me of my moment of customs fame. Instead, there was the torture of watching the carousel go round and round and round, and then round and round without disgorging my faithful black duffel bound. As we lined up to pour out our stories of woe to the Baggage Assistance folks, it soon became clear that mine wasn't the only suitcase to have gotten lost between LAX and Sydney. No clear explanation was offered for the wayward bags, but we wondered if it had something to do with the last minute offloading of a bag in LAX when a passenger had to cancel his/her trip at the last minute.

As to the poster, not even the Baggage Assistance woman could make heads or tails of the information provided. Why had it gotten stuck in London? Why was it described as having wheels? A work of fiction by a particularly imaginative baggage clerk in London? Even I would be impressed if American/British Airways could transform a poster tube into a wheeled bag with a wave of their magical wand. As long as my poster was still inside.

So, it was bearing little in the way of burdens that I met my friend Elisabeth and her husband Brandon at the airport. We drove to their cozy flat which looks down to the waves lapping (or crashing) up onto the beach in Clovelly. Plans of unpacking and getting a well needed (and deserved) shower delayed by the lack of luggage, Elisabeth and I headed out to Bondi Beach for lunch.

Bondi Beach is one of the most famous in Australia. Today it was lightly attened, as the chilly winds and damp skies didn't make for ideal sunbathing. But the surfers were still out in force enjoying the big waves. The beach curves around the inner surface of a bay, providing great waves for the surfing clientele and wide, pale sands for the sunbathing clientale. We lunched a funky little cafe on one side of the curve, enjoying lunch and a great view.

So now I sit, typing and yawning, and awaiting the arrival - hopefully - of my suitcase.

(The view from Brandon & Elisabeth's flat down to the beach in Clovelly)

In 12 hours or so, I'll be on my way from Alba (Gaelic for Scotland) to Australia. The trip is for both pleasure and work - I'll be spending a week in Sydney to visit a friend and a cousin. Then it's off to Melbourne for more sightseeing and three days at the VTEC (Verocytotoxingenic E. coli O157) 2006 conference. As part of that conference, I'm presenting a poster on some of my research.

With any luck, four flights and two days later I ...and my luggage... should be in Sydney. Meanwhile I'll be doing a tour of some of the world's prettier locales and less thrilling airports.

With any luck, there will be internet access somewhere along the route, but otherwise I'll check in from the other side of the world!