More photos from Melbourne

Our room at the Grand Hyatt had a superb view of Melbourne Park and the Rod Laver and Vodaphone Arenas.

A not-to-be-missed Melbourne locale is Queen Victoria Market, where the finest foods are in superabundance, as well as the quotidian clothing and trinkets. Joyce and I resisted (so far) the urge to own a didgeridoo, an aboriginal tube-shaped musical instrument that comes in all sizes, shapes and decorative exteriors, and renders haunting music.

On our way back from Queen Victoria Market we happened upon a lady judge, complete with wig and gown. Unfortunately, I was only able to photograph Her Honor from the back.

We arrived at the Melbourne Aquarium in time to watch the divers feed the rays and other fish. The divers are regularly knocked over by the rays, some of whom are truly massive.

On our last evening in Melbourne Jonathan, Amy, Sam and Sylvia joined us at the Grand Hyatt at sunset for a farewell before we set off on our next adventure at Uluru in the outback.

Melbourne, Australia

For those who are interested in the weather, Sydney and Melbourne are in that benign latitude similar to that of Capetown, where it is never very cold, i.e. about 50F/10C at worst, and warm in their summer months. We arrived at the start of the Australian autumn, and except for a few rain showers we have had terrific weather. For the runners out there, the Capital City Trail along the Yarra River is about perfect -- a winding trail, a serene river, fragrant with eucalyptus, and not too many runners or bikers.

We arrived on Thursday, March 27, and we leave tomorrow, March 31, for Uluru. Because Internet access will be limited or nonexistent for the next ten days, we will probably not be able to post until after our return from Papual New Guinea (PNG) on April 11. We know that you will miss us but please try to bear up under the stress -- we will keep a journal during our stays in Uluru and PNG and will post as soon as practicable following April 11.

Jonathan, with Amy and their children Sam and Sylvia, is in Melbourne on a sabbatical, so we have enjoyed their company during our visit, including a trip to the Melbourne Aquarium. (Photos to follow.) They were kind enough to find hats suitable for our stay in Australia, as shown in the attached photos.

Today, Sunday, we visited Melbourne Park where the Rod Laver Arena and the Vodaphone Arena are located. We signed up for a tour (after finding a few trinkets for Phoebe), and were treated to an inside view of the Australian Open/Grand Slam. Please note the photo of J and J in the press room immediately after winning the uncontested mixed senior doubles viewing championship.

A few words from my co-champion follow.

JOYCEE's Comments:

I was so happy to have a guided tour through the men's locker room of Rod Laver Arena. The very same locker room and tunnel used by the 2008 champion (and Phoebe Hughes' favorite) Novak Djokovich!! Our guide Megan told us about the Heineken booth in front of the big screen and showed us the "super" boxes. Acutally Maroon 5 was giving a concert that evening so we saw their stage set-up over the Rod Laver court.

The missing shark pix, from the Sydney Aquarium

Attached are some of the more interesting shark pix from the Sydney Aquarium, taken from the seldom-seen ventral side as the sharks swim over our heads. The first three photos are of gray nurse sharks, which are fearsome-looking at close range, and especially head-on. The last photo is believed to be the ventral side of the head of a leopard shark, Triakis semifasciata or Stegostoma fasciatum, I am not sure which.

JOYCEEs Comments: The Sydney Aquarium is extremely well designed. It sits in the Harbor (Darling Harbor) and has large tubes underneath the tanks where the sharks and rays reside. So you can walk through and see the incredible animals swimming around and over you. This gives you a unique look at their underside or ventral side. And as you can see, allows you to identify the gender of the shark!

An added note - yesterday we went to the Melbourne aquarium which was not as dramatic as Sydney's but we did see the shark feeding. Interestingly, the sharks were not interested in being fed by the divers but the rays were all over the divers. More on that later.

I also talked to a staff person at the Melbourne Aquarium about great white sharks which we did not see. He said they have been unable to keep them in captivity here in Australia. They apparently tried in Sydney and the Great White became quite stressed and they had to release it. He also added that when they put the Great White into the Sydney Aquarium all of the sharks and rays immediately went to the bottom knowing instinctively that the top predator was in their presence!

We miss all of you and WANT YOU TO POST COMMENTS BACK TO US. PLEASE.

Hunter Valley, the wine country north of Sydney

We decided while in the U.S. to visit the wine country outside of both Sydney and Melbourne, in total ignorance of the kind of traffic that we would encounter in either place. We first ventured into Hunter Valley, outside of Sydney, and discovered to our dismay that Sydney is afflicted with some of the worst tieups, slowdowns, and just plain clogged highways of any place we have ever visited. Nevertheless, we soldiered on and eventually arrived at Cessnock in the Hunter Valley wine domain about 2 1/2 hours after leaving Sydney, just in time for lunch. We had been referred to Esca by one of the ever-friendly Aussies in Sydney, a superb restaurant on the Bimbadgen Estate, and the referral was spot on. See, www.bimbadgen.com.au. The Red Tasting Sampler, complete with three different tastings and three complementary wines, on an outdoor patio overlooking the vineyards, was a peak dining experience. We were particularly impressed with the Bimbadgen Sparkling Shiraz, and recommend Esca without reservation on your next visit to Hunter Valley.

There will be a few more pix of beautiful downtown Cessnock on the next post. And in case you were wondering, we cancelled our rental car for Melbourne -- there is too much to see and do to waste time in traffic. Moreover, it would be difficult to top Hunter Valley, Bimbadgen and Esca!

JOYCEE's COMMENTS: I had extreme high anxiety on the drive to Hunter Valley! Steering Wheel on right side, driving on right side, narrow roads, speeding trucks and cars and we got lost in some suburb of Sydney. But no worries because a friendly lady at the gas station set us right and after another traffic jam of about an hour we got to the freeway to the wine country. As Jules has described Esca was wonderful. They are just finishing their harvest because it is now autumn here.

We stopped off for coffee while on the freeway and one thing I really noticed about Aussie folks is that they seem to be always cheerful and happy. They all look quite healthy and happy and are ever so friendly. I love their accent too but could never develop the roll of the vowels. I just love to listen and appreciate the sound.

Will send pics of Jules on the next blog entry and of the aquarium in Sydney.

PS: I have not seen a snake nor spider yet. I do ask folks if they have seen any since as we all know Australia has the most venomous snakes and spiders in the WORLD! So far none have seen them, even while gardening. I have seen them of course in the Sydney zoo but have decided it is too difficult to learn to ID all of the snakes because there are too many. I will just consider every snake deadly.

More photos from Sydney, Australia

The animal in the first photo is a dingo, a native dog that Australians are not allowed to have as pets; the second photo is of a kookaburra; the third I know that you can identify; the fourth is of Joyce about to visit some of her favorite species; and the last is an adorable young gorilla feasting on a leafy tree branch.

Sydney, Australia

We departed Papeete on Saturday, March 22, and after an eight-hour flight, arrived in Sydney on March 23, crossing the International Date Line en route. We are now fifteen hours ahead of New York time: it is now approximately 10:35 pm on March 26 in Sydney, and in New York it is 7:35 am. Our room at the 4 Seasons is on the 27th floor, and the first photo shows the view from our room -- a spectacular view of the Sydney harbor and the Sydney Opera House.

We went for a run along the waterfront and through the Botanic Garden, one of the most scenic parts of Sydney, including a number of resident sacred ibises (photo 2), whose sacred status does not prevent them from picking up discarded human trash (photo 3).

The next day, Monday, March 24, was a public holiday (Easter Monday), and we had a busy day at the Taronga Zoo, a back stage tour of the Sydney Opera House, and at the Aquarium. We hired a guide at the zoo, Bubbles (stop laughing!), with whom we connected immediately. She is active politically, having worked on the Kevin Rudd campaign, and is an Obama supporter even though she can't vote for him. In addition to her extensive knowledge of the animals in the zoo, we were astounded to learn that she had met David Gulpilil, the young aborigine in Walkabout and The Last Wave. Her father was an executive of Twentieth Century Fox, the distributor of Walkabout, and brought David to Sydney as part of the promotion for the film. Another piece of evidence for the "six degrees of separation" thesis.

The Taronga Zoo is a must for anyone visiting Sydney. To see a duckbill platypus swimming in a very large fresh water pool (behind glass), a bilby (another marsupial), an emu, and a dingo, plus more than can be described here, was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Joyce and me. A photo of the emu is attached, and a supplemental post will include photos of a dingo and of a happy gorilla.

For some history of the Sydney Opera House, see David Owen, Dept. of Architecture, "The Anti-Gravity Men," The New Yorker, June 25, 2007. It is an awesome structure in its breathtaking beauty and soaring lines, and in the sheer daring of its design.

More on Sydney on the next post!

More photos from Moorea Part III

These photos are the next batch from Moorea. Apparently there is also a limit on the number of photos that can be uploaded at one time.

The first photo is one of some children that we met on our drive around Moorea. Please note the blond-haired girl -- a not uncommon sight on either Moorea or Tahiti -- and of course the one little boy who refused to smile.

The second and third photos were taken from the Belvedere, and show Cook's Bay (first photo) and Opunohu Bay (second photo). Opunohu Bay is where HMS Bounty sailed in looking for breadfruit, and you know the rest of the story.

The fourth photo is that of a ruined temple that one passes on the way up to the Belvedere. There are magnificent towering Tahitian chestnut trees growing up through the cobblestone-like temple floor.

The last photo is that of Moorea taken from Papeete -- the two islands are about twelve miles apart.

More photos from Moorea Part II

Here are the photos (hopefully) that did not upload the last time around.