Conquering fears and big elastic bands

This is me dangling off a rope over the Kawarau River near Queenstown in New Zealand. I've always said bungy jumping is something I would never do, the idea of it always scared me silly, despite the fact I had previously jumped out of a plane quite happily. It was something about seeing the ground so clearly below me that always put me off. Anyway, after seeing the look on my significant others' face after jumping off the Nevis highwire, I started to consider the idea. While wrangling with myself about whether or not to literally take the plunge, I realised I wasn't afraid of being hurt but being out of control. And this bothered me, was I that much of a control freak that I couldn't for a few seconds let a (perfectly safe) big elastic band control me? Well I decided to conquer my fear and do it. Once I made that decision it was fine, I leapt off that platform with some serious determination. There was a split second of pure panic when I thought my life was coming to an end, then it was all over and I was standing on firm ground again before I knew it. The end result: I got a cool adrenaline rush and conquered a fear of losing control. Not bad. Mind you, at about NZ$160 it is probably the most expensive thing per second I will ever do.

Steve Irwin

Steve Irwin's untimely death has raised a remarkable reaction around the world. Here in Australia, a politically incorrect but common reaction to his death has been one of "that's what you get for pissing off animals for a living". Even more callously, the irony of his death has been laughed at, killed by such an unlikely thing as a stingray barb, when he wrestled crocodiles for a living.
His profile has never been that large in Australia compared to overseas. His television programs have never been prime-time, in fact I don't think I've ever seen one. But overseas his programs are much more popular. Travelling throughout Europe, upon hearing my nationality, often the first thing people mention is Steve Irwin. This was always somewhat of an embarrassment to me and many of my fellow Australians, to think that he serves as a cultural ambassador. Germaine Greer implies as much in an article in The Guardian, which has been widely criticised.
But Australians have always loved to unfairly cut down our tall poppies. Any Australian who makes a name for themselves is treated with various degrees of derision at home (unless of course you are Jennifer Hawkins or Megan Gale). Kylie Minogue is one example, we love her now, but for years she struggled against her definately not cool "singing budgie" reputation at home.
Although not remotely representative of Australians in general, he has certainly carved out a niche for himself and enjoyed enormous international success with his wifelife based antics. And there's no doubting his passion and commitment to his work. However, the suggestion made by British media that "Steve's death is our Diana" is so extraordinarily off the mark it's laughable. While the importance of his death may be debated, there is no denying the basic tragedy of the situation, a man killed in his prime leaving behind his wife and two young children.

Jockey headbutts horse

An amusing video of jockey Paul O'Neil headbutting his horse. Its a fairly gentle headbutt and you have to wonder if it would have made the news at all if it weren't for Zidane's recent exploits. Funny how a simple action can be so influential.

Meerkats

The God Billboard

I wonder what Apple thinks of this church's latest marketing plan?

I've realised I don't think I saw any God billboards when I was in UK/Europe, makes a nice change from being subjected to annoying messages that every church in Australia (and New Zealand, this picture is of a church in Auckland) feels compelled to share with the public travelling past. Must be an American thing.

The Rock

The Rock is an unlikely looking vessel that was a car ferry in a former life, and is now a floating backpackers hostel. It takes up to 36 passengers on overnight cruises through New Zealand's beautiful Bay of Islands. We went night kayaking, dove for mussels and swam amongst schools of fish in impossibly green water. We ate lunch on a little island full of green rolling hills and deserted beaches. Ah, just the ticket for a sea-loving Piscean like yours truly.

ANZAC Day

On the 25th April every year thousands of young Aussies and Kiwis travel to a remote part of the Turkish coastline to remember those who lost their lives in the tragedy that was Gallipoli in 1915. Being in the relative area at the time last year, I decided to attend. I was interested as to why this event has become so increasingly popular amongst a generation who can't really relate to war.
Firstly, its a massive logistical exercise. The dawn service takes place in a relatively small area flanked by cliffs in a national park that is accessed by one single lane road.You walk for hours, sleep out in the open squished together like sardines, and its not till the following afternoon that you find your way back to your coach by walking along a line of them that stretches as far as the eye can see. You just have to hope your coach is somewhere near the front of the line and that you can remember what number it is.
Physical discomfort aside, it was an incredibly moving experience. Everyone was very patient, respectful and quietly patriotic. The Turkish people also sustained massive losses despite "winning" and a significant number of Turkish also attend. There was a lovely feeling of understanding between nations, as well as curiosity. Last year was also the 90th anniversary, and so Prince Charles attended as did the prime ministers of Turkey, Australia and New Zealand. This added a somewhat surreal aspect to the event given the size of the venues, everyone was a lot closer to these people than they ever have been or probably ever will be.
I never really found an answer to my question as to why this event is so popular amongst my generation. I do know that it was a memorial and a celebration of patriotism and community in a place very far from home for most people. And that can't be a bad thing.

Big Ad, Not So Big Sales.

Australians are brilliant at not taking themselves or anything else too seriously. The Carlton "Big ad" is an excellent example. Interestingly though, its not having the desired effect, as Carlton sales haven't significantly increased in the eight months since the ad's release. I guess the entertainment value of the ad just isn't enough to prise Australian beer drinkers away from their favourite brands.

I miss Ed

When I see photos like this... sigh... I miss Edinburgh.
(Photo by Jess).

Fruit-crazy House

How much fruit is too much for a household of three?

Python found in toilets in Sydney Airport

A green tree python was found in a women's toilet in Sydney airport, abandoned by a smuggler who chickened out in the arrivals area. Overseas guests have enough of a problem with our wildlife without coming face to face with it in the toilets before they've even left the airport. The thing is, I don't know why this person even bothered to smuggle it into the country given that these snakes are very common in any bush or parkland area. (Note to potential guests to Australia: they are harmless snakes and very shy - nothing to worry about!)

Quotes

Timeless Quotes is my latest favourite time waster of a site. Its got heaps of quotes about lots of different stuff, all well categorised and easily searchable.
Quote of the Day: Age is a very high price to pay for maturity. Tom Stoppard.

Australia's latest fashion accessory

A new fashion accessory is gracing the arms of people across the nation since I've been gone. Its the go-green reuseable shopping bag and its everywhere. While I was initially delighted at this apparent sudden interest in plastic bag reduction, a little research into them has taken the shine off my delight somewhat. These bags are still very much plastic despite having a fake woven pattern and feel to them, and they are made in China. Now if the government was going to be smart about it, when they threatened to bring in a plastic bag levy (one of the reasons use of the go-green bag has taken off) they would have made sure there was a viable Australian made alternative. The fact that its still made of plastic can be rationalised by the fact that we are now using only one of them each year rather than 473 of the old single use bags. They do wear out however after about 3 years, and the real proof about how serious we are will become clear when they start wearing out and we have to make the effort to recycle them, or just throw them out.
Furthermore the only reason the major retailers are behind the go-green bags is because they are helping their bottom line; they make about 30 cents from each bag sold and reduce costs by having to use less of the old single use bags. And I've read reports where supermarkets are pretending they are out of single use bags in order to force people to buy the go-green ones.
Despite these things, this bag is still a win for the environment, as it has reduced the use of the old single use bags and that can only be a good thing. The bag itself is actually very good, its sturdy, holds more than the old bags, but you do have to remember to take it to the store. As for its contribution to Australian fashion, well, I'm not so sure about that.

Back in Australia

I'm back in Australia and enjoying things I haven't for a while, here's five things I love about Australia, and five things I miss about the UK.

Five things I love about Australia;
1.Leaving the house in a skirt, singlet and thongs and not freezing to death.
2.Supermarket checkout operators that have a sense of urgency, pack your bags while scanning at the same time, and manage to do all this while standing.
3.Paying AUS$4.45 for my Starbucks Caramel Macchiato instead of £2.50 (AUS$6).
4.Beaches
5.Laundries are a standard room not a luxury.

Five things I miss about the UK;
1.Proximity to Europe.
2.Public transport that gets you where you need to be in a workable timeframe.
3.An old building is over 500 years, not 50.
4.Pret á Manger (sandwich chain store with excellent food).
5.Proximity to Europe.

Loch Lomond

'You'll tak the high road, and I'll tak the low
And I'll be in Scotland afore ye
But me and my true love, will never meet again
By the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond'
'Loch Lomond' Traditional song

Table Manners, August 05

August in Edinburgh is a sight to behold. Among other festivals, the
Edinburgh Fringe Festival is held, and the population swells by a million, of which approximately 16,000 are performers. I was lucky enough to be one of this latter group in a production of Table Manners (cast pictured above) produced by Living Stone Media, in last years' festival. Despite two and a half years training with Ensemble Studios in Sydney, my acting talent is at best sketchy, and this was probably the beginning and end of my esteemed acting career. But it was a fabulous experience; fun rehearsals, last minute changes, shaking with nerves and audiences that ranged from dead silent to breaking into spontaneous applause. I may never do it again, but I'm glad I did it once.

Amsterdam

I've just spent a nice couple of days in Amsterdam. As with most places its the stereotypes that jump out at you first; hash bars, ladies in windows under pretty red lights, Van Gogh, windmills and gouda. What I didn't expect but was glad to discover was the lack of seediness despite the aforementioned hash bars and ladies in windows, the interesting buildings, the ethnic diversity and the pancakes. Its worth visiting for the pancakes alone. Only word of warning - its a city ruled by bikes, pedestrians beware.

Bargain Airfares to Australia

Check out this for a bargain; £99 (AUS$240) one way from London to Sydney or Perth, £199 (AUS$480) return. Amazing. Admittedly you can only leave on 23rd or 30th Jan (to Sydney). Better get your skates on.

House Fire

This is what's left after a house fire in the area where I grew up in Sydney. The unfortunate owners were away on holiday at the time. Although this wasn't the result of bushfires, the end result is the same for some unlucky people every summer in Australia. I guess its our local weather peril; Moscow has deep freezes, America's south has hurricanes, we have bushfires.

Chicken Farmers Wife (not)

This gentleman fell head over heels for my friend whilst we were at Oktoberfest in Munich. You can see the longing gaze in his eyes (he's looking straight at my friend, who's on the very right). He showered her with compliments about her beautiful blue eyes and appealed to her materialistic side by promoting his chicken farm and bank balance (apparently €1 million). Unfortunately cupid's arrow missed my friend and his efforts were all in vain. How could a girl refuse...

The Royal Museum of Scotland

I recently undertook some temporary work conducting research surveys for various art galleries and museums around Edinburgh. I questioned people about their reasons for visiting and what they felt they got out of their visit to the place. The results were very interesting. In 2001 the British Government decided to make all main Galleries and Museums free of charge to the public. This has changed the frequency of visits and reasons for the visits for many people.
One venue in which I conducting surveys, the Royal Museum (and adjoining Museum of Scotland), has a magnificent main hall with goldfish ponds and a cafe (pictured). The effect of charging no admission fee has meant that this space has been made available for all to freely enjoy. There were people just meeting for coffee, mothers with children watching the fish, and people on their lunchbreak. So as well as the museum-goers visiting the exhibitions (mostly tourists) there were lots of local people using the museum as a place to spend time enjoyably. This is a fantastic benefit to the people of Edinburgh, particulary in a city that for three quarters of the year it is too cold to comfortably enjoy outdoor public places. Not to mention the cultural and educational benefits of making museums and art galleries more available to everyone.

Lost in Venice

While being lost in Venice we stumbled upon the studio of Livio De Marchi, an Italian artist who makes amazing things out of wood. Everything you see in the window is made of wood. Check out his website for pictures of some crazy stuff he's done, including the exact life-sized floating wooden replica of a Ferrari F50 that he gets around Venice in. Cool.

Here's to Trusty Travel Buddies

There are lots of different ways of traveling, by yourself, on tours, with friends or relatives, budget, not-so-budget, etc, and over the last year I've experimented with most of these.
Being somewhat of a solo pilot in life in general, I started off on my own. You have the ultimate freedom to go wherever you like, whenever you like. And I've gained a certain strength from having to rely solely on myself. But it can be lonely. When you are gazing out on some fantastic scenery, or witness some funny random event there is no one to share it with, or laugh about it.
Then at the other end of the scale is a tour. The major advantage of these is that you don't have to think about transport, accommodation etc, its all sorted for you. All you have to do is sit back and take pictures, and the social life is pretty good too (depending of course on what sort of tour you choose). But the major disadvantage as I see is you always feel like a conspicuous tourist, and I hate feeling like that. I like to try to blend in and see things from a local perspective, as much as possible, and thats hard when you're on a big bus with “So and So's Tours” written on the side.
And then there's traveling with friends, but the success of this depends a lot on the individual, how well you get on, and how closely your traveling agenda's mesh. The idea of being stuck with someone who chews my ear off constantly, wants to go and get pissed every night till 4am and is constantly losing the map is enough to make me want to stay home. Luckily, I've found a great travel buddy. We are pictured above at Oktoberfest (bet you couldn't have guessed that). Funnily enough we grew up in close proximity in Sydney, but met on the other side of the world. Our idea of “budget” varies a little, and she has a slightly obsessive tendency to want to walk everywhere, but other than that we travel very well together. Most importantly we can laugh together when things don't go according to plan, which happens a lot, and is part of the joy of traveling. So I'm making the toast in this picture, “To trusty travel buddies”.

Happy New Year

Yesterday I saw in the new year at Edinburgh's street party. It wasn't a bad new years as new years go, except for the getting crushed in the crowd part at the end. Apart from that it was a good end to a great year for me. I hope 2006 will be just as good. Happy new year everyone.

A Different Christmas

This year I had a very different Christmas to what I'm used to. It was about zero degrees Celsius in Edinburgh instead of the 30 degrees plus that I'm used to in Australia. I ate Christmas dinner with 7 French people (well, actually 6 French and 1 Belgian). My flatmate cooked all day and served up a feast of gastronomic delights which we savoured from 8pm till 1.30am the next morning. Lots of wine, lots of cheese, it was fabulous. But definitely a different Christmas for me, although not quite as weird as last year where I ended up eating Christmas lunch at Hooters in Interlaken, Switzerland. That was surreal.

I wonder where I will be next Christmas ...

Pergamum, Turkey, May 2005

As opposed to 'Fake Fake Watches', or would that make them genuine?

Eating Alone in Strasbourg

I was by myself in Strasbourg and thought I would splash out on a nice meal. I always feel like a bit of an idiot dining alone, but decided I wouldn't let this dissuade me from eating well. I'd only been seated for 5 minutes when another lady also dining alone sat down at the table next to mine. We struck up a conversation, and she expressed surprise at finding another sole lady diner. She said she regulary dines alone due to the travelling nature of her job, and that I was the only other lady she had ever seen eating by herself.
What is it that makes us feel stupid when eating alone in a restaurant? Is the self consciousness that we have from worrying about what others are thinking of us, and why we don't have any one to dine with? Is it just having nothing to do while waiting for your meal? Or is it more than that?
Anyway, turns out she was a fascinating lady. She was a program director for a travel company and travels Europe for six months of the year, then spends the other six months living in the Caribbean. She speaks six languages fluently and is learning a seventh. She described herself as 'happily divorced', and free to travel the world. I would love to be living her sort of lifestyle when I am her age. Thank you Katerina for making my sole dining experience so enjoyable.

Bathing Across Europe

In my recent travels I've had 3 very different experiences in public bathing establishments.
Near Lake Balaton, Hungry: An outdoor thermal heated lake with supposed healing properties. Place had the feel of a holiday resort from the 60's (think of the location from Dirty Dancing). Full of German tourists using rubber floation devices (pictured).
Hamam in Istanbul, Turkey: Traditional bathing house where you get scrubbed and pummelled by large nearly naked local ladies. Funnily enough it doesn't actually have a bath, there is just a large marble heated slab in the middle which you bake on for a while, then move to the edge of the slab for your scrubbing underneath a huge pile of soapy foam. The baths are segregated by sex, and despite a sign on the wall saying 'no naked bathing allowed', everyone in the room was naked or very close to it.
Baden Baden, Germany: Appropriately, Baden means 'to bathe' in german, as the place was named as a result of the naturally occuring thermal springs. The place I went to was a massive, modern glass structure with an enormous selection of different sized pools of various temperatures. Being Australian, and not used to being naked in public, I'd chosen this place because of its swimming costumes worn policy, as opposed to the place over the road which was strictly naked mixed bathing as I didn't feel up to the full naked mixed bathing german challenge. So, after soaking for a while in the pools, I went upstairs to the sauna section, to find that the sauna section is mixed and naked. Oh well, as the saying goes, 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do'. So with a deep breath, off went the swimmers. Its funny how quickly you can get used to things as soon enough I was sweating away in the sauna feeling reasonably relaxed. I momentarily panicked in the steam room when I looked around and realised I was the only woman in a room full of naked men. Time to move on. I was reasonably chuffed with myself for breaking out of my comfort zone, and doing something I hadn't done before. I also realised that in about an hour I'd been exposed to more male nudity than I had in my entire life up to that point. Definitely a learning experience.

Dieting Dramas

This entry will be incredibly boring for most guys and for those lucky women who never have to worry about their weight, but for anyone else whose every struggled with what they eat, this might be of interest.
When I hit the age of about 21 or 22 my metabolism slowed down significantly, and I put on quite a bit of weight. Up until this point I had never had to worry about what I ate. I tried various diets, often losing weight, then putting it back on and then some when I returned to my normal eating habits. Furthermore I felt powerless by food, unable to resist cravings and trapped by lots of obsessing about what I was or wasn't eating or about to eat. It took up a lot of energy and left me quite unhappy, not to mention the unhappiness I felt because of the way I looked.
So, last October I stumbled across a book in a second hand bookstore called Eating Less by Gillian Riley. This book has completely changed my relationship to food. She considers overeating as a form of addiction, and outlines ways of dealing with it accordingly. The book has nothing to do with dieting, and a lot to do with self esteem. Ironically, you have to forget all about losing weight, as that is a sure way to fail. As backwards as it sounds, it has worked for me very well. I can honestly say since reading the book I have not binged once to extent that I did before. I no longer obsess over food and spend a lot less time and energy thinking about it. I find myself eating healthily with little effort. And I've lost 12kgs so far, but just as Gillian predicts, thats not what I value the most. Its the peace I've gained.

Praia de Mira, Portugal, September 2005

Praia de Mira is a sleepy little beachside town on the Portugese coast where some Portugese families go for summer holidays. Foreign tourists are rare, and serious development nowhere to be seen. This blue and white stripey shack is the local church, right on the beach. My brother and I accidently almost walked through a funeral party leaving the church on our way to the sand. Having since seen many areas of huge ugly condominium developments further south along the coast, this little place is a gem, and I hope developers never find it.

Turkey, May 2005

This picture is one of my favourites from Turkey. We (two bus loads of young Australian and New Zealand tourists) had pulled up at a lookout to watch the sunset in the amazing Cappadocia region. A Turkish family had the same idea. I approached the girl and her older sister (not pictured) and asked using gestures if I could take a photo of them. They were shy and ran away, and I chased them around for a bit playing a version of tag, where the tagging was me getting a picture of them and they ran around screaming delightedly. The older lady (pictured) offered me nuts and we attempted conversation, unfortunately not very successfully as she spoke zero English and my Turkish was limited to 'Hello', 'Thank you' and one other phrase which I'll get to shortly. Once they realised they could see the picture immediately on my digital camera, the girl and the older lady posed for me. As I left I tried out the phrase our Turkish tour guide had taught us. He said it sounds like 'Allah lost my duck' and is used on departure, and means roughly, 'I am leaving, but god will look after you'. So, feeling ridiculous, I raised my hand, waved and let rip 'Allah lost my duck'. I was rewarded with smiles and waving in return. The whole episode was a warm fuzzy one.

Welcome to my Blog!

Hello and welcome to my blog. The purpose of it is to share random happenings, opinions and experiences from my life. I've done a fair bit of travelling in the last year and so that will be the subject of lots of my entries, particulary in the beginning. I'm also learning HTML and so will customise this site and hopefully make it more interesting. Feedback or comments are always welcome.