Australia: Days 10-14, Hunter Valley & Home

Well, Ruers, the fact that I’m tapping this out from the Abu Dhabi airport can only stingy one thing; our bounteous holiday undertaking is coming to an end. For now, though, let’s experience the terminal leg together so I can imagine a lowercase individual of existence called ‘Mate’ and ‘Darl’ and sight ’roos hop most in the wineries...

Even as we headed over the Harbour Bridge and more north into New South Wales, the clouds followed us along. They just fuck us. And Mr. M looooved navigating the opposite steering wheel and side-of-road rules through the rain.

He did great, though, and we just kept repeating out loud: “Left. Left. Left.”

We arrived at our 4th hotel, Hermitage Lodge, on Sunday salutation and promptly ordered most to encounter meal in the Hunter Valley. This wine-producing region isn’t the largest or most well known right of Oz, but it is the oldest, due nearly all to its proximity to Sydney. The obloquy you would discern include Rosemont, Lindeman’s and Mount Pleasant , among others. There are also whatever very recreation obloquy we scholarly in our research, such as Cricket Pitch, planted on the site of a past cricket pitch, Brokenwood Graveyard, planted on a site witting to be a graveyard, and Cockfighter’s Ghost, which was planted on a site used for …I don’t know why it’s titled that actually.

After checking in we headed out and lunched at Café Enzo then started the wine-tasting recreation at nearby Peppers Creek Winery.

We walked away with a fun David Hook Mosto, or really light dessert or aperitif white.

From there we were directed to Tyrell’s winery, where a dirt floor and salty pourers made country we were no longer in the almost reverent intoxicant regions of France. That thought would meet with us through our entire meet to the region, with the prizewinning colouration statement reaching from the local producers (“A cork? That's just for the wank factor.” “You undergo that cardy Charddy? We don’t make that shit around here.”)

We left with a Vat 8 Hunter Shiraz from Tyrrell's, but drank it before checking out of the lodge.

We obstructed by a relishing bar, The Small Winemakers Centre, to intend a feel of the wines of the region. As the clouds and rain came in – again – and everything began to shut downbound promptly at 5pm, Mr. M and I bunkered downbound in our lodge with a some loaner movies from the getting and pizzas from the topical Italian restaurant.

Monday morning we were back on the wine trail, this time hitting it like the good Americans we are – HARD!

The prototypal kibosh was Mount Pleasant winery for a tour, and while we’ve been on many tours in a handful of countries, it was good to see the Aussie way of winemaking and how lowercase parts of the impact are assorted because of the climate, etc.

The ripe grapes at Mount Pleasant. Harvesting time is just a few weeks away for the producers here. Like us, they were all hoping the rain would stop.

Wetting our lips whetted our appetites, so the next kibosh was into the “city” for lunch and local shop hopping. Then it was backwards on the left-sided trail, this time stopping at Audrey Wilkinson, Poole’s Rock and Brokenwood for kindred tastings and bottle buying.

That’s about as much as ye old tongue can discernment in a day, so we concentrated our goods and headlike back to the lodge for some relaxing before dinner.

Our little lodge was on the grounds of a winery.

On the way to our dinner reservations at Robert’s at Tower Estate Winery we prototypal definite to go on the kangaroo hunt. See, after nearly two weeks in state we had managed to see wildlife exclusive on Hamilton Island, and while cuddling a koala was awesome, we had not had our fill of sweet kangaroo time.

We drove around a taste to finally spot these two in a earth next to a winery. They froze when they heard us vantage up, stood perfectly still and amalgamated into the earth patch we got out and took pictures, then promptly hopped off into the sunset. There was no cuddle time.

Dinner was as lovely as investigate had indicated, but we were both feeling the personalty of digit weeks on the road and intake (and drinking) discover 2-3 times a day. We took it easy throughout the meal then headed backwards under a beautifully clear night sky filled with stars. Sure enough, on our very terminal night in state the clouds had parted.

We woke up the incoming farewell to bright blue skies and the summer solarise we’d been waiting for every along. It was instance to pack up the car, however, check discover of the lodge and make our artefact backwards for our night flight discover of Sydney.

We took plus of the good weather and chose the slow scenic line backwards to the bounteous city. After selection over soured the superhighway toThe Central Coast , we stopped in the beach municipality of The Entrance for a picnic lunch. It was great to achievement along the coast modify though the municipality itself was a lowercase strange, like Oz’s version of the Jersey Shore (props to Marc for calling it). Then it was backwards into the car and on the superhighway to check in for the 25+hour movement night/day aweigh of us.

We haven’t had the outrageous fortune of being bumped up on our artefact back, though we’re today finished with the 15-hour handicap and will board shortly here for the incoming 7-hour leg. With each kibosh we’ve additional a few layers backwards on, first changing in Sydney from beach clothes and today in Abu Dhabi adding a sweater or digit as we head backwards to the frozen tundra of the Alps. It’s hornlike to conceive the digit weeks passed so quickly. For us, it’s a trip we’ve been planning soured and on for the terminal sextet years and to see it become to fruition then closure is bittersweet. It wasn’t the solarise and happen I was hoping for, but the people lived up to their estimation for unstable friendliness and we both fell in love with the country.

We saw the Great Barrier Reef, rang in 2010 with an awful dinner in Sydney, tasted wines and cuddled koalas. A successful holiday, I’d say, eh Mate?

Bird's Eye view of the snowy, snowy Alps as we round the corner back into Swissy-land

Australia: Days 7-9, Sydney Part II

Happy 2010 from Sydney!

(Photo credit | AFP, Sydney Morning Herald)

Howdy from Sydney-side of things again. As we’re wrapping up our third and test day in the nurse city I’m typewriting this from the rental car. It’s quite the accomplishment considering this is Mr. M’s prototypal time driving on the other, or wrong, side of the road and my prototypal time playing navigator from the left seat.

As we cross over the imposing Harbour Bridge and attain our artefact to the intoxicant location of Hunter Valley, it’s a beatific time to reflect on the terminal few days…

We returned from the Great Barrier Reef island of Hamilton on New Year’s Eve, landing in Sydney with meet sufficiency time to rush to the incoming hotel, change clothes and head discover to our dinner reservations at Rockpool Bar & Grill

.

Starting with pre-dinner cocktails in the bar – mixed handily by suspender-wearing bartenders – I chose an almond sidecar while Marc enjoyed his Manhattan. 

They would not be our last cocktails of the night.

There are 6,500 Riedel glasses lining the oft-photographed bar. Woowee.

Next, it was to our table for the prix fixe meal, accompanied with amend service and impeccable matches from Sydney’s crowning sommelier Sophie Otton, who advisable a 2005 Greenock Creek Shiraz to whet Mr. M’s demands for a jammy inhabitant shiraz (she titled it “muscular”). The dinner was start-to-finish amazing and eventually saved a lot of the so-so dining we’d had to fellow in Aussie-land.

After dinner and dessert we headed back to the bar and spent the next few hours testing the bartenders’ skillz with some newly found NYE friends. (Isn’t everyone your friend on New Year’s Eve?)

About 30 minutes before the clock struck twelve, Mr. M and I braved the packed streets of Sydney to essay and grownup a looking of the colored explosions. Of course, we knew it would be like Tasmanian salmon swimming upstream… parks with the best views had been flooded for more than 5 hours, and we had waited until the witching hour to wade in deep with the masses. Sydney boasts the largest public assembling – about 1.5 million people – for the fireworks and we touched at least 1 million of those people. Though you can envisage the noise of that many delighted revelers screaming in delight as the clock struck midnight and the harbour lit up like, well, like it was New Year’s Eve.

We impact 2010 seventeen hours earlier than CST, so Mr. M and I were working on our uncomfortableness cures just as whatever of you were first the long path to yours. To find that all-important cure, we headlike on New Years Day into the flushed light-ish district of Sydney, King’s Cross. Sure enough, we stumbled upon a Mexican restaurant, Tomatillo, and pronto chowed downbound on Chipotle-like burritos and kept our Mexican-food-in-foreign-countries-streak alive.

Now that’s a hangover feast. 

The inclementness skies stayed with us through the day, though we also managed to get in a walk downbound to Finger Wharf before the rain dispatched us inside to a pub.

On the 2nd Jan., our last full period in Sydney, we navigated the public transport system to first find a popular open market, Paddington Markets, then jumped another bus to head downbound to famous Bondi Beach.

Bondi Beach -- a view of the storm clouds rolling in

What do you think followed us to Bondi Beach, though? That’s right kiddos – the rain! And a massive storm this time, sending everyone spreading off the beach less than half an hour after we arrived. While my tears mixed with the raindrops blow me in the face, Marc and I definite to advise on. We had become this way for a well-known hiking trail, and thunderstorm or no, we were going to hike. It wasn’t super fun, but we had bound a promise to our NYE friends (assuming that in Aussie lingo a bound promise is coequal to a well-executed high-five) to do the Bondi-to-Coogee Walking Trail.

Marc took this pic of a little crab during our hike

 

One could envisage that given good weather the views would be spectacular. As it was, the views were still pretty great and our feet lose that wet- sock crinkle eventually, right? As my mother utilised to say – and I’ve proven many nowadays over – I’m not made of sugar and I did not melt.

For our final party in the city we headlike back out to Sydney’s Chinatown, munching on noodles and cashew chicken amid the crowded chaos.

As we lifted the blackout curtains in the Hilton hotel room (check them discover – the world could be on blast and you would never know. Dangerous. Lovely the farewell after New Years, but dangerous) on Sun farewell it was instance to repack our bags for the fourth – and final – handicap of our trip Down Under. Which brings us back to the property car, Marc driving on the wro – er – other side of the agency and saying goodbye to Sydney under the remarkable Harbour Bridge.

Bye Bye Sydney. Next stop… Hunter Valley wine region.

Australia: Days 4-6, Hamilton Island

Into the tropics: Three days on Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef

Greetings, Ruers! We’re back on the bounteous shuttle in the sky after outlay the last 3 days on noblewoman Island in the Great Barrier Reef. Even though we walked soured the plane on Monday into glorious, glorious, sunshine, the line of thunderstorms that plagued us in Sydney followed us north. Here's a recap...

View from our Hamilton Hotel room -- straight to the water, but notice the soggy ground.

The hardest conception most the wet weather on the islands is that, for the most part, it comes and goes in such an erratic fashion. You’ll finally intend your suit on and be way discover to the beach, exclusive to intend drenched before a grain of sand touches your foot. Then you invoke around and intend into noncombatant clothes exclusive to have the sun peek discover again. By the instance you intend your suit backwards on, well, you intend the picture.

Our first night on the island we unreal for on-the-beach dining, exclusive to have the rain beam us inside before the main course.

Mr. M dines al fresco until the weather sends us inside.

Tuesday we decided to get off our lowercase island and took a alacritous boat to the Great Barrier Reef. noblewoman Island is one of the 70+ lowercase islands making up the Whitsunday Islands group, though only 9 or so are inhabited. After boarding we headlike prototypal to Coral Cove for snorkeling along the reef. It was pretty awful to see the coral and the lowercase creatures tearful about. The coral pulsates in the water like it’s breathing and you get so lost staring at it you don’t realize that in the meantime all sorts of tiny fish have surrounded you. It’s pretty freaky. But very fun.

Kirstin surveys the water ... On the second day we took a boat out for some snorkeling and beaching.

We snorkeled along the Cove for about an distance and took pictures on a lowercase underwater camera, though it has old edifice flick in it so it’ll be awhile before we undergo if anything turned out. After flipping about we then took the boat over to Whitehaven Beach, listed as one of the world’s most beautiful beaches and on the top 10 places to wager before you die. So, I guess we’re good to go.

The solarise ease wouldn’t come out, and while this belike kept us from getting burned to lowercase crisps it bummed me discover to not wager the rays I’d been hoping for. As we headlike backwards to noblewoman we got caught in a massive downpour. solon rain. Ugh!

Wednesday we woke up to more rain and cloudy skies so we headlike to the topical zoo-like area in time for “Cuddle a Koala,” where the zookeeper brings discover one of the lowercase artful creatures and lets you hold it. That was fantastic – koalas, it turns out, are as absolutely adorable in real life as they materialize on television. I loved holding my lowercase gal, Phoebe, and didn’t want to provide her backwards – they cling to you meet like a baby and secure discover with you with their asleep lowercase eyes. It was very sweet. Afterward we got to pet a warragal and take acassowray, a crazy ratite hunting bird, before the journeying was over.

Koala cuddle! Marc snuggles with his little one. Isn't she cute?!?

Kirstin feeds a cassowray. These birds run along, pooping out seeds and are responsible for repopulating the nation's forest with plants and trees.

Thursday was check discover morning, but Mr. M and I had instance to verify discover a canoe for a bit before re-packing the suitcases and backward to the airport. It was ease cloudy, though, so no real tan lines modify after 3 days on an island. I know it sounds like I’m whining most the defy a lot, but I am disappointed. As someone who loves – nay, worships – that metallic orb in the sky, I was rattling hoping to get a mid-winter Vitamin D fix. It certainly was ground we flew half way ’round the world. But I don’t mean to sound like we’re not having a enthusiastic instance – defy not withstanding, we’ve been able to behave and wager whatever pretty enthusiastic things – the reef, koalas, ’roos, etc. The uncolored beauty of state is overwhelming and our instance in Hamilton was like existence marooned on the set of Lost. The laid-back uber-friendliness that the region is known for is also in flooded effect, and grouping hit been so nice and casual.

Now we’re on our way backwards to the mainland, and if all goes smoothly we’ll be construction in instance to grownup New Year’s Eve celebration Sydney-style. We hit dinner reservations tonight at Rockpool Bar & Grill and then will nous discover with the masses to wager whatever fireworks.

Well, we’re construction now and the tray table has got to go up, so Happy New Years to you all and we’ll wager you in 2010.

Australia: Days 1-3, Sydney

View of Sydney at night from the Opera House.
(Ed note: While the pics are not in visit these posts are coming to you in chronological order)

Greetings, Ruers, from sometime in the near future. We’ve meet completed Part 1 of our trip downbound under and I intellection I’d analyse in and get you up to fellow on our trip thusly farther patch on a husbandly flight from Sydney to Hamilton Island.

Takeoff

To tell the truth, our lowercase holiday vay-cay was soured to a wrinkled start. Before leaving Genf back on Dec. 23, a weather analyse revealed a line of thunderstorms pummeling the exact region of Australia we were headlike for, raffish our broad hopes of sunshine. We headlike soured to the airport anyway, and patch making that dash (ooh, uncreased transition) I ran nous first into a Plexiglas surround patch disagreeable to hurry to attain a train. solon on that later, believe me.

At the airport, as we were checking in for Leg 1 of the 25-hour trip to Oz, the desk meeter asked us where our visas were. Visas? What visas?

After a 25-hour trip we finally land in Sydney and head straight for the major landmarks. Here we are in front of the Harbour Bridge...

Yeah, so we had assumed Australia, existence a part of the commonwealth and all, wouldn’t require any primary travel visa. We had assumed wrong. We freaked out a bit, as we know from another travel that visas can verify a hebdomad or so to arrive. Thankfully, it was a short-lived freakout as the line was used to idiots like us and we were able to submit an electronic visa after only a 15-minute or so pullout from the line. Now, while every this hubbub with visas is occurring in the French language, my mentality is play to swell for another reasons. Yeah, well, that Plexiglas wall incident I mentioned briefly early was the equivalent of Wylie Coyote attractive it on the nous with an anvil. As Marc had not seen me perform this feat of great grace, he only had my dazed version of events that I relayed to him in a shell-shocked state of mentality confusion.

Best I can recall, the circumstance went something like this:

Distracted by a wily child, I was hunting oblique while coming soured an stairs to grownup a train to the airfield and had run flooded force into a wall. I’m convinced that if I had been covering forward I would have broken my nose. As it was, I was not covering forward but sideways, therefore prompting the nous smash. As we made our way finished the airfield visa collapse it became clear I had presented myself one lovely contusion mere minutes into our vacation.

... and here we are at the amazing Sydney Opera House. Kirstin, above is in front of it and Marc, below, sports a headset during our architecture tour. We also caught an daytime performance by the Sydney Philharmonic in the opera house's maximal performance room. An interesting fact: the inner acoustics makes mechanical good amplification unnecessary.

Shortly thereafter we were settled in for a 7-hour flight to Abu Dhabi and were kinda hoping things would start feat smoother in very short order.

After seven hours of flying one is tired but not quite to the distinction of clean exhaustion. However, the best artefact to push that distinction is to be stuck in an airfield after those first 7 hours for a 4-hour layover. We arrived at 6:30am on Christmas Eve a lowercase stiff and sore and didn’t find the demand of dope (the one Burger King had oversubscribed discover of it) and unearthly horror movies playing on the restaurant television helping our effort any.

When it came time to distinction up for the next jumping – a mere FOURTEEN additional hours into Sydney – we trudged through the distinction only to hear the threesome best words in the arts language, and no, they are not I love you. They are

“You’ve been upgraded.”

We couldn’t believe our good fortune and questioned apiece other “Did you do this?” “No. Did you?” “No.”

We asked the flight meeter why we were getting bumped into business and all she said: “It’s a Christmas miracle.”

This is when a lowercase knowledge is a bad thing: Life is better in Business Class. See the pillows? After the meal, served on real plates, our way fold discover into beds.

A miracle indeed. Instead of spending the incoming 14 hours in cramped economy, Mr. M and I relaxed in little pods that bifold discover into beds and the Champagne digit could ingest if digit were so inclined. And digit was.

Ahh, so the trip directly started to improve and the grappling symptom even subsided a bit as we headed for Sydney.

We all undergo what we do when it rains... head inside for a beer! Marc at the Orient Hotel enjoying a cold pint of something inhabitant (but not Fosters).

Sydney, Days 1-3

Unfortunately, we didn’t get upgraded on the weather, and a steady fall and fateful jet-laggedness has put a bit of a damper on the prototypal few days in Oz. We have managed to wager the major Sydney landmarks, though, and spent a good time at the Opera House by taking an architecture tour then catching a exhibit in the famous house on Sunday night. We also ate sushi at the Sydney Fish Market, walked through the botanical gardens, saw massive amounts of people queued up for Boxing Day sales and caught a showing of Avatar at the world’s maximal IMAX theater.

Kirstin at the Sydney Fish Market. We lunched on fresh sushi and Savignon Blanc.

Sydney is 10 hours ahead of Geneva, and 17 hours ahead of Central Standard Time, and the jet lag has definitely been a factor. We have both been instead narcoleptic and wide awake, though I’m definitely the large wuss and at times plead Marc to head back to the hotel so I crapper rest. It feels like it’s play to uncreased out, though, as we both got more than 4 hours of sleep last night at the appropriate time.

Today, Monday, we’re on a husbandly flight straight north, on our artefact to Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef. Massive thunderstorms there delayed our flight discover and threaten to ready us exclusive for a whatever more days, but we’re hoping the clouds will conception daylong enough for whatever beach and reef time.

I hope to update you again here in a whatever days, in conception to ready everyone in the loop but also because it’s a good movement diary for us. Just as the green bruises outlining my eye become fainter with each passing day, so too do my memories if I don’t jot something down. While those digit are probably connected, thanks for reading along anyway.

IF WE STAY THERE WILL BE TROUBLE

Howdy, Ruers. As we near the start of our long-awaited pass that will take us out of Genf until 2010, it's instance to near the year with some news. But first, the week-in-review!

Winter defy has settled in Genf and it snowed nearly every day this week. Not all of it sticks, but we got a good dusting and man, is it cold. Brrrrrr....

While not nearly as engrossing as ornamentation out on a expeditionary base like terminal weekend, this week came and went with a proper amount of seasonal frivolity. One of Marc's work trips was cancelled at the terminal minute this week, so he got to listen two removed holiday gatherings with me, making me a happy lowercase elf.

While my big edifice projects were done most a week ago, I've been tying up loose administrative ends as I look to begin actual thesis work this Spring Semester. Research, even as baritone level as mine is, requires most a million forms and support from another million people. The highlight of my week was effort IRB approval, which are initials that meant nothing to me a some months ago but upon which the ordain of my scholarly forthcoming has hinged lately. Thankfully, all went substantially and my send was approved by the big governing board of the university, and now I'm meet inactivity on a some committee members to sign off on it. Other than filling out days worth of forms, we've had some fun during the nights. weekday was a last-chance-gathering for a diminutive party assemble that we get together with occasionally and then weekday was a friend's holiday party, which meant there were binary pans of brownies and cupcakes being baked and decorated here at the apartment.

 

Holiday frivolity!

Now, as we better from the cookie-induced sugar shock, it's instance for the news.

Since some of you hit been asking -- and the rest of you hit already read down this farther so you might as well keep datum -- we here at the Rue hit been working on whatever bounteous decisions. Our three-year stint into the mountains of Switzerland will officially be over this June 1, and while ease about 5 months absent from today, we were asked to decide before the close of this calendar year whether we want to return to the US at that instance or extend our meet here. It's been the topic at the apartment over some late-night chronicle talks, spirits pours and, as December arrived, coin tosses. But instance marches on, commonly in the modify of tiny measure soldiers marching across your face, digging trenches nearby your eyes while you sleep that countenance same crows feet in the morning. Wait, what was I saying?

Right, the expeditionary might of Father Time has won added round, and we can retard Decision-Day no longer. As suggested by the title of this post, making chronicle decisions based off song lyrics is as good as any other method we could come up with, so we knew that if we stayed, there will be trouble. However, we know that if we go, it will be double. And not ones for making anything more than single-barrel trouble, I am here to verify you, truehearted readers, that Mr. M and I hit verbally agreed to meet in Switzerland for an additional digit years after our initial contract date.

So, what does extending until season of 2012 mean for you, dear Ruers?

1) Probably nothing, unless you follow the Mayan calendar of prophetic doom.

2) Many more Rue posts to read patch ending time at work and home.

3) A second chance for you to get your passport in order and come visit us -- or -- if you've already been pleasant sufficiency to stroke by, it's a chance to come again. Hooray, vacation!

No dotted lines hit been signed, and anything could change from our end or the firm's end at any time. But patch we miss our family and friends and are often discouraged by the difficulties of distance, we are opinion more and more settled into life over here and think it's a good idea on whatever levels to stay.

So, there you hit it. Relieved from the weighty burden of decision making, Mr. M and I are leaving the country we just united to meet in for a little pass travel. Unlike last year's trek into the frozen tundra of Prague, this year we're flying as close to the solarise as our Icarus wings allow. We're taking soured this week for whatever recreation in the inhabitant sun, and despite dreading the 25+-hour flight are really hunting forward to escaping the wintry intermixture reaching down here. The itinerary involves The Great Barrier Reef, New Year's Eve in Sydney and a some days in the vineyards of Hunter Valley. 

We're not leaving Oz until we feel as relaxed as this kangaroo looks. Sweet.

Photo credit

Over the next some weeks I'll try to post a some down-under updates, but in housing this is the last Rue post until the New Year, thanks for datum along on added year's adventures. Happy, happy holidays!