The above map has our route overlaid on it with a thin colored line. as it was logged via GPS. The color changes denote different days. Click on the map for all the excruciating details.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
The Map
The above map has our route overlaid on it with a thin colored line. as it was logged via GPS. The color changes denote different days. Click on the map for all the excruciating details.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Blizzard 1, Andy 0
Greetings from san francisco int'l. Apparently the northern hemisphere has this thing called "winter" going on. Flight was cancelled, in line to rebook.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
DATELINE: Sydney, Australia
(Click map for more useful detail)
Author: Andy
We have AUD $2.37 voice credit left on our prepaid phone.
For the next 2 hours only, we can be reached at +61 04 4749 0800
Who wants to talk to us for a minute and a half?
First come, first serve. At 3:30pm local time, this number will pass into eternity. Until Telstra reissues it in 6 months.
DATELINE: Sydney, Australia
(Click map for more useful detail)
Author: Nick
What I Learned:
1. Outback Steak House is better than the real thing.
2. Nescafe sucks. Real Australian coffee is just cappuccino.
3. Australians are sorry.
4. VB = GB (Victoria Bitter = good beer)
5. If there's grass on the wicket let's play some cricket!
6. The best thing about Cricket is the free WiFi!
7. Check over your rental car before you leave the lot.
8. Canberra = Trenton
9. Australians are very sorry.
10. Tell your credit card companies you are going on vacation BEFORE using your card on "Kangaroo Island"
11. "Waltzing Matilda" is NOT the Australian National Anthem. It is a song about a man who steals a sheep (whiskey in the Tom Waits version)
12. "Advance Australia Fair" IS the Australian National Anthem
13. When crashing a New Years party, bring pretty girls to guarantee admitance.
14. Best national park attraction name: "blow hole thunder cave"
15. The Great Wall of China was built to keep the rabbits out (or maybe it was the 4 "Great Australian Rabbit Fence" which, by the way, di not work.)
16. Dead Koalas are still cute. Just not cuddly.
17. Australians are very, very sorry.
18. There is only one free on-street parking spot in Melbourne, and it comes with free wi-fi
19. "Twisties" are Cheetos. Don't believe the hype.
20. one hectare = four bushels
21. The British started the Australian colony as a place to send convicts right after their old prison/colony stopped accepting inmates on July 4, 1776.
22. There's a reason Australia doesn't export kangaroo meat. It's the same reason the US doesn't export squirrel meat.
23. You see more dead animals than live ones during the day. The opposite holds true at night.
24. When climbing Uluru: "If you get hurt, or die, your mother, father and family will really cry and we will be really sad too." (Barbara Tjikatu, Traditional Owner)
25. Best National Holiday: Sorry Day!
DATELINE: Sydney, Australia
(Click map for more useful detail)
Author: Andy
Apparently we have all of this data usage left on our SIM card, so I put it in the N95 and uploaded a few days worth of shozu pictures (since cricket).
Our room in Sydney's got a nice view, and for some reason we find ourselves watching beach cricket on TV.
What's beach cricket? Well, what's beach volleyball?
Friday, January 11, 2008
DATELINE: Alice Springs, Australia
(Click map for more useful detail)
Author: Andy
There's a guy ahead of us at the airport check-in counter who is trying to check a unicycle. They made him put it in this big clear bag. I guess you wouldn't let someone carry it on, because you don't want someone on a unicycle taking over the plane.
DATELINE: Alice Springs, Australia
(Click map for more useful detail)
Author: Nick
Waiting for Andy to get out of the shower, then it's off to the airport. Dinner was OK. See Andy's transcribed review of the exotic meats. The steak sucked. How the hell do you screw up steak?
We went to Bodangles after dinner and stayed till 2AM (the other club was kinda lame... We met mostly locals, who were very friendly, with butterface or reminded me of dinner. Merryment was had by all. Apparently there's a webcam feed of the place if you want to see just how hopping the Northern Territory bar scene is - www.boossaloon.com.au
DATELINE: Alice Springs, Australia
(Click map for more useful detail)
Author: Andy
Nick's aussie meat reviews!
(we're at the famous Outlanders Steakhouse)
Crocodile: slightly fishy, but little flavor at all
kangaroo: chewy and tastes like flank steak
Emu: does not taste like chicken. Melts in your mouth. Tastes more like beef than any other bird. Unique aftertaste.
Camel: really weird. Very very tender. Sweet, smokey, has the texture of chicken.
DATELINE: Alice Springs, Australia
(Click map for more useful detail)
Author: Andy
The native tribe of the area around Uluru (Ayer's Rock) considers it sacred ground. Every male member of the tribe climbs it exactly once, at his passage to manhood. Needless to say, they are not thrilled when a bus full of tourists show up and climb it all morning.
A sign in front of the path to climb the rock says:
"Listen! If you get hurt, or die, your mother, father and family will really cry and we will be really sad too. So think about that and stay on the ground."
- Barbara Tjikatu, Traditional Owner
DATELINE: Alice Springs, Australia
(Click map for more useful detail)
Author: Andy
Transcribed from a road sign at the Northern Territory border:
REGULATIONS OF JOHN McDOUGALL STUART'S GREAT NORTHERN EXPLORING EXPEDITION IN 1862
Everyone must be up at the break of day
The bed clothes etc to be done up and put in their proper places
Breakfast to be ready at the same time, for which half an hour will be allowed
No one is to leave the line of march without my knowledge or that of the officer in charge
No one is to fire on the natives without orders unless it is in self-defence (sic)
When on the march no water is to be used from the canteens without permission from the leader
No swearing or improper language shall be allowed
No journal to kept or notes taken
Saddles are not to be sat upon
DATELINE: Alice Springs, Australia
(Click map for more useful detail)
Author: Nick
Cheap WiFi in the desert! ($5 for 2 hours) Yay!
There are a TON of Japanese tourists here (and Coober Pedy, Yulara, and at most places we stopped in between...) Most of them have extremely large digital SLR's slung around their neck. Some standards stay true.
We saw a nifty Truck and Transport useum when we got into town. It had 79 trailers, 1588 wheels, was 1018.2 meters long and weighed 1072.3 tonnes. It was pulled by a Kenworth C501T Cab (600HP Cummins Signature Engine), owned by Gould Transport and driven by Steve "Stag" Matthews. Fuck.
Tonight the plan is to get a feast (called the Drover's Blowout) of steak, kangaroo, crocodile, camel, and emu at Overlander's Steakhouse, then drinks at Bojengal's (looks like the Cowboy Bar in Jackson, WY but without all the antlers...) and finally clubbing at Melanka ("the most popular nightclub in Alice" - I think it might be the ONLY nightclub in Alice...)
We were promised a Singing Dingo by the ads for Stuart's Well in the tourist brochure... No dingo. All I got was a really crappy burger. Apparently "the Dingo doesn't sing on Friday's." They did have emus in the front yard. Bastards.
I'm uploading the last of the pictures now. Our flight back to Sydney is at 12:45PM tomorrow. We have a 24 hour layover, and will be spending the evening in Sydney's lovely Kings Cross neighborhood. So this will probably be the last entry for me until I get home.
The trip has been fantstic, fun filled, and without incident. The pictures tell half the story, and I'll be happy to tell you the other half over a beer sometime. Just give me call or drop me n e-mail...
DATELINE: Yulara, Australia
(Click map for more useful detail)
Author: Nick
Big. Friggin. Rock. Espensive. Friggin. Resort. (I was warned, on both accounts...) So no real surprises here. That's a good way to sum up the trip - no surprises (and no worries mate!) Everything has been awesome and fun, but also well thought out and somewhat predictable. We'll see what Alice brings... As far as the rock goes, we watched the sun go down behind it last night, and got up at 5AM to watch the sun come up in front of it this morning. It was well worth getting up at dawn. I especially liked how the Aboriginals implore you not to climb Uluru (with signage to match) and the arrogant white man put a CHAIN RAILING up the sacred Aboriginl path to help you do the climb. Bastards! Andy and I chose not to climb Uluru.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
DATELINE: Alice springs, Australia
(Click map for more useful detail)
Author: Andy
Greetings from the "Red Centre" of Australia. On the way up from Yulara we stopped at Stuart's Well Roadhouse, which is famous for its singing Dingo. unfortunately, the Dingo was MIA today, so nick ate a cheeseburger and we drove the rest of the way up here.
On the way into town we stopped at the Road Transport Hall Of Fame. It's primarily devoted to the Australian Trucking industry, and has dozens of old trucks on display. They have all these biographies of "famous" aussie truckers on the wall, which were oddly fascinating to read. The place was very much by truckers for truckers. Although that meant i didn't understand half of what i read, it was still an enjoyable experience. Road trains are cool.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)