Seeing stars

In a bid to make sure that we never have to come back, Dania and I spent the last three days seeing everything still on our Sydney list. Highlights were a cruise around the Harbor and the Sydney Observatory. The latter involved learning about the distinctive southern sky (the constellations are different). We were able to see Saturn through a powerful telescope, which was pretty neat.

The sailboat photo is from the cruise. It was hard to take because we were moving, and the sailboat was moving. I rather like it. The sailboat balances the North Head land mass and the proportion of water to sky seems about right. I can sign a very limited number of copies when I get home.

Bridge Climb

We walked across Harbour Bridge earlier this week to celebrate its 75^th B-day. We also had the opportunity to walk on and over it a few days later! We had an amazing time during this really unique adventure. They should introduce something similar in the US. A big thanks to Rob & Jake for hooking up a wedding present that is one heck of a memory!

The Sneaker Museum

I wish I was kidding, but the pics don't lie. I forgot to post these from our visit to Melbourne. We 've crossed some kind of boundary by displaying sneakers as an art form. Look at the displays. The shoes even have numbers for little write ups. So cute!

Happy Birthday Bridge. Happy Birthday to you.

We have participated in SO many neat celebrations while in Australia. The 75^th anniversary of Sydney’s Harbour Bridge has to be one of the most unique and cool celebrations in which I have ever participated.

The entire bridge was closed for traffic. Several hundred thousand people had to sign up more than a month in advance to walk across at an appointed time. We nabbed a spot to walk across at sunset – during the aboriginal bridge smoking ceremony. We were not disappointed. Beautiful aboriginal music was played, enveloping smoke & incense were lit, funky orange hats with powerful lights were passed out, and the bridge was lit colorfully. It was a sea of humanity and everyone was in a good mood.

Survey says: 95% of Aussies have catching up to do

"Oh, my, that's ambitious. I have to say that you will have done far more of Australia than 95% of the Australian population, including me!"


This is Shane Dikoli's (Fuqua Professor extraordinaire from Australia) response upon hearing about our two week itinerary after school. It's all probably Greek (errr Australian) to you, but you'll get the picture.... Fraser Island camping trip, Whitsunday's Islands sailing trip, learning to scuba on Great Barrier reef, Byron Bay (beautiful hippie beach hangout), Gold Coast (like Miami or Punta), and Brisbane (3rd largest city).


Planning it was like having two extra classes. The itinerary includes two night buses. Ugh!! I was dragged off one at 3am (after having taken 3 tylenol PMs - which still didn't work) while crossing the Russian/Estonian border a few years ago. I swore not to take a night bus again, but my new friend Ambien has assured me that everything will be a-OK.

Aussie Rules Football

This game is awesome. Dania and I went to the semi final of the pre-season tournament while in Melbourne. The game is very physical, fluid, and played on a massive field. A great sport to watch.

What a pinecone!

Have you ever seen the likes?

Dania & Cute Koala – Errr… Cute Dania & Koala

Let’s just call both of them cute. Here are the two cuties right next to each other. Taken in the wild on the Great Ocean Road drive near Melbourne.

Great Ocean Road

This is the equivalent of US 1 running up the coast of California. Overall, I like US1 better, but Great Ocean Road is pretty sweet. Some scenes above.

Take me to Funky Town – Melbourne, Australia

Sydney is definitely where one should do an exchange program, but Melbourne would be my choice for a place to live. It is the arts and sports capital of the country, which is kind of a weird combination. Sydney, for some perspective, is all about the beach (which bores me after a month) and seems more superficial.

Melbourne has a really interesting combination of older (1800’s) buildings and modern hyper-designed architecture. Sometimes the old world and the new are combined for an interesting effect. One photo is of central Federation Square. It is located next to a big, beautiful, and old church. Quite a contrast, and only one of many examples.

The whole four days we were there, the city felt very alive. Festivals, water skiing competitions on the river, techno parties in the middle of the botanical gardens, numerous east village (i.e., funky) like neighborhoods, sports tournaments, etc.

Doing my Duty for Duke

How 'bout that for alliteration? This english major turned hard core quant jock still got it when it comes to poetry. Look out for blog titles written in haiku and iambic pentameter... In case you just can't get enough of my blogging, check out this article for the Duke MBA alumni bulletin.

I'm also planning a happy hour for Duke/Fuqua alumni this Thursday at the Opera Bar. It's right next to the Sydney Opera House and overlooks Harbour Bridge. The alumni are SO excited!

Put on your Assless Chaps – It’s Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras!

Mardi Gras is a big deal ‘round these parts. Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world converge on this mostly gay event. They have a parade with floats. I wasn’t going to go because I had seen the New York Gay Pride Parade before. People said this one is much better, so I went with my roommate and her friend. My opinion = the two parades are about the same.

There are three gay guys on exchange, so a few of us other exchange students went with them to the after-hours party. Some people party Sat night, Sunday day, and then Sunday night. One party that went until 10am with me leaving at 5am was more than enough. The music was okay, the lighting was pretty amazing, and there were definitely some interesting/colorful/ludicrous characters running around. Oy, what these eyes have seen…

Donuts & Rugby Nation

Louis (a fellow Dukie visiting from exchange in Melbourne) and I came back slightly tipsy from a night out on the town in King’s Cross – a slightly seedy, but definitely jumping downtown neighborhood. We stopped at a gas station and ended up meeting the donut delivery man around 1am. We had a whole chat. He took a liking to us, opened his heart and the door of his delivery van, and stuffed us silly with free donuts.

We also went to a professional rugby game. It was quite fun and the best seats in the house only cost $45. It’s amazing what salaries in the hundreds of thousands instead of millions will do for ticket prices. There was no national anthem singing, but they have fireworks before each game. Sydney’s Waratahs tied Perth’s Western Force 16-16.

Hitching a ride & A view from North Head

We were due for a ghost tour of the old quarantine station at 7:45pm. We got on a bus at Manly Beach at 6:45, convinced the driver to take us beyond where he was supposed, during which he almost crushed a biker (who banged on the bus’s side while riding and then screamed at the driver when he let us off), and then discovered at 7pm that the legendary North Head viewing platform was a 1.5km walk – in a light rain.

There was no way we were going to walk there and back to this viewing point in time for the ghost tour. Did I say “We’ll just come back another time?” Did I rationalize “We have seen plenty of nice viewing spots and what’s one more?” Of course not, I stuck out a thumb. It’s a National park. What was the worst that was going to happen?

We ended up hitching a ride with a professional photographer. We snapped these beauts and then started walking back while the photographer remained. He ended up leaving while we were hoofing it back, and I jokingly stuck out a thumb again. He picked us up, and I asked if he normally picked up hitchhikers since he had picked us up twice. He responded with a resounding “No,” and we all had a good laugh.

Boo! The Ghost Tour

It was a good thing we were right on time for the ghost tour, as you need to take a shuttle bus down to the actual start of the tour. The Quarantine station is where 13,000 immigrants passed through from 1850 to 1984. If there was any outbreak of disease on an immigrant ship, people had to be quarantined until there was no sign of disease. 550 people died here, so it is most definitely a haunted place.

We had a really good tour guide (it’s pretty much a theater-like job), and it was a neat way to see a historical place. There were certainly some spooky moments. It turns out that our tour guide lived near us. Since we had already hitched one ride, I asked how he felt about giving us a lift home. He was more than happy to oblige with a ride in his PT cruiser convertible. It sure beat taking a bus, then a ferry, then another bus! Here is a pic of Dania with a lantern on the tour and us with Brian the tour guide.

Surfs up – Dude

I wasn’t planning on going surfing, but we didn’t get up until 10am – on a Wednesday. I know. I know. Tough life. By the time we took a bus and a ferry to beautiful Manly Beach, the sunny day had turned rainy. A friend from business school was visiting and suggested surfing since we’d be wet anyways.

It’s pretty hard – especially considering that Manly Beach is one of the best surf beaches in the world. Just paddling out past the massive waves is pretty tiring. My stomach was all torn up from rubbing on the board. Here’s us just before getting in the water.