Farewell to the Land Down Under

After 6 months of planning back in 2007 and close to 12 months living and working in Australia I am getting ready to board a flight out of Australia back to Boston via a 4 day lay over in Hawaii.

The past 10 months have been amazing. I have met some great people and I have been able to see a part of the world that I never thought I would have.

Australia is a great country with a very proud population. I will miss the land where everyone is your 'mate'.

I could write a long blog about my times here in Australia but I felt that pictures could tell the story much better than I could. I hope you enjoy the montage I put together that encapsulates my time Down Under!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

ANZAC Day and Two Up

Yesterday was a national holiday in Australia. ANZAC Day. ANZAC is an acronym for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. April 25 is the annual date in which these two countries celebrate and remember the soldiers who have fought side by side from WWI to the current conflicts in the Middle East. It is also on ANZAC day that the game Two Up can be legally played in pubs and bars across Australia. Here is a quick break down on how you play Two Up. Two coins are thrown up in the air and how they land determines who wins. If both coins land on heads and you bet heads then you win. If they both land on tails and you bet tails you win. If one is heads and one is tails its considered a 'no spin' and the coins are tossed again. The way you wager is interesting. You hold up the money in one hand and yell out either 'heads' or 'tails' and the dollar amount of the bet you are willing to wage. You then wait for someone who is willing to match your bet and is betting on the opposite outcome of the coin toss. The person who bets 'heads' holds onto the money. Not sure why, its just the rule. Betting is then closed off for the round and the coins are tossed in the air. At the Story Bridge Hotel where I went yesterday there were hundreds of people playing. With each toss of the coins the excitement and noise level rose to thunderous levels. I decided to stick with 'tails' on each of my bets and I ended up walking away with $80 in my pocket!

Another custom on ANZAC Day is to drink the drink of choice of the ANZAC soldiers in WWI. The drink of choice....... rum and milk. Yes that is correct. Rum and milk. This was one custom I decided to pass on!

Two Down - Five To Go

This past weekend I fulfilled a life long dream and I saw one of the seven wonders of the natural world. Now that I am 40 years old I can say that. A life long dream when you are 20 doesn't have the same weight as it does when you have reached the milestone of 40 years. When I was a young kid I remember watching a Jacques Cousteau special on PBS television when he was exploring the Great Barrier Reef off of the coast of Northern Queensland in Australia and I instantly fell in love. The colors, the fish, and the scenery are something that I couldn't imagine actually existed. When you are 10 years old it is hard to believe that an ocean can look anything other than the Northern Atlantic.

A two and a half hour flight from Brisbane proved that the colors, the fish, and the scenery are real! I spent 5 days outside of Cairns (pronounced 'Cans') at Trinity Beach and on one of those days I boarded a Quick Silver Boat out to the Algonquin Ribbon Reefs on the outskirts of the Great Barrier Reef. The ride on the tour bus from our hotel to Port Douglas, where the boat left from, was one of the most beautiful one hour rides I have ever taken. You ride along the coast the entire time with nothing but beautiful blue water and mountains on one side and on the other side rivers and salt water crocodiles! Up in this part of Queensland there are some of the most deadly animals on earth. Some are big like great white sharks and crocodiles and others are just as deadly and only the size of your thumb. Those are the box jellyfish and the blue ring octopus. I made sure I was going to keep a safe distance from anything that could end my Australian adventure short.

After a one 90 minute ride on a high speed catamaran we made it to our destination on the outer reef. I did two SCUBA dives and some snorkeling! The entire day was amazing.

Just as nice was the day trip we took to the Sky Rail in Cairns. This tour has you riding high above a rain forest in a four person gondola to a picturesque town over 2 miles up in the mountain. After having lunch and doing the 'tourist thing' we boarded an old fashioned train for the ride down. I felt as though I had boarded the same train that brought Harry Potter to Hogwarts so many times!

This trip is may be the last time I travel outside of Brisbane while in Australia. If that is the case then I can say that I ended my traveling on a high note!

I had to change the title from One Down to Two Down. I was reminded that I had seen the Northern Lights which is also a Natural Wonder. I did see them in all of their glory when I was up at UMass Amherst. So now I only have 5 wonders to go!

The Great Brisbane Bike Ride

This past Sunday I set my alarm clock for 6:00 AM, showered, and got myself mentally prepared for the Great Brisbane Bike Ride that was ahead of me! 5 of my coworkers and myself signed up to do a 35K (21.75 miles) bike ride in and around Brisbane and the Brisbane river. The start and finish line was in South Bank which was only a 2 minute bike ride from my apartment. We decided to meet at my apartment, ride over together to register, and then after the ride I invited everyone back to my place for brunch. We had great weather and the ride went off without any complications. We took our time, stopped at both rest areas and finished up in just under 2 hours. I had my Polar fitness watch on and it registered that I had burned over 1600 calories on the ride! This was all before 10:30! The riders who accomplished this from CS were: Emily, Nicole, Nicola, Lindsey, and Claudia. Congratulations to everyone!!

It is a 'Business Decision'

This past Thursday Caryl, Loc-Uyen, and myself were informed that the company had made a 'business decision' to end our ex-pat contracts early. Our new contract end date is May 9. We were told that the decision should not be viewed by us as a reflection of the work we have done over the past 10 months.

The time here has been great and I will always cherish the time I spent in Australia and the opportunity to see this part of the world.

Heading back to Boston in May isn't a bad thing either. I haven't experienced a Winter for over 14 months and now I have another 9 months in Boston before I have to worry about ice and snow!

Bring on the Red Sox and I will see you guys upon my return in May!

Easter at Lamington National Park

Last weekend Australian's were treated to a four day Easter break. Good Friday and Easter Monday are both national holidays. This is the final swan song to Summer. In Brisbane the Brisbanites are not getting ready for the harsh Winter ahead. Temperatures will dip to 45 degrees in the middle of the night and the daily high will not get out of the 70's! Hopefully no one will succumb to the cold.

Loc-Uyen, her sister, and myself decided to head out of the city along with everyone else for the four day weekend. Since all of our other mini escapes have brought us to the coast we decided to head inland to a rain forest. We booked our accommodations at O'Reilly's Rain forest Retreat at the top of the Lamington National Park in Queensland. The ride to Brisbane is 2 hours. It takes 1 hour to get to the park then another hour going 30 mph on a treacherous mountain road that winds its way around the park. This road is scary! No guard rails, drops of about 1000 ft and you are literally 12" away from going off this road. Portions of the road are one way.... for two way traffic!!

The 2 years that were taken off of my life on the ride up was well worth it when we finally made it to the top! O'Reilly's was a quaint resort that reminded me of being up at Camp Fatima in New Hampshire, only MUCH more expensive! My room had a single bed, a shower stall, a toilet and that's it. No TV, no phone, nothing to do but relax and enjoy what nature had in store all around you.

Due to the rains of the Summer the trails were still muddy and slippery but we took our time and managed to do a couple of nice hikes. The rain forest was amazing. The waterfalls spectacular.

I also earned my good points of the day on Easter Sunday. Coming back up from our hike to the waterfalls we passed a group of Asian tourists. The trails are so narrow you have to give way for others to pass. I noticed an elderly couple behind the main group. They had to be in their early 70's. They were dressed like the people you see in Boston collecting cans on trash day. The guy had on water sandals (Tiva's) with socks and covered with mud. The woman had on sneakers that looked liked Keds.... zero traction, and covered with mud. There was a younger woman just in front of them and a guy in his 30's or so behind them. We gave way to let them pass and I thought to myself that they must be crazy to be hiking with that footwear and at their age. Within 20 seconds of them passing the tranquil sounds of the rain forest were shattered by screams. I knew instantly that something was wrong with the elderly couple. The three of us, Loc, Loc's sister, and myself, ran back down the trail to where the screams were coming from. When we got there my worst fears were confirmed. The couple had fallen/slipped off the trail and were holding onto roots to prevent them from falling down a slope of mud and brush that was at about a 70 degree angle and a distance of about 300 yards. If they continued their fall they most likely would have survived but due to their age, the angle, and the distance they would have had very serious injuries. The next minute was surreal. The two elderly people were screaming, the younger Asian woman was screaming, and the younger Asian guy was standing in shock. I instantly braced my right leg around a tree on the edge of the trail and grabbed the guys hand. Pulling with all of my strength he wasn't moving. He was also holding onto his wife. I was telling him to help me by using his feet. They knew two words in English 'thank you' and 'okay'. Realizing this guy was going no where, either up or down, I reached down to grab the elderly woman and pulled her up by her shoulders. She couldn't have weighed more than 90 lbs. I got her up on the trail then tried to get the guy up again but he was much heavier. Fearing I would pull his shoulder out of his socket I decided to bend down, put both arms under his shoulders, and dead lift him up onto the trail which was successful. So now everyone is safe! The 4 Asian people are thanking us profusely. I am asking them if they are 'ok'. They reply 'Thank you'. Then to my shock and horror what do they do? They CONTINUE ON THE HIKE DOWN! They were 1/4 of the way down and the trail only got steeper, more narrow, and more slippery. I was like WTF are you guys doing? You almost fell to your death or serious injury and you are continuing? Loc-Uyen and her sister said to me 'Bean, you know how us Asians are. We'll risk anything for that right photo opportunity.' We shook our heads and continued on our way back to O'Reilly's.

Mardi Gras..... Sydney Style

Patrick, Chris and Tony flew down from San Francisco on the Air New Zealand Pink flight which was marketed towards gay people going down to Sydney for the 30th Anniversary of Mardi Gras! After finding the three of them we headed to our apartment in Sydney and over the next several days we explored, dined, and partied like we were in our 20's! The parade was amazing. 2 hours of non stop top notch floats. It was at night which threw a whole different perspective onto it. After the parade was the Mardi Gras party in which 27,000 tickets were sold! Yes...27,000! The party was held in the Fox Studios in 5 different venues. We moved around between the different venues and after about 4 hours we had seen and heard enough and made our way back to Oxford Street. On Sunday we had dinner at Bondi Beach at Icebergs. One of the nicest restaurants in all of Sydney! Another highlight was doing the bridge climb with Patrick on Friday morning.

After Sydney we headed up to Brisbane for one night. We had dinner at a nice steak house with Loc-Uyen, her sister, Ellen, Caryl, and the four of us. After having a few pints after dinner we headed back to my apartment to get a good rest prior to heading to Byron Bay.

On our way to Byron we made the trek to Nimbin. It is basically a town that the Grateful Dead would have been proud of. The small town is a complete throw back to the hippie days of the 70's. Lets just say that when you are offered 'cookies' you should check to see what all of the ingredients are in them prior to eating! You could be setting yourself up for one psychedelic trip!

The remaining days were spent in Byron Bay. We went to Kings Beach, had great dinners, and made our way to the light house. We stayed at a great apartment complex 5 minutes from the main beach and the center of town.

It was VERY sad dropping off the three of them at the Gold Coast airport on Friday morning. I had a great time with them and wish they could have stayed much longer.

Thanks guys for a GREAT time, an amazing dinner at Icebergs and Patrick thank you for the bridge walk. It was something I will never forget.

Bring on Mari Grass! (That is Nimbin's answer to Sydney's Mardi Gras)

A New Year And A New Apartment

This past February I moved into a new apartment on the other side of Brisbane. The lease was up on my previous apartment and I wanted to move into something bigger and on a quieter street! After looking at about a dozen apartments all over the city I ended up getting an apartment in South Brisbane.

My new address is: 62 Cordelia Street Unit 46, South Brisbane, QLD Australia 4101

The apartment is everything I was looking for. The traffic noise is much quieter and with two bedrooms and two bathrooms I have more than enough room.

Here are some pictures to give you all a feel of it.

Bula! Welcome to Fiji

I am recently back from my 40th birthday celebration in Fiji. It was everything I was hoping for and more. It didn't start out that way though! The hotel I originally booked, a 5 star Sheraton, may have been a 5 star hotel 20 years ago but not today. They are closing down in May for a total renovation and its in desperate need of one. The location and grounds were beautiful but the rooms were very tired. After being upgraded to an ocean front room that was as bad as my original room the management said they would move me next door to the Westin Resort. Now this was a 5 star resort. If anyone has ever stayed in a Westin or a W hotel and have slept on a Heavenly Bed you know that those beds are the most comfortable beds out there. I am not sure what it is but between the pillow top, the feather pillows, and 1000 thread count duvet cover you feel as though you have no need to ever leave the room. But then again you are in Fiji and the true beauty is just beyond the door!

The resorts are beautiful. Infinity pools, spa's, great restaurants, palm trees, and a location right on the beach. I would highly recommend people to save up their vacation time and their money to make a once in a life time trip here!

My co-worker from Boston and my friend Caryl surprised me by meeting me in Fiji for the first two days of my trip!

I took two day trips out to the smaller islands by boat. One boat was a 100 ft schooner that brought me to Mystery Island where I learned how to SCUBA dive. I figured if George Bush Sr can sky dive at 80 I can SCUBA dive at 40! The second trip had me on a fast ferry that reminded me of the one that goes from Boston to Provincetown, minus the gay clientele. My destination was Beachcomber Island where the slogan is 'For those young travelers or those young at heart'. This island is a backpacker island full of 20 somethings that don't want to wait until March for Spring Break. There were also a good number of day trippers like myself who are a bit beyond our Spring Break years but overall it was a very fun island.

The rest of the time in Fiji had me relaxing by the pool, reading the final installment in the Harry Potter series, having a few frozen drinks by the pool, going to the gym daily, and being in bed by 11:00 PM all but 2 nights! This was truly a great way to ease into my next decade of life!

I did learn one downfall about traveling by yourself. I missed about 60% of my back with sunscreen on one of my daytrips and got a burn like I haven't had since I was in my teens. I had to go out and buy a surf shirt to protect myself for the rest of the trip. It is just now bubbling up and will be peeling in another day or two.

Interesting fact about Fiji is that canabolism hasn't been extinct for too long in this country!

Hope you enjoy the slide show!

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.... Oy, Oy Oy!

On Saturday afternoon I went over to the Story Bridge Hotel with my friends Ian and Ellen to have a few pints in celebration of Australia Day! This was after we had just finished up 3 games of bowling, American ten pin, in which Ian kicked our butts in game one, felt confident going into game 2, put a $20 wager on the game with a double or nothing clause if there was a game 3 with me, and then proceeded to fall apart right in front of my eyes. His first score was 133 then his combined score for the next two games was 130. So after collecting my $40 in winnings from him and hearing him say that it wasn't so much losing to me as it was losing to an American we headed out in a taxi to the Story Bridge Hotel. Ian is a Scot directly from Edinburgh. He speaks with such a thick accent I can only understand about 50% of what he is saying. Think of the janitor character on the Simpsons, crank up his accent by about 25% and then you have a good idea of what Ian talks like. His girlfriend, Ellen, is from Ireland and although she has a very strong brogue I can understand her much better.

The Story Bridge Hotel is famous, or infamous depending on how you look at it, for having one of the biggest parties of the year on Australia Day. Since Australia Day fell on a Saturday this was like the 4th of July and St. Patricks Day wrapped up into one. Every Aussie citizen was out showing their patriotic pride and in the true Aussie manner this meant they were to drink more pints than one person should have within a 24 hour period! The Story Bridge Hotel isn't even a hotel! Its a pub. A huge pub with several floors and an outdoor space right on the Brisbane River. When we got there in the late afternoon there was a line of about 30 people waiting to get in. The line moved fast and as soon as we entered we looked at each other with that look like 'what is going on here?'. The scene was one from my days back in UMASS. The pub was packed to the brim, people were carrying around pitches of beer like they were 8 oz glasses and from the looks on most peoples faces they were there from the opening bell at 11:00 am. We did manage to secure a good spot outside along a railing and met a guy named Ron and his girlfriend. Ron is an infantry soldier in the Australian Army. About 30 minutes later 6 or so of his army mates showed up. They looked like they had been celebrating Australia Day for 2 days! Again each had his own pitcher, drinking it like water, and most either had their faces painted or were wearing some sort of Australian flag on some part of their body. The main chant for the day in which EVERY person of the pub joined in was 'Aussie Aussie Aussie' (yelled by 1 person) followed by 'Oy, Oy, Oy' (yelled by everyone). Then 'Aussie, Aussie' 'Oy, Oy' and finally 'Aussie' with one very loud 'Oy'. This seemed to give the patrons of the Story Bridge Hotel a common bond that can only be known if you are truly from the land down under.

Funny side note.... in asking what I thought would be a simple question that day on what the Australian National Anthem was I got three different answers from people I had asked and no one could agree 1oo%. I was told it was 'Waltzing Matilda'-and if it wasn't it should be, 'Advance Australia Fair' - which is the national anthem, and 'God Save the Queen' - which hasn't been their anthem since Australia declared its independence.

Two Deaths Two Completly Different Lives

On Monday of this week the lead story in the news down here in Brisbane was of a funeral and memorial mass going on in the neighboring country of New Zealand. New Zealand was honoring one of their own who had lost his life a week earlier to natural causes. This New Zealander was Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to climb to the peak of Mount Everest. Sir Edmund Hillary lived his life to the fullest and throughout his life he was a gentleman first, then a famous person.

Sir Edmund Hillary lost his life due to heart failure at the ripe old age of 88. In the years after he conquered Mt Everest he continued to conquer other famous mountains, married, had 3 children, and then gave his life to helping out the Sherpa's of Nepal. His Himalayan Trust which he founded has raised millions of dollars to help build schools and provide other services to these poor people.

What a difference 2 days makes. When I got to the office on Wednesday morning everyone was talking to each other gossiping. Wondering what was going on I was quickly informed that news had just broke that the actor, Australian born, Heath Ledger was found dead in his NYC apartment. Immediately the speculation began. He was a druggie. He was depressed. Being a pessimistic person myself at times I was surprised to find myself defending Ledger telling my coworkers that he could have died by natural causes and not by some means of self infliction. 24 hours later and after a completed autopsy there is still more confusion. The report said that death could have been brought on by an accidental overdose of prescription medication. Interesting...... is it only famous people who can die by an accidental overdose? Any other bloke would be deemed to have committed suicide.

But I am getting off the subject here. Ledger was famous for his looks and his acting. He was only 28 years old. Sir Edmund Hillary lived to be 88. I am sure Ledger was generous in his own right but he didn't live his life the way Hillary did. They are from different generations. Generations that couldn't be more opposite. Tom Brokaw wrote a book and produced at TV special called 'The Greatest Generation'. It was about the lives of people, our mothers and fathers or grandparents who lived and fought in WWII and then went on to make America and the world a great place. Ledger grew up in Generation X, maybe even a more recent generation. I lost track of what the generations are called after X. Ledger could have been as famous for his off screen heroics as Sir Edmund Hillary was but he will forever be known as the actor who left us way before his time.

Brady bunch eyes Bowl

"Brady bunch eyes Bowl." That was the headline in the sports section of the mx daily paper in Brisbane on Monday afternoon. The mx is the equivalent of the Metro daily paper that is handed out to all public transportation riders in Boston. The mx is also handed out, free, to all passengers on public trains and buses and it gives you just the right amount of news to keep you updated but not enough to give you any depth to the stories which is what the internet is then for!

I am beginning to get a complex. Since coming down to Australia the sports teams in Boston have gone on to dismantle all of thier competition. I am beginning to think that my coming down to Bris Vegas has something to do with the home town teams making their historic runs. Maybe its a sports god that has sent me down here to spread the good word about baseball via the Boston Red Sox and American Gridiron via the New England Patriots. I can tell you all one thing: the Australians that I work with and hang out with have a much better understanding and appreciation of baseball and now gridiron (I will call it football going forward!)

On Monday morning I knew I had to watch the game and once again ESPN came through for me. The game started at 6:00 am Monday morning. I got up at 5:45 am put on some coffee and sat myself down on my couch. I was able to watch in real time from the opening kick off to the final kneel down. If it wasn't for all of the soccer and cricket commercials I would have thought I was sitting in a living room in Boston. After the game I called a taxi and I was in the office by 9:30 am. That was a GREAT way to start off a work week.

Bring on the Giants! Bring on the Super Bowl.

What Did You Call Me?

Monkey. That is what the captain of the India national cricket team supposedly called a player on the Australian cricket team which resulted in a 3 match suspension that sent the cricket world into a tailspin. The players involved are: Andrew Symonds of Australia and Harbhajan Singh of India.

After Australia took 3 matches in a row from India there was a flurry of news reports reporting that Singh had called Symonds a 'monkey' during the final match on Sunday.

This is not the first time that there has been controversy within the ranks of cricket. I have been over here for 6+ months and it seems that there has always been some controversy following the Australian cricket team. Either they are being accused of racism or they are accusing their opponents of racism. I can't figure it out.

Cricket over here is as big a sport as rugby is. Its played during a different season and is basically the only game in town. There are professional cricket teams that represent their own states within Australia but the entire country gets behind the national team when it is playing.

India has been a powerhouse in cricket for years which in itself is puzzling. I wasn't aware that India was a powerhouse in any sport?! The rivalry between Australia, a fairly new and upcoming world powerhouse, and India is similar to the Red Sox and the Yankees. Every year when MLB releases the following season's schedule every Red Sox fan immediately looks to see when the Sox are playing the Yankees. Its a right of passage to grow up hating the Yankees for no reason other than you are a Red Sox fan. The same can be said for Australians regarding the Indians when it comes to cricket. The major difference is that national pride is at stake here too. That makes this 100 times more rel event than any city or state rivalry back in the US. The Australians take cricket very seriously and have deep passion towards their national team.

Long story short is that the cricket board suspended Singh for 3 games due to the allegations. India in turn protested and appealed. They also said they will not finish the tour in Australia until Singh is allowed to play and vindicated. The one scape goat in all of this? The head referee of the match on Sunday who it was determined lost control of the players on the field. Everyone knows that is not the case but someone had to be the scape goat. India flexed its muscle and the cricket world caved in. The matches are going to go on as scheduled and Singh will be allowed to play.

I am not sure how the news casts are going to take up the 10 minutes they have allocated to this lead off story for the past week going forward. They can't even report about the drought anymore since its been raining for 3 straight weeks!

I don't understand cricket at all. I have tried to understand it and watch it but I lose interest about as quickly as I do when I am watching NASCAR or Indy. One of these days I am going to take the time to learn the game but as of right now I have the New England Patriots and the Boson Celtics who are my main concerns!

Bring on Jacksonville!

Back in Brisbane After A Great Vacation

It took me 24 hours, 4 flights from Boston to Cincinnati to Los Angeles to Sydney to Brisbane and 2 calendar days but I am back in the land down under for the rest of my assignment.

Leaving Boston this time was harder than the first time at the end of July 2007. I realized when I was home just how important family and friends are to ones happiness. I am enjoying Brisbane and Australia a lot but nothing compares to the feeling of friendship and love one gets when they are in their home town and surrounded by family and friends.

My 2+ weeks back in Boston were jam packed and I apologize if I didn't get a chance to see all of you when I was in town. I will be back at some point over the Summer. It will be either for good in the beginning of July or for a short vacation in the middle of August. I am already looking forward to it!

The weather here was raining on Thursday and Friday. Not just any rain but tropical downpours that have flooded parts of the region. This is good news to the locals though since they will take flooding over drought. The newspapers continue to report that the rain isn't falling in the correct locations where the damns are but I don't see how the rains in the past few days haven't helped out the drought in some way.

Work is going to be a challenge over the next 6 months. CitiStreet AU is in the middle of a reorganization and they are making sure everyone has more than enough work to do. I have a feeling my workload is going to be tripled but that is okay, I am ready for the challenge. The hard part is that I have a lot of vacation time booked between now and June so that could present a challenge to myself and my project managers. While I am in this part of the world I am going to take every opportunity I have to see as many places as I can. This is an opportunity of a life time and I am going to take advantage of it! I will find that happy balance between work and play but it may take some extra hours in the office when I am in Brisbane.

My posts going forward are going to touch on some social topics of my experiences of life and culture here in Australia. I am also going to take you on a visual tour of the places I am planning to visit in 2008. If you have ever wanted to come to Australia this will be your chance to live vicariously through my travels!

Again, I had a great time back in Boston. It is a beautiful city especially with freshly fallen snow!

Bring on 2008!