Home of the Joker

I saw The Dark Knight the other night. It was absolutely amazing.

The movie is great. No denying that. But it is absolutely incredible when you see it on the world's biggest IMAX screen.

On Wednesday night I made my way into Darling Harbour, home of Sydney's coolest attractions, including the IMAX theater. Sean, Steph, Richie and I met up with some friends from the University of Sydney in Darling Harbour, enjoyed a $7 drink at the fancy Tokyo Hotel lounge, and then made our way into the packed theater. The movie was already in its fifth week of showing here in Australia and it was still breaking records in the box office. While the movie itself is enough to attract a crowd, many here simply wanted to see Heath Ledger's final performance.

As sad as that is, that thought disappeared from my mind as soon as I saw the Joker on screen. I couldn't believe Heath Ledger's performance. He was absolutely phenomenal. But I definitely think that there is a link between his last role and his ultimate demise: he got so into his role it must have messed with his head. I heard a rumor that Jack Nicholson, who played the Joker in a previous Batman film, called Ledger when he heard that he would be playing the role in the new film and warned him about the dangers of trying to act a Sicko so convincingly. Anyway, he certainly was that: unbelievably convincing. And seeing the movie on the biggest screen in the world only added to the experience.

What a great night!

Fish & Dips

I have to apologize for being so lazy and not updating my blog lately. It's not that I haven't been going out and doing stuff, it's just that I am too lazy to post right after I have done something. So let me take you a few weeks back...

One gorgeous weekend it was finally a little warmer and we decided to hit the beaches. Not for swimming. Just to hang. So we took the train to Circular Quay, the gateway to all that is cool. From there you can just get on any of the six ferry wharfs and see where adventure takes you, if you are feeling spontaneous. You may end up in Darling Harbor, the Taronga Zoo, Rose Bay.... the list goes on.

But we had come with one destination in mind: Manly Beach. So an absolutely beautiful, 20 minute ferry-ride later, we arrived at the Manly Beach wharf.

To get to the beach you must first walk through the ultra hip, cool, and decidedly surfer-esque promenade. It's a bit like Italy in a way...lots of restaurant hosts and peddlers tempting passer-bys with 'specials' and 'deals.'


Staying focused, we navigated through the crowd and arrived at the gorgeous Manly Beach. Lots of people had decided to take advantage of the warmer-than-average weather and were congregated on the beach. And the surfers were in the water with their wetsuits. I went to the water's edge to feel the water: it was freezing.
Glacier-water like. No swimming yet.

No sooner had I thought this than something flesh-colored speeds by me. SPLASH! Sean is in the water. Apparently he was of the mind that this was perfect swimming temperature and had stripped down to his shorts and run right in. Power to him.

After this, to prevent Sean from getting hypothermia, we walked along the beach and up a bluff on a very picturesque path. Along the way we passed the Manly Beach bath, one of many outdoor, natural pools built into the sides of the rock around beaches here. Apparently, many swimmers here agreed with Sean and thought it would be a lovely day for a dip. In Speedos. Alrighty then.

This path led us onto a brief bush walk. A bush walk is pretty much a hike along a nature path - up cliffs, through the woods - and there are many to be found around Sydney. This one was particularly steep and required some scrambling up rock. Once up though we found ourselves at the top of the bluff overlooking the beach. Absolutely beautiful.

During the past few weeks we have done many-a-bush walk. One weekend we took the ferry from Circular Quay to Watson's Bay, a picturesque little bay host to Gap Bluff, part of Sydney Harbour National Park. When we arrived at the wharf in Watson's Bay we were immediately overwhelmed by the delicious smell of seafood. Sure enough, as we stepped off the wharf we found ourselves in front of the famous Watson's Bay Doyles Fish & Chips restaurant.
People were dining outside and as we walked by we could not keep our mouths from watering. The dishes looked absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, like everything else here the prices were a bit horrendous so we decided to save a trip to the restaurant for a special occasion in the future.

So we tore ourselves away from the restaurant and continued on to Gap Bluff.




This walk was, if possible, even more picturesque than the Manly Beach bush walk. From the top you could see miles and miles of beautiful ocean looking to one side,
to the other side you could see the skyline of Sydney, accompanied by the Harbour bridge. As we hiked along the cliff we came to a lookout from which you could see the Macquarie Lighthouse, Australia's famous first lighthouse. What a great hike! And there was still the ferry ride past the opera house and bridge on the way home to look forward to.

City to Surf

Sydney is the perfect city. If you're looking for sky scrapers and hustle and bustle, look no further. But if you're not, no worries Mate. Sydney has plenty of beaches, cliffs and 'bush' walks within 30 minutes of the Central Business District to keep the tree-huggers amongst us happy.


Sean and I discovered this on the famous Coogee to Bondi cliff walk. This 6km walk along the cliffs is renowned for its spectacular views of mulit-million dollar estates nestled into the rocks, distant horizon, and above all, the vertical drop to the sparkling azure waters.



A little hungover from our previous night out at the famous bar "The Three Wise Monkeys" at which we had not made such wise decisions, yet definitely antsy to get out and do something, Sean and I bit the bullet, took plenty of water with us, and set off along the cliffs starting at Coogee Beach.

When we got there we were less than thrilled about the ominous looking weather: dark bluish-purple skies and high winds don't make for the most optimal conditions for an exposed cliff walk. Yet as it turned out, we couldn't have asked for better weather for this walk.



The rough seas were by far more interesting to view standing on those cliffs: wave upon wave just crashed up against the rocks. We also got to see the die-hard surfers catching some of the most enormous waves I have ever seen. Only the creme de la creme were out in the dangerous surf, and they were amazing to watch. It was like being on set of a Kelly Slater surf movie. Awesome.

The Grotesque, the Weird, and the Strange

"In Australia alone is to be found the Grotesque, the Weird, the strange sribblings of Nature learning how to write. Some see no beauty in out trees with no shade, our flowers without perfume, our birds who cannot fly, and our beasts who have not yet learned to walk on all fours. But the dweller in the wilderness acknowledges the subtle charm of this fantastic land of monstrosities."
- Marcus Clarke

I certainly understand where Marcus Clarke was coming from. In the days that I have been here I have seen the strangest, weirdest looking plants and animals. No one who has actually been to Australia could claim that Australia is just the hybrid offspring of a successful pairing of Britain and America, at least not in terms of Australia's landscape.

I have seen fascinating things so strange and different from the West and I find myself in the most civilized, inhabited part of this massive country; I need not venture into the 'bush' or the outback to experience strangeness: a day at the Taronga Zoo, a walk through the Royal Botanic Gardens or along the desolate cliffs between Manly and Bondi beach will suffice.

On Thursday I ventured into the Royal Botanic Gardens expecting a short little stroll along the scenic pathway beginning at the Opera House to Lady Macquarie's Point. What I did not realize was that the Royal Botanic Gardens stretch 30 hectares, boasting 45,124 plants.

Needless to say I did not see everything that day. But what I did see was weird and amazing, somewhat grotesque but absolutely beautiful. Penis plants and fruit bats. Roses and Birds of Paradise. Parrots and Cockatoos.

The animals: Bizarre. We spent an entire day at the Taronga Zoo trying to understand God's thought process during Australia's creation.

Upon seeing the platypus, one of Australia's native inhabitants, I could not help but wonder.

In the words of Robin Williams:

"Look at the platypus...you think God's up there going 'OK, let's take a beaver, k, let's put on a duck's bill (hey I'm God whattya gonna do)...k he's a mammal, but he lays eggs. There you go!'"
(link: Cool Stuff)

And it's true, most animals don't walk on all fours in this country. Kangaroo. Nope. Wallaby. Nope. Meerkats. Not really. Emu...well they don't have four anyway but they certainly don't fly. However, as we learned on a 'walkabout', a fenced-in area that visitors may enter to interact with the zoo's animals, emu run very quickly. For as we entered the walkabout and were entering a cave expecting to look at the water creatures within tanks, a renegade emu came charging at us. Needless to say for the rest of the walkabout we peered around the corners of the cave before advancing.

And I haven't even gotten to Australia's real monsters: the snakes ans spiders. I learned from Bill Bryson before I left for this country that Australia is the proud home of the most dangerous animals on earth. Entering the reptile house at the zoo, I had no difficulty believing him.




The Komodo Dragon may be mistaken for a tree trunk; a tree trunk that can take down and devour a deer. And the Komodo Dragon doesn't even make the top 25 of Australia's most deadly creatures.

Yet even seeing these seemingly grotesque, monstrous creatures one cannot claim that Australia is a grotesque, monstrous place.


The views from Taronga Zoo, its cable car, or the ferry ride to Sydney Harbor are only a few reminders that Australia is a place full of beauty.