Birds and Beaches in Newcastle, Australia

I recently traveled to Newcastle, Australia (about a two-hour train ride north of Sydney) with a friend for the last academic conference I would attend as a student. It was a bit humid and hot (in the 80s F / high 20s C) but great to be so near the ocean and able to enjoy the nice birdsong and frequent sightings of the cockatoos and kookaburras. The conference was invigorating – lots of new ideas and books to check out and new friendships made. On the days off, we did some Christmas shopping at a big mall and walked down to the beach to do some swimming with the fish. That was a fun experience and reminded me how calming an effect being in nature can have on us humans. I always plan to get out in it more, but maybe I will actually make an effort to do it in the new year. Every time I’m in Australia, I enjoy it and want to come back. We did a quick harbor tour in Sydney while waiting for our flight. It started thundering and raining while we were out, so that was a bit of a bummer, but at least I got to view the magnificent Opera House and Harbor Bridge again.

First time I saw this phrase used to describe a loading zone!

At the Harris Farm Markets store (fancier version of Trader Joe's)

cool public art fixture that lit up at night

the conference was in a new building at the university

where we went swimming with the fish

cockatoos were everywhere, noisily announcing their presence

found this cute kitty on one of our walks around the neighborhood

more cockatoos

kookaburra - heard their laughing call every morning

kookaburra on the nature walk

this kookaburra let me get so close to it!

harbor tour in Sydney with thunderstorm approaching

Guy Fawkes, Dunedin, and Moeraki Boulders

A lot of the past month has been spent on two journal articles and conferences. These activities have taken more time than I anticipated, although they have been really good learning experiences. With everything now done and "summer break" beginning, I am hoping to recommit to my thesis and get a lot written, since there won't be many distracting seminars or things going on at the university.

Guy Fawkes Day (November 5th) was fun as usual. We took two friends out to New Brighton, a suburb on the coast, to watch the official fireworks display, then came home and lit off some of our own fireworks. We bought extra to keep us going throughout the year and for New Year's. :)

I picked up a sweet find of science fiction and feminism books at a garage sale for $5.

The weather has been off and on hot and cold. They're predicting it to be a really hot summer, so we'll see.

We hosted a PhD student from Australia and requested he bring some Kraft Mac 'N Cheese for D to enjoy, and he brought three boxes as well as a bottle of wine! Very nice. We bought a Christmas tree and put it up along with some outdoor lights. I think we're the only house in the whole neighborhood to have any lights up, and they are solar-powered so don't last very long if it's a cloudy day. It still doesn't feel like a holiday season with the hot weather and lack of spirit. It is strange to not be bombarded by all of the Christmas atmosphere like in the U.S.

One of my conferences was in Dunedin (about 5-hour drive south of Christchurch) and the weather was unusually hot and sunny, so I went on several walks around the city in the evening because it stays light until like 8:30pm now. The architecture there is nice and there was some cool street art. Other cities are so much more alive than Christchurch -- it's disappointing not to have a functioning city center here.

On the drive back to Christchurch, we stopped at the Moeraki Boulders which were beautiful and mysterious. There's a good description of them at NewZealand.com -- here's my paraphrase: boulders weigh several tons and are calcite concretions from about 65 millions years ago. They are gradually being revealed as the soft mudstone washes away. In Maori legend, the boulders are gourds that have come ashore from the voyaging canoe Araiteuru when it wrecked on land.

Bought this in Dunedin. Really makes you rethink how we see the world!

Conference and Dessert

The conference at the University of Queensland went well, and the campus was really nice. One thing I didn't like at the conference dinner was the alternating plates, which apparently is a pretty common thing in Australia. So your meal could have been the chicken or the really rare lamb, and you don't get to choose unless you switch with your neighbor. And then, it was torture for dessert, because one plate was chocolate cake and the other was little meringue things. Um, you don't give one person chocolate without giving it to everyone else. 

Other things that happened during the week:

We couldn't help popping into the university used bookstore and buying four books, one of which had such a great title I couldn't help myself (Xinran's What the Chinese Don't Eat). We had a nice chat with the cashier about peanut butter and chocolate going together -- his family thinks it's gross -- and when we complained about jam and fillings always being in things in Australia (and New Zealand), he said they have a history of convicts, so of course they learned to hide things! It was a fun conversation. I have been impressed by how friendly and courteous the staff are at places in Australia compared to New Zealand.

On the last day of the conference, we went out for dinner with a group of students and conference organizers and got to discuss topics like student loans and healthcare in Australia. It's nice to get multiple perspectives. Then a small group of us went to get ice cream at Gelare and ended up talking for hours which was quite enjoyable. They had Belgian waffles on the menu with all kinds of combinations, but I was stuffed from dinner and couldn't get them. I was already planning on returning though in the few days remaining. As some of us were trying to make a case for some good science fiction books, movies, and TV shows, I discovered that sometimes people who say they don't like sci-fi haven't actually really read or seen much, if any, sci-fi. Or they read one book for a class and don't like it, so they write off the whole genre. 

We did go back to Gelare and got Oreo and Cinnamon Churro waffles. They were pretty much big sugar bombs, but it was the first waffle I had had since leaving the U.S. I resolved to get a waffle iron after returning to New Zealand. We also went to Chocolateria San Churro and got some churros with dark chocolate dipping sauce and a big piece of chocolate caramel cake which was very tasty. I knew it was my last chance to get good dessert!   

daytime downtown Brisbane

nighttime downtown Brisbane