afternoon jog

We are trying our hardest not to take for granted all the amazing sights of Australia. We thought it would be a neat idea to show everybody our jogging route. Its about a three mile run. Along the way, there are ocean baths, three beaches and a breakwall that leads into the ocean.

Newcastle beach (It was closed that day due to strong riptides)

Rock pool near the ocean

Leaving Newcastle beach

Approaching Nobby's beach

Nobby's beach

Path to the lighthouse

Dog beach where Daisy can go swimming.

Nobby's sand dunes

Headed out to towards the break wall

End of the path

Ocean Spray on the rocks

The water got me!

Not our normal jogging attire. We couldn't resist a day at the beach first.

Bar Beach, The Junction and Darby St

Mucho's Mexican - For our Modelo fix

Mucho's - Good for drinks, bad for food

One of two Italian restaurants in town

American candy bars at the Lolly shop

More goodies from the lolly shop

Finnegan's Irish Pub - Neighborhood hangout/St. Patrick's Day Celebration spot

The Del - another great spot to hangout

The Taj - Fantastic, cheap Indian food; the fish curry is the heat

Not to be confused with The Raj across the street; average Indian food

Butcher shops are alive and well - best place to get quality cuts of meat

Insert Yoko Ono/Lennon joke here

Holden Ute, aka "Poor Man's El Camino"

Hill overlooking Bar Beach

Blue bottle jellyfish had washed up all along the shoreline - sting like a mother

Tide pools at Bar Beach



We finally got out of our comfort zone and spent a weekend at Bar Beach, which is a (gasp!) 15 minute walk from the apartment, as opposed to our 2 minute walk down to Newcastle Beach. Along the way, we snapped some pictures along the way on Darby Street (full of cafes, as well as Thai/Vietnamese/Indian restaurants) and The Junction, a trendy area home to:

The Lolly Shop - Which has soft drinks, candies, and other junk food homesick Americans crave (we haven't caved in yet). The prices are outrageous - expect to pay $40 for a bag of Jolly Ranchers or $25 for a six-pack of Mountain Dew.

Mucho's Mexican Restaurant - The fact they have margaritas and Modelo's is their only redeeming quality. They essentially serve up Old El Paso products and pass it off as Mexican cuisine.

The best (and only) Italian restauant in town. They will continue to bring the food out until you cannot eat anymore.

And we got a surprise as we walked along the shore at Bar Beach - hundreds of blue bottle jellyfish. They aren't very big, but they pack a punch. We also learned that peeing on a jellyfish sting is a myth - it only works for wounds from spines from a sea urchin. Just thought we would pass that along

Canberra

Views from Mt. Ainslie

Bird's Eye View of the Canberra Business District

Australian Parliament House

Australian Coat of Arms - The Roo and The Emu

On the grass covered roof of Parliament

Australian Defense Museum

"Sheep Porn" in the main mall

Casualties from Australia's battle in Turkey during WWII

Soldiers riding camels in WWII

Japanese mini-sub that was sunk in the Sydney Harbour during WWII.

Japanese kamikaze pilot suit from WWII

Politically incorrect newspaper headline

The Prime Minister - Looks like a sketch character from Kids in the Hall

House of Commons

Senate House

Parliamentary Triangle

We took a brief trip to Canberra in early March b/c of a conference Drew had to attend for work, and we were able to squeeze in a brief half-day of sightseeing. Canberra lies in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), in between Sydney and Melbourne. Both cities thought the capital should reside in their hometowns, so the government stuck it in the middle of nowhere to spite them both. Canberra is a "planned city", and is modeled after DC in terms of layout.

We unfortunately did not take any pictures on the plane (which still serves complimentary meals and wine/beer - take that crappy American airline services), but the views over the Blue Mountains between Canberra and Newcastle were pretty awesome. Once we arrived, we took a drive up to "Mount" Ainslie (elevation of only around 2500 ft, but considering the highest point in Aussie is only around 7000 ft, I guess we'll let them call it a mountain) and snapped some pictures of the city and surrounding area.

Next we took a trip to the Australian War and Defense Museum, where among other things, we saw a Japanese mini-sub that was sunk in Sydney Harbour during WWII. After visiting the war museum, we went to Parliament House. Unfortunately, Parliament House was not sitting on that day, so we couldn't witness "Question Time" (if you don't know what it is, I suggest googling it. It's quite entertaining, and they televise it when it occurs).

Side Note: The Canberra Casino was located in our hotel at the Crown Plaza. With the sheer amount of gambling that takes place in Australia, we're surprised they're all not gambling addicts. We found out that the Ky Derby is quite popular here - and once Aussie blokes found out Drew was from the home of the Derby, they assumed he was a knowledge handicapper of the horses. He went 0 for 2 (racing in Singapore and Hong Kong isn't his area of expertise), the damage was minimal. Don't worry Carol - that's Drew's one and only gambling splurge during our trip Down Under (minus our trip to the track next week)