Aussie Aussie Aussie! 1/3

Australia.  I never thought I'd get a chance to go to this country so soon.  This is the long tale of that trip.

It's going to be very informal so just enjoy the ride, 'kay?

If you don't know the story about my girlfriend at this point, well you probably don't follow cricket.  Or live in America or another non-cricketing nation.  Anyway there is far too much to this story for me to go into, so I'll let the The Sydney Morning Herald, The New York Times, BBC and The Alternative Cricket Almanack do the work for me.  You really need to read those articles.

The rest of the story starts just after Christmas.  I won't go into detail about our travel difficulties in getting to JFK and our flight, Ashes has covered that well in many of her television interviews.  No I'll start from the very moment we got off the plane in what would turn out to be one of the greatest cities I've ever been to.

Just stepping out of the plane and into the muddled mess known as Customs brought a wave of heat over my northern hemisphere body.  After getting through there and out into the lobby a small group of people rushed in our direction and started snapping pictures.  Mostly of Ashes but I got caught up in it as well.  I was given a Qantas hat to wear and we were whisked over to a table area that had a live webstream of my celeb GF's arrival.  For somebody like myself that had never been in any sort of a limelight this was all a bit dizzying, particularly after such a draining flight as LA to Sydney.  But it was fun.  That was the key.  Already there was buzz and we hadn't even been in the country for an hour.  While she was being interviewed by a reporter I had a chance to sit down and meet the people that would be helping us. 

I really do need to talk about the small group that took a great deal of their Christmas-New Year holiday to help us around.  In particular there were three people who were directly involved with us; Brad, LJ and Graham, were extremely friendly and helpful throughout our trip.  Their guidance and patience helped us have one of the most amazing trips of our life.  Ashes and I are going to write up a thank you letter to them that I might post here as well. 

Anyway, the first step out of the airport was fantastic.  A rush of warm, humid air flew over me and the memories of winter horrors of days before melted away.  This was truly a world away from home.  It was pleasant to be in summer when it was winter at home.  I've never had a chance to experience that first hand.  I know it's always in the back of your mind but until you go from a blizzard to 90 degree summer bliss it really doesn't mean anything. 

The ride from the airport was a pleasant one.  We were taken by Graham in a car that a Ford dealership in Castle Hill had lent to us, for free, to the hotel we would be staying in for the week.  Along the way we were given a bit of a guided tour that I fully appreciated.  Ashes had to fiddle with the phone that Vodafone had let her borrow for the trip, but I took the opportunity to watch the wonders of this new continent.  The plants alone put a broad smile on my face.  Everything was so different than anything I was used to.  The northeastern United States is a very, very different place than New South Wales.  It was like a tropical paradise!  I know that it's technically a "temperate" zone, but to a Mainer it may as well have been a rain forest. 

On the ride into the city I couldn't help but notice that Sydney is an outrageously beautiful city.  The green space blends into the urban space.  It just seems so natural.  I had been told by a few people in my stay that Sydney has had a lot of recovery and renewal in the past 10-15 years.  Clearly the hard work has paid off.  Before I even laid my eyes on the iconic sites of the city and I already liked this city.  Coming from the ugly squalor of New York and the rather unremarkable Springfield my appraisal of Sydney was overwhelmingly positive.  It was only the car ride from the airport but I already knew it was going to be a great trip.

We arrived at our hotel, Mantra on Kent, and were dropped off and given time to spruce up.  We needed showers desperately and were happy to get them.  A little later we were picked up and taken to Hart's Pub after a little tour of the city.  We spent some time there where we managed to try out Ashes very own beer.  That's right, they brewed up an @theashes pale ale especially for her.  Or renamed one of their other drinks.  Either way it was very cool of them.  Even though I'm straight edge (I don't drink, in case you don't know the fancy name) I tried out Ashes' beer.  I had to!  It was free and made for her.  It was good I guess but I'm not really a connoisseur of pale ales.  While there we also ordered up some pub food which really hit the spot.  Hart's Pub was a great bit of relaxation that we needed and we met a few cool people too. 

After we were done at the pub we had a chance to walk back to the hotel.  Since the pub was in The Rocks it meant we had an opportunity to explore this historic part of Sydney.  It was a bit overwhelming but also a lot of fun.  Our wander led us past the Harbour Bridge, the Australian Hotel, and down to the water where we got some snaps of the Opera House (not the Oprah House!).  We slowly found our way back to the hotel.  It was a very weird walk since it seemed like everything was closed, and it wasn't even that late!  That day being December 30 turned out to be part of the Australian "holiday" season.  For the next few days that was going to be a problem.  Despite the empty streets and closed shops it was still a nice stroll.  It allowed us to acclimate to Sydney without a lot of distractions.  We got back to the hotel and went to sleep, capping off our first day.

Ashes woke up early the next day and was brought by LJ to Channel 9 and do an interview on their morning show.  This, apparently, is a big deal.  I found that there are really only three or four major channels in Australia and this was one of them.  More importantly they were the channel that played the cricket.  I was far too tired to wake up and join her that day so I stayed home and caught it on the television. 

Yeah they got her name wrong.  It's an @ and not a #.  That's how all this started!  The interview was short since news about the Queensland floods was just getting in.  Still it was cool.  After Ashes got back from that interview we met a camera crew from ESPN in the lobby and went down to Darling Harbor, which was just behind our hotel, to film some stuff for them.  I actually took part in this interview.  I bumbled my way through a few questions.  Luckily they used my good takes.  I'm not cut out for television I can tell you that much.  Ashes, though, is a natural on camera.  There are thousands of people that would die for her calm demeanor on camera. 

We finished up with ESPN and were taken on another tour of the city in our Ford Fiesta.  It was New Year's Eve so there was a lot going on and a lot was closed.  We drove up to Manly and had our picture taken in front of the beach.  The drive to Manly was absolutely gorgeous.  Suburban Sydney is truly unlike any other city.  In North Sydney we managed to get a really nice shot of us and the Harbour Bridge.

It was another sightseeing day and I was enjoying it.  On the drive back into the city I started feeling under the weather, hell I felt sick.  Jetlag was finally kicking my ass and I needed rest.  When we were dropped off near The Opera House for Ashes next interview, LJ graciously sprang for a cab to get me to the hotel. 

I got some much needed rest and was feeling much better.  My body wasn't ready for the massive time difference, and the heaps of sun, and the lack of food that day.  Fortunately Ashes and LJ went to the sea food market and brought back some prawns and scallops.  It was a great meal. After dinner it was time for Ashes to get hit by the jet lag.  She slept for a few hours right until the 9 o'clock fireworks.  We decided to stay in for that show and head out for the midnight bonanza.  From our room I could see the Darling Harbor fireworks and I listened to the coordinated music on the television.  Ashes didn't like the gratuitous use of Katy Perry's firework song.  I agreed that it was a bit lame. 

We headed out at about 10:30 to get a good view of the bridge.  On the way we passed by a fountain that was full of bubbles.  If you ever want to regress to the age of five, find yourself a fountain overflowing with bubbles.  I got a heapful right in my face. We walked all the way into The Rocks where we stood in a massively crowded street full of drunk people and waited an hour.  At one point an ambulance drove through the crowd and it took probably 15 minutes to get 100 feet down the road.  The place was packed like crazy.  Sadly there was no countdown that we could hear from where we were, but we were in a prime spot to catch the whole show.  The bridge was in full view in front of us and the fireworks were going off in all directions around us and off the buildings behind us.  The Harbour Bridge exploding in colorful fireworks is probably the best way I've ever inaugurated a new year.  When it was over we walked with the drunken crowds and made our way home.  Ashes noticed dozens of "prostitute parades" as she liked to say.  Girls dressed ultra-skanky linked arm to arm or holding hands, often drunk caused her to coin her phrase.  We got some sleep.

I'll end this post right there at the New Year celebration.  The next post will cover more interviews and the cricket, and the last post will cover the wind down and final thoughts.  Those will come tomorrow and the next day, I promise.  I've got lots more to talk about.  The next post will definitely be the most interesting and the most star-studded!  Tomorrow.