So without further delay, here are the contents of my camera from the past six months. In case you don't know, I am kind of bad about taking pictures. Total number taken, 551.
Just copy and past the following addresses into a web browser and you are set. Cheers.
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=gerard.deffenbaugh&target=ALBUM&id=5370789294313494401&authkey=Gv1sRgCLjsvfzm96XqpAE&feat=email
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=gerard.deffenbaugh&target=ALBUM&id=5370920240962110017&authkey=Gv1sRgCO-L08_L_tilbQ&feat=email
Monday, August 17, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
The Lost Blog: My Sister's Time Down Under
I invite you to step into my time machine… Well it would be quite nifty if I had my own time machine but alas it is only a figment of my imagination. But I can invite you to sit down (most of y’all are probably doing that bit already) and to join me in a retroactive presentation of “G’s Lost Times with Angelique and Alex in Oceania”. As an avid reader of this blog you will know that during my time in Australia, my sister Angelique came to visit me in March and my high school friend Alex came to visit me in May. The original plan was to have the guests write an account of our adventures and then post it onto my blog. Well, life has a funny way of changing plans so I will now recap these two adventures below. Most readers will most likely hear these stories in-person soon enough, so what is your motivation? I write the following so that ten years from now I can read this account and travel back in time.
Stardate March 2009. I am running around the airport starting to panic a little bit because I have lost my sister in a foreign country halfway around the world. That is really an inappropriate description of the situation because I never found her in the first place. There has been some mix up because I forgot to write down her flight information and I thought she would need to go through customs in Melbourne. Unbeknownst to me, she had flown into Sydney and cleared customs at that fine city. So my mind flashed back to our skype conversation two days prior, where we established our default rendezvous point. So I proceeded to that point and waited. Within minutes I see my sister walking towards me, so I spring up and nearly tackle her. Her flight had some delays and she had come into a different terminal in the airport, but she also remembered our back-up plan and acted accordingly. Life point, back-up plans do in fact have a purpose. So begins our adventure.
Once we get back to my apartment, I give her the grand tour of my apartment complex and then she takes a few hours to just relax/nap. Later that night we go around my apartment complex and I introduce her to some of my friends who also live in it. We have an early night because the following day we fly out to Sydney for an extended weekend trip.
We touch down in Sydney and hail a cab to take us to our backpackers. We check into our shared dorm room and then get a map of the city. We explored for a bit, then swung by the grocery store to pick-up provisions. We had worked up a sizeable appetite and the large pizza we ordered never stood a chance. In the middle of the night my sister wakes me up because she can’t sleep, so I mumble something and go back to bed (in case you don’t know, I sleep like a rock). In the morning we go down stairs to eat breakfast and my sister looks like she didn’t a good night of sleep. As soon as we walk out of the door to begin the day, she says she wants to change accommodation. She didn’t feel comfortable sleeping in the same room as strangers. So I ask her to give it another night and she how she feels. She has another bad night of sleep, so we have to search out a private room for the two of us. After some internet searching she finds a new place and so we move later that day. I think it is safe to say that Angelique does not do backpackers very well. Let’s move on to the highlights of our exploration.
Sydney Opera House: It is a daring feat of architecture and engineering. We took a guided tour of the Opera House and saw almost every nook and cranny in the ole place. We decided to buy tickets for a theatre production later that evening. We have a bit of time before the show begins so we choose to go to the Royal Botanical Garden which is right next door. Two words, fricken sweet. Since these are not that descriptive, let me try another approach in painting a picture in your mind. As we reclined in the plush grass, we gazed out into the blue waters of Sydney Harbor. I look to the right and see a large pack of seagulls trying to fight for food scraps. I look to the left, and I see a wedding party taking pictures beneath shade of a nearby tree. The bride and groom have beaming smiles on their faces, in spite of the oppressive heat of the midday sun beating down.
After our break in the Royal Botanical Gardens, we take a hike to the Sydney Harbor Bridge to take in an eagle eye view of the Opera House and the harbor. From our vantage point on the bridge, we see swarms of boats beneath us whose passengers where enjoying the calm waters of the harbor. We snapped a few pictures and headed back to the Opera House. Once we arrived, we sat down on one of the many benches and enjoyed a picturesque sunset. After that we headed into the Opera House for the evening’s show. For the life of me, I can not remember the name of the show (and I forgot to keep the ticket stub), but it was one of the best productions that I have ever scene. The total cast numbered two, one man and one woman. They directly engaged the audience at the beginning of the show.
Exactly one minute into the production, a couple entered the theatre and tried to discreetly make it to their seats. The male actor calls out: “You two who are trying to sneak in, why are you late?” So they have a brief discussion with everyone in the audience listening in. Two minutes later, another couple comes in late and the same scene plays out. So the male actor then invokes the audience to rise and start clapping when the next later comers entered the theatre. Five minutes later, a couple wanders in and to their surprise, the entire audience rises to their feet and welcomes them with a wound of clapping. The actual show was also a masterpiece. The male and female actor each played multiple roles and did a masterful job. I will consult with my sister to see if she remembers the name of the production.
Other trip highlights include the Star Wars Exhibit which was on display at the Powerhouse museum. So if you, the reader, have any interest in the Star Wars saga then this exhibit would have made you wet your pants. It included all the original models of the Deathstar, x-wing, and all other space craft. The exhibit also had every original costume (including Darth Vadar and Chewy) as well as the original Yoda puppet (before Yoda went digital). It was pretty much a Star Wars fan’s paradise and I took my fair share of pictures. I think one of my favorite pictures was the one that featured Angelique and me next to a storm trooper. Classic.
Two other highlight I want to mention are the Sydney Aquarium and Bondi Beach. We choose to explore the Sydney aquarium when the rain rolled in one morning. It was a smart play on our part, because the aquarium is obviously covered and hence we would not get wet (we had our thinking caps on). As soon as we walk into the actual aquarium, a photographer snaps our pictures and tells us that they will be available when we are preparing to leave. So we wandered around the aquarium for a few hours and then decided to head out. In the gift shop, we saw our tourist picture from earlier so I decided to outsmart the system. I take a picture of our picture and not only save team Deffenbaugh twenty dollars, but still get the memories associated with the aquarium. It was a flash (no pun intended) of brilliance.
I also wanted to mention our adventure at Bondi Beach. Australia has some of the most stunning beaches on this planet, and Bondi Beach is definitely one of the tops in Australia. The water was a crystal blue and the sand a striking white. I decide to go for a barefoot run on the sand. I start off running in the loose sand far away from the water and I last a few minutes until I play the stretching card. Since my legs were now on fire, I decide to run by the water. I run along the water for thirty minutes and then run into the cool waters of the ocean. Eventually we decide to head back but as luck would have it. We board the wrong bus and get lost in the outer suburbs of Sydney. Eventually, we got a bus to take us back to Bondi. Then we boarded the proper bus which took us back to town.
So this is a snapshot of my sister’s time in Australia. I was blessed to share this time with her halfway around the world. Thanks for coming out sis.
Until next time dear reader…
Stardate March 2009. I am running around the airport starting to panic a little bit because I have lost my sister in a foreign country halfway around the world. That is really an inappropriate description of the situation because I never found her in the first place. There has been some mix up because I forgot to write down her flight information and I thought she would need to go through customs in Melbourne. Unbeknownst to me, she had flown into Sydney and cleared customs at that fine city. So my mind flashed back to our skype conversation two days prior, where we established our default rendezvous point. So I proceeded to that point and waited. Within minutes I see my sister walking towards me, so I spring up and nearly tackle her. Her flight had some delays and she had come into a different terminal in the airport, but she also remembered our back-up plan and acted accordingly. Life point, back-up plans do in fact have a purpose. So begins our adventure.
Once we get back to my apartment, I give her the grand tour of my apartment complex and then she takes a few hours to just relax/nap. Later that night we go around my apartment complex and I introduce her to some of my friends who also live in it. We have an early night because the following day we fly out to Sydney for an extended weekend trip.
We touch down in Sydney and hail a cab to take us to our backpackers. We check into our shared dorm room and then get a map of the city. We explored for a bit, then swung by the grocery store to pick-up provisions. We had worked up a sizeable appetite and the large pizza we ordered never stood a chance. In the middle of the night my sister wakes me up because she can’t sleep, so I mumble something and go back to bed (in case you don’t know, I sleep like a rock). In the morning we go down stairs to eat breakfast and my sister looks like she didn’t a good night of sleep. As soon as we walk out of the door to begin the day, she says she wants to change accommodation. She didn’t feel comfortable sleeping in the same room as strangers. So I ask her to give it another night and she how she feels. She has another bad night of sleep, so we have to search out a private room for the two of us. After some internet searching she finds a new place and so we move later that day. I think it is safe to say that Angelique does not do backpackers very well. Let’s move on to the highlights of our exploration.
Sydney Opera House: It is a daring feat of architecture and engineering. We took a guided tour of the Opera House and saw almost every nook and cranny in the ole place. We decided to buy tickets for a theatre production later that evening. We have a bit of time before the show begins so we choose to go to the Royal Botanical Garden which is right next door. Two words, fricken sweet. Since these are not that descriptive, let me try another approach in painting a picture in your mind. As we reclined in the plush grass, we gazed out into the blue waters of Sydney Harbor. I look to the right and see a large pack of seagulls trying to fight for food scraps. I look to the left, and I see a wedding party taking pictures beneath shade of a nearby tree. The bride and groom have beaming smiles on their faces, in spite of the oppressive heat of the midday sun beating down.
After our break in the Royal Botanical Gardens, we take a hike to the Sydney Harbor Bridge to take in an eagle eye view of the Opera House and the harbor. From our vantage point on the bridge, we see swarms of boats beneath us whose passengers where enjoying the calm waters of the harbor. We snapped a few pictures and headed back to the Opera House. Once we arrived, we sat down on one of the many benches and enjoyed a picturesque sunset. After that we headed into the Opera House for the evening’s show. For the life of me, I can not remember the name of the show (and I forgot to keep the ticket stub), but it was one of the best productions that I have ever scene. The total cast numbered two, one man and one woman. They directly engaged the audience at the beginning of the show.
Exactly one minute into the production, a couple entered the theatre and tried to discreetly make it to their seats. The male actor calls out: “You two who are trying to sneak in, why are you late?” So they have a brief discussion with everyone in the audience listening in. Two minutes later, another couple comes in late and the same scene plays out. So the male actor then invokes the audience to rise and start clapping when the next later comers entered the theatre. Five minutes later, a couple wanders in and to their surprise, the entire audience rises to their feet and welcomes them with a wound of clapping. The actual show was also a masterpiece. The male and female actor each played multiple roles and did a masterful job. I will consult with my sister to see if she remembers the name of the production.
Other trip highlights include the Star Wars Exhibit which was on display at the Powerhouse museum. So if you, the reader, have any interest in the Star Wars saga then this exhibit would have made you wet your pants. It included all the original models of the Deathstar, x-wing, and all other space craft. The exhibit also had every original costume (including Darth Vadar and Chewy) as well as the original Yoda puppet (before Yoda went digital). It was pretty much a Star Wars fan’s paradise and I took my fair share of pictures. I think one of my favorite pictures was the one that featured Angelique and me next to a storm trooper. Classic.
Two other highlight I want to mention are the Sydney Aquarium and Bondi Beach. We choose to explore the Sydney aquarium when the rain rolled in one morning. It was a smart play on our part, because the aquarium is obviously covered and hence we would not get wet (we had our thinking caps on). As soon as we walk into the actual aquarium, a photographer snaps our pictures and tells us that they will be available when we are preparing to leave. So we wandered around the aquarium for a few hours and then decided to head out. In the gift shop, we saw our tourist picture from earlier so I decided to outsmart the system. I take a picture of our picture and not only save team Deffenbaugh twenty dollars, but still get the memories associated with the aquarium. It was a flash (no pun intended) of brilliance.
I also wanted to mention our adventure at Bondi Beach. Australia has some of the most stunning beaches on this planet, and Bondi Beach is definitely one of the tops in Australia. The water was a crystal blue and the sand a striking white. I decide to go for a barefoot run on the sand. I start off running in the loose sand far away from the water and I last a few minutes until I play the stretching card. Since my legs were now on fire, I decide to run by the water. I run along the water for thirty minutes and then run into the cool waters of the ocean. Eventually we decide to head back but as luck would have it. We board the wrong bus and get lost in the outer suburbs of Sydney. Eventually, we got a bus to take us back to Bondi. Then we boarded the proper bus which took us back to town.
So this is a snapshot of my sister’s time in Australia. I was blessed to share this time with her halfway around the world. Thanks for coming out sis.
Until next time dear reader…
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