marlene checks in from Darwin...
as some of you know, my long-time friend Marlene is a Travel Writer (among many other things)...here's an excerpt from her latest mass email...apparently, she's in Australia right now.
As you may or may not know, I'm in Australia at themoment. I went to a friend's wedding last weekend, an old friend from when I was living here oh so many years ago. I spent the first week in Sydney, visiting some of my old haunts in Bondi Beach. So much has changed, though it still feels like home in some ways.I've met up with a few old friends and have been staying with a friend of the bride's while I'm there in secluded Rose Bay. Sydney is sprawling like LA (much better transport though including great ferries) but has a lot of qualities of San Francisco--outdoor cafes, harbor,bridge, etc. You've all seen the photos. Speaking of harbor and bridge, next week I have a media pass to do what has become popular, a bridge climb. Three hours climbing to the top of the Harbour Bridge. They do strap you in I'm told. As long as I don't look down I'm sure I'll be fine. People all rave about it. I'm hoping for weather like I've had so far, which even though it's the rainy season in Sydney and winter, it's been sunny and in the 70s. Global warming at its finest. It's a drought ridden country. I wentf or a couple of days on my own to my favorite retreat from Sydney, the Blue Mountains, where I used to always go to hike (two hours by train). I visited Darwin now at the top of the country ready to head into an Aboriginal festival for five days in a very remote area of Arnhem Land. Should be amazing.All the best Aboriginal artists, musicians from the region attend. There's a strict limit to the number of tourists who can attend, thankfully. Lots of workshops and time with the community.Darwin has absolutely exploded since I've been here last. It used to be a beautiful sleepy town and now there is development everywhere and it's a relatively bustling little city. There were the big markets tonight. The beach at sunset was packed and the area of the stalls looked like Grand Central at rush hour.Crazy. There's also a big casino here now. Some of the items on the menus at the stalls--Kangaroo satay, Crocodile wings, Wallaby satay, Camel jerky,and the lovely Cow Balls. One of the stalls selling these was called Roadkill Cafe. Mmm Mmm. There was actually a short piece on their version of the Today Show this morning interviewing someone from The Australian Vegetarian Society whether there is a bias against vegetarians in this country. Even most of my old Greenpeace friends in Sydney will dig into a bigl amb shank. Well, I must get my things together. It was a four hour flight from Sydney to Darwin and I have another shorter flight tomorrow to get to the Gove Peninsula,festival site. Will be back in SF pretty soon after the festival.G'day...
As you may or may not know, I'm in Australia at themoment. I went to a friend's wedding last weekend, an old friend from when I was living here oh so many years ago. I spent the first week in Sydney, visiting some of my old haunts in Bondi Beach. So much has changed, though it still feels like home in some ways.I've met up with a few old friends and have been staying with a friend of the bride's while I'm there in secluded Rose Bay. Sydney is sprawling like LA (much better transport though including great ferries) but has a lot of qualities of San Francisco--outdoor cafes, harbor,bridge, etc. You've all seen the photos. Speaking of harbor and bridge, next week I have a media pass to do what has become popular, a bridge climb. Three hours climbing to the top of the Harbour Bridge. They do strap you in I'm told. As long as I don't look down I'm sure I'll be fine. People all rave about it. I'm hoping for weather like I've had so far, which even though it's the rainy season in Sydney and winter, it's been sunny and in the 70s. Global warming at its finest. It's a drought ridden country. I wentf or a couple of days on my own to my favorite retreat from Sydney, the Blue Mountains, where I used to always go to hike (two hours by train). I visited Darwin now at the top of the country ready to head into an Aboriginal festival for five days in a very remote area of Arnhem Land. Should be amazing.All the best Aboriginal artists, musicians from the region attend. There's a strict limit to the number of tourists who can attend, thankfully. Lots of workshops and time with the community.Darwin has absolutely exploded since I've been here last. It used to be a beautiful sleepy town and now there is development everywhere and it's a relatively bustling little city. There were the big markets tonight. The beach at sunset was packed and the area of the stalls looked like Grand Central at rush hour.Crazy. There's also a big casino here now. Some of the items on the menus at the stalls--Kangaroo satay, Crocodile wings, Wallaby satay, Camel jerky,and the lovely Cow Balls. One of the stalls selling these was called Roadkill Cafe. Mmm Mmm. There was actually a short piece on their version of the Today Show this morning interviewing someone from The Australian Vegetarian Society whether there is a bias against vegetarians in this country. Even most of my old Greenpeace friends in Sydney will dig into a bigl amb shank. Well, I must get my things together. It was a four hour flight from Sydney to Darwin and I have another shorter flight tomorrow to get to the Gove Peninsula,festival site. Will be back in SF pretty soon after the festival.G'day...
posted by hellkittennyc at 10:57 AM
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