travel.angeli.ca

I’m Angelica, and this is Andrew. This is a photo of us at...

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:58:00 -0400

I’m Angelica, and this is Andrew. This is a photo of us at Bondi beach, but more about that later. Thanks to the nice people at WAM, I won a trip to Perth in Western Australia, to attend the WAMi Music Conference, and I brought Andrew with me. Along with our visit to Perth, we also made stops in Sydney and Melbourne. What follows is a selection of photos and videos of some of the things we experienced.

Sydney

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:56:00 -0400

Our first stop was Sydney. We spent 4 days and nights here, and stayed at the Original Backpackers Hostel, which was a great way to start our trip. I’m not one for hostel culture, but in order to fight off jetlag we spent our first night drinking and hanging out with our hostel mates, and it was an interesting experience. Apart from a couple of Canadians (including a member of our armed forces, on leave from another tour in Afghanistan), we also met a pretty French girl, a nearly unintelligible Irish man, and a group of Danes obsessed with dance music, one of whom both loudly blew, then drank from, a Viking horn that he carries around with him always. It’s a lifestyle you can easily lose yourself in, but we had stuff to do (and crippling jetlag), so all-night partying became an impossibility by the second night.

This was our plane to Sydney. Some of the Qantas fleet have...

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:42:00 -0400

This was our plane to Sydney. Some of the Qantas fleet have custom paint jobs, like this one, which features aboriginal art.

Our incredible room at The Original Backpackers hostel in...

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:40:00 -0400

Our incredible room at The Original Backpackers hostel in Sydney. Spare, modern, with a little bit of artwork and an incredibly efficient bathroom, not to mention a mini fridge, these were boutique accomodations at a budget price. Highly recommended.

Detail of the artwork in the room.

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:39:00 -0400

Detail of the artwork in the room.

Our room is the closest black door to the right. This wing of...

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:38:00 -0400

Our room is the closest black door to the right. This wing of the hostel was added recently, which explains the clean modern lines. It looks down on the central courtyard, which is a popular hangout.

Mr Liquor! Things we learned here: good hooch in Australia is...

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:36:00 -0400

Mr Liquor! Things we learned here:

good hooch in Australia is pricy.
premixed drinks (i.e. Jack & Coke in a can) exists?!
Coca Cola… with cane sugar, not corn syrup, is the best thing ever.
Australia sure likes its cider.

Requisite shot in front of the Sydney Opera House. Fun fact:...

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:23:00 -0400

Requisite shot in front of the Sydney Opera House. Fun fact: it’s actually quite off-white in person, yet freakishly always seems to photograph bright white. The thousands of people behind us (most not pictured) were waiting for Jessica Watson to come in. She’s the sixteen year old who sailed around the world, solo. We hung around until she came in… it seemed like the thing to do.

Harry’s Cafe de Wheels. THE place to get your meat pies....

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:22:00 -0400

Harry’s Cafe de Wheels. THE place to get your meat pies. More about this later.

We spent a lot of time in the Royal Botanic Gardens. The route...

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:21:00 -0400

We spent a lot of time in the Royal Botanic Gardens. The route we took to get there and back took us on this strange walking path on the extensive green roof of an apartment complex.

The gardens are home to wild ibises…

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:19:00 -0400

The gardens are home to wild ibises…

… and to many, MANY wild cockatiels.

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:17:00 -0400

… and to many, MANY wild cockatiels.

They seem to spend their free time picking at and eating the...

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:16:00 -0400

They seem to spend their free time picking at and eating the grass, which makes a curious sound, but the occasional cockatiel can also be found hanging out in the trees.

Andrew succeeded in getting a cockatiel to sit on his hand with...

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:15:00 -0400

Andrew succeeded in getting a cockatiel to sit on his hand with gentle coaxing.

Oh hai! I like to think he’s waving. One of the many, MANY...

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:07:00 -0400

Oh hai! I like to think he’s waving. One of the many, MANY giant fruit bats (flying foxes) that inhabit the majority of the trees in the gardens. This guy was high up in a tree, maybe 20 ft up. Imagine my surprise when going through my photos to realize he was staring dead at me.

The bats hang like little leathery xmas ornaments. They...

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:05:00 -0400

The bats hang like little leathery xmas ornaments. They progressively kill the trees they roost in. Roost? Do bats roost? You know what I mean… hang from.

This may be my favorite photo of those I’ve ever taken....

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:03:00 -0400

This may be my favorite photo of those I’ve ever taken. It’s like a traditional Japanese illustration, with an extra furry surprise… a little sweet, a little sinister.

Not a great video, but this should give you an idea how damn...

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:02:00 -0400

Not a great video, but this should give you an idea how damn active and LOUD these fruit bats are, even during the day.

This grove of banana trees was very, very tall. I am short and...

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 09:59:00 -0400

This grove of banana trees was very, very tall. I am short and small.

This is one of my favorite installations in Sydney. Called...

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 09:56:00 -0400

This is one of my favorite installations in Sydney. Called “Memory is Creation Without End” by Kimio Tsuchiya, the work consists of a spiral of discarded sandstone architectural elements, salvaged from old buildings long since demolished.