An unexpected surprise

Yesterday after first leaving our hostel we came across this familiar animal.  We are not sure if they are called "Canada Geese" down here or something else.  When we find out, you will be the first to know.  Rick

Rick at work

Here's a photo of our favorite blogger at work. We are in the re:start mall area, with our flat whites ;-)

Today is Saturday June 1. Rick just realized we go home in one week :-(

Christchurch NZ

Hi everyone, we are now on "holiday" in Christchurch NZ.  We had a great flight over the mountains, but unfortunately we were not quick enough to get a photo of the snow-capped "Southern Alps."  (We both had our cameras packed away in the overhead compartments.  Hopefully, we will get a couple photos on our return flight to Sydney when we leave.  We will make sure to take some photos when we travel across the "trans-Alpine" train on Sunday and Tuesday.  So stay tuned...)

In the meantime, we are staying at a "backpackers' hostel."  These are very interesting accommodations.  Chris and I first tried it when we visited Rotorua on the north island of NZ.  These hostels are all over AU and NZ.  They are budget accommodations where travelers can share dormitory type rooms with multiple people in one room with a shared bathroom or private rooms with private baths like we have.  Our rooms in both Rotorua and here in Christchurch are very nice.  The rooms have been very clean and the workers at them have been incredibly friendly and helpful.  The travelers and workers at these hostels tend to be young, most of which are either recent graduates of high schools or universities in Europe.  Many of them work for a few months at these hostels for rooms and a little pay before moving on to some other community.  Chris and I both wish we had known more about this when we finished undergraduate school.  Unfortunately, American college graduates do not take advantage of this opportunity to travel. I do not know if it is because they do not know about it or are just not interested.  I will have to ask some of my students when I get back.  In the meantime ... Christchurch.

If you recall, Christchurch was devastated by two earthquakes a little over two years ago.  These earthquakes hit about six months apart and leveled a major part of the CBD.  As a result, 83% of the CBD has been or will be razed.  The community has been devastated.  The people have said that everyone in the community knows someone who did not survive the quake.  The community, however, is determined to rebuild itself -- sadly, it is going to take a long time.  Some are saying it is going to take more than a generation.  Most of the streets in the CBD are empty as well as most of the stores.

Many of the buildings are completely gone.  In some cases they tried to save some of the historical aspects of the architecture by preserving the facades.  The city is filled with shipping containers that are being used for a variety of purposes -- and in this case to support one of the facades of a building (below).

In other parts of the city, the shipping containers have been used for a make-shift mall called the "re:start mall":

Sadly, one of the most familiar sites in Christchurch is the Anglican Cathedral located in the center of the town.  It managed to survive the first of the two earthquakes with some minor damage, but was severally damaged in the second.  The Anglican Church decided to raze it (after deconsecrating it), but the community wants to restore it to its former glory.  For now it sits quietly in disrepair...

After wandering around town for a bit longer, we decided to head for home (i.e., the hostel).  Along the way we came across a couple of interesting statues that survived the quake ...

First, James Cook who first discovered NZ ...

Next, Queen Victoria -- remember Christchurch is the most British-like of their colonies ...

And the Maori (Maw-dee) influence in the area ...

And one last picture of Chris this afternoon sitting in the warm sunshine at the shipping container mall. She is smiling because she is "officially on holiday."

Tomorrow we have a couple of trips around town planned so stay tuned.  Rick

World's Happiest Country

Did you see this? Australia was named "the happiest country", beating out Sweden and Canada, and the U.S.

You need to "cut and paste" this URL:

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/28/business/oecd-quality-of-life/index.html?hpt=hp_c5

Aussie Aussie Aussie....oy oy oy

;-)

30 May, Sydney....time to go

It has been a wonderful experience, working with so many different folks across NZ and Australia. I find it hard to believe that my work responsibilities are done now ;-)  Many many thanks to the University of Newcastle's RIDBC Renwick Centre - Greg Leigh (Director) who approved this endeavor and Trudy Smith (Manager, Continuing Professional Education) for making all this possible. She organized all the presentations with a variety of entities. The Fulbright application process included a lot of paperwork and details. Trudy handled it all with aplomb. 

We will get up early tomorrow and Trudy will take us to the airport for the beginning of our holiday in NZ (beginning in Christchurch). 

I'm posting a few fun photos. Yesterday we took the bus into Parramatta to see the new Star Trek movie. Look at the photo of Rick at the bus station and look at the second photo, the lorikeet in the tree just above his head!! They are my favorites - such beautiful colors.

The cinema is in a 4-story mall. Look at the mega-screen....lots of advertisements. 

And just wanted to post 2 more photos - of course, my flat white which was served in a cup that said "coffee is my life" (how did the barrista know???). And the second, lemon-lime bitters....which will probably replace gin & tonic as my new favorite summertime drink ;-)

And last, this is building our flat is in, on the campus of RIDBC. The landscaping is lovely - especially the huge Norfolk Island pine trees - I used to have one as a potted plant back home!! I hear that the ones on Norfolk Island (sitting off the NE coast of Australia) are really huge.

So, time to wash some clothes, re-pack, clean up and move on. Hopefully, we will continue to have some access to wifi and will continue to post from NZ. We are due home in Rochester on Saturday night June 8 around midnight. The time has flown by!!!

Darling Harbour in Sydney

Today, after a quick breakfast with Chris, I headed down to Darling Harbour in Sydney.  This is a much smaller harbor adjacent to "Sydney Harbour" that everyone is familiar with because of the Opera House and Bridge.  And of course there is always something to force a change in the plans.

First, after going to the local 7-Eleven to purchase an all-day bus pass, the bus is half an hour late.  I did not say anything, but some of the other riders were not happy because they had to be places "on-time."  As for me, "no worries, mate."  So I arrived at the Parramatta Ferry Terminal with plenty of time to spare even enough time for a flat white.  Yum!  But within a couple minutes of the scheduled arrival of the ferry, an announcement is made that there is a work stoppage for the ferry and the ferry service (at least to Parramatta) would not be running until later in the afternoon.  Now the question is, do I return to North Rocks where Chris and I are staying, or attempt to make it to the train station for a long, slow (and somewhat confusing) ride into the CBD and Darling Harbour.  So I figure, what the heck ... Go for the train ride.

At the train station, I found a very helpful worker who gave me great directions.  So after arriving at the Town Hall, it is a fairly short walk down hill to Darling Harbour.  Once there (more than 2.5 hours after leaving our flat in North Rocks), it is a very pretty place.  It is quite touristy.  This is where the Sydney Convention Centre is located...

As well as the Sydney Aquarium and Wildlife Centre...

And the National Marine Museum...

One of things I did enjoy was the Monorail.  Sadly, it is in its last month of existence.  For a long time, the city was known for it but tourist have stopped using it.  In fact, the couple who shared a car with me were an elderly pair from Queensland AU who had never been on it and wanted to do it before they ended the service.  I did two laps around the CBD on it.

And after wandering around some more along the docks, it was time for me to head home.  Fortunately, the ferry service was up and running so I had (possibly) my last ride up the Parramatta River.  This is what a "river cat" looks like if you have not seen an earlier picture.   I think a couple of these on the Erie Canal would be great for tourism, and help cut down on the traffic in and out of Rochester.  ;-)

Here is a final photo of me heading up the Parramatta River for the last time.  You can see the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background.

And after a series of meetings for Chris today (while I played), tonight we had a wonderful Chinese dinner with Trudy and a new friend, Breda.  (I certainly put the three of them -- Chris, Trudy, and Breda -- through the paces having: (1) Chris sign ASL to Breda and interpret back to Trudy and me in English, (2) Trudy sign Auslan to Breda and interpret back to Chris and me in English, and (3) have Breda flip back and forth between ASL and Auslan.  Too bad we did not get all of that on film.  :-)

Well ... that is it for another episode of "Chris and Rick 'Down Under."  Stay tuned ... as our return trip to Sydney is starting to wind down.  Rick

25 May, Sydney....LAST workshop

Slightly out of order...

Saturday, I presented to members of ASLIA/NSW, New South Wales. We had about 20 folks give up a perfectly lovely Saturday...great group!! I want to thank Chevoy Sweeney and her group for organizing it all. It was a great way to finish my series of presentations (17 all together, I think). It was a bit of a combination of Discourse Analysis with some language acquisition thrown in. I appreciate everyone's attention and participation. It's always energizing to have folks who have such great comments/questions.

Then last night 8 of us went out to a wonderful Lebanese restaurant to relax and get to know each other better. Here's Rick and Sean Sweeney, obviously solving the problems of the world ;-)

A great way to end my responsibilities ;-)   Now a few more meetings with some folks in Sydney.

Sunday in Sydney & the Blue Mtns

Today we had a couple of new visitors on the campus where we are staying.  The sulfur-crested cockatoos have moved north where it is warmer (remember even though it is Memorial Day in the U.S., they are heading into winter here "Down Under" and it is warmer the farther North that you go).  These new parrots are called "Galahs."  They are supposedly very friendly, but we could not get too close before they would walk away.

After a quick shower, Chris and I stopped at the weekly flea market held on the grounds of the campus.  Today was their 30th anniversary.  They sell all kinds of used stuff and...

There are even a few food vendors.  One of our favorite foods is Turkish "gozlemes" (pronounced goz-la-MAY) which are made of dough and rolled out like a tortilla, then filled with different things like cheese, eggs, spinach, etc..., then folded in half and cooked on a hot griddle.  They are then cut into about 8 pieces and a fresh lemon slice is squeezed over them.  We have had them several times around Australia.  There is quite a large Turkish community here,

Another picture of the flea market.  There is a pretty good size crowd, especially considering that these people think it is winter and cold.  (In reality, it is quite sunny and in the mid-50s Fahrenheit).

After that, Trudy picked us up and drove us up to the Blue Mountains.  The Blue Mountains circle the City of Sydney and are kind of the continental divide along the eastern part of Australia (something like the Appalachian Mountain chain in the U.S.).  There are many small towns locate up in the mountains with plenty of cute, little shops filled with imported as well as domestic products.  Chris even found some Australian wool that was locally grown, spun, and dyed.

Next stop was a beautiful scenic vista overlooking the "Three Sisters."  This geographic out-crop is explained below.

And here is a picture of Trudy and Chris.  (It was nice seeing Trudy relaxing a little with us; she is one of those people who seem to always be juggling a dozen things at the same time.)  We had a great time taking it easy, visiting some of the local shops, and having a great lunch together up on top of the crest.

And here is a picture of Chris and me enjoying the great views and company.  Chris is finally done with her presentations -- and you can see that in the smile on her face.  :-)

So ... that is it for now.  Rick

Adelaide (Part 2) and back to Sydney

Before we set out for the conservation area and a visit with our friends Ross and Joy who we met from an earlier trip along the coast of Alaska two years ago, I had to stop for a quick lunch break.  Lo and behold as I was walking in the Adelaide CBD, I came across "Mama's Pierogis."  Who would have thought it ...  So, I had to give them a try to compare them to my Mom's and Auntie Stella's.  Mama's Pierogis were good, but not as good as my Mom's!  :-)

Next stop, the Cleland Conservation Area in the foothills of Adelaide.  So after a ride up a very scenic road with our friend Joy, we got to Mount Lofty (no kidding).  We were then joined by Joy's daugther-in-law (Claire) and her two children (Jamie and Rory).  We then started to visit with the animals including a tasmanian devil (although we could see them, they did not photograph well because it was too dark for my ipad), koalas...

Dingos...

Kangaroos...

Here is a close up of Chris feeding a wallaby with the joey's head sticking out a little.

And my favorite ... the wombat.  (This has got to be one of weirdest animals out there.)

We then had a wonderful and very traditional Australian dinner (i.e., BBQ lamb chops) with our friends Joy and Ross.  I need to point out that Ross is the distributor for Weber Grills for Australia and has literally written then book on grilling in Australia.

It was early to bed and early to rise because we were heading for a return trip to Sydney the next morning.  We were met by our host, and good friend, Trudy.  After picking us up at the airport, she whisked us off to Sydney Harbour for a drink and some munchies.  Here is Chris and Trudy hamming it up in front of the Sydney Opera House.

On Saturday (today), Chris spent the day doing her last presentation.  Although she has a couple of informal meetings next week, she is done with her formal presentations and workshops.  Whoo-hoo!!!

Adelaide (Part 1)

Adelaide is a city of a little more than 1 million people and located on the southern coast of Australia.  It is considerable smaller than either Sydney or Melbourne -- each of which have several million people.  We stayed in a lovely hotel right in the heart of the CBD.  It was just a short walk to the school where Chris did some of her workshops and lectures.  But first, here are a couple of pictures of us in the CBD.

This time I attended one of Chris's lectures to take a few pictures.  It was quite interesting and she got a lot of the people in attendance to participate.  (And for those of you who have ever done workshops and/or lectures, you know how that can be sometimes...)

After attending Chris's morning session, I went out checking out the town.  I was in pursuit of Aboriginal art and cultural information and ended up at two places (neither of which allow photographs on the inside).

Some of artwork in Tandanya was very powerful, in particular the paintings of Fah Fah Walsh.

This weekend in Adelaide, as well as many other parts of Australia, is Sorry Day which commemorates an apology by the Australian government to the Indigenous People (Aboriginals and Torres Islanders).

In the next blog entry I will some photos of our visit to a local conservation area.  Til then ... Rick