Chippendale, New South Wales

It's been a record 3 weeks living in a hotel room in Sydney.  The streak ends this weekend when we move into an Airbnb in Manly.  Our apartment actually won't be ready until mid October.

Although living in a hotel for this long is not ideal, there will be a few things I'll miss in this suburb they call Chippendale.  Chippendale is right in the middle of Sydney.  In fact, the closest train station is Central Station.  Because of that, it's easy to get anywhere from here.  We can walk to Darling Harbor, China Town, or the Haymarket.  Today's going to be sunny, so I'm walking out to Hyde Park to do some jogging.  Chippendale is the perfect location for us to explore the different neighborhoods we wanted to learn more about.

It is definitely a big city, hustle and bustle feel here.  So, I'll be glad to leave this for the suburbs.  Our hotel is right across the street from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and  the University of Notre Dame.  The University of Sydney and Charles Darwin University are close by as well.  It's  a very busy area.  I compare the walk to Central Station like walking in NYC, except with British Commonwealth rules which means we walk on the left and pass on the right.  This is also important to remember this when you're on the escalator.

This area has seen some revitalization after the completion of the Central Park project which boasts a beautiful park and eco-sustainable buildings fueled by it's own power generator housed in the old brewery.  I have a view of the brewery from my window.

If you look behind the smokestack on the left, you'll see one of the mixed-use buildings practically covered in plants.  The building is a vertical garden.  The story of it can be found here.  When it's time to water the plants, you do get a few sprinkles as you're walking by the buildings on your way to Central Station.

Another cool thing about this neighborhood is the restaurants.  This is a definite plus if you're living in a hotel without a kitchen.  Central Park Mall takes up the first few stories of the vertical garden buildings.  The Mall has many restaurants outside in a beautiful courtyard, or you can grab something from the food court and enjoy eating on the balcony overlooking the park.  Also, on the East side of the mall is Kensington Street with even more eateries.  Every Saturday this month, they had the Kensington Street Festival which featured artists, DJs and bands.

Also within Kensington Street is Spice Alley.  If you blink you'll miss the entrance.  Within that alley are more than a dozen Asian restaurants including food from Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, even Hainanese, which sounds like my kind of food! It's like a Singaporean Hawkers Market with every possible variety of curry, dumpling, noodle and satay skewer you can think of.

Knowing I won't be here much longer, I splurged on dessert yesterday and picked up an Ice Kacang.

I only read about the Ice Kacang from Crazy Rich Asians.  As described in the book, it reminded me of the Filipino dessert Halo-Halo with the ice, gelatin and sweet red beans.  However, I have to say, it didn't hit the mark.  The crispy rice, ube and jack fruit were missing from the Ice Kacang.  So Halo-Halo is still my all time favorite.

Yes, the restaurant is called Happy Endings (insert eye-roll here).  This weekend marks the happy ending of my life in the big city.  Next week, we'll see what beach suburb life has in store.

And The Winner Is...The Esplanade

We put in a bid for all five of our contenders last Saturday.  The crowds at each inspection showed us exactly how competitive apartment hunting is out here.  At one of our inspections there were at least 20 people waiting before opening! As we were leaving we passed by 20 more just coming in!  The realtor told us that usually, they would let us know by Monday.

Monday, we found out that our number one pick, The Cove, was off the market.  The current residents changed their mind and have decided to stay.  But we were accepted for our number 2 pick, The Esplanade!  We are so excited to be moving in next month!

It has a beautiful view of the boats docked in the harbor from the 2nd floor, which is the 3rd floor to us Americans.  I'm still getting used to that and have found myself getting off the elevator one floor too early sometimes.

Situated on the wharf side of Manly, it's right across the street from the water and just 400m from the ferry building.  The commute into the Central Business District is just 17 minutes by Fast Ferry which departs every 20 minutes.  The beach on the East side is just a few blocks away as well.  The location is full of shops, restaurants, bars and coffee shops.

We'll make sure to furnish this room with a sofa bed for our US visitors!

This kitchen could use some extra counter space, so I will add a hightop table to my shopping list.

The same balcony view can be seen from the master bedroom.

I remember when our ferry rode into the harbor on the morning of our inspections.  The captain announced that there were a pod of dolphins swimming by on the starboard! I was so excited, and when I figured out which side was starboard, I saw them swimming along and noticed there were several paddle boarders enjoying the company of the dolphins as well.  This was going to be my new home!

Apartment Hunters International

We spent all of Saturday apartment hunting in Manly.  This looks like the neighborhood that checks off all of our boxes.  All of our "Inspections" as they call it here, were walking distance.  We planned on 7 inspections starting from 10 AM to 1:15 PM.  Even though they were close together, I was able to rack up 6.5 miles of steps.

Here's our list of contenders in order of preference.

5.  The Spicoli.
We call it this because as we swung by to view it an hour before inspection, the balcony above the apartment had Spicoli talking fairly loud on his mobile.  He was complete with long hair and a couple surf boards on the balcony.  The view was ok, considering it was on the 1st floor.  It was the only 3 bedroom we looked at and had a large living area.

The Spicoli Living Room

4.  Gardenview.
This is a 2 bedroom townhome surrounded by a nice garden.  It had a spacious front patio and bright interior.  It's clean and roomy.  However, there's no view of the water.  It's only 1/2 mile (800 meters) from the wharf (but uphill).

Gardenview

3.  The Osborne.
The current tenants have a lot of stuff, so it's hard to imagine the place cleared out.  It was on the 3rd floor (4th floor to you Americans) and on top of a hill.  You can see the bay and the beach from the spacious patio.  The kitchen was larger and had the same amazing view.  The bad thing about it was that the carpet was a little dingy.  Maybe, they'll give it a good cleaning (or removal and hazmat disposal?) before anyone moves in.  Also just 800 meters from the wharf (uphill).

The picture doesn't do the view justice

2.  The Cove.
Just steps from the Manly Skiff Sailing club and a common area swimming pool right on the bay.  I can see myself having coffee on the balcony checking the waves before hopping on the paddle board in the morning.  This place checked off almost all the boxes except for a garage.  Great view from the balcony, even if it was on the 1st floor.

 







1.  The Esplanade.

This 2nd floor apartment had an amazing view of the bay and was the closest to the wharf at just 400 meters.  It had nice hardwood floors and a big balcony for dinners al fresco.

The Esplanade

We've turned in our applications and hope to hear from the property managers soon! Wish us luck!

Seven Things I'll Miss About Arizona

In just one day, our family starts the long journey to Australia.  We leave behind a home we've lived in for 13 years.  But what we have ahead of us is a year living on the beaches of Sydney.  Here's a list of the 7 things I'll miss about Arizona.

7.  The hiking.  It's no secret, I've been on many hikes here in Arizona.  My favorite ones being Havasupai Falls.  My trail shoes are coming with me to collect some mud from the Southern hemisphere.

6.  My job.  Yes, I actually liked my job.  But last week was my last day at work.  I had my going away party at...wait for it...Outback Steakhouse!!  I gave my team lead a going away gift of a boomerang to remind him that I might be back.

5.  The cactus.  Basically, the desert landscape, flora and fauna.  Nowhere else will I find Saguaros that tower over you whose blooms attract the bats at night, or the calming red rocks in the vortices of Sedona.  I'll miss seeing the roadrunners, coyote, occasional javelina and bob cats.  I guess I'll be trading those in for kangaroo, koala, huntsman spiders, wombats and wallabies.

4.  The sunsets.  Seriously. A. May. Zing.  And the sunrises are even more spectacular!

3.  This house.  As I said earlier, we've lived here for 13 years.  My youngest is 15 now, which means, this is the only house he's ever really know.  This is basically the last night we'll ever be sleeping in this house.  This video was taken this morning when we painted over the wall that marked Trenton's growth throughout the years.  When we move back next year, we will most likely continue to rent this house out and downsize into something new.

2.  My Marley.  The red tape, cost and quarantine to bring our best friend with us is not worth the trauma that this sweet little pup will have to go through.  Our friends will be taking care of her while we're gone.

1.  These two.  They are 27 and 22 now with adult lives of their own.  I will miss them the most.  This will be the hardest to leave.  Hopefully, they will come to visit in January and before we know it, our year abroad will be all over.

Canyoneering

Canyoneering.

I've never even heard of the word until I moved to Arizona.  I've heard of "Mountaineering" which is basically hiking in the mountains. Therefore, "Canyoneering" is hiking in ...wait for it...a canyon!  Hiking in a canyon has it's differences and unique obstacles that one might not encounter on your everyday hike in Arizona.  Canyoneering involves hiking through canyons with rock walls on both sides that tower hundreds of feet above you.  You're faced with  drop offs and waterfalls that you can only get past by sliding down, repelling or jumping.  It sounded both exciting and challenging, so I know I had to try it out with my adventure buddy, partner in crime, best friend, aka husband Brian, aka BT.

For his birthday this year in March I surprised him with a Groupon from Adventure on Purpose - Canyoneering for two.  We've been fairly busy with our other adventures this year, but we finally cashed it in and booked it for Saturday, August 5th.

2017 has been a crazy year for the Arizona monsoon.  We've had so much rain the weeks coming up to our trip and a recent tragedy in Payson, Arizona killed multiple members of a family from a flash flood.  The thought of canyoneering was becoming more frightening than thrilling due to the risk of flash floods.

Go/No Go.

Wednesday before our trip, Phoenix was hit with a crazy storm!  Thursday, I received an email from Adventure on Purpose that said they were monitoring the weather and Friday they would "check the water levels and weather forecast to make a decision and let you know.  If we are not able to do a water canyon, we do have a dry canyon option available."

What?! A dry canyon?! Noooooo!

We got the all clear on Friday that a water canyon was a go and we would meet in Payson as scheduled Saturday morning.  Yessssss!

Saturday morning, we met with our group that consisted of 9 people and our Adventure on Purpose guide Brian and his assistant.  To avoid confusion from this point on, I will be referring to our guide as Brian and my husband as BT.  We drove out to the trailhead where Brian and his helper, who also happened to be his 11 year old daughter, Chloe, distributed our gear which included a harness, a helmet, and a full wet suit (if you wanted it).  Life jackets were also available.  BT and I opted for our personal shorty wetsuits.  A couple guys in our group opted out of the wetsuit entirely.  We hiked down to Christopher Creek Gorge, about a quarter mile from where we parked.  As we were hiking the guide said we won't really know the true conditions until he sees the creek.  It's possible we might have to turn around and choose another canyon.  When we arrived at a clearing near the creek, our guide took one look at the water flowing and said it was "perfect conditions!"  It was time to suit up!!

Lord, help us!

The water was about mid-60 degrees, but before we got our feet wet, our guide Brian did ask us to gather for a quick prayer that was led by his daughter Chloe.  The company makes no secret that they are a Christian company.  Their mission statement states that "The heart of Adventure on Purpose is to glorify God by using adventure to build and strengthen relationships."  No way did I feel forced to be part of the prayer, and if I were of any other religion, I wouldn't be offended by them practicing this before the trip.  Actually, since it was monsoon season, I thought any help we can get from the guy upstairs to keep us safe would be most welcome.

Then we were off and I stepped right into the brown water.  Yup, the water was brown, like a milk chocolate river you'd see in Willy Wonka.  This was because of all the rain that we've been having.  If it doesn't rain for over a week, then the water would probably clear up, but it wouldn't be flowing as well as it was either.  If I had the choice of brown water or slow shallow water, give me the brown stuff!

Obstacles and The Point of No Return.

The first obstacle was a fork in the road, either go to the left down the creek where it was clear or duck under a huge log that left you just a foot of head space to get through.  Brian assured us that this log was definitely not there 2 weeks ago!  The log was huge and just a testament to the power of the rains that we've had recently.

Over the next quarter mile we got to slide down small waterfalls, jump from the top of a 5 foot water fall, swim down stretches of the stream at a time and trudge through the uneven and unseen ground of the creek.  There were times, you would take a step forward and realize there was no ground you could reach and you'd have to swim until you can touch ground again.

Just one of the natural water slides

After a quarter mile, Brian told us we were at the point of no return.  Once we get lowered by the ropes 20 feet down this next cliff, there was no going back.  We had to complete the adventure or we can hike up now back to the main road and find our way to the van to wait.  We all opted in.  BT lowered me down using the rope climbing gear that I, of little rope-using knowledge, know little about.  So, I won't even pretend to use the climbing jargon.  All I knew was to say "On Belay?!" and he would yell back "Belay On!" and then I would yell "Lower" and he would start lowering me.

After that "point of no return", we had to do a few more lowers with the rope.  I even tried my hand at belaying my BT down a 20 foot cliff all by myself! That man trusts me with his life.  Then there was another jump from a waterfall.  Ugh, this one had to be 20 feet!! I was freaked out.  Cliff jumping is really scary for me.  I'm not the strongest of swimmers, but with the encouragement from our group I was able to gather the courage and take the leap!  I sunk deep.  Deep enough to feel my ear pop, but when I came back up, people were clapping and I floated on my back downstream where the rest of our group was waiting.

Chloe.

Let me tell you about our guide Chloe.  She maybe only 11 years old, but she was the most respectful, brave and adventurous little girl I've ever met.  Not only did she say a beautiful, gracious prayer over our group, but she would lead us to the next point and stop and wait for her father at just the right spot.  Her father might have been behind with others in our group that needed a little more help through an obstacle.

We'd ask Chloe questions and she would answer very politely and include a "sir" or "ma'am" in her reply.  BT asked her if her siblings were jealous that she was able to go on the adventure this time.  She replied "No sir.  They are happy for me that I get to go.  They're very patient for their turn."  I was so impressed.

I loved the fact that our guide's name was Brian as well.  Whenever I needed a helping had from BT to get out of the water and onto a boulder, I would just yell "Brian!" and either BT or Brian the guide would be there to help.  Yay for me!

Our Last Hurrahs.

One of the highest waterfalls was about 35 feet.  This time we would repel down by ourselves.  Which means we were in control of the rope and the speed at which we lowered ourselves.  About halfway down, the cliff wall indents completely and we're left sort of dangling.  It's a little disconcerting and unexpected, but I made it down and unhooked the safety rope that was connected at the top with Brian.

One of the final descents I lowered myself completely into the water not knowing that I wouldn't be able to touch the ground! As I said earlier, I'm not the strongest of swimmers.  So, I was having a hard time unhooking the carabiner while trying to stay afloat.  I yelled for BT who was already across the river about 30 yards away.  BT swam all the way back to me and helped me get the carabiner off as I tried my best to keep my head above water.  BT's my hero.  It was at this point I thought I should've opted for a full wet suit that's more buoyant and a life jacket.  I'll do that next time...and there will be a next time.

That's me repelling down!

One of the last obstacles was the coolest thing I've ever done.  There was a part of the canyon where there was a horizontal sliver of space between the granite, about 2 feet wide.  This sliver was wet with the a strong trickle of water and we had to slide into it completely laying flat.  It was crazy!  We slid about 15 feet through this natural water slide and make a sharp right directly down into a waterfall and swim out! OMG! What an adrenaline rush!

Canyon miles.

The total trip was about a mile and a half.  This includes the distance to hike in and out of the canyon.  A mile and a half may not sound like a lot to you, but in "Canyon Miles" that's a long way.  We started at 7:45, and ended around 1:30.  That's a long day.  We were definitely cold at times.  There are parts of the canyon that rarely see sun.  The water was 65 degrees and we were in the water for 90% of the time that we were in the canyon.  The weather was perfect, sunny and bright.  But I would be lying if I told you that I never looked upstream to wonder if there might be a storm somewhere that might bring a flash flood our way.  There were definitely a few times I looked at the canyon walls on both sides of me to try to find an escape route.  I looked at the clouds and could see the grey in the linings knowing there might be some rain in there somewhere.  The possibilty was always there.

I was amazed how peaceful it was in the canyon.  You can just hear the birds and the rush of the waterfalls and creek.  Brian told us that there was a time there was a group of almost 50 people behind his group, then another group of 20 people behind them!  The canyon was filled with chatter.  But this day, I think we were the only ones in the canyon.  The other adventure groups might have been scared off by the recent rain.

I really didn't know what to expect from this adventure, so I went with an open mind.  The experience was more than I could ask for.  BT absolutely loved his present.  We were challenged and had to put our trust in each other.  I was reassured by him helping me so much along the way.  We were awed and inspired by a part of Arizona that people rarely have the chance to see or experience.  Adventure on Purpose was the best tour group I could've picked.  They really made us feel secure and empowered.  I didn't feel like I was just part of "tour" group.  We definitely want to do this adventure again and want to take our kids and our other adventure loving friends along for the ride.

The Sundance Film Festival

The stars come out in Utah at the end of January.  It's the Sundance Film Festival! A chance for Independent Film Makers to showcase their hard work for the world to see in hopes of generating some buzz, winning some awards and ideally get picked up by a production company that's willing to take the film to the masses.

What is there to do at the Sundance Film Festival besides watching movies? Well, let's see here.

Picture 1.  You could be sitting around at the end of a film screening and surprised with a guest performance by John Legend who goes on to introduce the creator of the Sundance Film Festival, Robert Redford himself.

Pictures 2 - 7.  You could do some stargazing.  All the stars are walking around from different venues.  If you're there on the first week, there are more stars out.  Last year even Jack Black helped direct traffic on Main Street.  Pictured below we saw Kristen Wiig, Mindy Kaling, Richard Kind, Keanu Reeves, one degree from Kevin Bacon, Alec Baldwin and his wife Hilaria.  If you want to stargaze, make sure you do your homework.  Find out who's in the movies that year and brush up on what they look like.  I kicked myself when I realized James Franco walked right by me and I didn't recognize him!

Pictures 8 -10.  The stars are fairly accessible.  If they're not on their way to a screening, interview or party they might even stop to take pictures.  Ryan Gosling is not above taking selfies.  I was able to stop Jemaine Clement from my favorite comedic musical duo The Flight of the Conchords.  He was there for the screening of "People, Places, Things", a movie in which he both starred and directed.  My friend also had the opportunity to take a quick pic with Lena Dunham after the Q and A session for the screening of her documentary "It's me, Hilary: The Man Who Drew Eloise."

Picture 11.  You can relax in one of the several lounges including the Music Cafe featuring up and coming artists like Seafret pictured here.

Picture 12.  Of course you need a picture under the marquee of the famous Egyptian Theater

Picture 13.  If you're lucky you can sneak onto a balcony and look down on the crowds.  Balconies are usually for media outlets to do their interviews with stars.  As luck would have it, Rolling Stone was breaking down their interview set so they let us hang out.  It was fun to watch people look up at us and wonder if we were "somebody."

Picture 14.  You'll never know who you'll be sitting next to in the theater.  During a screening of "Sleeping With Other People", the nice Italian gentleman sitting next to me was a new director Lamberto Sanfelice.  His film "Chlorine" was selected to compete in Sundance's World Cinema category.

Picture 15.  Who knows, you might even run into some Olympians like the 2014 Gold Medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White.

Picture 16.  There are many venues that offer different experiences.  The New Frontier lounge had some cool virtual reality experiences.  This is me putting on the Oculus Rift and laying on a bird-like contraption to fly over San Francisco.  It was a blast! They even had wind blowing in my hair! Here's a video explaining the Birdly experience.

If you go.

At the least get your hands on the Credentials.  This year they go for $200, but if you know someone who's not using them that day, they are transferable.  The Credentials are what get you into all the fun venues with music, activities, experiences, and guest panels.  Some lounges included free cocktails, but definitely a lot of SWAG.  So bring a SWAG bag!

How do you get tickets.

• You can buy advanced tickets online here.
• You can buy tickets the morning of the movie.  That requires you to wake up early and face the cold Park City morning.  Then you must wait in line until the ticket booth opens with the coffee you had to walk 5 blocks to find because there's no Starbucks.
• Another way to score tickets is through their eWaitlist.  Get the Sundance app and learn how to use the eWaitlist.  In the event that ticket holders don't go to their movie, people on the eWaitlist get their ticket.  You will find yourself counting down the seconds until the eWaitlist opens for your movie so you can click on the button at the exact second, then you'll most likely end up with number 25 or more.  But don't worry, we were able to get into movies with our numbers in the twenties.  It varies depending on the size of the venue.
• Many times sponsors will hold their own screening of a movie and just give away tickets.  We were at the right place at the right time and scored tickets for the screening of True Story.  I feel obligated to now let you know the free tickets were sponsored by Lenscrafters.  Thanks Lenscrafters for the tickets and for having your people walk through the line and clean all our glasses.  The movie was much clearer thanks to you!
• There's always Craigslist.

No expectations.

I didn't know what to expect my first time at Sundance.  I feel with no expectations, we can fully experience it without pre-judgement.  Just enjoy it and take it all in.  You might never be back.  Great advice for everything you do.

19th Century Poetry

New Years Eve always reminds me of this poem by Thomas Hardy, The Darkling Thrush.  It's about the end of the day, the end of the year, the end of a century and the cold winter makes everything look bleak.  Yet a small, little bird decides to put in every ounce of joy he can muster up to belt out it's happy little song.

"...that I could think there trembled through his happy good-night air

some blessed Hope, whereof he knew and I was unaware."

This poem is even more poignant to me today as 2015 comes to a close.  As some of you might know, I will be laid off later in January.  One might envision things to look cold and bleak like Hardy describes in this poem, but I feel more like the Darkling Thrush, ready to face the new year with a song and joy in my heart.

I'm also reminded of this quote:

"A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because her trust is not on the branch, but on it's own wings."

Lots of exciting things are in store for 2016! It's a brand new adventure and I'm looking forward to every minute!  Happy New Year, friends! Thanks for reading my blogs and joining me on my adventures.  Here's to many more to come!