Darwin Day 1 - Sunset Cruise

Julie and I decided to go to Darwin while I was here visiting. Darwin is the capital of the Northern Territory and the architecture of the city is quite modern because 90% of the city was destroyed by Cyclone Tracy in the 70's.

On our first day in the city, we arrived early afternoon, checked in at the hostel, went to the Visitor's Center and the office of Troppo Architects - we then went on a sunset cruise around Darwin Harbor. We finished the day with dinner of Barramundi (local catch) and Kangaroo steak at Shennanigan's in town~

Best airplane food, ever! We were on a leg of an international Qantas flight to India~

I think I may have inherited my father's predilection for liking sunset photos... :)
The day ended quite beautifully~
And there's always another friendly tourist around to take your photo... :)

Carrie's in Sydney - Act II

I arrived in Sydney at 6:30 am (ew!) and stayed up the rest of the day to re-set my internal clock to the local time zone (14 hours different from home). I went to bed at 8pm, got up the next morning and didn't have any trouble with jet lag. :)

My first picture of the Sydney Opera House... :)
The Opera House is fun to photograph because it looks different from every angle~

My first weekend in Sydney, Julie and I went on a walking tour of the city - the CBD (Central Business District) isn't too big. We walked through campus, Chinatown, Darling Harbor to the Circular Quay. We then walked from Circular Quay through the botanical gardens, Hyde Park and the shopping district.

The bats sleep during the day in the Botanical Gardens - they are fun to watch moving around while they sleep high above in the trees~

The reflecting pool at Hyde Park is a popular hang-out spot for skateboarders~

While Julie sat in class all day, I went to the zoo~ As chance might have it, Nina (a friend from WMU Dance Dept.) was also in Sydney! We enjoyed the zoo together and were lucky that it didn't start raining until we were back in the city. Thanks for the tea & dessert, Nina!

The giraffes have quite a spectacular view of Sydney~

The Koalas sleep a lot, probably to avoid spending too much time around tourists like us... :)

Carrie's in Sydney!

It looks like we're standing in front of a green screen!!

more later.... right now we're headed to Darwin.

Chinese Friendship Garden - Darling Harbour

This is what boys do in Chinese friendship gardens.


And this is what dancers do.

Aussie Stadium

Football game with the girls. And a couple Rotarians. Many thanks to Dudley from Randwick Rotary Club for the tickets to the game!!

Climate Change Summit 2007

Official website for the conference here.

The conference took place at Dockside in Darling Harbour over two days, 25-26 July. I was responsible for taking notes that will be turned into a short summary of the outcomes to send to the Prime Minister, John Howard. There were some outstanding speakers and extremely interesting case studies on how Australian business and local governments are responding to the challenge of climate change.

Primary topics included risk management as it applies to climate change, development of an environmental policy with internal commitments to greening the workplace, adaptation required due to the changing climate, supporting and influencing behavioural changes, and the importance of credentials and transparency to avoid "greenwashing." In one of the more lively discussions early in the first day, many of the delegates criticized the use of carbon offsetting as a legitimate practice toward carbon neutrality. Other topics included "climate porn" in the media's overuse of dramatic images like the Antarctic ice-shelf collapse and stranded polar bears, the creation and future of Earth Hour, and the application of the Stern Report to the Australian market.


Roger Beale AO, Senior Associate, Allen Consulting Group
Published reports include:
Triple Bottom Line Measurement and Reporting in Australia (2002) – Triple bottom line includes the economic, social and environmental factors of sustainability.
Deep Cuts in Greenhouse Gas Emissions (2007) – Analysis of the cost implications in Australia as a result of reducing greenhouse gas emissions significantly by 2050.


Darling Harbour


Darling Harbour: Dockside is all the way down on the right

Aroma Festival

This is at the risk of being called over-caffeinated.
Again.


"For lovers of coffee, chocolate, tea & spice."


Individual booths with coffee for $1 and other treats from $1-5. Dangerously cheap but the best booths have long lines, so there's plenty of time to finish the latte before ordering the flat white.



Product showcase for mostly commercial use. And giant beans.