Canberra in September

Arriving a day early for the Rotary 9750 District Conference gave me a bit of time to wander around the city and take some photos:


The Australian Academy of Science in Canberra built as their first home the Shine Dome, completed in 1959 and designed by Melbourne firm Grounds, Romberg and Boyd. Go to the AAS website here to read more.




The New Parliament House (completed 1988) sits slightly uphill to the Old Parliament House (completed 1927), which was built as a provisional building meant to hold government for approximately 50 years. The city of Canberra was specially planned (by an American!) and constructed as the Australian capital due to an intense rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne.



The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has the most severe water restrictions of any Australian state.


Entry to the New Parliament House on the right.


Rooftop cafe


by Italian artist George Baldesin (1929-1978);
National Gallery of Australia in Canberra

Sydney Swans 141 - Hawthorn Hawks 69

02 September 2007
Aussie Stadium

Special thanks to Dudley at Randwick Rotary Club for the tickets to the game!



The Army Red Berets Parachute Team were responsible for delivering the ball to start the game. In style.



The one time I didn't wear my bright red jacket to the Stadium...



Proving a combination of proximity and camera zoom ability!

Sydney Fish Market

What Brunch is Really About

This is for my friend and fellow dog-lover UB.





Cafe Morso
Lower Deck (West side)
Jones Bay Wharf
Pirrama Road, Pyrmont
NSW 2009

Live Green

Live Green - An event for your future...
Victoria Park (University of Sydney)




Mariana's Toyota Prius is ranked number one for performance on the government's Green Vehicle Guide!



?



See, environmentalists can be cool, says the Johnny Depp look-alike running the solar powered sound system.
That's hot.

Sydney Harbour BridgeClimb

After the breathalyzer, metal detector and near strip search (no joke!), Carrie and I clipped ourselves to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and spent the next hour or so climbing up through the structure to walk on top of the upper arch and then tumble back down the stairs to the store where you can spend any money you might have left on photos of yourself.

It was an amazing experience. Don't let me fool you.
Click here for their official website.



Special thanks to the Rose Bay Rotary Club who were extremely generous and gifted the BridgeClimb to me as their Ambassadorial Scholar for the year!

Darwin Day 4 - Kakadu National Park

On our fourth and final day in Darwin, Saturday 8/18, we took a one day tour to the Kakadu National Park. Our tour guide, Kerry, was awesome - we learned a lot about the park and the surrounding areas on the bus ride over. The highlights included a boat ride on the Yellow Waters, visiting the Cultural Center, aboriginal rock art at Nourlangie Rock, climbing to the lookout point and visiting the cathedral termite mounds.

There were plenty of crocs about that day, sunning themselves on the shores and trying to regulate their body temperature. We saw only saltwater crocodiles, the vicious man-eating kind...The Jabiru is a large regal bird that resides in the park, we watched one catch lunch while we rode by on the boat.The aboriginal rock art at Nourlangie Rock is amazing to view - the one here is entitled "Want To Dance?" because it depicts a lot of movement. We climbed to the lookout point and took lots of photos , it was impossible to capture the amazing panoramic view on camera... :)Our next stop was the enormous Cathedral Termite Mounds - so named for the shape they form. The "wings" to the sides of the main mound are primarily to help regulate the temperature inside the mound, apparently these guys are picky about their living environment...Last stop was at Windows on the Wetlands, a small museum and observatory where we watched the sun go down over the wetlands with a glass of wine in hand~Julie and I returned to Darwin and had dinner at Duck's Nuts on Mitchell Street. Across the street, at the Hog's Breath Cafe, it was Bike Night - a traditional shared by Americans and Aussies alike~ :)

A short while later, we arrived at the airport for our overnight flight back to Sydney (read: red eye flight) and took a nap when we got back to Julie's house Sunday morning.

We have a few more adventures to share~ For now, I must finish packing, my flight leaves this afternoon to come back to the U.S.