Day 31: Weather Comparison

Today a bit of analysis. There's nothing quite like numbers to prove a point - numbers in themselves are unbiased - it's how we INTERPRET them that creates debate!

For the comparison below, we are looking at the Average High / Low, Record High / Low and Average Rainfall (not on the same scale as the temperatures!!)

It is a common believe that Sydney's weather the most closely resembles the weather we are used to in South Africa, but after seeing the graphs, I will take such statements with a pinch of salt. No major city in South Africa has close to the rainfall of Sydney!

However, of all the cities Brisbane and Durban are the most similar in both temperature and rainfall, with the Gold Coast a close comparison.

Somewhat surprising (for me at least), Perth and Cape Town not only has similar trends, but are also closer in temperature than Perth compared to the other cities.

Lastly, Melbourne is not THAT bad, but it's also not 'like Cape Town, just more so'. Winter lows doesn't drop as low as Johannesburg / Pretoria, though it rains consistently throughout the year, but still has 2000 sunshine hours. It's maybe just the big difference between the recorded highs and avg maximum temperature in summer that signifies how... hm... temperamental the weather really is!

There really is no city quite like Melbourne...

Temperature and Rainfall patterns - January to December

Weather comparison legend

All data sourced from Wikipedia.

Edit: Yearly Rainfall graph edited to zero-based.

Day 30: The purpose of work

Going out for lunch must be one of the compelling reasons why people work in a place like Melbourne. And with 'going out', I literally mean, going OUT. Out to enjoy the beauty of one of the beautiful parks close to the city centre. (That's assuming of course, that at some point of Melburnion life you get tired of shopping during your lunch-break. Or more likely, that certain budgetary considerations put constraints on exactly HOW many times per week you can do that.) The point remains, having a lunch-break is almost as good a reason as any to have a job.

That is the first conclusion I came to after meandering through Fitzroy Gardens today shortly after 12. The gardens are simply beautiful: huge trees, green stretches of lawn, lush greenery, criss-cross pathways and multiple ponds tucked away between the greenery.

As an added bonus, you are bound to find some activity that you can involve yourself in - apart from eating lunch. There are people jogging, some others getting a session of personal training, even a group of elderlies practicing Tai Chi. The are ducks to feed (or chase if you're under 3 years old), a conservatory to hide between flowers, and of course a multitude of other people to observe. I am sure there must even be some hidden artists there as well. They are everywhere in Melbourne. They ARE Melbourne.

Another stroller in Fitzroy Gardens... did he bring lunch?

As can be expected, all this watching people exercise and eat lunch, gradually took its toll on us, and very soon the hunger-pangs drove us back to the streets in search of a bite. We headed off to the one street we know to have Things Happening. Collins street. Which brings me to my second conclusion: if you have enough clothes, you need less food.

There is conclusive evidence walking down Collins street in support of this theory.

As we started walking down from the park's side, we found ourselves flanked by one designer boutique after the other. Prada, Hermes, Gucci... to name but a few!!! Every window we looked at a-glitter and glam with price tags I would happily pay - if they were in Rands. The street was crowded by men in suits and women wearing high heels and flaunting handbags worthy of the street we're in. Only one thing was amiss: none of them were carrying any lunch boxes, or any signs of having eaten lunch at all.

Progressing through this rue magnifique, I started feeling a sense of despair. There are no restaurants. No little cafes. Not even a doughnut shop. Only fashion outlet with door guards wearing suits and earpieces after the other. I would even welcome sight of the golden arch!

I started looking at the people passing by more closely. Please! just any sign of food! But no, they have higher things on their minds. They are filled with thoughts of haute couture.

I sighed in deep relief. On occasion some people have commented on the size of my wardrobe, or expressed genuine surprise that I NEED another jacket, or pair of shoes. Don't I have enough already?

But clearly, if I can walk down Paris-lane with the main thought in my head being FOOD, I still have a long, long way to go before anyone can accuse me of being a couturista!

Location:Melbourne

Day 29: Beware the Rhino!

More than any of the other cities we visited so far, the past few days in Melbourne showed us very clearly that we are not in South Africa any more. Australia is different. There are some very everyday things that we will have to get used to, even if they don't make total sense...

Hook turns. I have mentioned these crazy go-left-when-you-want-to-turn-right maneuvers before, and they still befuddle me. I still have the urge to point and giggle every time I see someone executing such a turn, especially since no-one else seem to be surprised by it!

Australian English. I have to work on my understanding of this one quite urgently. I am beginning to think Australian is really more like French than English. Some letters just don't get pronounced, even though they exist in the written word. And other times the pronunciation is just totally different than what you expect: 'year' becomes 'yee', at least I have that one!

Maybe I need to watch some Australian TV-series. With subtitles. In English, of course. 

Brisbane is East of Sydney, which is East of Melbourne. Yes, anyone looking at a map can see that. BUT, and this is where it gets a bit strange, both Melbourne and Sydney are an hour ahead in time of Brisbane. Well yes, it is only in the summer months, as they observe DST and Brisbane not. But just imagine if you live in Brisbane, and have kids. Every year, you watch the Sydney Fireworks on TV, and then only an hour later, you get to see the real ones. One day, they come to you with Google maps opened, and an expression of disillusionment on their faces. "Mommy, why does Sydney have New Year's Fireworks before us? It's not RIGHT!"

Thongs. Well, rather the fact that you can talk about your thongs in front of strangers, or kids. You can even ask your 4-year old niece if she remembered to bring hers. Because in Australia, you wear them on your feet!

Zebra crossings. In South Africa zebras roam around in game reserves, not cities. It's therefore also reasonable to expect them to cross the roads there. Black-and-white painted stripes on a road doesn't have anything to do with zebras, and therefore you are not expected to wait for anything to cross the road there. If you ARE a pedestrian, it will be rather suicidal if you just start walking and expect the traffic to magically stop for you.

And lastly, Rhinos on skateboards!

Day 27: Walking... Sydney to Melbourne

It is amazing how quickly one can adapt to new surroundings. Back in South Africa, a HAT was something buried quite deep in the back of my cupboard, reserved for taking out once or twice a year for holiday. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of sun in Joburg, but by mostly travelling by car, one doesn't get much incidental exposure to it.

This all changed very quickly in a city where using public transport is a way of life, and walking is the means of getting from front door to station, and station to everywhere else. So I quickly got into the habit of hat-wearing around the streets of Sydney.

Well-prepared... for Sydney!

As such, I felt quite prepared for Melbourne as I added a scarf, light jersey and umbrella to my list of everyday things. After all, everyone knows you get all four seasons in one day in Melbourne! What I REALLY should have added is a morning jacket, convertable boots-to-sandals and a fold-up silk coat - similar to silk sleeping bags that fold up into the size of a small koala, but keep you warm like a bear. That would have done much to help me quicker on the way of appreciating the marvels of Melbourne instead of scurrying from shop to shop in search of a warm coat. ANY warm coat!

In retrospect, I should have done the maths when packing my suitcase. Really, it is not difficult: if a city has an average temperature of 26°C for January, and the previous week registered temperatures in excess of 36°C, it HAS to balance out with maximum temperatures of 16° this week...

I guess this bi-polar weather is just one of the things one has to get accustomed to in Melbourne, like someone said, Melbourne has so much MORE weather!

A definite upside: you get to wear your boots and coat throughout the year, even with a little summer dress!

Location: Block Pl,Melbourne,Australia

Day 26: Finding the Falls

Today was going to be an especially memorable day: we were going to the Blue Mountains. Since I can remember, mountains have always had a special allure to me. Having grown up in a reasonable flat area of the North West province in South Africa, anything that has the word 'mountain' attached to it, means a break in the monotonous flat horizon of rows and rows of maize. So when I first heard about the Blue Mountains, I got understandably excited.

The 2-hour train trip was reasonably uneventful, as one would hope such things to be when they're not the main attraction. We did, however, start to realise that we are really going to a popular tourist destination. Arriving in Katoomba confirmed this: the thing that you will see MOST of in the best tourist destinations, are in fact tourists themselves. They arrived by train, by bus, by any possible means of transport, to see the mystical Blue Mountains. (Which reminded me of an old Afrikaans song - 'Al lê die berge nog so blou'. Loosely translated as 'Even though the mountains lay in blue'...)

The moment I stepped off the train, I knew I wasn't going to be disappointed. Fresh mountain air, with a hint of eucalyptus on the nose, and open blue skies. A beautiful day. And a beautiful quaint town, which reminds me of somewhere, even though I've never quite experienced a similar place. Knysna in the mountains? A larger version of Hochsback? Kaapschehoop maybe - with the cool air and perched on an escarpment?

Whichever it may be, there was a welcome feeling of familiarity. Even in the forest walks just outside the town. Huge trees, mottled shadow, layers of leaves coating the forest floor, tree-ferns, moss, chirping of birds and insects... It was all there. Even down to a few pesky mosquitoes. The only thing that was missing, was a waterfall. Or lots of waterfalls - then it would be like the forests near Sabie and Graskop in Mpumalanga.

I was quite delighted then, to see a signpost on one of our walks, reading 'Katoomba Falls - 25 mins'. Yes! We followed the signs, still enchanted by the forest. The previous time we walked in a forest like this, our quick 15 minute walk became hours of being lost, and walking along cliff edges that still give me chills when I think about it. We mistook an animal track for a human one. (In hindsight that explained the unusual frequency of animal droppings along it...)

Not so on the pathways here. You can hardly doubt the nature of a 1m wide pathway - especially when large sections of it is clad in wood WITH a handrail! It is the difference between walking in a forest where marketing and a well-organised tourist industry plotted the points of human interaction, and walking in a forest surrounding a little village that can only be reached by car after a good number of hours on a winding single-lane road...

After the indicated 25 minutes of walking, lo and behold, there is another sign to the waterfalls, and some tourists pointing the way. Two minutes? I am surprised. Shouldn't we be hearing the falls by now? Yes, there is the bubbling of a stream close-by, but waterfalls.... thunder. They roar. They make their presence known. We walk a bit, see a little stream flowing over some rocks. Walk some more, see a slightly bigger stream falling over some rocks between the trees, and again and again. We walk a bit further.... the sound of water grows fainter. We turn back. Is that it? We look at each other. We look at the stream coming down between the trees. I point my phone in that direction. I aim. But I can't get myself to press the button. Even with my real camera I would probably need a 400mm lens to fill the picture with water rushing down.

We stared at the waterfall a bit more, then looked at each other. "The trees are really magnificent, you know." I nodded.

Walking through forest in the Blue Mountains

Later, we learned that the Blue Mountains are indeed host to many waterfalls. I am still not convinced we saw the right one. Maybe we should have just walked another 10 minutes. Maybe it was just not the right time of year. If you go to Vic Falls 'in season', you see The Smoke that Thunders. In dry season, you see lots of cliff and a bit of water. 

One day, I will go back to the Blue Mountains. And then I will know...

Day 24: All in a day's work

As I have to remind myself occasionally, part of our short-term plan is to acquire employment. It is rather hard to convince all the parts of your mind to switch from HOLIDAY-mode to INTERVIEW-mode, but somehow it is possible, and for a couple of hours it was business in all seriousness.

With the feeling of high-heels still fresh in my feet's memory, we decided to spend the afternoon in Manly. I am rather relieved that I was infinitely better prepared for the interview than for what waited on Manly!

To put the experience in perspective, my prior knowledge about Manly centered mainly around three things:
1. It is an extremely popular and hip place to live in.
2. It is an expensive place to live in.
3. You can get there by ferry.

Yep. Not a wealth of information.
You can then well understand my surprise when nearing Manly - on the famous ferry, of course! - I see a stretch of tall buildings, a line of trees, and best of all: a beach!

Of course that piece of information is known by MANY people, and thus, even on a weekday afternoon, the beach is dotted from end to end with people. Furthermore, just off the beach, you find yourself in friendly streets of shopping and eating. Thus armed with a feeling of pleasant surprise on the one hand and Danish ice-cream in the other hand, we head off to walk along Manly beach...

It is along this walk that I seriously considered a change in career. A radical change. Here we are, in the country of new opportunity, and I am looking for a job where I will spend most of my day in an office, looking at a computer screen, or getting other people to look at a computer screen? I have to wear suitably uncomfortable shoes to look 'professional', wear different IRONED clothes every day, and even brush my hair EVERY morning! Clearly all of that is overrated, totally unnecessary, and probably bad for your health.
HERE, on the beach of Manly, is where things can change. THIS is where I can spend my days. Live my future. Become...

Living the dream!

There is only one small problem. Call it a challenge, if you like. I would need to learn to swim!!!

Location:Manly, Sydney

Day 23: City of Diversity

One thing that struck me about Sydney almost immediately, is its diversity. People from different countries and cultures flow in and out of its public spaces like ants after rain. I thought it's a good opportunity for some list-making.

First: the number of times I heard and could identify different languages in one day in Sydney. (Sadly I won't know the difference between Cantonese and Mandarin, or Bulgarian and any number of Eastern European languages, so my list is very limited to what I CAN in fact distinguish easily!)

List of Languages

I was surprised at the high frequence of French. But maybe my ears just pick it up easier.
On the other hand, I expected to hear much more Italian. All my research indicated that there is a very large Italian community in Australia. I'm beginning to wonder if my method of identifying Italian is maybe faulty.
Only one person was singing La donna e mobile as he walked past.

The next list is very similar. This was compiled in the span of around three hours over lunch-time. Restaurants and any other shops related to food, with an obvious foreign connotation.

List of International Cuisine spotted

The Fruitologist sneaked through on the list as it really tickled my interest. Would they perhaps advise customers that an apple a day keeps the doctor at bay?

Now off to look for a French Pattiserie, Italian ice-cream and Belgian waffles!

Location:Pott's Point, Sydney