Business travels

Last week I sort of kind of implied that I am unlucky and deserve symphathy-points for being here (Australia, if you haven't been paying attention) on a business trip, rather than for the long-hoped vacation. Poor me. What a horrible destiny it is to be here.

...admiring flowers in the parks...

Surely, there is always work to do, weekday or weekend. But I gathered what little I had and took it as an excuse to see around Melbourne: I am travelling with a colleague who has not had that many chances to travel the world. And also, who doesn't have a driver's licence. So he couldn't really do that much alone, could he?

As a sidenote: here on the other side of the world they drive on the other side of the road. I had only done that for about 30 kms or so before Friday, and that was 2005 or 2006 in a smallish town in U.K., so it's not like I am expert driving on the left. Some people said it's no big deal, then again my friend who lived in U.K. for about three years didn't drive there at all. So it might be a big deal. But I like to drive. Plus the factory we need to be going as of tomorrow is a loooong way from the city (they have cow pastures right next to it) and we need to get there by some means. How hard can it be, anyway? A person I don't appreciate too highly commented that driving in the U.K. was so easy for him. Not that I am competitive or anything, but if he can do it, well so can I. And actually: it has been easy [knocking vigorously on wood].

Only issue is that they are quite strict with the speed limits here. But that of course is not a problem for me, as my friends migth know. Not a problem at all. Nope. Not the least bit. Actually, I have never had a ticket. Oops! I thought I could still do April fools. Sorry.

Anyway, this weekend I have been to see Healesville Sanctuary, which hosts a league of Australian species, like koalas, kangaroos, Tasmanian devils, and echida.

...feeding carrots to this guy :o) So cute!

This little girl was a lively one for a koala:

On Sunday we drove through the Great Ocean Road, which is a road by the sea (I know I know, you never would have guessed!) with cute small villages, some of the best surf beaches in Australia (so they say), some lighthouses, beautiful parrots and the twelve Apostles, i.e. 12 limestone formations in the sea.

Two of the twelve apostles. And me. I'm on the right.

Split Point Lighthouse

A parrot in Apollo Bay

There were also gorgeous blue and red colored parrots flying in

some of the places we stopped, but I couldn't get a shot of them.

So, compared to other people's business travels... [Deep sigh] Ooh. Poor, poor me.

Seriously: I consider myself pretty lucky.

Sydney, Sydney, Sydney

I have been busy getting to know Sydney: the first day I spent here, I first walked around the city for five hours, and then continued running for one hour. I haven't been still much after that either.

I first stayed at the Four Points by Sheraton at Darling Harbour. It is a great location: you are wthin walking distance from everywhere. Well, everywhere I have been to: The Opera House(2.), Circular Quay, The Rocks, The Royal Botanical Garden (+ other parks 4.), the shopping (6.). The Sydney Tower. The Sydney Acquarium (3.) The Harbour Bridge (5.). And of course, the Darling Harbour (1.). Good hotel, great location, if you ask me.

There are dozenz and dozens of restaurants at the Darling Harbour. And let me tell you, I have yet to have anything but good food in this country! During the Easter weekend Darling Harbour hosted "one of Australia's largest street theatre and human circus events", the Hoopla Festival. Day or night, whenever I would walk around the harbour, there seemed to be someone performing. Travelling alone isn't great, but it is great to be able to stop whenever you want. To watch a show, for example :o)

I also went to a see a play, The Alchemist (novel by Paul Coelho), playing at the famed Sydney Opera House. I also learned that a teather play in (Australian) English is remarkable more difficult to understand than a movie. Well, for someone who's not native speaker. Not impossible, but required a lot of concentration. It was ok, but not suberb. But I got to see the Opera House from inside, a bit at least. Which was ok, too, but not suberb. I mean, it was just brownish, harsh stone surfaces, as far as I could see.

The Sydney Acquarium (and the Wildlife Center, which I passed, 'cause I plan to go to a wildlife santuary near Melbourne next weekend) is just across the street from my hotel. It was educative: now I know that alligators don't live in Australia, only crocodiles do. And I can tell the two apart. Well, if I'll have time to contemplate their teeth.

I also met some animals I don't think I had met before. The platypus (eli nokkaeläin, suomeksi) and dugongs (ja se olisi sitten merilehmä). Dugong featured below in a messy shot eating salad. Really, he was most enthusiastic about the lettuce that was provided for him. Her? How do I know which? (Oli miten oli, mutta tämä saattaa olla kytköksissä lajin lehmä-nimeen... Asiaa tutkitaan.) I should follow the suit, since my half-marathon is closing by, and I weigh more than last year, which makes it heavier to run. Even couple of kilos make a huge difference, you see.

There were also a lot of other things, like these glowing jelly-fishes.

And sharks. I know animals are not mean or capable of hatred as a feeling, but look at the eye and the expression of this guy. He is just evil, there is no going around that.

I have also spent some hours reading, walking and running in the close by parks: the Hyde Park and the Royal Botanical Garden. To be able to smell the soild. And grass. And flowers. And to see all the green and all the water around! It'll just make your heart sing.

And look at what they say:

After all the Shanghai whistle-blowing (if you dare to step on the grass) this is just a blissful sign. Could I take one home with me?

There were also hundrets (that's my educated guess) of bats in the Botanical Garden. They say at dusk they leave their home trees and fly as a huge horde to eat. Not on human blood and flesh, incase you have recently seen the movie Twilight. I didn't have time to wait around for dusk (I wanted to go see some more Hoopla-shows) but during the day the bats were scrieking and wrestling with one-another. Propably for the best branches.

Night view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Can you see the small dots on the bridge (on the picture below)? Not the fence, but the other ones. They are people. You get to climb the bridge, for hefty 180 AUD, which is about 90 euros. I am often all for this kind of things, but that seemed a bit expensive. So instead I just decided to cross the bridge and do the pylon climb, which will take you to 80+ meters compared to 130 meters of the bridge climb, but it'll also only cost you 9,5 AUD. I actually ended up crossing the bridge couple of times more than planned, since I got lost. I am not sure how anyone can get lost in this city, it is as easy to navigate here as it is in your own home. Really, I mean it.

I try to avoid shopping, since I am suppose to save money for a house, but this is such a great shopping city, that it is hard. I mean, in Shanghai you have all the top-end brands, but the nice quality, nice-style affordable range is somewhat limited. Plus it is off-putting that whenever you go to a shop, someone is following you mere millimeters from your elbow. But here: I have time. There are shops. There is plentiful of nice shops. Atmosphere is relaxed. Ahhh... A shoe-shop called Wittner was a really nice found. I think I have seen it before, but cannot remember where. Anyway: their shoes are modern and stylish, affordable and real leather both outside and inside. That is really something you are hard pressed to find in Shanghai.

And another thing I will miss: David Jones delicacy department. The smoothies they make from fresh fruits or berries, skim-milk and low-fat youghurt. Mmm... Not to even mention the cheece counter which is about 20 meters long. Or the bakery. Or the antipasti counter... Excuse me, I need to go get a tissue to clean the drool on the keyboard.

Oh Sydney, my love

I have always wanted to go to Australia. Maybe just because it is so far, far away (especially so, if you happen to live in Finland). The way I had pictured it, we would be driving around Australia for four weeks. Maybe five. Diving at the Great Barrier Reef (although in my day-dream this is always mixed with fear, since I associate the reef strongly with sharks), admiring koalas and kangaroos, enjoing the great beaches and waterfalls, and the gorgeous cities like Sydney and Melbourne.

I am here now, but the rest didn't quite turn out the way I had planned: I am here on business, I am here alone, and I certainly will not stay here for five weeks. But regardless of that, so far: I love this place.

My trip could not have started better:

First great thing

I needed (or wanted) to pick up my jeans from the tailor (they needed to be shortened a bit) before I left to the airport. Unfortunately, all the company cars were taken, and I had no time for a round-trip to the tailor. So, I decided to take my changes: I took a taxi, told him I wanted to go to the airport, but needed to stop at the fabric market first for one minute, if that would be ok with him? Ok, he said. I have mostly met honest taxi drivers in Shanghai, even so, that they turn off the meter if they accidently take a longer way (which never ever happens anywhere else, at least not to me). But still, you never know. I wasn't going to leave my handback or my computer back to the taxi while I picked up my jeans, but I didn't want to loose my clothes and shoes either. Sigh. Could I really not go to Australia equipped with some other jeans? I got off the cab in the traffic lights before the fabric marker, and told the driver to wait for me in front of the main doors. And of I went, to get my jeans. I was in and out in two minutes, and got slightly worried when the taxi was nowhere to be seen when I came out. Only to find out, that he was still in the lights, and just heading towards me. Great job, I praised him and gave him a 20 yuan note, after he had gotten me to the airport via fabric market in about 50 minutes.

Second great thing

I slept like a baby during the flight. And by "like a baby", I mean that I did wake up every two hours or so, but without changing or feeding went quickly back to sleep. I think I slept seven hours altogether. That never happens. I was happy as a bird and brisk as a bee when I walked to the terminal.

Third - not so great thing, but at least I wasn't evicted

In the terminal I had a little incident. Involving a working dog. And an apple. An ashamed me. In the entry card they ask a lot of questions. You know how it goes: have you EVER been in contact with livestock during the past 30 days? No. Have your EVER been to Africa or South America during the past 30 days? No. Have you got shoes or other items that may contain soil? No. Not really. Have you ever been convicted of a crime? Nope. Do you have any food, including dried, cooked, jaba jaba jaba... Yes, I have a chocolate bar and two protein bars in my bag. So I crossed the box. There were several posters reminding us passangers that we can either trough our food items away to the several available bins, or present them at the guaranteen. I didn't want to loose my protein bars, so I decided to go through the guaranteen. I wasn't in a hurry or anything. But before that, I needed to pick up my luggage. While waiting for it at the belt, I placed my cabin bag to the ground. Within a minute a woman with a working dog passed by. Except that the dog didn't want to pass by. "Do you have a dog?", the lady asked. "Actually I do", I said. Never mind that the said dog resides in Finland and I in China, I still find her black hair almost every day. So, the lady was content to move on, but the dog wasn't. So she asked if I have any food in my bag. "I do", I said again, and presented the chocolate and the protein bar. "And that's all?" she said. "Yes it is". I was sure it was all. Still, the dog was not happy to continue, but instead was happily wagging her tail: she had found something. Actually I had grapes in a plastic bag, and I still have the empty bag, I offered and showed the bag. That did not do it either. So we went through my entire bag, full of everything I might have needed during the 10,5 hour flight. Like two pairs of jeans. And we found an apple. Oops. I had totally forgotten the apple. I knew it was there, I just didn't remember it was there. I wondered if I would get a ticket, because that's what they told in all those posters: If you cross us, you'll be fined or even send back to where you came from. I didn't think they would send me back, especially when I wasn't even pass the guaranteen yet, I could have still presented my apple for them. I might have. If I had remembered I had it... But I wasn't sure how big the fine could be.

Well, I wasn't fined, and I got to keep my protein bar and chocolate. I even think the guaranteen-officer tried to flirt with me. Which leads me back to my original topic: every one, or, shall we say, every man I have met in this country has been so polite and gentleman-like that I have just been taken aback with that. I dropped a pillow in the plane, and before I had time to do anything, it was handed to me. An elevator at the train station was broken and I started to carry my bags up, only to note they were taken from me and carried up. I dropped my cardigan, and a yong man run it for me. That just does not happen in China.

I don't know yet if it is only the long Easter-weekend, but people seem so relaxed, friendly and nice, that you cannot but like this city.

Also, there are abundand options for good food, there is a lot of water and waterfront areas, sky is blue, sun is shining, and shopping is good. The city center is easily walkable, and it doesn't feel unsafe even for a lone woman. My head is spinning and I think I may have found my soulmate.

More to come, as soon as I get photos loaded to my laptop...