Friday, November 12, 2010

Ginger Beer!!



Ginger Beer: I didn't really think there was anything better than Ginger Ale until I started drinking ginger beer! They have so many brands and it's all over the place.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Sandboarding



This is Port Stephens. This was ridiculously fun.

Aside from the obvious thrill factor of riding down sand dunes on boards, there are two interesting facts about these dunes:

1. It's the largest moving land mass in the world. The winds blow sand inland, up to 10 meters per year. At one point this was all a forest but the sand has slowly blown inland and eaten away at the vegetation.

2. This sand is exported to Waikiki Beach! So the famous white sand beaches in Waikiki are not from Hawaii at all, but from Newcastle!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Pizza!


Couldn't decide whether to try the kangaroo, crocodile, or emu, but settled on the emu which was really tasty!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Sydney Fish Market


The Sydney Fish Market is the second largest in the world. It's not really a consumer destination but we went ahead and checked it out anyway. By law, fishermen have to land 100% of their catch, meaning they're not allowed to throw stuff back into the water. In order to help them sell all of the fish - the Fish Market conducts a daily auction. Every morning at 5:30 am dozens of buyers come in and bid on fresh catch for their respective clients (chefs, restaurants, etc.)

They use a Dutch auction model which is pretty interesting. The fish of choice is displayed and the price per kilogram counts down. When a buyer wants to buy he pushes the button to stop the price and enters how many kg he wants. The longer he waits, the cheaper the cost becomes, but he is at risk of another buyer jumping in and buying what he wants.

If you look at the picture, the buyers on sitting in the stadium seating on the bottom right and they are watching the clock where each cycle represents one aussie dollar.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Horseracing = Fashion Show


It's a whole different breed at the racetracks here. We found out it's racing season so we decked ourselves out to join the crowd. But here, going to the races has a whole different meaning. Girls put feathers and fascinators in their hair and look like they are putting on a fashion show. The scene is so seen-and-be-seen in fact, they have a pay-hair-straightener in the girls bathroom!

Random Aussie Stuph


Took us a while to catch on with the accent, but the Aussies kept telling us about beetroot -- which they pronounce pretty quickly like... bitruit. Not entirely sure how that's different from regular beets, but they love it in everything, especially burgers!

Red Bull - I guess it comes in bottles here!

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Taronga Zoo



KANGAROO. Apparently they sit on their tail when they are resting.
WOMBAT. Love.
TASSIE DEVIL. Nothing like the Looney Tunes character!
BLUE PENGUIN. Smallest penguin in the world and only found in Oz. So small in fact, I couldn't get a decent picture. Just kidding these guys were pretty shy and I managed to get a semi decent photo of one swimming in the tank

Friday, November 5, 2010

The Argyle



Went to a swanky bar with the Carat team out here called the Argyle with a shared bathroom. These nifty pod things are actually urinals, pronounced with an Aussie-Brit accent as you-RIGH-nal. Also - in case you thought Japan had all the weird stuff in vending machines - they've got a machine with ballet slipper flats in case you're wearing crappy heels that make your feet hurt.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Ute & Vegemite


Ute (Left)
Short for utility vehicle - is a pretty popular car out here. I'm told that all the "tradesmen" have them and people do all sorts of stuff to fix 'em up like rice rockets
Vegemite (Right)
I have to hand it to the Aussies for being resourceful. All that leftover yeast at the bottom of the barrel from making beer gets recycled into this local fave. With a little onion, salt, and celery - vegemite is supposedly the best hangover cure. Taste-wise it's got a punch to it you wouldn't really expect and kind of reminds me of olives..