Canberra, my home for the next few years.

The day is August 5, Thursday almost 11 AM; I sit in the main library at The Australian National University, struggling to remember what has passed these last few days. 

On Monday at 12:30, the CountryLink leaves Sydney for Canberra. The ride down to Canberra (pronounced "Canbra") passes first through old run-down parts of Sydney before opening into suburbs, and an hour or more later into flat lands and slowly rolling hills. Reminds me of California's central valley, but with a winter look. The trees appear to be pine and Eucalyptus, but I can't tell for sure; some appear to be very different from any I have seen before. Many trees are bare. The temperature is in the 50's and was near zero the night before.

After a bit, the rolling hills turn into Sierra-like foothills with farms along the rails, full with sheep and cattle. A Kangaroo or two hop down the dirt roads, going somewhere; can't tell the motivations. And I see someone on horseback minding the ranch. Suddenly, off in the distance, I spy the Telstra Tower on Black Mountain. ANU is at its base; so I know Canberra is near. I am looking south.

David is waiting at the station and drives me around the city showing me the sites. He drives a small white Australian car with the wheel on the right side. Cars are all moving on the "wrong" side of the street. Can I get use to the unexpected behavior of the traffic? Everything is a mirror image of American roads.

The ride is shortly over and we are in Phillip, a small suburb on the other side of the City Centre from the train station. Lucy, a tortoiseshell, like my cat back home, greets us at the door. His condo is pleasant enough and comfortable. I'm put in the guest room.

David is 70; his wife died two years ago and he has moved here from a much larger house in the northern suburbs. She was a pretty woman. He takes me to dinner at the Southern Cross Club, an establishment full of slot machines and gaming tables. This is his regular hangout for dinner, and I have to sign in as a guest. I'll talk food another time, since it deserves its own post. I may need to acquire these tastes. He suggests I pay the $3/year membership fee, so that I can get in anytime I want for dinner.

On Tuesday, David walks me over to the mall at Woden Centre, a couple of blocks from the house. We shop for some things he needs and I search out various cell phone plans. I can get a nice Android for a two year commitment of $50/mo. That's a second tier plan. The Apples are $80/mo. On top of any plan I can get International calling for an additional $20/mo. Those I call back home pay nothing as long as I dial them. All of thee plans assume a max number of minutes, of course, then the payment shoots through the roof.

One day people will learn to how to price cell phones as a necessary commodity instead of a way to get rich fast.

Prices for everything seem to be quite a bit high. I saw a clump of flowers going for $45. Mind you the exchange rate is about .93 USD to 1 AUD right now, so think about these as USD and you won't be far wrong. Clothes are a bit higher, but shoes? I found ordinary shoes for $200 and $300. The "Payless" shoes weren't much cheaper and nothing near what one would pay at Payless in the states.

The mall had all the regular stores: a Woolworth's (!), sport shops, women's fashions, men's stores, bakeries and patiseries, a Hungry Jack's instead of Jack in the Box, of course a MacDonald's and all those Mexican, Chinese and Thai fast foods spots. There are high fashion stores and discount clothiers, but on average the prices do appear to be a bit higher than Marin County.

We head off for ANU in the afternoon and drive the campus looking for parking. The building and layout remind me of UC Berkeley, but the buildings are low, no more than 4 stories. Walking about I am reminded of Sproul Plaza at UCB. The engineering building is not too far off the beaten path and after circulating around the new construction, I find my advisor's office. She is in a meeting with her group of students and her faculty partner. I introduce myself and we all talk for a few minutes, then I let them finish their work.

Evening meal is again at The Southern Cross but Catherine joins us, a close friend of David's wife. I buy them each a glass of wine and we celebrate the world travelers, since David leaves the next day, Wednesday, for Thailand, London and San Diego, CA. His son, Paul, picks him up in the early morning and I am left alone.

I spend Wednesday finding computer access and working on XET needs with Bill and Kurt for most of the day, but get out in later afternoon to explore more of the mall, have a late lunch and find the bus interchange. Woden, it seems, is one of the major centres for bus connections, something like the San Rafael bus interchange. Supposedly I can take a bus down to the City Centre exchange from here. I spend the evening pouring over the Canberra map, looking for bike trails, since David says I can use his bike for the next month to get around. I discover it is about a 4 mile ride into the ANU, not bad, and there are bike lanes and paths the whole way.

Today Thursday, I am off to the Woden interchange and run into a fellow bus rider to the City. He's actually a New Zealander, here now for four years and planning to acquire Australian citizenship. Apparently there are many more work opportunities here than in New Zealand.  He informs me that I need to get a "Ten tripper"; this is a ticket that allows me to ride the bus for 10 round trips at half the price.

Now I await a noon appointment with the admissions people to let them know that I am ready to commence study and research. 

First View of Sydney

At 6:30 AM, August 2, 2010, flight 863 lands, probably the smoothest of any I have ever experienced, and I marvel at how large craft as the 747 can be so smoothly handled. There are perhaps 10 to 12 first class seats in the nose of the plane, well equipped with on-demand TV, full beds, and other trinkets for those who can afford.

Business class stretches behind and up the stairs to the second floor behind the cabin. The passengers can manage everything conveniently as well; the bed is less accommodating, nevertheless horizontal. Economy stretches the vast cavernous length of the body, 10 seats across with two aisles. No stretch out for those passengers.

Customs is rapid but baggage takes awhile and I search for the camera while waiting, but can't find it. After baggage is claimed I make a bee-line for the door and find myself in bright sunny, 55 degree weather of outer Sydney. The train to Central Station where the I will find the CountryLink is $15, but only 4 stops away. They trap the tourists like we do.

I run into an professor of Ecology at Ohlone College in the Bay Area. He's in Sydney partly for vacation and partly to lead a clutch of students for several weeks. Quite a personable fellow who has been here for 2 weeks already and mentors me on the transportation system and points out the high prices of everything. We talk about solar in some detail.

Central is the main transfer point for all transportation in Sydney, bus, train, and rail, to the city and intercity. Commuters crowd the trains like they do in every big city, but the system proves to be quite efficient and rapid. Central is located in an older, perhaps seedier part of town, but I base that on old buildings and not on numbers of homeless. Maybe I see one person that might qualify, but I can't tell for sure. This is where I pick up CountryLink.

The time is 9 AM. I check my bag into CountryLink and hit the CityRail for Circular Quay. It's a $6.40 charge for a round trip ticket just before 9 AM and $4.40 afterward. It seems that "Peak Commute" time ends at 9.

Circular Quay refers to the walk, I suppose, around parts of Sydney Harbor. The rail lets me off across from the Ferry Terminal where a half dozen ferries are loading and unloading for trips to various points around the harbor. The Sydney bridge is off to the left and the Opera House off to the right, both within walking distance. I start off toward the right, miffed because I can't find my new camera amidst all my baggage. I have a hunch I left it at home on the shoebox.

The sun of outer Sydney has been pushed away by a high foggy overcast, much like the summer sun at home is pushed out by the summer fog at the Golden Gate, hurling the valley into 50 degree days, while 10 minutes north in San Rafael the sun bakes 25 degrees Fahrenheit hotter. But this is winter here not summer and I wonder if Sydney is cold in summer too, like SF.

The stop for hot coffee at a sidewalk café (more of an outdoor kiosk with a few tables) gets me a smallish cup of evil brew with some warm milk and white sugar for $3.50. I notice that an "Aussie's breakfast, consisting of eggs, Italian sausage, and toast is $22, the same price as the salmon salad. There must be more than one egg. The pasta dish goes for $18. I find a coke machine and notice the cokes are in bottles and go for $3.50, but they do use sugar cane for sweetener instead of high fructose syrup. Yippee.

Turning back and looking at downtown Sydney shows me a modest density of tall buildings, nothing like current San Francisco, but perhaps the San Francisco of the 1970's. The buildings look old in the overcast gray of the morning. Even the Opera House looks a bit dark among these near-rain clouds. The clouds seem to be getting denser; maybe it will indeed rain. Walking around the streets later, I see many newer buildings, many taller than I first saw from the Quay. These buildings use blue colored glass to great effect. It is that warm feeling of a city's embrace that one usually feels once embedded in its midst. And bustling.

After walking about the Opera House I find a seat in the Botanical garden nearby and type out this post, watching strange pure white birds with long curved beaks. I find later that they are called Ibis.

G'day, mate!

August 1, 2010 - Somewhere out there....

The current time is 10:30 AM, August 1, 2010 San Francisco time (4:30 AM, August 2, 2010, Sydney time). We are flying at 38,000 feet, 505 mph, and are still out from Sydney by 2 hours and 7 minutes with 970 odd miles to go. We are somewhere over the Pacific slightly north of Brisbane, 6715 miles out of SF. I do not know when we passed the International date line, but I suspect I saw all of about 5-8 hours of August 1^st. They used to throw overboard into the Pacific those who were crossing the equator for the first time. I am glad they no longer do that.

Barbara and Alyssa saw me off at SF security at 8:45 PM. Saying 'Goodbye" for an uncertain time into the future to those one cares most about, has to be one of the hardest things to do. I cried.

The CountryLink leaves Sydney at 12:30 and arrives at the Canberra train station at 4:30. They say I should see kangaroo along the way.

The flight is nominally 14 hours, counting tarmac time, an ungodly amount of time to sit still in a close cabin with 360 some other people, whom you hope will be nice people. But this flight has gone quite smoothly; very little turbulence, quiet engines, dark cabin (it is night time). Turbulence is expected below 10,000 feet on the way to landing. It is, after all, winter in the Southern Hemisphere. The inconveniences stem from little room to stretch in economy class and from the always-on TVs overhead, flashing dark, then bright, as the scenes change.

I bought into the extra 5 inches for 50 bucks and the investment was well worth it. I look at the other seats and see cramped quarters; seats reclining into people's laps. As it was, I slept for a good 8 hours, and didn't notice the passage of time. Mentally the rest seemed like snatched power rests more than deep sleep, but I felt like only a few hours had passed. I awoke amazed at the real passage of time.

Now at 5:30 AM, I know I will need early bed tonight, or some short power rests on the train ride down to Canberra.