Blog recommendations. Marjorie and I have both been enjoying Eeksy Peeksy, a beautiful and often moving blog written by a man who writes like I wish I could.

Also of note is Borneo Chela, the blog of an American student doing ecological research across the water from us in Borneo. The best place to learn about tree shrew sex and how to care for your stick insects.

Lastly, check out the blog of Bin Gregory, an American who converted to Islam and also lives in Borneo. Having an intermediary who speaks your language really can help you learn a lot about a religion, and a culture.

Seems as though the whale we saw off Bondi was probably a humpback whale, not a right whale. It's the humpback's migration time. I've seen whales in Boston and many dolphins off the coast of Florida and South Carolina. It's always a thrill to see these amazing animals in the ocean.

I'm one of those sickos who loves to fly, and the flight back was a very interesting one. We passed directly over the famous Uluru (formerly Ayer's Rock), but it wasn't until we were already well past that I noticed our flight path took us right over it. Bummer. North and west from there is some serious desert. There was nothing -- not a house, not a road, nothing -- for about 400 miles. Drawing on their most imaginative thinkers, the Aussies have named this the Great Sandy Desert. (The name is even more embarassing when you learn that the region is almost devoid of sand.) We flew off of Australia near Derby, then south under Bali and Lombok (we could see the volcanos again), over Java, and up the Javan Sea, over very many small uninhabited islands and atolls.

Entertainment on international flights just gets better and better. Every chair had its own little video screen, as is now the norm, but now there were over 30 movies to choose from, and you could pause and rewind all you want. In addition there were tv shows, video games, news, and a do-it-yourself playlist for music where you could pick songs from about fifty different albums. I can't wait to read back on this in ten years and laugh at how paltry it is. And I'm still waiting for the free in-flight internet access.

Back from Sydney. It was nice. I really wish we'd had a few more days there, and not just because Death Cab for Cutie are playing there on Friday.
The walk yesterday from Bondi to Cogee Beach was a bird geek's paradise. We saw lots of new (to us) species of Australian Birds, including Cockatoos, King Parrots, some kind of Cormorant, some type of honeyeater, some willy wagtails, fairy wrens, and some beefed up mynahs and magpies much bigger than the ones we have in Singapore.
The water was gorgeous as well and we saw some kind of whale (Southern Right Whale perhaps) right off the beach at Bondi where people were surfing.
Sydney's a nice place, it reminded me a bit of Boston with milder weather and without all the colleges.

We survived the bridge walk -- it was a lot less strenuous or scary than we expected. It was pretty cool, mostly in the way that for all my life, whenever I've driven over a suspension bridge, I've always wondered what it would be like to be able to climb up the supports. A bit of fantasy fulfillment, there, but I'm not sure it was worth the price. Fantastic view, if nothing else. We have pictures we'll scan in when we get home.

Tomorrow we're going to walk the trail along the cliffs down around the famous Bondi Beach. We talked about seeing a rugby match but apparently they only go on on the weekends.

Weird musical coincidence, along the lines of the Christmas/Ho Chi Minh City/Clash one six months ago -- Elvis Costello has a song with the Brodsky quartet that goes:

Care of St. Ignatus House
Willoughby Drive
Parramatta, New South Wales
This fifth day of July

Parramatta's right up the road, and the fifth was just the other day while we were here. Wonder if there's a St. Ignatius House on Willoughby Drive.

Greetings from Down Under! I felt a bit superior for about a second about traveling to three continents in one week, but then remembered that Mark had (again) bested me years earlier on his journey to Cape Town, South Africa, by way of London. Ah well....
Sydney is lovely and cold (about 50 degrees Farenheit) a very nice change from S'pore. The city is, overall, much more European feeling than I had anticipated. It's nice; people are polite, the skyline is pretty, lots of homeless though, atleast compared to S'pore where there are practically none.
We've taken in the aquarium, zoo, views, and toured the CBD and Rocks areas. Still have the Harbour Bridge climb ahead of us, and hopefully we'll make it out to Bondi Beach. The plan for tonight is to take in some good live music and Mod Oz cuisine (maybe eat some Kangaroo).
The whole time I've been here I've been assessing the city by "could I live here?" standards, and I'd say, so far, it makes the cut. Lots of local bands and international acts touring through (something sorely lacking in S'pore), good public transportation, nice pubs, four seasons with mild winters (the days are really short though now, sun goes down about 5pm). Many of the good qualities of Singapore (safe, not U.S. and thereby different, interesting wild life) and many other things S'pore lacks (bands, good beer, cold weather, more polite people).
We saw an anti Iraqi war protest on the fourth of July. It was anti George Bush and anti John Howard. While I agree with the protesters and their cause, I felt odd, almost ashamed, after seeing them walk by. I'm with the Dixie Chicks, I'm ashamed that man is my president.

Hello from Sydney! Marjorie is right next to me blogging so she might talk about the same things... Australia is a lot more... foreign than I was expecting. This is a Good Thing. It's still easy enough to get around and talk to the people, who are exceedingly friendly. Overall, it feels like a cross between Boston, London, and Vancouver.

Arrived day before yesterday, after taking the red-eye here. Luckily our hotel let us check in (it was around 8 am) so we were able to sack out for a few hours. Got up refreshed and went down to check out the harbour, with its famous view. We signed up for the infamous and harrowing bridge climb, which we do tomorrow. Did a bit of shopping; they actually carry my size here. Heard my first "G'day!". Had a great steak (Aussies know how to do meat) and then went out for a few pints (Aussies know how to do pubs).

Yesterday we shopped a bit more, then went up the CentrePoint tower to check out the views. Then (of course) we went to the aquarium, which was well done. A night we went out a little bit towards the 'burbs (Newtown) in search of food and music, and had some great Thai food, but only caught a little bit of a lousy cover band.

Today we got up late again, then headed out across the bay to the Taronga zoo which was also very good. The local bird exhibit and the snow leopards were the best part. Tonight we're going to try again for live music.

BTW, toilets everywhere seem to flush straight down, so again there will be no testing of the south-of-the-equator coriolis effect theory.