Schmidt World Tour 2006

On the move in Aussie

Tues Feb 7th -- The Marley tribute reggae concert in Corrabell Hall in Bryon Bay was really remarkable - but not because of the music. In fact, as far as reggae goes, it was subpar. But the event was noteworthy in other ways. First, everyone fell into 2 camps: either a truly grungy counterculturalist, or the mainstreamer who dug through their closet to find their most fitting reggae uniform or hippie costume. Fortunately, there were more authentic articles in attendance, and they made the show worth attending. They danced and pranced and hopped and flailed and cheered and genuinely enjoyed themselves, even though the music was terrible. It was great to see it! The mainstreamers self-consciously white-man-danced on the periphery, or got stoned and really got down. I had trouble finding interest in dancing, though I love to, because the music was really shoddy. I'm no reggae critic, but I knows crap when I sees it. The other crazy thing? No black folks! I have never been to a reggae show without a whole lotta brothas and sistas in the mix; it was really odd. But so goes Australia, very few black folks here.
So, Sunday the 5th was Sammy's b-day (thanks, readers for sending her the warm wishes). And I took my lumps. Big time. Deservedly. I failed to produce a thoughtful idea or event or some kind. A truly shocking rookie mistake from a leather-skinned veteran of 5 years of marriage. To further bum me out, it was our last day in Bryon Bay and I still had not recovered sufficiently from my sunburn to get back out into the surf. Damn it, I'm so pissed off about this. The best break I've ever surfed and I get 1 day out of 5. Crikey! Worse, Sam got burned worse than me and hers is turning into a tan. Karma is a biatch - thus she will be getting the royal treatment on every birthday from now til she keels over.

We left the Cape Bryon Bay Lodge hostel (decent place) in the morning on Monday, and drove to Brisbane for our flight to Melbourne. Brisbane is only a fleeting memory now, as we only spent a few hours there, mostly in the museum. Seems that we made the right call to spend all of our time in Bryon Bay (thanks again, P-Dirty). Aussie radio is pretty cool - the stations really don't define their genres very tightly. The most popular radio stations are nationwide, and offer a really broad and sometime eclectic mix of cheesy pop, 18-35 mainstream rock, acoustic, R&B, light rap, and the occasional disco remix.

Another totally random thought - for my 4 brothers - fellas, if you are even reading this, we really must drum up a reason to get together again for a proper man vacation. Maybe when Cory or Calen get married we'll sac up for some awesome trip. I saw these dudes 3 different times around town, having a surf weekend together, really enjoying themselves. Surfing, drinking beer, bbq - it reminded me that we haven't had a good time like this since we were kids. It's time, I think.

Anyhow, we flew from Brisbane to Melbourne and immediately checked into our hostel. Our surprise, the Kingsgate Hotel is not a true hostel but a real hotel. No in-suite bathroom for us, but compared to the other joints we've been staying, it's clean and dandy. Marched around downtown after dark following an abysmal meal at some Vietnamese joint that got a good write-up in our travel book.

Today, we checked out the Victoria Markets in Melbourne. For our friends who've seen the Reading Terminal Market in Philly, it's like 10 times bigger (and cleaner). Again we tromped around downtown all day, gobbling average sushi and then happy hour beers before returning to our room. Then we went to St. Kilda, a neighborhood in Melbourne known for its "vibrant nightlife", but alas it's a Tueday and we arrived around 11pm. A non-starter. My sunburn is healed now - I took a warm shower (yes!)

Thurs Feb 9th -- Been a busy couple of days. Wednesday we picked up a rental car and drove the Great Ocean Road south and west of Melbourne. Wow. Very persistent and powerful surf swells, warmish water, and magnificent coastal scenery. Wishing we'd allowed for a play day along the way, as the towns of Torquay and Angelsea were obvious surfing fun spots. The 12 Apostles coastal cliffs and rock formation delivers the great photo op, as advertised. Check out the pictures. We got back to Melbourne just before 7pm, went for a run, then drove up to the Fitzroy neighborhood of Melbourne. We had a great mexican food treat at Los Amates, and Arturo and his staff were kind enough to let us in after he'd flipped his sign to CLOSED, and they were very chatty. Delicious tomatillo and verde sauces, and sangria will be made more potent upon request.

This morning, we caught a 6:45am flight to Hobart. Tasmania! The original convict exile island! It's calmer and more sedate down here, and the people are remarkably friendly. We spent the day meandering around Hobart, delicious breakfast at The Phoenix, browsing art/craft stores and bookstores without buying anything, and just generally poking around. Ended by cooking a cheap and delicious meal here at the hostel, then walked to a local club to see a reasonably good live blues/rock band. Tomorrow we are headed for the wilderness of Tasmania for backpacking, and plan to stop at a wildlife park along the way so we can play with some Tasmanian Devils.

Sat morning Feb 11th -- On Friday we drove through Tasmania, stopping at the Towunna Wildlife Park and King Solomon Cave before camping out just outside the mountainous area of the island. The wildlife park was AWESOME! They had Tasmanian Devils in captivity for breeding purposes, and we got to see them up close, hear them screaming at each other, and see them eat, and even pet them! It was very cool and Sam will surely write much more about it. We also got to hold and cuddle a wombat, and pet a koala bear as well. Super cool.
Then we proceeded to the cave. Also a great time, as the cave was very big, with the most enchanting and stupifying formations inside. The pictures don't do it justice, the crystallized stalagtites and stalagmites hanging from the "ceiling" and climbing from the "floor" were so elaborate and ornate... I could have spent a few hours in there. At night we got to make our first fire of the trip at our campsite - much needed because despite a warm day, the proximity to Antartica was evident after dark. Brrr.

Mon morning Feb 13th -- Back in Sydney airport now, done with Tasmania. Just arrived on a way too early flight from Hobart. The hike through the Walls of Jerusalem National Park, located in central Tasmania, was really satisfying. Left the trailhead on Saturday morning, returned Sunday afternoon. Not much trail traffic, striking columnal dolorite cliffs, cooperative weather, and a sweet camp site. The cherry on top was watching the full moon rise over Mt. Jerusalem as the sunset pinkified the sky behind it. Epic, although the colors only lasted for a few moments. We'll be inside the real walls of Jerusalem in a couple of months, but this little cirque of rocky cliffs was a perfect endeavor for us. I was kind of jonesing for another good hike, given the sterile and crowded nature of our New Zealand hikes. Watching us devour cold camp food of canned ravoli, canned stew, tortillas, trail mix, cookies, and M&Ms - it was probably pretty funny. For only a night in the wilderness, renting a stove and cooking hot food just didn't seem practical. We bought a travel Scrabble board a few weeks ago, and in the tent, under the light of our headlamps, Sam finally beat me. I was so pissed. If the prospect of playing under similar circumstances arises again, I must remember to hike faster to wear her out and erode her concentration. Another rewarding thing for Sam: I've lost more stuff than she has so far. I lost my Patagonia soft shell (sob!) and left behind my favorite Nalgene bottle, plus forgot my Teva sandals at my mother-in-laws house. Despite countless false alarms, Sam has lost only her cheapo $2 kinit gloves. Drat.

Today, we are spluging big time: we will be swimming with sharks in the Oceanworld Aquarium at Manly Beach in Sydney. Sam is scared shitless but she won't show it!

Tues morning Feb 14th -- PURAVIDA! The tank dive with the sharks was killer! So rad. The tank was filled with grey nurse sharks upto 10 feet in length, a more questionable aggressive sand shark, a few big ol' sea turtles, some massive stingrays, and lots of other large fish. Although the sharks can bite humans, we were told that they are typically not interested in treating us as prey. But that didn't matter - when they get literally inches from your face when they do their "curiousity drive-bys", you get a feeling of danger! Sam does not enjoy being underwater (even getting her face in the water at the beach is a challenge), and she has an intense fear of sharks, so getting her submerged in the water and breathing through an air-tank was a little dicey to say the least. But she did it! And it was so rewarding. A truly rare experience for both of us. Now I want to go scuba diving! The underwater photos of the experience taken by the dive leader are coming to the blog soon; I have to find a way to pull them off the CD we purchased. Dangerous wildlife - krikey! We celebrated with tasty tapas y sangria in the Spanish Quarter in downtown Sydney.

Later today, we go to Bangkok. We were supossed to meet my friend Craig, but he has gone MIA on us. So we are headed in about as impromptu as we can possibly be. Adapt and overcome.