Walsh

Liam is heaps of a whinjing girlie.

Welcome Riley Patrick!

Good news from Boise, Idaho, today: my dear cousin Tracy gave birth to her 2nd son: Riley Patrick Scherer!

Born 7/4 @ 11:30AM, he was a couple weeks early, but still hit the scales at a whopping 7lbs.9oz.! Riley joins older brother Brady who's first birthday is in two weeks! Yes, Tracy & Jason are now the proud parents of two little ones under a year old!

CONGRATS COUSINS!
(And Good Luck!)

Bondi Beach

I got up (late) today and decided to figure out and brave Sydney's public transportation. A believer in incentives, I put Bondi Beach at the end of the line such as to treat myself to a literal Day at the Beach!

Had I arrived earlier in the day, I definitely would have taken surf lessons. Instead, however, I watched others try to learn, did some journaling, and just watched the world of Bondi: surfers bobbing, kids building, mostly locals running & sunning and doing things Australians do.

As I sat there, the Coast Walk beckoned and I made my way south from Bondi to Waverly Cemetery. It was quite the little hike -- 3.5km of Pacific Ocean views with bays and beaches just calling my name. I smiled at the entrepreneurship of the sand volleyballers at Tamarama -- lessons! -- and caught the picnicers at Bronte. I also caught a couple of teenagers caught up in the romance of the view. Silly kids.

The cemetery itself was something to see. I almost turned back just before I got there, but am glad I didn't. Again, a believer in rewards, I promised myself gelato if I made it all the way! Having said that, songs from two of the most powerful movies of all time hit my iPod as I made it through: a song from Glory and 'Miserere' from The Mission. Spooky and powerful in their own right, it was doubly so in this setting.

I hiked back to Bondi, found dinner at a nearby restaurant and enjoyed the view and today's paper. I watched twilight rear her stunning head, then bussed back into Sydney.

And yes, I had gelato.
Chocolate.
With chocolate shavings.

Sydney Harbor & Taronga Zoo!

Avid Reader, I saw it! I caught my first glimpse of the world famous Sydney Opera House this morning. And it was all that it was cracked up to be! Stunning! And interestingly, it, too, was created in 1973! I love that!

I got up early and walked around Cockle Bay Wharf to check out the sights and sounds of Darling Harbor. I then enjoyed the Matilda Explorer -- one of the many harbor water taxis of sorts -- as part of the Zoo Pass to get me to Taronga Zoo. It was quite a site to round Miller Point, zoom under the Harbor Bridge and get my first sneak peak of that which is obstensibly Sydney!

The more I'm here, the more I'm falling in love with this place. Best, it's 100% pedestrian and tourist friendly and the weather -- remember July is the coldest month of the year here -- is stunning! I could definitely live here.

So, I enjoyed a Sydney Harbor tour on the Matilda and ended up at the similarly world famous Taronga Zoo. It was quite the setting! Taronga sits on a hill for the most part and most every vantage within the zoo overlooks Sydney Harbor and downtown. Upon leaving the ferry, I boarded a sky shuttle (read: cable car) and headed to the park's top entrance. From there, one makes their way down and around and catches this amazing place. Lions, tigers and bears were there, of course, but it was crazy to see some of the wacky animals both in *and* out of the cages (the birds here are nutso!).

Favorites, of course, were walking amidst kangaroos and wallabys in the Wild Australia 'walk-about'. I also captured the crazy looking platypus and enjoyed close-up encounters with giraffes and chimps. Best, Avid Reader, I accomplished exactly what I set out to: get my photo with a koala!

Since it was a bit of a slow morning and I was one of the first there, I got to spend about 20 mins chatting with the two zoo workers who were manning the Koala Encounter area. This one was Archie. Granted, he slept the entire time, but it was a hoot altogether. More, one of the zoo employees had a baby roo in her shirt! Turns out, it's mum was hit & killed by a car earlier that morning, so she was called to pick up the baby and bring it to the zoo. Turns out, it was a boy and they don't need any more male kangaroos, so it was being sent to a rehab facility to try to nurture to release back into the wild. But quite a story and I got to see a seriously baby joey!

I also enjoyed the elephants, parciularly when they started playing. Later, I found out that they weren't playing at all. Turns out the young bull was frisky. Avid Reader, I warn you know... don't click here if you don't want to know what I'm talking about. The meerkats were a hoot -- and all of the kiddos calling them "Timone" from 'The Lion King'. They spent their time trying to soak up as much sun as possible; though my favorite was the sloucher in the corner... not willing to stand, but still wanting the full sun effect.

I caught the boat again at the end of my Zoo adventure and cruised a bit more around the amazing harbor. The homes on the water were incredible; I'd do anything to be a rightful owner. Our friendly tour guides also pointed out a former Nicole Kidman residence... an apartment she sold a few years ago for $4M. I spent time in Ciruclar Quay enjoying the sites, a walk around the Opera House and more photos, of course!

All in all, an outstanding Sydney Saturday and I'm excited to see more of the sights tomorrow and into next week!

Happy Birthday, USA!

Happy Fourth! Not that I got to celebrate America's independence here in Australia -- what gives anyway?! However, another outstanding day here in Sydney -- this time in the dead of winter for sure: it rained! Curses! Solid day at the office; got a lot done and beat Stephen Dolan at ping pong again.

After, and as advertised, I ventured back to Balmain with Sarah such as to enjoy La Boheme. Before dinner, however, we stopped by Sarah & Johnathan's apartment, then ventured down to Balmain Park such that I could get a glimpse of the Sydney Harbor and its nighttime beauty. And was it ever beautiful. Sydney truly is a stunning city. I got a few shots of the harbor that didn't turn out (see left) and enjoyed a nearby anchor and subsequent photo ops.

Johnathan joined us for a pint at a local pub, then we ventured up the street to La Boheme. Very Czech cuisine despite its French name. Very slow service despite all the servers. Very hilarious "live music"... a gentleman singing to his iPod Nano which had innumerable karaoke hits on it, including hits from Neil Diamond, Kenny Rogers, and the Bee Gee's!

A low key night altogether, but a good thing as I'm on Day Two -- and Day Two always means my hardest relative to jet lag. I'm pooped. And I have to get ready for a day of adventure tomorrow! So, happy long weekends to you, Avid Reader! Happy Birthday America!

Darling Harbor & Balmain

G'day Mate! I will have to post the few photos I have later as I've forgotten to bring my USB cord to the office this morning. I wanted to provide a quick update on adventures to date in Sydney all the same, however!

Yesterday was Day One in the Sydney DRIVE/Atlas office. It's in a charming neighborhood -- much like Fremont in Seattle -- in an area that is developing as Sydney's online neck of the woods. It's an open, quiet office here and I'm trying to encourage 80's Friday. It's also now 7/4 here -- so it's up to the two Americans in this office & I to show them our USA Pride! Hot dogs, anyone?!

My days start with a walk across Darling Harbor on Pyrmont Bridge with a stop at a line-free Starbucks. (Starbucks isn't so popular Down Under. In fact, my colleagues celebrated the closing of the Starbucks in their neighborhood as we drove by the abandoned storefront last night.) The office is a charming 15-minute walk from my hotel and affords me the opportunity to take in the beautiful Aussies who are similarly work-bound. Interestingly, Avid Reader, it's the dead of winter here... so heavy winter coats and scarves are seemingly the norm. Friend, it's 50 degrees in the morning -- heaven to me!

After work, I ventured to Balmain, a working class suburb of Sydney now becoming a bit of a hot spot, with my DRIVE AU colleagues Stephen Dolan and Sarah Ward. We enjoyed several rounds at The London Hotel and dinner after with Sarah's boyfriend Johnathan at Pomegranate Thai.

My evening plans include another night out with Sarah & her posse in Balmain at La Boheme. I'm also in the process of planning my weekend tourist adventures such that I have fun stories and photos to post in the coming days!

Aight, I must start my work day now... granted, it's the fourth of July, and I should be celebrating America's independence, but instead I shall continue to coordinate DRIVE in Japan and work on instilling 80's Friday in Sydney! WOOT!

Australia is far away

And made even further with 14 hour delays in San Francisco!

Indeed, Avid Reader, I arrived in San Francisco to change planes after what was supposed to be a 2.5 hour layover at SFO. To my surprise, the flight was postponed from 10:40PM to 8:30AM Tuesday morning. But, Todd, you ask, that doesn’t add up to 14 hours! I agree!

Qantas gracefully put passengers on New Zealand Air or United flights as they checked in at SFO. Sadly, I didn’t get there in time to secure an empty seat so instead was put up in a nearby hotel for the night. My alarm went off at 5:30AM this morning such as to make the shuttle back to the airport and endure International Security. As I got up to shower, I noticed a note under my hotel room door. It was my friends from Qantas again, regretfully notifying me that my 8:30AM flight was now scheduled to depart at 12:45PM.

So, a couple more hours sleep, a courtesy breakfast at the hotel and I was off to the airport to brave security and wait again. Turns out the flight didn't BOARD until 1PM and we took off sometime close to 2PM.

It's nearly 11PM here in Sydney on Wednesday night... just before 6AM in Seattle Wednesday morning. Sydney is 15 hours ahead during summer hours and I've seemingly lost two full days with the delays and 13.5 hour flight here. But adventures to come starting tomorrow with my first day in the DRIVE Australia office and in Sydney!