More Pics from Jervis Bay

Here are some more pictures from the Jervis Bay trip. These were taken by Webs and Kat. Thanks guys!

Splashfight!!!!

Drunken sparkler art - no one lost an eye

"Did you know that Tyler Durden only sleeps 1 hour a night?"

Defending the campfire

The boys after successfully firing the water balloon launcher into the sea

Sydney Harbor Video

Here is a video clip shot by our friend Webs from the fast ferry into the main ferry terminal in the heart of the city, Circular Quay. The video is sped up, the ferry isn't quite this fast.


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This is the view though that commuters from or part of the city get every day. Beats the pants off of a subway ride any day.



As the ferry approaches, you can see the Opera House on the left and the Harbor Bridge straight ahead.

Thanks Webs!

Exploring Sydney

This past Saturday, Amy and I took the opportunity to join Debs and James on a trip to the city (note: not The City as a point of clarification for my NYC peeps) to check out some points of interest. Our ferry trip in was eventful in that there were huge waves and an armada of ships out to welcome home Jessica Watson, a 16 year old Aussie girl who was due to arrive home in Sydney that afternoon.

The city pulled out all the stops for her, making it a big PR event and giving her a hero's welcome. It was cool to see the myriad of boats out and people seemed really proud of her.
We didn't have to travel far before one of the ladies was detained on a shopping related errand. James and I ducked into the nearest bar, Bar 333 for sanctuary. We watched rugby and a bit of American Ice Hockey (Bruins vs I don't remember) oddly enough. Not a bad bar overall but a bit posh for our basic needs of shelter from shopping.

We ventured forth from there to what was probably the fanciest mall I have ever been in, The Queen Victorian Building complete with a giant victorian clock to grab a quick bite and then made our way to 3 Wise Monkeys, an English style pub. This was more our style and we luxuriated here among the dark wood and tasty beers.

Next was a stop in Sydney's Chinatown for lunch and...more beers. Chinatown is small but packed with places to eat. We found a great, random spot for lunch and sat out on the veranda, watching the crowds of tourists shuffle by.



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Lunch was a smorgasborg served family style. We gorged on calamari, chicken (satay perhaps? I realize that is not chinese), and a beef dish as well as eggrolls and another battered, fried concoction. It was a good find for random stumbling.



After lunch, we walked off our food hangovers at Paddy's Market, a place where we had heard one could find good deals on various goods. Although I won't dispute this I will say that this must be the place to go for knockoff American baseball jerseys, ugg boots, ninja weapons, and what looked like inferior quality electronics. If you have the good fortune of being in Sydney and having the opportunity to go to Paddy's famous Market, feel free to avoid it. Call me instead. We'll go surfing.

We now ventured onward to Darling Harbor, a large area in Sydney that often holds festivals and expos. We planted ourselves in the final bar for the day, the nautically named Helm Bar with a lovely view of the boats in the harbor and watched the sun go down over a few additional beers. This was a classy joint that wasn't too pretentious and was a great way to spend some time before we boarded the ferry back home to sweet Manly.



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We ended the evening in Manly - or "God's Country" as James calls it, I find it hard to disagree - at the delectable Ashiana Indian RestaurantAddress:‎ just off the Corso, which is the main strip that run between the ferry wharf and the beach. Here in addition to some great food, we enjoyed those last few beers which led to a rueful next morning.

In this and other matters, let my epitaph read:

Camping in Jervis Bay

Hyam's Beach in Jervis Bay

This past weekend we spearheaded an expedition to lovely Jervis Bay seeking out sunshine, smores, and the great outdoors. We were not disappointed with the results of the venture.

Jervis Bay is located a few hours south of Sydney here:

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Based on our previous experience of camping at Nelson's Bay, we were looking to camp in a place that was a little more remote. Our site in Jervis was a huge improvement in this direction. We were the only people in the campground one of the nights and our site had a firepit placed right on a lazy river. It was an idyllic scene.

The livin's easy

It is interesting camping in Australia. Obviously the same basic requirements of shelter, food, and water remain the same but everything else around you is different. So, Amy and I are found here doing the same things but surrounded by new trees, plants and animals. Instead of raccoons rummaging through our unguarded food and deer traipsing through our site, we have possums and kangaroos. It makes for an interesting, if not surreal experience whenever you step outside of your tent.

Trying to sneak up on our smore making


Their pouches are way stickier than they seem on TV

The people we were camping with were a mixed group. A couple from the UK, and Aussie, and another American. Although everyone had been camping before, we were appalled to learn that the people from outside of the US had never heard of smores before. This was something we swore to remedy. The were intrigued to learn that making and stuffing as many smores into your face was basically THE primary reason to go camping in the first place.

We had to improvide as best we could as they do not apparently sell graham crackers in Australia. Also, the only marshmallows we could find were mixed bags of regular and strawberry. Note: strawberry marshmallows are terrible. These deficiencies were compensated for however by the generally superior chocolate out here.

Smores rock

After a quick demonstration, our students were off, taking turns burning their hands and marshmallows as best they could. The firsts tastes of this strange American treat were joined with gasps of joy and pleasure and the smore was quickly given a permenant place in all future camping ventures.

We spent most of our waking hours on Saturday at a beautiful stretch of beach a few minutes from our campground. We laid out, played football/soccer, drank beer, and found a stray baby which we entertained until its parents came around to claim it.

Beach baby washed up on shore

James scoring a goal AND not spilling his beer

The weekend was capped off with some ballistic testing spearheaded by Kat and Webs who were resourceful enough to bring a 3 person water balloon launcher. We said goodbye to our campsite by launching a barrage of balloons as far as we could downstream.

Debs launches one into orbit

On the way home, we stopped off at a national park and took a hike. Here we brought out the ammo we had been saving for something special and launched what appeared to be a grapefruit which we pulled off a camp tree into the ocean. Take that Neptune!!!

Afterward, we made a second stop at a pretty sweet blowhole, took the short walk around and refueled with some pies and ice cream. We made it home for a sweet sunset and agreed to meet up later in the week to finish off the surplus beer. Speaking of which......

Mel was way more impressed than she let on

Blowhole in action

Interested in camping and survival?  Come check out The Bug Out Bag Guide.

Cheap flight of the week

This week's flight comes courtesy of Cousin Jackie who spotted it on Kayak.com. It is a Quantas sale that is looking like a pretty good deal for the would-be traveler. The cheapest deal is $777.

Cheap Flight

It is starting to turn into "winter" down here which means the waves are picking up. Pack those bags, people.

Mmmmmm....sunset

We went camping this past weekend and I'll be posting pictures and video soon of things like kangaroos and water balloon launchers. For now though, enjoy this picture of a sunset from our porch.

Cheap Flight of the week

Fleeing jury duty? Looking to score some Tim Tams? Willing to give Chris hand surgery?

Come to Australia!!!

Cheap flight of the week is $885.