Aussie Newcastle to Sydney

Well we landed in Sydney early on the 21st of September. It was a nice clear day and we were not too tired even though we had to get up around 4 am to make our flight out of Wellington, NZ. From the baggage claim we made our way quickly to the train platform to catch the next train to Newcastle. Our first stop was Sydney Central train station where we had to change trains. It was a bit of an adventure trying to figure out which platform we were to take but we managed and found some seats by the window.


Train station at Sydney
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

The train ride was nice and we saw some pretty countryside. The train route traveled through some national forest areas—the green is more desert in Australia. You can tell the rain fall is much less then New Zealand. On the train Glenn got a bit annoyed with all the people talking on their cell phones. It seems no one can leave home without one, we saw people biking, walking, swimming and sleeping with cell phones in hand beeping.


We made it to Newcastle. The trainstation was classy.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

It took us about three hours to make get to Newcastle, so it was mid-day when we arrived. We checked into the flash hotel we were staying for the few days Glenn had his conference. Our room was on the parking lot view side unfortunately—the other side had a wonderful view of the ocean but no complaints, as it was comfortable and lovely.


Beautiful beach at Newcastle lots of surf and surfers!
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

Newcastle is known for its beaches and beaches they do have. There was the surfer’s beach, the teenager beach, the family beach, the nude beach, the boogie boarder’s beach and there was even a dogs—crazy! Right out the door from the hotel was the beach so Glenn woke up and went for a swim before going to the conference. We also spent a day walking the beaches and body boarding. The pelicans were the funniest sights we saw in Newcastle. They would hang around the fisherman hoping to get some treats. They were not at all afraid of people and they are big!


The storks that made me laugh.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

There was a wonderful group of ladies from Newcastle at the conference and one of them offered to take us to see a wildlife reserve park called BlackButt—tehe! I thought they were joking when the told us the name, I guess the park is named after an Australian plant. It was kind of like a zoo park but it was great to walk around and see the koala bears and the funny birds of Australia and of course kangaroos.


This cute Koala bear is just waking up for his evening meal.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

One of the best parts of the park was seeing the emu; Glenn started whistling a tune and one of the emus started making this deep sound like a drum beat as it strutted around. It was amazing they seemed to be jamming together.


Here is Glenn whistling with the emu.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

Emu dancing.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

Our last day in Newcastle Glenn and I walked through town and went to the Newcastle Gallery. They had a video/instillation exhibition on called Experimenta check out the website about the show http://www.experimenta.org/, we spent hours looking at all there was there to see. Both Glenn and I thought this was one of the best exhibits we had seen since we have been in the Southern HemisphereJ. It made me want to get back working on video editing stuff and performance.


Just chilling out in Newcastle.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

There were also some fun little shops in through the town and we had a delicious Capone burger at Big Al’s. But we sure miss the thick milkshakes you get in the States down a milkshake is very literally just that flavored milk that has been shaken up. Oh well can’t have everything. That night we went to a music session at the local bar. It was music and dance. The dancers were unbelievable and very skilled. There were also some very good musicians. Glenn and I joined in and had some fun sharing stories and tunes.


Newcastle was a major port for export of coal, the large cargo boat is leaving the port.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

The next day we took the train to Woy Woy, a small town halfway to Sydney from Newcastle. It looked from the map that Woy Woy was close to a national park. When we got to Woy Woy people did not know what we were talking about when we asked about the national park so I guess you can not always trust maps or maybe it shows you how little people know about the area they live? Woy Woy was a nice little town and we found a small hotel to stay of the night. We spent our day resting and later took a nice long walk along the waterfront.


Ibis, dusk in Woy Woy.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

That was a great time to walk because all the birds were very active. There was an island what was chock-full of pelicans and ibis. There were rainbow parrots, pink parrots, white parrots and cockatoos all over the place. It was so amazing to see these birds out of a cage and living in the wild. Their calls were also unique from a sound like a goose honking, to the high pitch “wheeat, wheat”. Woy Woy was well worth the visit it we also found a great pizza haunt and a funky café, what more could you ask for.


The Rainbow Parrot what a colorful chap.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

The wild parrots in Woy Woy.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

We made it to Sydney at noon on Tuesday. We found a backpackers in Newtown to stay and the best part was we got one night free! It was not the best place to stay if you really like to sleep but we did all right. Newtown was a great area there were heaps of restaurants and shops on the main street (King St.). There was great diversity in Newtown with everyone from cross dressers to Goths to a bird whistling genius whom also happened to be a street person. We saw this character on numerous occasions and though we tried to compete with him he easily put us to shame with numerous sound effects including imitations of dogs, cats, horses and every bird in Australia. Newtown is southwest of Sydney city central; we were able to take the train in to town. We even walked down to Chinatown Tuesday.


First view from trainstation downtown Sydney--street performer.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

We definitely got our walking in on this trip. Our first day in Sydney we went to Darling Harbour but we were there late and most places were closing up. So we continued to Chinatown where we found a great market eatery place. We had a delicious meal for $10 that included drink. Chinatown was hoping lots of people on the street and loads of restaurants. We took the train back to Newtown because we wanted to make an Irish music Session that night at a bar called Kelly’s.

This session turned out to be quite good. All the musicians were pretty much Irish there was a German squeezebox player and an Aussie bodhran player but they all were quite good musicians. Glenn thought the tunes were played a bit fast but I guess Dan Maher would say Glenn just likes slow tunes. The thing that we liked about Sydney was the strong cultural diversities.


Taking a breather.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

The next day we headed out to downtown Sydney to see the Opera House and Botanical Garden. It was a nice sunny day. The Opera House was quite stunning. We enjoyed meandering through the Royal Botanical Gardens where we were amazed at the huge number of Grey-headed Flying-fox bats hanging from the trees. This species of bats is endangered but the Gardens have to be careful because the large population can destroy the trees because they feed on pollen and fruit. This bat is quite large in size 230 -280mm head to tail and wingspan of around 40 cm that is about 9 in length with close to 16 in wingspan.


Grey-headed Flying-Fox
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

After our meander through the park we went through the Sydney Gallery. What a great gallery. There was a very diverse display of artwork from Renaissance paintings and sculptures, Japanese brush paintings and ceramics to Australian Aboriginal Art we spent hours soaking in all there was to see.


A painting I really liked.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

We had a city train pass so we decided we should check out Kings Cross area, when we got there nothing really caught our fancy so we took the next train to the Rock. Most of the shops were closed down when we got there but we manage to find a few postcards and I got this nice shot of the Opera House at dusk.


Parting shot
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

The next day we needed a bit of a rest so we just hung around King St. and checked out the shops. We probably should have gone on a ferry ride that day but the shopping was fun and we got to cool ourselves down with some to die for Gelato. That night we went to see a great reggae band called Bomba http://www.bomba.com.au/, the lead singer was quite the entertainer and we had fun dancing the night away. The place they performed in was a classy restaurant/pub the best part it was NO SMOKING.


Sydney street life.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

We slept in a bit on Friday. Then spent the day down in Paddington area. I was told there were some great galleries to see there particularly for ceramic sculptures/pottery. We found one really cool ceramic and Japanese art gallery. After a serious browse, Glenn and I fell in love with a kimono (for Kjelsty) and an original fire jacket from Japan. We thought it absurd that we would be buying something Japanese in Australia, but they were both irresistible. Glenn felt that the jacket was magical and felt a rushing stream running down his back. The kimono was just beautiful and colorful, just the way I like it. After doing the gallery scene we made our way to Darling Harbour. We had seen an advertisement about a live didgeridoo performance at one of the shops. Even though we were getting tired we decided we had to see the show. The show was quite impressive and well work the effort. At the end of the show, Glenn got talking to the didgeridoo player and found out he also played the Native American flute. The man was happy to take out the flute that he had to show and play for Glenn--who was quite impressed with his playing and the flute.


Didgaredoo performance
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

Before we headed home we walked a little further along the harbour. It was a beautiful evening and there was a stage being set up for a Salsa Band that was performing that night. I could not twist Glenn’s arm hard enough to stay for the showL but he was overjoyed when he found a shop that sold cannoli. We had a rest on by the waters edge and savored the delicious cannoli, an Italian Pastry that Glenn has been talking about since I met him but that we had yet to find. It actually brought tears to Glenn’s eyes, much to our enjoyment. After that Glenn was ready to head back to Newtown so we caught the train. That night we went out for Thai food with one of the girls we dormed with. The restaurant was huge and bustling and the food was delicious and to drink I had juice from a young coconut. They actually brought out a whole coconut with a straw coming out of it, very dramatic.


In the middle
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

Our last day was Saturday after checking out we had the day to explore since our flight did not leave till 6 pm. We decided we should try and find the fish market that people had told us about. It was not too far from Newtown so we decide to walk. We did make it to the fish market. What a busy place it had a similar fill to the Pike Place Market in Seattle. Fish and chips are a popular meal so the smell of hot oil was emanate. We decided on sushi I still have not been converted to battered and fried fish trend. After getting a good dose of wasabi we made our way back to the backpackers to pick up our bags and catch a taxi to the airport.


The Sydney Bridge from the train station.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

Soccer to Stomp

Last Sunday we headed down to Palmerston North because Glenn’s soccer girl’s team had a game. It rained off and on as we drove down but when we got to the field the sun came out and we had a perfect day for soccer game. Glenn’s team had improved each game but they still had not won a game. So when one of his girls made a goal in the first minute of the game we were on the edge of our seats for the rest of the game. The girls played great and did not let the team score a goal. In the last few minutes of the game Glenn’s girls scored another goal on a penalty kick. They won yahoo! It was the first win of the season and the team they beat was one of the best teams in the league.

After the game we continued to head south. We were making it a long weekend because we had tickets for “Stomp” in Wellington on Tuesday. The sun was getting pretty low in the sky by the time we left Palmerston North so we decided instead of trying to make it down to Wellington that night we would find a place to stay in Levin. Levin turned out to be a pretty cool little city. We stayed in a motor camp and had nice dinner. The next day for breakfast we went to a little café that specialized in crepes for and pancakes, a split a banana and bacon crepe with maple syrup. Sounds kind of weird I know but oh it was so good. We then did a little shopping at the Saint Vincent shop in town Glenn found a nice New Zealand made wool jacket and I found a cool necklace. We then headed out of Levin and made our way toward Paraparaumu were we would be staying the night with some music friends. They had to work that day so we took our time and traveled kiwi style (stopping every few minutes).

First, we stopped to take a walk on the beach we even had a friend walk with us; one of the dogs in the house close by where we had parked decided to join us for our walk. We spent about an hour exploring and beach there were some colorful and different shells on this east coast beach. Back on the road we spotted a café that looked as like an old gothic church, we had to stop and take a look. It was a fun little café full of different knick-knacks and arts for sale. We had a cup of hot chocolate and some pumpkin kumara (NZ sweet potato) soup. Our next stop was a bush walk through some forest edging a little town, Waikanae. It was a nice trail and we could hear heaps of Tui making their guttural calls. At one point of the hike we heard a noise from behind us we stopped and turned to look just at that moment a giant wood pigeon flew passed just missing our heads. Wood pigeons are probably twice the size of normal pigeons; they spend most of their day eating fermented berries. They are then not only large but also drunk on the fermented juice so they can be hazardous when in flight. But don’t worry we survived our walk and made it to Paraparaumu safe and sound.

After a nice evening of music, good food and gab we slept well. On Tuesday we went into Wellington early to wander around the city. Since it was raining we decided to go to Te Papa instead and explore what the museum had to offer. We found out that it was Maori New Year and there was going to be a demonstration on the haka, the traditional war dance (you might have seen it performed in the movie Whale Rider or if you are rugby fans the All Blacks do a haka before each game). The demonstration was great and we learned that the haka is actually like a conversation between one main person and the rest of the group. The man that spoke about the haka describing it as a flock of birds one bird says something and the flock responds. After the demonstration we decided to go for lunch. We went to my favorite spot Cha and had a yummy noodle dish and of course some taro bubble tea for dessert. We then went back to the Te Papa Museum to see the Lord of the Rings Exhibition. It took us almost three hours to make our way through the exhibition. It was a great display of the costumes and models that were made for the movie. I was feeling a little funny at one point so we decided to take a breather I think the hobbit display had a funny affect on me—see picture below. What do you think?




We finished off our day with Stomp. It was a pretty good production but not as spellbinding as the one I saw in the Spokane Opera House. We did ended up running into two other couples that we knew from Hawke’s Bay pretty funny New Zealand can feel pretty small sometimes. It felt even smaller when Glenn spotted a guy that we had seen on TV in a program called Dancing with the Stars.

Clay and Ireland

Play in mud was my mission while Glenn was in Ireland.

I did lots of it the first week with the sculpture workshop by Brent Sumner. Brent is from Kaitaia, which is in the far North of the North Island here in New Zealand. Darjit was the medium that we used it was a great sculpture medium I enjoyed getting dirty and working in a larger scale again. The medium had a similar feel to clay and was pretty easily shaped and textured. The other wonderful thing about Darjit is that it is made of recycled material old newspapers and magazines you can read more about Darjit at http://www.alchymia.co.nz/darjit.htm I was just so impressed. Of course I told Brent I would be moving up to Kaitaia to work with him and make more sculptures—te he!

Me with my finished sculpture. Around the base I painted "A seed of hope can grow a garden of dreams."--Kjelsty Hanson

During the week my friend Marija brought over some plants that we was trying to get rid of from lavender to aloe Vera. She helped me get them planted and do some weeding our yard looks so much happier. I still have trouble believing that Aloe plants can be planted outside and you should see how big they can get!

The following weekend my friend Fay and I went up to Taupo for the Crater Clay Convention. This was a weekend full of clay demos and slide shows from a variety of clay artists from all over the New Zealand, one from Australia and another from Taiwan. It was a great weekend. Fay and I enjoyed the workshops I was fascinated and so inspired by Ah Leon the Taiwanese potter that I spent most of the two days watching him work. He demonstrated much about making teapots that was his craft but he was also a sculptor and he now makes trompe l’oeil teapot sculptures that look like they are made out of wood.

Ah Leon's T-Pot


For his sculptures he did not use glazes or stains the color comes from the Taiwan’s clays that he uses. Some of his work has been shown in the US and one of his largest works called The Bridge was shown at the Smithsonian. This piece is about 60 feet long and is completely made out of clay. You will have to look at the following to link to see it for yourself amazing! http://www.plasm.com/ceramics/Friends/AhLeon/AhLeon03.html

Glenn got back on the 27th he was so happy and full of stories from his trip. It sounds like he had a wonderful time traveling around and playing music with Kathryn. Here are a few pictures of their travels. Glenn of course played tunes in all the towns they visited. He said, “The music and the crack was great.”

Glenn playing tunes with some of the locals.


Ireland was a hoot. The bar above was in a little town in county Offaly and it was an indescribable night of music. The man singing was the owner of the bar and the pianist was as unique as they come. What was also intriguing was that the bar was full of beautiful paintings of people in an impressionist style on really big canvases. As I played I realized that all the paintings were of the people in the bar. Very cool. Kathryn and I began at her school in Maynooth, which was as pretty a campus as you will ever see. Very old stone buildings and a chapel that could compare with anything in the world. The ceiling was beautifully painted and the stained glass was out of this world. We then went to Dingle and had three days and two great nights there. I played Wsome incredible kerry musicians while Kathryn got to know the locals. She met two postmen from Cork who offered to show us the dingle penninsula and that turned into quite the day. We even helped a family put their curragh (old style irish boat) into the water and sail for the blasket islands. Part of the family was the grandpa who was a master craftsman and made the boat they were putting to sea. Quite the adventure. Then we headed for County Clare where the music is rich. We stayed with Mike and Kathleen Obrien for two nights and had a couple great sessions. The first night was in a pub that you could shake hands across and it was pure magic. Concertina, fiddle, box, whistle and flute and there were two great singers who shared songs in the sean nos style. Very beautiful stuff. The evening ended up with a story teller spinning yarns and hilarious stories.
We reluctantly left Clare through a great traditional area called Doolin and we toured the Burren and headed for the small town of Loughrea where I learned the music. I was shocked at how fast and busy the town had gotten. Last time I was there the most you would see was a donkey cart on the road but now it was a bubbling metropolis. I did find out that most the musicians I used to play with are now playing in another world somewhere. Kind of sad,but the place will always be a sleepy town in my mind. We then decided to head up to Westport in Mayo, a place where Kathryn and I heard about but never have been too. It turned out to be a great move. Matt Malloy's pub is world renowned for its traditional music. We weren't to be disappointed. We stayed at a wonderful B and B with a really funny woman running the place. She was quite the spunky gal and had Kathryn and I in stitches. When we went to Malloy's, we saw that Charlie Lennon, a virtual legend on the fiddle was playing that night. We went and were not disappointed. The next day we walked around the town which was really beautiful. Then we headed for Connemara, which is about as pretty as it gets. There we hiked up a mountain that St. Patrick climbed in bare feet, and it was a very spiritual place. We also came across numerous castles and an Abbey that was striking. We ended up staying at a hostel in Clifden, and were excited because several of the bars said there was traditional music that night. it was the only bad night for music as the musicians were playing irish tourist music rather than the real thing. We then stopped in Galway the next day, and had a good time, but boy, how that town has grown. It is a major city now with suburbs all around it. I must say that Ireland joining the European union is a mixed blessing. It certainly has helped its economy, but there has been a lot lost because of its economic growth, which is pretty sad. After an afternoon there we headed back through the mainland of Ireland and I was very impressed with its beauty. Kathryn and I especially loved Offaly for its green farmland and neat towns. Upon our return to Maynooth, Kathryn and I enjoyed each other's company and played a few tunes together. She will some day become a great tin whistler. It was super spending some time with her in beautiful Ireland.


Glenn and Kathryn on a scenic hike in Connemara.