PlanetBibi: My year in Australia

My year in AUSTRALIA

July 2004 - July 2005

To see tips on where to go in Australia click here

OPERA HOUSE - after International design competition in 1956 Danish architecht won with planned cost of 7 mln $. After several problems he left 10 years later. Australian architechts finished 102 mln $ building thanks to series of lotteries organised by goverment in 1973.

SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE - after 9 years of work, when its ends were 1 cmapart, 100 km/h winds set them swaying, but it survived. Costed 20 mln $, took till 1988 to pay off. Over 150.000 cars per day passes the bridge. And hips of tourists climbs it at all the times of the day!

Viem from my apparmtent in Kings Cross to Harbour and Financial City.

And the same view from my balcony at night.

Aboriginal playing Daideroo

Sunset on Darling Harbour

View on the City from Mosman

The view on the City from Watsons Bay - the best place for hanging around on Sunday afternoon and killing the hangover with a beer at Doyles Restaurant.

My favourite part of Sydney's lifestyle - BEACH TIME!!!

Sydney's EASTERN BEACHES seem to encapsulate all that is Sydney- from breathtaking Bondi to laid-back Coogee. Close to the city, the region is an outdoor-lover's paradise, with swimming, surfing, walking & dining with arm's reach.

BONDI BEACH - Sydney (indeed Australia's) most famous beach, attracts sun lovers from around the world. Tha avarage water temp is a pleasant 21 C.

BONDI - sun, sand, surf & exposed skin...you will see more boobs & G strings clud bums, than you will know what to do with! All just 8 km from CBD.

I could not say I lived Down Under and did not try surfing - so I did, but I cannot say that i became a surfer :-( one day...

TAMARAMA BEACH - South of Bondi is my other favourite beach, also called "GLAMARAMA" beach, which is a lovely cove, popular with Sydney's "posh people".

SYDNEY to HOBART YACHT RACE

On the 26th of Dec Sydney Harbour is crowded with boats farewlling yachts competing in the race.

JAZZ in The DOMAIN - 1 of free conerts taking place in the park during Summer Sydney Festival.

Easting and driking starts at midday to assure a good spot.

OPERA HOUSE - Concert Hall

HARRY'S CAFE DE WHEELS -the must be one of the few pie carts inthe world. Opened in 1945!

SYDNEY OPYMPIC PARK - Homebush Bay - Main Venue for 2000 Olympic Games.

RUGBY LEAGUE Grand Final, 70.000 people watching Roosters loosing with Bulldogs, me - drinking!

AUSTRALIA DAY - Barbie in Cremone Point and watching Great Ferry Boat Race or Ferrython when decorated city's ferries race from Harbour Bridge to Manly and back.

SYDNEY CUP - Australia's Second -most-popular horse race held at the Royal Randwick in April. Big huts, big horses, big money - and me drunk with Marcel & Christian.

Outdoors sport are inevitable part of Ozzy's lifestyle - there is plenty events you can participate in like the above: CITY 2 SURF (August, 60.000 runnenrs do this 14 km run from Hyde Park to Bondi where after finish you can hand around for whole Sunday), TRIATLON in the Domain (???)

NEW YEAR'S EVE - fireworks are magnificient, going on simultanious from 3 different locations. And yes, they really are worth the headache of nabbing a spot hours beforehand. I was lucky and could watch it from my rooftop!

If you are interested in wine, tasting wine, drinking wine or being drunk on wine - this is the right place! Especially if you like red SHIRAZ!

All of 80 or so wineries welcome visitors, they are friendly, relaxed and have huge range of wneries t o choose from. And wine tasting is for FREE!

THe Three Sisters. THe foothils begin 65 km in land from Sydney and rise up to 1100.. The blue haze, which gave the mountains their name, is actually a fine mist of evaporated eucalyptus oil from the gumtrees.

Jervis is popular place for a weekend camping - the beaches are only 3h hour away from Sydney. Enjoying the nature, walking, drinking and of course having a BARBIE ...and while we were waling along the beach Kangaroos have eaten our bread for the barbie!

SURFERS PARADISE

GOLD COAST - Equivalent of US Miami - nothing special, very commercial, lots of big hotels and nice big villas and night life is booming. I guess good to see once.

FRASER Island is the largest sand island in the world, 121 km long. Wonderful beaches, rain forest, mangoves and freshwated lakes.

With Rainer and Sam in Lake McKenzie and driving in 4WD as there are no roads there available.

Amazing sunset on Lake McKenzie and Kingfisher Bay.

CAIRNS - the Great Barier Reef

PALM COVE with Stefano - enjoying fake watterfall & fake beach in our hotel but most importantly...

...enjoying beatiful empty beach!

CAPE TRIBULATION - part of the Wet Tropics Heritage Area. One of the few places in the world, where the tropical rainforest meets the sea. Famed for ancient forest and sandy beaches.

There is no better place on the earth to make PADI Open Water Diver course than GREAT BARRIER REEF and no better company than PRODIVE.

lFor Advanced Diver Certificate we have done: photography, Deep, Navigation, Boat and Night dives.

Some of the photos I have taken; CLOWN and TRUMPET fish...

and the photos taken by our instructors; CLOWN Fish and ?

Melbourne - Australia's second largest city - vibrant, cosmopolitan, multicultural mix, renowned for its obsession with the arts, sport, cafe, bar & restaurant scene.

View from the Le Meridien tower

SPRING RACING CARNIVAL in Melbourne

The Carnival features 4 days of high quality racing. The AAMI Victoria Derby is the first day of the Melbourne Carnival and its one of the best single days of racing in Australia.

This year - 2004 - an all-time record crowd of 115,542 flocked the Flemington for AAMI Victoria Derby Day.

I was lucky to be invited by Macquarie Bank to the most prestigious area - Birdcage, where food and chamagne exceeded consumption limit.

MELBOURNE CUP

The Melbourne Cup is Australia's most famous Tuesday. Its a day when the nation stops whatever its doing to wathch the race - 3.10 pm first Tuesday in November

Makybe Diva won this 4.6 mln race for the second time - the only one to win twice! Unfortunatelly only Andrew's bet was the right one and me and Patricia did not win any money :-(

GREAT OCEAN ROAD

Great Ocen Road is one of the world's most spectacular coastal drives. I had a chance to find out about it with my friend Patricia.

12 APOSTELS - Port Campbell National Park is the most photographed strech - dramatic limestone cliffs towes above the ocean. I could not resist neither and as you see have taken several similar photos :-)

In the evening when all the tourists buses headed back to Melbourne we were the only ones on the beach to and had this amazing sunset only to ourselves...

AAUSTRALIAN OPEN - Melbourne

AUSTRALIAN OPEN - the 2 week Grand Slam tennis championship attractions over 500.000 spectactors.

II saw 9 of TOP 10 women - above the photos i took of Serena Williams and my favourite Sharapova.

Every January the Melbourne Park Tennis Centre on Betman Ave hosts top players from around the the world competing in year's first gran slam tournament.

Beatiful empty beaches with no turists (apart from us) and no Japanease taking photos (apart from Sam).

Dippinng a toe in stunning COLES BAY in lovely FREYCIENT National Park on the East Coast.

CARDLE MOUNTAIN - with Sofia and Sam walking the Ovelrand Track, Lake St Clair National Park. Launceston last on the right.

Some ofthe typical Australian animals - Koala, and most common in Tasmania; WOMBAT and TASMANIAN DEVIL.


My year in AUSTRALIA July 2004 - July 2005 To see tips on where to go in Australia click here

NEW SOUTH WALES
SYDNEY

OPERA HOUSE - after International design competition in 1956 Danish architecht won with planned cost of 7 mln $. After several problems he left 10 years later. Australian architechts finished 102 mln $ building thanks to series of lotteries organised by goverment in 1973.

SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE - after 9 years of work, when its ends were 1 cmapart, 100 km/h winds set them swaying, but it survived. Costed 20 mln $, took till 1988 to pay off. Over 150.000 cars per day passes the bridge. And hips of tourists climbs it at all the times of the day!

Viem from my apparmtent in Kings Cross to Harbour and Financial City.

And the same view from my balcony at night.

The Rocks	Circular Quay	Woolloomoolo Bay

Aboriginal playing Daideroo	Sunset on Darling Harbour	View on the City from Mosman

The view on the City from Watsons Bay - the best place for hanging around on Sunday afternoon and killing the hangover with a beer at Doyles Restaurant.

Elizabeth Bay	Rushcutters Bay	Mosman Bay

MANLY SCENIC WALK - starting from SPIT to Mainly Beach long (10 km, 4h) is a gorgeus walk, that includes views of Sydney Harbour but also areas of native bushland.
My favourite part of Sydney's lifestyle - BEACH TIME!!! Sydney's EASTERN BEACHES seem to encapsulate all that is Sydney- from breathtaking Bondi to laid-back Coogee. Close to the city, the region is an outdoor-lover's paradise, with swimming, surfing, walking & dining with arm's reach.

BONDI BEACH - Sydney (indeed Australia's) most famous beach, attracts sun lovers from around the world. Tha avarage water temp is a pleasant 21 C.

BONDI - sun, sand, surf & exposed skin...you will see more boobs & G strings clud bums, than you will know what to do with! All just 8 km from CBD.

I could not say I lived Down Under and did not try surfing - so I did, but I cannot say that i became a surfer :-( one day...

TAMARAMA BEACH - South of Bondi is my other favourite beach, also called "GLAMARAMA" beach, which is a lovely cove, popular with Sydney's "posh people".

COOGEE BEACH - (First on the left) - 4 km sound of Bondi. Seems like a miniaturised knock-off of Bondi, without the models and inflated airs & graces. BRONTE BEACH - (second on the left) - a superb family - oriented baech. Plenty of outdoor tables made it my favourite one for Sunday breakfast. Perfect place for a day of doing very little.


	SYDNEY to HOBART YACHT RACE

On the 26th of Dec Sydney Harbour is crowded with boats farewlling yachts competing in the race.

JAZZ in The DOMAIN - 1 of free conerts taking place in the park during Summer Sydney Festival.	Easting and driking starts at midday to assure a good spot.	OPERA HOUSE - Concert Hall

HARRY'S CAFE DE WHEELS -the must be one of the few pie carts inthe world. Opened in 1945!	SYDNEY OPYMPIC PARK - Homebush Bay - Main Venue for 2000 Olympic Games.	RUGBY LEAGUE Grand Final, 70.000 people watching Roosters loosing with Bulldogs, me - drinking!

AUSTRALIA DAY - Barbie in Cremone Point and watching Great Ferry Boat Race or Ferrython when decorated city's ferries race from Harbour Bridge to Manly and back.

SYDNEY CUP - Australia's Second -most-popular horse race held at the Royal Randwick in April. Big huts, big horses, big money - and me drunk with Marcel & Christian.


Outdoors sport are inevitable part of Ozzy's lifestyle - there is plenty events you can participate in like the above: CITY 2 SURF (August, 60.000 runnenrs do this 14 km run from Hyde Park to Bondi where after finish you can hand around for whole Sunday), TRIATLON in the Domain (???)

NEW YEAR'S EVE - fireworks are magnificient, going on simultanious from 3 different locations. And yes, they really are worth the headache of nabbing a spot hours beforehand. I was lucky and could watch it from my rooftop!
HUNTER VALLEY


If you are interested in wine, tasting wine, drinking wine or being drunk on wine - this is the right place! Especially if you like red SHIRAZ!

All of 80 or so wineries welcome visitors, they are friendly, relaxed and have huge range of wneries t o choose from. And wine tasting is for FREE!
BLUE MOUNTAINS


THe Three Sisters. THe foothils begin 65 km in land from Sydney and rise up to 1100.. The blue haze, which gave the mountains their name, is actually a fine mist of evaporated eucalyptus oil from the gumtrees.

JERVIS BAY

Jervis is popular place for a weekend camping - the beaches are only 3h hour away from Sydney. Enjoying the nature, walking, drinking and of course having a BARBIE ...and while we were waling along the beach Kangaroos have eaten our bread for the barbie!

QUEENSLAND
SURFERS PARADISE


GOLD COAST - Equivalent of US Miami - nothing special, very commercial, lots of big hotels and nice big villas and night life is booming. I guess good to see once.
FRASER ISLAND


FRASER Island is the largest sand island in the world, 121 km long. Wonderful beaches, rain forest, mangoves and freshwated lakes.

With Rainer and Sam in Lake McKenzie and driving in 4WD as there are no roads there available.

Amazing sunset on Lake McKenzie and Kingfisher Bay.
CAIRNS - the Great Barier Reef


PALM COVE with Stefano - enjoying fake watterfall & fake beach in our hotel but most importantly...

...enjoying beatiful empty beach!

CAPE TRIBULATION - part of the Wet Tropics Heritage Area. One of the few places in the world, where the tropical rainforest meets the sea. Famed for ancient forest and sandy beaches.

There is no better place on the earth to make PADI Open Water Diver course than GREAT BARRIER REEF and no better company than PRODIVE.

lFor Advanced Diver Certificate we have done: photography, Deep, Navigation, Boat and Night dives.

Some of the photos I have taken; CLOWN and TRUMPET fish...

and the photos taken by our instructors; CLOWN Fish and ?

kk
VICTORIA
MELBOURNE


Melbourne - Australia's second largest city - vibrant, cosmopolitan, multicultural mix, renowned for its obsession with the arts, sport, cafe, bar & restaurant scene.

Southbank	View from the Le Meridien tower	St.Kilda
SPRING RACING CARNIVAL in Melbourne



DERBY DAY The Carnival features 4 days of high quality racing. The AAMI Victoria Derby is the first day of the Melbourne Carnival and its one of the best single days of racing in Australia.


This year - 2004 - an all-time record crowd of 115,542 flocked the Flemington for AAMI Victoria Derby Day.

I was lucky to be invited by Macquarie Bank to the most prestigious area - Birdcage, where food and chamagne exceeded consumption limit.

MELBOURNE CUP The Melbourne Cup is Australia's most famous Tuesday. Its a day when the nation stops whatever its doing to wathch the race - 3.10 pm first Tuesday in November

Makybe Diva won this 4.6 mln race for the second time - the only one to win twice! Unfortunatelly only Andrew's bet was the right one and me and Patricia did not win any money :-(
GREAT OCEAN ROAD


Great Ocen Road is one of the world's most spectacular coastal drives. I had a chance to find out about it with my friend Patricia.

12 APOSTELS - Port Campbell National Park is the most photographed strech - dramatic limestone cliffs towes above the ocean. I could not resist neither and as you see have taken several similar photos :-)





In the evening when all the tourists buses headed back to Melbourne we were the only ones on the beach to and had this amazing sunset only to ourselves...

AAUSTRALIAN OPEN - Melbourne



AUSTRALIAN OPEN - the 2 week Grand Slam tennis championship attractions over 500.000 spectactors.

II saw 9 of TOP 10 women - above the photos i took of Serena Williams and my favourite Sharapova.

Every January the Melbourne Park Tennis Centre on Betman Ave hosts top players from around the the world competing in year's first gran slam tournament.
TASMANIA


Beatiful empty beaches with no turists (apart from us) and no Japanease taking photos (apart from Sam).

Dippinng a toe in stunning COLES BAY in lovely FREYCIENT National Park on the East Coast.

CARDLE MOUNTAIN - with Sofia and Sam walking the Ovelrand Track, Lake St Clair National Park. Launceston last on the right.

Some ofthe typical Australian animals - Koala, and most common in Tasmania; WOMBAT and TASMANIAN DEVIL.