TND West

I’ve been remiss in the blogisphere, but when you don’t have access to the Internet, it makes it quite difficult. I usually try to write my blogs in Word, then copy them to my blog online, but to be honest, I’ve just been plain bloggied out. But, I do miss all the comments, so here I am again, blogging about my trip to Sydney and Canberra, Australia.

It was a beautiful week in Sydney last week and I spent most of my time eating, golfing, relaxing and beaching it. The best part of my week, was to visit with friends I hadn’t seen in a long time; too long.  I had dinner at the restaurant and wine bar called DeVine with two of my most funniest friends, Mark and Tabitha. It was so good to see them and laugh till we cried. I’d forgotten just how fun it is to be with the both of them, they’re so funny; all the time funny. They should become a comedy duo. We had a nice bottle of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, which rounded off our exquisite meal quite nicely.

My weekend was astounding. I travelled to Canberra to visit Ria, Randy and their cat Ranch. I stayed at one of the Canberra Australia hotels instead of putting them out, even though they offered me to stay at their wonderful ranch, I just prefer to wake up in my own room where I won’t disturb anyone but myself. It felt like we were ‘back-in-the-day’ when I was with them. We used to hang out all the time together and try to get into trouble. Ranch, the cat, doesn’t like to be petted, but I talked to him anyway, he liked that, because he would respond every time with a meow.

Canberra is just as I was told it would be, not much of anything, which is exactly what I love about it. It’s not touristy and the pace here is slow and pleasant. I went ahead and did the tour of the parliament building, so I can say that I did see sights! Actually, I learned quite a bit about Canberra and Australia in general than I ever knew before, so the tour was to my benefit. I picked up Bill Bryson’s book on Australia before I came to Australia and I highly recommend if you plan to travel to Australia, to read this book first.

I’ve decided what I will do for Earth Day, which is today. I will create a tree map of feral fruit trees during my travel through out Australia. I got this idea while I was staying at a Luxury Sydney Hotel. By happenstance, I was walking around the area by my hotel and spotted a Mulberry tree, quite a few of the Lilly Pilly trees, a rogue Passion fruit vine and a some surprising Warrrigal Greens, although it’s not a fruit, it’s still very edible. Spotting all of these edible and wild trees and plants made me want to use these as my way of showing how much nature is in our backyard, so-to-speak.

My classification of a feral fruit is any fruit the can be glean from a public space, like a park, overhangs from a fence or something along a roadside. They have to be free and hopefully organic. My concept for mapping the feral fruit trees is not original. I heard about it over at Milkwood. I believe it’s been something other people have been doing, if only in their heads, of ages. I remember that I always knew where all the feral mulberry trees and blackberry bushes were to be found in and around my neighborhood.

Even my brothers were called the Hunter-Gatherers by my parents and neighbors because they were always seen picking the berries and the fruit from the hedges and trees randomly growing. But, what I remember best about them was they knew where to find a good feral fig tree. Those fresh figs were so good to eat, yummy.

Now, to remember where the feral fruit trees are on my travels, I not only mark on my map where I noticed them, but if they were in season. I will use a traditional map and mark it with a pen. But, after I finish, I will use Google earth and share it with as many people who are interested in my feral fruit tree journey. I will invite people to share and add any feral fruit trees I will most definitely miss during my travels through Australia. There are already excellent feral fruit tree maps, but this won’t stop me from creating my very own. What a fantastic why to see a country.

Many people travel to Sydney, Australia all year long.  Some to stay in the 5 star hotels Sydney has along the beaches for surfing and sun-bathing.  Some come for the tours through the Blue Mountains or the Hunter Valley wineries, both destinations just two hours from the city.  And some choose to travel to Sydney during the winter, for the incredible Winter Arts Festival wherein performers–musicians, dancers, and actors–as well as artists in the visual arts come from around the world and offer such an art scene all winter, that there is never a day without something incredible to experience.  At any time of the year, this is a vibrant and diverse city with various cultures and neighborhoods to sight-see, to shop, to party and to eat.

One of the areas of the city which houses many art galleries, antique and art dealers, pubs and cafes is Surry Hills.  This inner city neighborhood once was filled with slums, and known for the brothels and the gang activity, however it has transformed throughout the years into one of the most fashionable and funky destinations.  And for those looking for incredible discounts in the area of fashion, this is where one will find the garment district.  And once the shopping is finished, some of the finest and award winning restaurants are located in this neighborhood.  Paddington is another area of fashion, however the discounts will not be found in the shops.  This is one of the most wealthy of Sydney’s suburbs, and is filled with high-end boutiques and shops.  Many contain very artistic, hand-made, one of a kind items.  The area also has a wide range of diverse, and multicultural dining establishments.

Inner city west is where one will find the Little Italy district of Sydney.  There are many restaurants and eclectic bistros throughout the area.  For those seeking diversity in entertainment, the place to go is Kings Cross.  For a time, this area was much like the SoHo neighborhood in New York City, filled with writers, musicians, artists and bohemians, and much of the that feel remains through the neighborhood today.  In any of the neighborhoods throughout the city of Sydney, the diversity, the culture, is apparent and an incredible aspect of the city to experience.