5 Sydney, Australia

While we were camping in the Outback, Sydney was under siege of dust storms from the Red Center. We got there just as the last of them was blowing in, and then the skies cleared and the sun made Sydney Harbour sparkle. Where we come from, big city downtown harbor water looks pretty mucky and dark, but in Sydney it was a gorgeous blue that was clear and inviting. The edge of the lovely Botanical Gardens becomes a walkway along the coastline up to the landmark Opera House and then on to Circular Quay. Patrick was initially not impressed by the Opera House's appearance--it seemed to be rather discolored and dingy. It wasn't until later in the day that he connected the dots and realized that it simply hadn't been cleaned off from those pesky dust storms.

There are a collection of neatly bunched together historic buildings to see in downtown Sydney right off of Hyde Park including the old British Empire mint, convict barracks, hospital, and the state's Parliament which offers free tours of the chambers. Another nearby freebie in the Botanical Gardens is the New South Wales Art Museum where we took a visit to peep some Australian art. While the more modern stuff was enjoyable we found that Australian art of the 18th to early 20th century was pretty much the same as English and American art of the time...lots of interesting landscapes and portraits, and by interesting we mean not interesting at all. Sorry Thomas Gainsborough. While in Sydney proper we also found a little time to catch the Aussie Footy Grand Final between our St. Kilda Saints and the favored powerhouse, the Geelong Cats. Geelong had won two years ago and the Saints hadn't won in 43, so we really cheered our hearts out at a local pub (aided by a few jugs of Toohey's New) for the underdogs, but they fell tantalizing short in a very entertaining game.

But our favorite sites were definitely the beaches. Bondi is perhaps the most famous and it is the closest at just a ten-minute train ride away. It's not huge, but it's definitely much more scenic than you might expect from a city beach. On one end we saw a huge teenage surf class running drills in the chilly spring ocean. We didn't spend too much time there however as we were being pelted in all directions by wind-propelled grains of sand. Katrina descrined it as "a wind that was trying to rip you apart at the seams". Further up the coast Manly Beach was much more expansive, with a scenic walkway that hugs miles of coastline in and out of Sydney Harbour National Park. It had a cute town center, too, with the main street Corso lined with fish and chip shops. The best part about Manly is how to get there: we took a ferry directly from Circular Quay to the beach. It was very convenient, great fun, and cost a fraction of what the harbor cruiselines charge for a tour. We can pick out the Opera House and Harbour Bridge on our own thank you very much.

For accommodations in Sydney we returned to our trusty old friend from Brazil, the Hotel Formule 1. And our room was practically a twin of the Sao Paulo one. It is located right at the edge of King's Cross--outside the seedy parts--and we got the benefit of being surrounded by lots of inexpensive eateries, a supermarket, and a big train station. What really stood out, though, was Spigolo restaurant three blocks away. We had one of our most memorable dinners there: an all-you-can-eat, made to order pasta and pizza bonanza with accompanying glass of delicious Australian wine. And we aren't talking Olive Garden endless bowl of pasta food quality here...the food was unbelievably good. They offer this feast every non-weekend night for about $20 USD per person; if we lived in Sydney, we would be there at least once a week.

View more pictures from Sydney here.

6 Alice Springs, Australia

They don't call it the Red Center for nothing. The three hour flight from Melbourne took us to the desert town of Alice Springs--literally in the middle of nowhere. Everything was covered in red dust and the river through town was a dry bed. Alice isn't much to speak of itself, but it's the launch point for excursions around the Outback including the largest rock in the world: Ayer's Rock, or by the original Aboriginal name (sort of), Uluru. We booked a three day, two night camping trip with The Rock tour company to see more.

Our guide, Sam, picked us up from our hotel at 6am the first morning and we headed out for a four hour drive with twenty other travellers. It was a very international group with people from England, Spain, Switzerland, Morocco, Canada, lots of Germans, and of course Australians on holiday. We got to King's Canyon mid day and piled out for a hike up, down, and through the rugged terrain. While there Sam imparted many outback flora tidbits from the many medicinal uses of plants to the fact that all figs have dead wasps inside. Back in the van, we drove to our home for the night, Curtin Springs, with kangaroos hopping next to us along the road.

That night we set up camp in the bush. We all pitched in to cook a delicious chili dinner with rice and vegetables over the campfire before settling into our swags. When we first heard that we'd be sleeping in swags we figured it was just the Aussie word for tents, like "torch" for flashlight and "tramping" for hiking. But swags are actually a cocoon-like canvas compartment with a thin built-in mattress in which you put your sleeping bag for warmth and then zip up. The result is that you get to sleep out, uninhibited by tent or shelter, under the stars. And what stars they are--with no light pollution for miles and miles around, the sky is so absolutely amazing and clear. The dazzling show above included an uber-bright Jupiter directly overhead, constellations ranging from the Southern Cross to Scorpio, an absurdly discernible Milky Way, and enough shooting stars to ensure the Red Sox win the world series every year for the next decade.

The downside of sleeping in swag is that when it got down to 40 degrees Farenheit that night we were pretty darn cold. Who knew the Outback could be so frigid? It was up at 5am the next morning to make our way to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. First stop was the towering rock domes at Kata Tjuta and a hike through the Valley of the Winds. Kata Tjuta is one of the most sacred sites in Aboriginal culture as they believe the domes are their ancestors. Next it was on to the Outback's main attraction, Uluru. The massive rock is stunning, and the simple elegance we saw from far away morphed into a textured, almost wavy surface from close up revealing caves and Aboriginal paintings. A visit to the onsite Aboriginal Culture Centre augmented the history and stories that Sam shared with us and we got a greater understanding of the spiritual significance of this place. Uluru is where boys were initiated and became men, where women gave birth, and nearly every tribe in Australia has heritage stories that connect back to this one spot. We watched a dramatic sunset that night that turned the rock a spectrum of reds and browns, and after another night under a blanket of twinkling stars, a beautiful sunrise.It was a long goodbye to the outback as we drove back to Alice Springs that afternoon. We'd had a fabulous time in the wild. That being said, we can't say we weren't delighted to check into the Desert Rose Inn and wash off the days of red dirt and sweat we'd caked on. And though the stucco ceiling wasn't much of a view, sleeping in a bed never felt so good.

View more pictures from Alice Springs here.

1 Melbourne, Australia

For the most part we have hit the ground running when we've arrived in new places, but our start in Melbourne was a slow one. Our flight from Auckland didn't get in until almost midnight and the following day was a soaker. Bright and early the next morning we got the best possible introduction to Melbourne with our free tour of Town Hall. Our fantastic tourguide Ken is clearly an institution there, and he showcased the beautiful building with tons of great anecdotes and city history. We saw the largest pipe organ in the Southern Hemisphere (with a price tag of 9 million AUD), the balcony from which Ringo Starr tossed out a golden boomerang never to be seen again, and a stunning silver tea set specially made for Queen Elizabeth's visit decades ago but never used since she opted for water instead. It was while he was bantering with the Deputy Lord Mayor about the upcoming footy finals series that Patrick decided we really had to attend a match.

We arrived in Melbourne at the height of footy fever. In general the city is the hub of Australian Rules Football enthusiasm, but this week in particular was a special one with both preliminary final (or what we call semifinal) matches being held during our stay and the Grand Final the following weekend all at the hallowed Melbourne Cricket Grounds. We bought tickets to see the St. Kilda Saints play the Western Bulldogs and learn what the hype was all about. First off the stadium is like nothing we'd ever seen: some 100,000 people surrounding a massive oval field. Thirty-six players are on the field at once, running back and forth, side to side, and shoving each other around at every opportunity. It was an intensely heated match that came down to the last minute, but despite Western fans cheers of "Come on doggies, get hungry!" the Saints are marching on to next weekend's finals.

But aside from watching footy, there is certainly plenty to keep the non-sports fanatic busy in Melbourne. Our walking tours included the Parliament building, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Old Melbourne Gaol (historic jail), Royal Exhibition Building, numerous beautiful public parks, and the bustling Queen Victoria Market--crazy bargains at closing time. There are several free museums as well; the Koorie Cultural Center has beautiful Aboriginal art on display and a fascinating collection of regional flags, the NGV International art museum has three impressive floors of exhibitions from around the world, and the brand new, interactive Australian Center for Moving Images in Federation Square had just had its ribbon cut by Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush while we were in town. Ken tipped us off on Melbourne's free panoramic view secret and we headed over to the Shrine of Remembrance to enjoy them.
The CBD (Central Business District) is surrounded by a ring of neighborhoods known as the City Fringe. We spent lots of time wandering these areas...Carlton's massive restaurant row on Lygon Street, the funky shops and cafes in Fitzroy, and the chill beachfront of St. Kilda where we spotted nesting penguins in the rocks along the pier. We stayed in North Melbourne whose main street is fairly small, but is home to some great bars. We enjoyed a leisurely drink at The Rrose (sic) and some jugs (pitchers) of Carlton draught at Sheezle during the second preliminary final footy match. This sport-crazed city, with a strong sense of colonial history, culture, and urban parks certainly reminded us of home. We weren't at all surprised to learn that Melbourne and Boston are sister cities. And we mean sister the way that city governments mean it, which is more meaningful we think.

View more phots from Melbourne here.