Happy Australia Day!

So, today is Australia Day, for those of you who weren't aware. It's Australia's national day, and is becoming more like the 4th of July in how it's celebrated, with people going to the beach, having barbies (that's a BBQ), and flying the Australian flag. It essentially would be like celebrating the landing of the Mayflower in the US, as it was the day Britain proclaimed sovereignty over Australia. In fact, some people call it Invasion Day. But, most Australians admit that it's just an excuse for a public holiday, which this year happened to fall on Tuesday.

Last night, our landlords hosted an Australian Day barbie in the backyard. They invited a bunch of co-workers over and grilled up a feast of kangaroo burgers, chicken tikka, wild goat sausages, and kangaroo sausages. It was delicious, with a distinctly different taste than what you'd expect from a BBQ in the States. The highlight of the night was when two of the kids who had come over with their parents showed us a koala up in the trees. We could tell it was a koala, but all we could really see was a dark blob. Still, it was cool -- a koala in the back yard!

Today, we did go to the beach, snorkeled around a little, had a nice walk, and mostly tried to avoid getting sunburned. The sun is really intense here, and I've really been enjoying my bucket hat that I got for free at the Tour Down Under. The race sponsors were giving out all sorts of swag, and we did pretty well, snagging lots of SPF 30 chapstick, bucket hats, water bottles, gels, and reusable bags. This is a side note, but people were walking around with bottles of sunscreen, encouraging people to put more on while watching the race. It was great!

Anyways, the beach was lovely -- sunny, breezy, and some pretty good fish out on the reef. We went with Brad and Laila, another couple from the US. Brad is spending a year here doing research for his PhD, and is also working at CSIRO. They're a really fun couple, and it's sort of nice to be able to share our Australian experiences.

We're rounding out our Australia Day experience watching the Australian Open on TV. Murray from Britain is playing Nadal from Spain, so no Australians to cheer for, but still some good tennis.

We figure about the only Australian thing we didn't do today was watch (or play) cricket. It was amazing how many makeshift cricket wickets were out on the beach today. We agreed that we will have to go see at least one cricket match while we're here, but we're going to start with (and perhaps end with) a Twenty20 match. At 3.5 hours long, this is the shortest kind of match, and will probably bring us to our cricket-watching limits. We're assured that these matches are really exciting because players get really aggressive and pack five days of cricket into three hours. My question is, if you can fit all the best bits of a cricket match into three hours, why would you ever want to extend it to five days? Maybe I'll just have to go watch a match to find out the answer, but I'll be sure to let you know if I have any eureka moments...

It's The Tour Down Under

One of the great things about arriving in mid-January was that we got here in time for the Tour Down Under. This is still the beginning of the European season, so the pros love coming down for this race. True, the jet lag from Europe is a bummer, but the weather is great for training (in stark contrast to northern Europe in January), the hotel is great (the Hilton), and there are no transfers.

And we've spent a fair bit of time watching the TDU. The first Sunday we were here we went out to Rymill Park for the Down Under Classic, which has been renamed for its sponsor. It was a great criterium for viewing, with Lance coming out to play in the break and Team Sky appearing at the front with two laps to go to take their first win ever. On Wednesday Dave demoed a road bike from a local shop and went for a ride with some folks from Melbourne in the Adelaide Hills. Rode over Mt. Lofty to watch the finish of Stage 3 in the German hamlet of Hahndorf. On Saturday we rode with our landlords, Liz and Ryan, down to Willunga to watch the finish of the challenging Stage 5. Cadel Evans, who won the World Championship road race last year (becoming the first Australian ever to do so), went on the attack in his rainbow stripes and the crowd went crazy. He didn't manage to outfox the peloton, but he certainly won the hearts of South Australia. On Sunday a twisty crit in North Adelaide (Stage 6) finished off the race.

The pro factor is definitely big here. We've seen Lance, Cadel, Hincapie, Jens Voigt--a pretty sizeable part of the European peloton is here. Last Wednesday I went for a ride in the Adelaide Hills and saw the stage finish. On my way home, Saxo Bank steamed right by me on a recovery ride after the stage. Stuart O'Grady is truly as freckled as you might imagine. The riders are respected and idolized by a lot of folks here. I've seen people wearing every pro team uniform from Motorola and Mercatone Uno jerseys from the early 90s to last year's Katusha and Caisse d'Epargne strip. Imagine if every person you saw wearing a Patriots jersey was wearing a pro bike jersey instead. It's not quite that rampant, but it might be close.


What might be even bigger is the degree to which the cycling craze hits South Australia during the week of the TDU. It's been great--tons of cyclists of every sort. Last Saturday, we watched Lance's Twitter ride roll out in Glenelg. There were people on hybrid bikes pulling baby trailers and guys riding $10,000 bikes with their carbon race wheels on. Watching people riding around the city this week, it seems that most of them have a gleam in their eye. Commuters will do a little sprint through an intersection and then look to see if anyone caught them doing it. Lots and lots of weekend warriors have been taking time off to ride during the week. Adelaide is not unfriendly to cyclists, but it's not Europe by any means (I'd say it's about on par with the US-just assume drivers don't see you), so it's great to see so many people getting into it and raising the awareness level.


A few other observations:
- The TDU might be the only sporting event with its own theme song. Periodically during the stages, the poppy sounds of "Wheels in Motion" (or whatever it is called) could be heard from the loudspeakers around the finish area.
- Pro cyclists tend to be quite small. Except for some of the super-tall Belgian guys and time trialist types. The one thing that is not small is their thighs.
- There is some dude in a kangaroo suit and boxing gloves that is following the race around. Kind of cooler than longhorn helmet guy at the Tour de France.
- Despite the fact that everything cycling-related costs about 50% more here, there are a ton of high-end bikes. The number of >$5000 bikes (and that's in USD--we're in eight to ten thousand dollar territory) rolling around the stages at the TDU is staggering--and I could outride half of the people riding those bikes. Our friend Ryan explained it to us as "cycling is the new golf." There are definitely some very fit cyclists as well, but they were definitely the minority. At the finish in Hahndorf, there was enough carbon to build a fleet of ultralight aircraft.
- Like in the US, there is a bit of inter-state rivalry here. Melbourne seems to want to steal the TDU because they feel they are bigger, better, and somehow deserve to have it. South Australia's response is something along the lines of "so you want to steal it and muck it up like everything else you take--bugger off." Anyway, South Australia has been assured the TDU for at least the next three years, so stay posted.
- The riding here is pretty sweet. I imagine it is sort of comparable to San Diego--great year-round weather and diversity of terrain.
- Now, if we only had a couple of bikes. Coming soon...

Some more photos from the TDU are up here.

Some observations

After 4 days here in Adelaide, I have jumped to several undoubtedly correct conclusions about Australia. They come in two categories. Well, that’s not entirely true. One doesn’t really fit into a category, but just makes me laugh. It’s the word debut, and the way they pronounce it here. Instead of saying ‘day biew’, they say ‘dah boo’. You really have to hear it for the full effect, but I heard it several times on the news, and I can’t help but smile when I hear it. Like when they were talking about the new baby elephant at the zoo that is getting ready to make his dah-boo.

But, back to the two categories. The first is that Australia feels like it did 20 years ago in the US. And the second is that it seems like Australia is 20 years ahead of the US.

First, flying from Sydney to Adelaide on Qantas, the national airline, they fed everyone dinner. It didn’t cost extra, and they even offered complimentary beer and wine to the entire plane. I was floored. Then, when we arrived in Adelaide, people were waiting right at the gate to meet people as they came down the ramp. It reminded me of when it was actually a pleasant experience to fly, and you weren’t worried about forgetting to put your toothpaste in a quart-sized bag, and hoping you packed enough food for the plane to avoid spending $20 on a bag of chips.

My other observation that fits into this category relates to youth fashion, though I’m not sure I can honestly say that Australia’s youth fashion today is akin to any fashion style in any country at any time. Mostly, I’ve been incredibly confused by some of the outfits we’ve seen. I saw one pair of jeans that looked like a pair of tights, and even had little heel loops to help keep them on the feet. Actually, I’m not sure there was any denim at all in those ‘jeans’. I wasn’t close enough to get a good look, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she had taken some gold puff paint and drawn some pockets onto a dark blue pair of spandex tights.

Many of the teenage boys have rat tails, some of which are braided. One girl was wearing bright purple heels that looked as if they weighed 5 pounds. Maybe it’s just that I haven’t spent enough time around teenagers lately, but I have to say that I’ve raised my eye brows more than a few times.

Australia, or at least Adelaide, is also far ahead of the US in at least one important way. Environmental awareness and behavior. Most homes I’ve seen have rain barrels to collect water. All the toilets have half flush and full flush options. The explanatory document for our granny flat notes that we should limit water use, shower at night to reduce the need for washing sheets, and reduce energy use. It even says that if we use too much energy or water, we’ll have to pay extra for utilities. And today, I saw a large display in the library about water, and using it efficiently. Now, this could be because South Australia is the driest state in the driest continent on the planet. It’s hard not to be aware of water here. But, there are definitely some pretty dry places where people are not at all aware of the need to conserve water.

Everyone here carries around reusable shopping bags. In fact, if you want a plastic bag from the grocery store, it costs 10 cents. Doesn’t seem like a terribly large fee to pay, but no one uses plastic bags. It’s really something.

The other thing that makes me feel like it is 20 years ahead are the prices. I can’t say I have any idea how much inflation causes prices to go up in 20 years, but the cost of living here is definitely higher than in the US. It was actually a bit surprising, but we’re adjusting. It’s possible to live on a budget here, but I was shocked when I went to buy a thank you card and it cost $6. (The Australian and US dollars are nearly one-to-one.) We saw a Subaru wagon that must have been at least 25 years old going for $3970. What?! How about a $4 can of tuna or a nice ice coffee for $6? (I found out that ice coffee here is more like a frappuccino, with milk and ice cream. I felt slightly better after learning that.) At least you don’t tip when you go out to eat.

I think the sticker shock is wearing off to some degree. Perhaps that’s just because we’re going to be here for a year, so we're telling ourselves things aren't that expensive. For those of you thinking about coming for a visit, don’t worry. Just give us some time and we’ll find all the best deals in town. And, we’ve agreed that we’ll treat anyone who comes to visit us to dinner, so book your tickets soon!!

In Good Hands

Maybe we had a sign on us that said, “We’re new here and could use some help.” After our first day here in Adelaide, it seemed like everyone we met was ready and willing—you could even say looking—to help us.

We came to Adelaide with a room booked in a hostel for two nights. The first night, we got in around 8:30 pm, went for a short walk around the neighborhood, and then went to bed. So, we essentially had the second day to sort out our living arrangement.

We headed first to CSIRO, one of the two institutions I’ll be working with while I’m here in Adelaide. We met Jeff, one of my advisors and Brad, another grad student here from California. Jeff offered to send an email out to the CSIRO list to see if anyone had a lead on housing. Brad, who just arrived here in Australia at the end of November, was extremely helpful, giving us tips about what to do, and what not to do, while we get settled. He also said we should come over for dinner sometime.

After leaving CSIRO, we made our way to the local library, where they happily gave us visitor cards to use the internet. I already had an email from Ryan, someone at CSIRO who had a granny flat available for rent on a weekly basis. This also happened to be the person that Brad recommended we contact in order to get some bikes. It sounded perfect. (A granny flat, by the way, is the place where the in-laws stay when they come to visit.)

We decided we would head out to see the place later that evening. As we were standing on the platform at the train station, a woman sitting nearby asked us if we were tourists or locals. We told her we’d just arrived the day before, and were going to be living here for a year. We started chatting and got on the same train. She asked where we were getting off, and then said, “Well, why don’t you just get off at my stop – it’s the one before, and I’ll drive you over to where you’re going.”

I said, “Really, you would do that?!”

She replied, “No, I just made that up.”

Not only are they nice here, but they have a sense of humor as well. We did get off, and she drove us over, and also gave us the names and addresses of two geologists she knew in Adelaide for Dave to contact to see about work here. And, she warned us about the koalas we might see on the train tracks, and to not try and pet them because of their long claws. Apparently, they’re nearly blind, so you can actually get quite close, though it’s not recommended. She also told us to stay away from the ‘brown snakes’.

We were a little late to meet our potential new landlords, but they were understanding. They showed us the place, which we immediately agreed was excellent. As they were showing us around their awesome backyard, which had a garden, chickens, lemon tree, mulberry bush, rainwater barrel, and solar panels (they face to the north here!), they asked us if we’d like to stay for dinner. Our second night in Australia, and already two dinner invitations! Then, Ryan, who runs a bike user group, offered to send out an email to see if anyone had bikes that would fit us.

After an incredible meal followed by a local dessert of quandongs (a local sort of peach-like fruit that tastes delicious over ice cream), Ryan walked us back to the train station. When we got back to the hostel, I said to Dave, “I’m not sure I can say who was the nicest to us today.”

“The Australians do seem to be very friendly, indeed,” Dave replied.