As some of you have probably noticed, we haven't been the most consistent bloggers. I think what happens is that we fall behind in posting, and then we feel like we have to catch up on everything that's happened before we can write more current posts. Then, we don't feel like we have enough time to write about everything that's already happened, and so we end up not writing posts.
Dave made a good point the other day that we don't just have to write about big events on our blog. We can also include more day-to-day topics, and that this might help us keep our blog a little more current. A good idea indeed. So, while we are working to catch up on our recent trips (and we have some exciting things to share from our trip to Darwin and Melbourne!), I thought I would share a little story for this weekend.
The department I am a part of at UniSA had a conference this weekend, and had booked out a hotel for the visitors. They had two last minute cancellations, but couldn't cancel the hotel rooms on such short notice. They sent an email around to the department, asking if anyone was interested in having the rooms for the night. I thought it sounded like a fun idea -- we could stay late in the city without thinking about catching the train home -- and so responded to see if we could get a room. As luck would have it, the rooms were still available.
We checked into our room, which was really quite nice, apart from the strange painting on the wall. We meant to take our camera, but forgot. It would have been worth it just to take a picture of this picture. I'll try to describe it, though it's hard to imagine it without actually seeing it. The painting was a picture of a the top 3/4 of a woman. It looked as though someone had taken a picture of a naked woman, and then painted over it. Her body was covered in a pattern of diagonal squares of different colors, sort of like you might imagine a jester wearing. But, you could see her belly button and the bottom of her breasts as well, making it unclear whether the colored squares were clothing or not. That part of the painting would have been tolerable, but her eyes were also painted with this very strange makeup. They looked sort of like the eyes in Japanese anime, except they were narrow, slanted, and sinister looking. As bad as our picture was, it was better than the one in Judy and Graham's room, even though theirs was much smaller. Their picture was just a girl's head, with lots of letters and numbers behind and to the side of her head. But, her eyes were very disturbed and angry. They stared right at you and seemed to be saying, "What are you doing in my room?" Spooky.
Anyways, we had decided to make a night of it and go out for dinner, so we left the angry-eyed jester woman and headed downtown. We decided on a sushi restaurant for dinner (what is it about raw fish that tastes so good?). We ordered "the boat," which had a combination of sushi and sashimi. There were a number of Japanese people in the restaurant, but interestingly, we noticed that none of them ordered the boat. I'd always assumed that eating sushi was a traditional thing, and what most Japanese people would eat. But, after our experience, I wonder if it's not usual to have an entire meal consisting of raw fish. That certainly makes sense. We agreed we should return and try some of the other traditional Japanese foods served there.
We stopped by the Central Market to pick up some desserts on the way home. Judy, another student in my office, had gotten the other room, and so we thought it would be fun to have her and her husband over for dessert in our room. I had done a little research before hand, and found out that the hotel had a 'heated jet pool' on the 5th floor, with views of the city. Excellent! We had packed our swim suits (or, bathers as they call them here), and were looking forward to a dip in the hot water before bed. After a lovely dessert with Judy and Graham, we got into our swimsuits, and donned the bathrobes (which were almost impossible to get off the hangers) and slippers (which were too small for Dave) provided by the hotel, and headed up for some warmth.
We arrived to the top floor, opened the door, and were thrilled to find that we had the pool to ourselves. Also, we were excited that the pool was outside, and that we had a view of the tall city buildings (not really an incredible view, but not bad, either). We were feeling pretty special indeed, right up until we stuck a foot into the 'heated' jet pool. We had been expecting a hot tub, but the temperature of this pool was probably about the temperature of a swimming pool at a retirement home. Too warm to swim in for most people, but not quite warm enough to stand around in for any length of time. And indeed, after about a minute, we were feeling pretty cool. We looked around for the jets, thinking that maybe we needed to switch these on to get the heat going. We finally found the switch and turned it on only to have even colder water shoot out at us. And, the jets were industrial strength, pushing us to the far side of the pool.
The pool was not warm enough for a hot tub and too small to swim. After turning on the jets, we decided that the only practical thing you could do in the pool would be to run or swim against the current while its strength held you in place. But, if you did that, you would surely want to wear a tight fitting swimsuit. Mine nearly came off in all of the turbulence.
After a minute or two of strong jets and cold water, we decided we'd had enough. We jumped out, and shivering, put our bathrobes and slippers on and dashed back inside. When we got back to the room, we got straight into the hot shower.
Disappointing though the pool may have been, it was honestly pretty hilarious. We are still not sure why the hotel has that pool. It was like someone almost had a good idea, but not all of the pieces came together. Like when you bake a cake with lots of good ingredients but forget to put in the baking soda--everything just flops. Oh well! We did get to enjoy a nice breakfast (with the rest of the Workshop participants who we'd never met) the next morning, and got a complimentary weekend paper. And, they had the most fun little hotel-sized bathroom conveniences, including a dental kit with the smallest tube of toothpaste I've ever seen, and a shaving kit, with a similarly-sized tube of shaving cream.
Not bad at all, though I must say we were happy to sleep in our own bed last night if only because we didn't have a strange woman staring down at us with her scary eyes! I know these little boutique hotels want to be different, but whoever thought pictures like that were a good idea must be a little odd indeed!
Sunday 17 October 2010
Thursday 14 October 2010
Funniest home videos
There have been a couple of things that have happened recently that make me laugh every time I think about them. It's really a shame that we didn't have a video camera with us during these recent comic happenings. But, hopefully the humor will come through in the re-telling!
The first thing that happened was on the way to our Frisbee game one Wednesday evening. Because it's just getting to be spring, until recently, our games always started well after dark. We were riding to the game on our bikes, and we had to go a different way than usual. This was because the fields were we play were also being used for parking for the Adelaide Show, a big festival akin to a State Fair, with contests for the best pies, jams, and pigs.
They had put up a bunch of flagging to convert part of the fields into parking. We ducked under one set of flagging and got on our bikes to ride the rest of the way to the Frisbee fields. Ahead, I noticed there were a number of big logs lying down on the ground. I turned to Dave and said, "Be careful, there are a bunch of logs here."
Dave, however, didn't see the logs that I was talking about (they were pretty well hidden in tall grass, and it was very dark out), and so did what he usually does when he first gets on his bike. He got out of the seat and stood up to get some good momentum going on his bike. About 3 peddle strokes later, Dave's bike ran smack into one of the logs hiding in the tall grass. I heard a low grunt, which sounded like air being expelled from his lungs, and then turned to watch as he did a slow motion flip over his handle bars and disappeared into the grass.
I was very concerned about Dave, and wanted to make sure he was OK. But, he was soon laughing, which I took as permission to laugh as well. It was so funny. The good thing is that he wasn't going to fast, and the tall grass cushioned his landing. That's the best when something really funny happens and no one gets hurt!
The second thing also involves Dave. We were having a lovely dinner with our friends the Dales at their home in Melbourne. Conversation was going along normally when I happened to glance across the table at Dave and noticed his wine glass and saw something in it. I was terribly confused because from my viewpoint, it looked sort of like the wispy strands of egg in egg drop soup. I couldn't help but lean in to get a better view. Suddenly, I realized that the egg-looking thing was in fact a piece of chicken breast. I looked down at the table and realized that Dave's wine glass was between the dish of chicken and his plate, and quickly guessed that he must have accidentally dropped a piece of his chicken in his wine glass as he was transporting it to his plate.
I know I shouldn't have laughed, but the realization of what had happened came so suddenly, that I couldn't help it. And, it would have been rude not to explain why I was laughing, so I unfortunately had to give away Dave, who had been successfully hiding the incident up until that point. Some fiance I am.
I realize it may not seem that nice to share these stories about Dave. But, I promise, these things make me love him even more. And, it's more fun if you can laugh at yourself (or your partner) anyways.
Thankfully, the third situation does not involve Dave, but instead a ticket validating machine. When you get on a train, tram or bus here, you're supposed to stick your ticket into a little dark blue box, that is about the size of a shoe box, but is turned on its side. The machine sucks in your ticket, makes a sound like a time clock when you punch in for work, and then returns your ticket for you to take with you.
We were sitting on the train one night, waiting to leave, when a guy got on and went to validate his ticket. The machine took his ticket, made the validation sound, but then didn't send the ticket back out. It's such an automatic process for people validating their tickets, that he had even started to walk away from the machine before he realized that his hand was empty. He came back to the machine. He crooked his head to look at the entry slot for the ticket, saw nothing, and so banged lightly on the top of the box. Nothing happened after a few seconds, so he went and sat down, not knowing what else to do.
A few minutes later, the red 'X' on the mysterious blue ticket box began to flash red and was accompanied by the repeated rejection sound (just imagine the sound you would hear on a quiz show if you incorrectly answered a question; or, if you've ever played Taboo, the sound that the dreadful buzzer makes). It was as though something had gone seriously wrong with the ticket machine, and it was sounding the alarm, loud and clear. Then, suddenly the noise stopped and the machine violently spit the ticket back out, sending it flying to the floor. Usually when you stick your ticket in, the machine just sends out about half of the ticket, and you have to pull it the rest of the way out. So, you can imagine our surprise when the ticket came flying out of the machine. The guy calmly got up, picked up his ticket, and went back to his seat. It was hilarious. I've always wondered what happens inside of those ticket validation boxes, and after the incident, I can now report that I have even less of an idea.
I hope you've enjoyed reading this blog as much as I've enjoyed writing it. I just love it when things happen which make you laugh out loud. Hopefully there will be more such comical happenings to share soon, and please do feel free to share any that may have recently happened to you!
The first thing that happened was on the way to our Frisbee game one Wednesday evening. Because it's just getting to be spring, until recently, our games always started well after dark. We were riding to the game on our bikes, and we had to go a different way than usual. This was because the fields were we play were also being used for parking for the Adelaide Show, a big festival akin to a State Fair, with contests for the best pies, jams, and pigs.
They had put up a bunch of flagging to convert part of the fields into parking. We ducked under one set of flagging and got on our bikes to ride the rest of the way to the Frisbee fields. Ahead, I noticed there were a number of big logs lying down on the ground. I turned to Dave and said, "Be careful, there are a bunch of logs here."
Dave, however, didn't see the logs that I was talking about (they were pretty well hidden in tall grass, and it was very dark out), and so did what he usually does when he first gets on his bike. He got out of the seat and stood up to get some good momentum going on his bike. About 3 peddle strokes later, Dave's bike ran smack into one of the logs hiding in the tall grass. I heard a low grunt, which sounded like air being expelled from his lungs, and then turned to watch as he did a slow motion flip over his handle bars and disappeared into the grass.
I was very concerned about Dave, and wanted to make sure he was OK. But, he was soon laughing, which I took as permission to laugh as well. It was so funny. The good thing is that he wasn't going to fast, and the tall grass cushioned his landing. That's the best when something really funny happens and no one gets hurt!
The second thing also involves Dave. We were having a lovely dinner with our friends the Dales at their home in Melbourne. Conversation was going along normally when I happened to glance across the table at Dave and noticed his wine glass and saw something in it. I was terribly confused because from my viewpoint, it looked sort of like the wispy strands of egg in egg drop soup. I couldn't help but lean in to get a better view. Suddenly, I realized that the egg-looking thing was in fact a piece of chicken breast. I looked down at the table and realized that Dave's wine glass was between the dish of chicken and his plate, and quickly guessed that he must have accidentally dropped a piece of his chicken in his wine glass as he was transporting it to his plate.
I know I shouldn't have laughed, but the realization of what had happened came so suddenly, that I couldn't help it. And, it would have been rude not to explain why I was laughing, so I unfortunately had to give away Dave, who had been successfully hiding the incident up until that point. Some fiance I am.
I realize it may not seem that nice to share these stories about Dave. But, I promise, these things make me love him even more. And, it's more fun if you can laugh at yourself (or your partner) anyways.
Thankfully, the third situation does not involve Dave, but instead a ticket validating machine. When you get on a train, tram or bus here, you're supposed to stick your ticket into a little dark blue box, that is about the size of a shoe box, but is turned on its side. The machine sucks in your ticket, makes a sound like a time clock when you punch in for work, and then returns your ticket for you to take with you.
We were sitting on the train one night, waiting to leave, when a guy got on and went to validate his ticket. The machine took his ticket, made the validation sound, but then didn't send the ticket back out. It's such an automatic process for people validating their tickets, that he had even started to walk away from the machine before he realized that his hand was empty. He came back to the machine. He crooked his head to look at the entry slot for the ticket, saw nothing, and so banged lightly on the top of the box. Nothing happened after a few seconds, so he went and sat down, not knowing what else to do.
A few minutes later, the red 'X' on the mysterious blue ticket box began to flash red and was accompanied by the repeated rejection sound (just imagine the sound you would hear on a quiz show if you incorrectly answered a question; or, if you've ever played Taboo, the sound that the dreadful buzzer makes). It was as though something had gone seriously wrong with the ticket machine, and it was sounding the alarm, loud and clear. Then, suddenly the noise stopped and the machine violently spit the ticket back out, sending it flying to the floor. Usually when you stick your ticket in, the machine just sends out about half of the ticket, and you have to pull it the rest of the way out. So, you can imagine our surprise when the ticket came flying out of the machine. The guy calmly got up, picked up his ticket, and went back to his seat. It was hilarious. I've always wondered what happens inside of those ticket validation boxes, and after the incident, I can now report that I have even less of an idea.
I hope you've enjoyed reading this blog as much as I've enjoyed writing it. I just love it when things happen which make you laugh out loud. Hopefully there will be more such comical happenings to share soon, and please do feel free to share any that may have recently happened to you!
Wednesday 13 October 2010
The MDB
I know I hardly talk about why I'm actually here in Australia, but I think that's generally because I think about it most of the day, and want to write about other things on the blog. However, I recently took a brief tour of the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB), which I thought was interesting enough to share on the blog.
As I mentioned a few blogs back, a new Fulbrighter and his wife recently arrived and are also based in Adelaide. He happens to be studying water policy as well, and was planning a scoping trip to get a feel for the MDB before he starts his research. The idea was to speak with people living and working in the MDB, and also to see some of the icon sites, which are internationally recognized wetlands within the MDB.
I met up with Dustin and Heather in Renmark, SA. Renmark is part of the Riverland, and is known as a citrus and grape producing area. I met them in the evening, and after a dinner at the local pub, we headed out to a cute little cabin at the Australian Landscape Trust's property outside of Renmark for the evening.
It happened to rain most of the night we were there. While this was certainly a good thing for agriculture, it wasn't really so good for driving on unsealed (unpaved) roads. The next morning, we thought we would travel to Wentworth via the backway, which (despite being referred to as a main road in the atlas) is entirely unsealed. We wanted to go to Wentworth because this is where the Darling joins the Murray River. Also, the backway would allow us to see some of the wetlands along the river.
If you've ever done any driving in Australia's Outback, or on any of Australia's unsealed roads, then you would probably know that these roads are generally different than dirt roads in the US. The driving is generally not as easy, and they also tend to be more remote. They can also be difficult to drive on without 4-wheel drive, particularly when they are wet.
We started the drive in South Australia (SA), where the driving was reasonably good, apart from a few big potholes in the middle of the road, which were filled with water, and so difficult to see. However, once we crossed the border and entered New South Wales (NSW), the driving conditions changed drastically. The road actually said that it was closed when wet, and for good reason. It was essentially like driving in thick slush, and the car was unnervingly swerving back and forth. Further ahead, we saw dark clouds which suggested conditions were likely to worsen. So, we decided that we should turn around. Even though it would be a considerable amount of back tracking, we thought that sounded better than getting stranded in a remote part of NSW.
Our decision was the right decision to make. We soon returned to SA and better driving conditions. In fact, they were perhaps too good in comparison to the NSW roads, requiring very little concentration. Unfortunately, on the way back, one of those large potholes I mentioned crept up out of nowhere, and we flew through it at an alarmingly fast speed. The bump startled all of us, and we quickly made sure everyone in the car was OK, which thankfully, we were. Our next thought turned to the car. I thought I heard something stuck in the wheel well, but the sound soon stopped and everything else sounded mostly normal. So we kept driving. We made it back onto the bitumen (pavement) and stopped at the first petrol station to fill up. I got out of the car, and immediately thought something looked funny. I said to Dustin, "Are we missing something?" And he said, "Why yes, our bumper's gone." Just then, a man who pulled up in his ute (pick-up truck) said, "Hey, I saw your bumper back there on the road."
I can hardly write this without laughing. I know it's not really funny because it's never cheap or good to damage a hire (rental) car. But, the car looked so funny; really, the whole situation was just funny. In fact, it even gets better. We decided to drive to Mildura, where we had a scheduled meeting, and where there was a car rental office to exchange the car for one with a bumper. The meeting went extremely well, but then afterward, we thought it might be good to try and clean up the car a bit before turning it back in, since it had very obviously been driven on an unsealed road. The best option for cleaning the car was to take some paper towels from the bathroom, get them wet in the big puddle in the parking lot, and try to wipe the mud off the car. Of course, we weren't really wiping the mud off so much as we were wiping it around in circles on the car. After we'd wiped a little bit, Dustin would get in the car and try to drive fast through the puddle to create spray that would rinse the car. Very effective, as I'm sure you can imagine.
It was a hilarious sight to see, I know, because there were some airport construction workers who were watching us, and couldn't help but laugh. Finally, they asked us if we would like a bucket and some proper rags to clean the car. We readily accepted and did our best to remove the evidence of the car's encounter with the muddy, unsealed road. We were mildly successful, and decided that we might as well just go to the rental car office, which was just on the other side of the parking lot. Oh my.
Fortunately, things settled down noticeably after our first morning. We stayed in Mildura for the evening and had an excellent meeting and a nice dinner with two more individuals who worked for state government departments. The following day, we stopped at one of the icon wetland sites on the way to Deniliquin, a town in NSW where rice is grown. The drive remained interesting however, as we found ourselves on some less traveled roads. My favorite was one that had a strip of pavement down the middle that was only wide enough to accommodate one vehicle. There were dirt strips on either side, but the driving was really much smoother and faster on the pavement. I'm sure everyone who drives on the road, drives on the pavement. However, I'm still not sure about who is supposed to move over onto the dirt when two cars meet. Is it a game of chicken? Does the smaller one yield to the bigger one? Yikes! Let's just say that the two passengers were especially alert during this stage of the driving, our eyes straining to spot any oncoming traffic.
We also happened to cross the Loddon River on our way to Deni, as it's commonly referred to in true Aussie nick-naming spirit. The Loddon River was in flood stage after heavy rains had hit large parts of the MDB. We stopped to have a look at the river and ran into a mother and daughter who were out taking photos. The mother told us that her daughter was 17 and the she had never seen the river like this. They were just in awe, and so happy, as were most of the locals that we met in the area. Everyone was happy to receive rain after the ten year drought they've just been through.
For us, it was a bit strange (but still wonderful) to be here to study drought, and then to see the MDB in flood stage. It will surely be interesting to see what comes in the future, but at least for the moment, the river, the wetlands, the fish, the birds and the plants are all taking a big long drink while they can. For the residents, it's a welcome relief from last year's devastating bush fires. However, the rain is bringing with it some unwelcome consequences, including locust and rat plagues. Apparently, they like the water, too.
Anyways, I was really grateful for the opportunity to see the area that I've been reading about since I arrived, and to get a better sense for Australia's 'food bowl'. It was a short trip, but very instructive and even amusing at times. One thing I can say for sure is that Australians will take poor driving conditions on wet unsealed roads over drought any day. And the Americans just need to adapt and learn how to drive on them!
As I mentioned a few blogs back, a new Fulbrighter and his wife recently arrived and are also based in Adelaide. He happens to be studying water policy as well, and was planning a scoping trip to get a feel for the MDB before he starts his research. The idea was to speak with people living and working in the MDB, and also to see some of the icon sites, which are internationally recognized wetlands within the MDB.I met up with Dustin and Heather in Renmark, SA. Renmark is part of the Riverland, and is known as a citrus and grape producing area. I met them in the evening, and after a dinner at the local pub, we headed out to a cute little cabin at the Australian Landscape Trust's property outside of Renmark for the evening.
It happened to rain most of the night we were there. While this was certainly a good thing for agriculture, it wasn't really so good for driving on unsealed (unpaved) roads. The next morning, we thought we would travel to Wentworth via the backway, which (despite being referred to as a main road in the atlas) is entirely unsealed. We wanted to go to Wentworth because this is where the Darling joins the Murray River. Also, the backway would allow us to see some of the wetlands along the river.
If you've ever done any driving in Australia's Outback, or on any of Australia's unsealed roads, then you would probably know that these roads are generally different than dirt roads in the US. The driving is generally not as easy, and they also tend to be more remote. They can also be difficult to drive on without 4-wheel drive, particularly when they are wet.
We started the drive in South Australia (SA), where the driving was reasonably good, apart from a few big potholes in the middle of the road, which were filled with water, and so difficult to see. However, once we crossed the border and entered New South Wales (NSW), the driving conditions changed drastically. The road actually said that it was closed when wet, and for good reason. It was essentially like driving in thick slush, and the car was unnervingly swerving back and forth. Further ahead, we saw dark clouds which suggested conditions were likely to worsen. So, we decided that we should turn around. Even though it would be a considerable amount of back tracking, we thought that sounded better than getting stranded in a remote part of NSW.
Our decision was the right decision to make. We soon returned to SA and better driving conditions. In fact, they were perhaps too good in comparison to the NSW roads, requiring very little concentration. Unfortunately, on the way back, one of those large potholes I mentioned crept up out of nowhere, and we flew through it at an alarmingly fast speed. The bump startled all of us, and we quickly made sure everyone in the car was OK, which thankfully, we were. Our next thought turned to the car. I thought I heard something stuck in the wheel well, but the sound soon stopped and everything else sounded mostly normal. So we kept driving. We made it back onto the bitumen (pavement) and stopped at the first petrol station to fill up. I got out of the car, and immediately thought something looked funny. I said to Dustin, "Are we missing something?" And he said, "Why yes, our bumper's gone." Just then, a man who pulled up in his ute (pick-up truck) said, "Hey, I saw your bumper back there on the road."
I can hardly write this without laughing. I know it's not really funny because it's never cheap or good to damage a hire (rental) car. But, the car looked so funny; really, the whole situation was just funny. In fact, it even gets better. We decided to drive to Mildura, where we had a scheduled meeting, and where there was a car rental office to exchange the car for one with a bumper. The meeting went extremely well, but then afterward, we thought it might be good to try and clean up the car a bit before turning it back in, since it had very obviously been driven on an unsealed road. The best option for cleaning the car was to take some paper towels from the bathroom, get them wet in the big puddle in the parking lot, and try to wipe the mud off the car. Of course, we weren't really wiping the mud off so much as we were wiping it around in circles on the car. After we'd wiped a little bit, Dustin would get in the car and try to drive fast through the puddle to create spray that would rinse the car. Very effective, as I'm sure you can imagine.It was a hilarious sight to see, I know, because there were some airport construction workers who were watching us, and couldn't help but laugh. Finally, they asked us if we would like a bucket and some proper rags to clean the car. We readily accepted and did our best to remove the evidence of the car's encounter with the muddy, unsealed road. We were mildly successful, and decided that we might as well just go to the rental car office, which was just on the other side of the parking lot. Oh my.
Fortunately, things settled down noticeably after our first morning. We stayed in Mildura for the evening and had an excellent meeting and a nice dinner with two more individuals who worked for state government departments. The following day, we stopped at one of the icon wetland sites on the way to Deniliquin, a town in NSW where rice is grown. The drive remained interesting however, as we found ourselves on some less traveled roads. My favorite was one that had a strip of pavement down the middle that was only wide enough to accommodate one vehicle. There were dirt strips on either side, but the driving was really much smoother and faster on the pavement. I'm sure everyone who drives on the road, drives on the pavement. However, I'm still not sure about who is supposed to move over onto the dirt when two cars meet. Is it a game of chicken? Does the smaller one yield to the bigger one? Yikes! Let's just say that the two passengers were especially alert during this stage of the driving, our eyes straining to spot any oncoming traffic.
We also happened to cross the Loddon River on our way to Deni, as it's commonly referred to in true Aussie nick-naming spirit. The Loddon River was in flood stage after heavy rains had hit large parts of the MDB. We stopped to have a look at the river and ran into a mother and daughter who were out taking photos. The mother told us that her daughter was 17 and the she had never seen the river like this. They were just in awe, and so happy, as were most of the locals that we met in the area. Everyone was happy to receive rain after the ten year drought they've just been through.For us, it was a bit strange (but still wonderful) to be here to study drought, and then to see the MDB in flood stage. It will surely be interesting to see what comes in the future, but at least for the moment, the river, the wetlands, the fish, the birds and the plants are all taking a big long drink while they can. For the residents, it's a welcome relief from last year's devastating bush fires. However, the rain is bringing with it some unwelcome consequences, including locust and rat plagues. Apparently, they like the water, too.
Anyways, I was really grateful for the opportunity to see the area that I've been reading about since I arrived, and to get a better sense for Australia's 'food bowl'. It was a short trip, but very instructive and even amusing at times. One thing I can say for sure is that Australians will take poor driving conditions on wet unsealed roads over drought any day. And the Americans just need to adapt and learn how to drive on them!
Monday 11 October 2010
The Talent
I'm not sure I could ever get used to being called "The Talent." But, that's how the photography crew referred to me during my recent, brief career as a bike model for South Australia's Tourism Commission. SA wants to promote the southern Flinders area as a cycling destination, and apparently, the new thing in photography is to have people who actually do the activities you are photographing be your models, rather than hiring professional models. It's cheaper, and people who actually do these activities have all the gear that you would use to do these activities, unlike professional models. The photos supposedly end up looking more realistic to the people you're trying to attract, and normal people can be easier to work with than professional models (though I'm not so sure the photography crew thought that after spending the day with us!)
Whatever the case, that was the thinking behind the recent photo shoot in the southern Flinders. We got an email saying they were looking for cyclists for the photo shoot and we thought it would be a fun thing to do for a day. We couldn't make it to the 'try out', where they evaluated your clothes and physique (oh darn!), so we got demoted to the waiting list. For the day we were available, the only other woman who showed up at the tryout was 4'8" tall. They didn't think she would be a good match with Kev (6'2"), the guy who had come, so they asked me to come instead. That meant Dave couldn't go, but after all was said and done, I think he was happy to have avoided it!
Kev and I drove up to Jamestown on Monday afternoon, and met the photo crew for dinner that night. After dinner, they came around to each of our rooms to evaluate our clothing and select our outfits for the next day. It was really strange having 5 strangers come into my room and sort through my clothing -- not something I'd want to do on a regular basis! Also, it was a bit funny because the clothes they selected for certain activities, like kayaking, were clothes that I would never wear while doing those activities (so much for the concept of making it look more realistic by having people who actually do the activities be your models!)
Anyways, they told us that we should be ready to leave by 6:45am the next morning, and so we had an early night. The morning came, and Kev and I had loaded our bikes and were ready to roll by the designated time. Strangely, the crew was still eating breakfast at 6:45am. That should have been our first clue. Finally, about 30 minutes later, the team was finally ready to head off to Alligator Gorge for photos.
We spent the day at a number of scenic locations, posing in our biking and hiking gear for the photographer. Kev and I were matched up as partners, which was a bit weird since he's probably in his late 40s or early 50s. Usually we had on helmets or hats, so hopefully the age difference wasn't too noticeable! The photo shoots of us typically involved Kev laughing a lot, and saying how ridiculous he felt, and me trying to reassure him and tell him he was doing a good job.
I was so thankful that we were matched up as partners, because he was really easy-going and fun. The other 'talent' being photographed on the same day was a couple that looked like Ken and Barbie, except in their 50s. They had recently gotten into cycling and both had very nice new bikes. Amazingly, they had never been as far north in South Australia as the Flinders, even though one of them grew up in Adelaide! (This is a common trend amongst Australians--most of them have been to many other countries, but have seen very little of their own country. They generally seem to think that they can see Australia when they get old and become 'gray nomads'. It's sort of too bad because there are a lot of things to do in Australia that you wouldn't or couldn't do as a gray nomad. But, that's a subject for another blog...)
The photography crew (apart from the photographer) looked like they had never been outside before, which was a little odd, since we were taking photographs of outdoor activities. They wore tall boots, tight jeans and spent most of their time unsuccessfully trying to get reception on their iPhones and telling the 'talent' to suck in their guts. Way to build confidence, guys!
We did get to go to some beautiful spots, including Alligator Gorge and a winery near Melrose, SA. And, I had my makeup done for the first time ever! I was not exactly thrilled about having my makeup done because I was a mountain biker in the photos, and I would never put on makeup before going mountain biking. I suppose that's not saying much since I never wear makeup anywhere, but, it really seemed silly for a mountain biker to wear makeup. But, I did feel better about having my makeup done when I learned that Delta Goodrem's makeup artist was doing my makeup. Even if it was silly, at least I can now say that I've had my makeup done in the back of a car at a sheep station by Delta Goodrem's makeup artist! I have to admit that I actually didn't know who Delta Goodrem was (I've since looked her up on Wikipedia), but she's quite famous in Australia, and tours in the US. I guess we'll have to listen to some of her music...
We didn't end up eating lunch until about 4:30pm because we fell so far behind schedule. To be fair, it was the crew's first day of shooting, but I was shocked at the lack of time management skills (which began with the late start). I think it was a combination of the photographer getting lost in his work and losing track of time, and the crew paying more attention to their iPhones than the clock. Though I don't think I'd ever volunteer to be 'the talent' again, it was a fun experience, and I came out of it with a nice gift certificate to a local bike shop and a new riding friend (Kev). Not bad at all. And, maybe, I'll even make it into some of the tourism materials for SA cycling. I'll be sure to share them if I do!
Whatever the case, that was the thinking behind the recent photo shoot in the southern Flinders. We got an email saying they were looking for cyclists for the photo shoot and we thought it would be a fun thing to do for a day. We couldn't make it to the 'try out', where they evaluated your clothes and physique (oh darn!), so we got demoted to the waiting list. For the day we were available, the only other woman who showed up at the tryout was 4'8" tall. They didn't think she would be a good match with Kev (6'2"), the guy who had come, so they asked me to come instead. That meant Dave couldn't go, but after all was said and done, I think he was happy to have avoided it!Kev and I drove up to Jamestown on Monday afternoon, and met the photo crew for dinner that night. After dinner, they came around to each of our rooms to evaluate our clothing and select our outfits for the next day. It was really strange having 5 strangers come into my room and sort through my clothing -- not something I'd want to do on a regular basis! Also, it was a bit funny because the clothes they selected for certain activities, like kayaking, were clothes that I would never wear while doing those activities (so much for the concept of making it look more realistic by having people who actually do the activities be your models!)Anyways, they told us that we should be ready to leave by 6:45am the next morning, and so we had an early night. The morning came, and Kev and I had loaded our bikes and were ready to roll by the designated time. Strangely, the crew was still eating breakfast at 6:45am. That should have been our first clue. Finally, about 30 minutes later, the team was finally ready to head off to Alligator Gorge for photos.
We spent the day at a number of scenic locations, posing in our biking and hiking gear for the photographer. Kev and I were matched up as partners, which was a bit weird since he's probably in his late 40s or early 50s. Usually we had on helmets or hats, so hopefully the age difference wasn't too noticeable! The photo shoots of us typically involved Kev laughing a lot, and saying how ridiculous he felt, and me trying to reassure him and tell him he was doing a good job.I was so thankful that we were matched up as partners, because he was really easy-going and fun. The other 'talent' being photographed on the same day was a couple that looked like Ken and Barbie, except in their 50s. They had recently gotten into cycling and both had very nice new bikes. Amazingly, they had never been as far north in South Australia as the Flinders, even though one of them grew up in Adelaide! (This is a common trend amongst Australians--most of them have been to many other countries, but have seen very little of their own country. They generally seem to think that they can see Australia when they get old and become 'gray nomads'. It's sort of too bad because there are a lot of things to do in Australia that you wouldn't or couldn't do as a gray nomad. But, that's a subject for another blog...)
The photography crew (apart from the photographer) looked like they had never been outside before, which was a little odd, since we were taking photographs of outdoor activities. They wore tall boots, tight jeans and spent most of their time unsuccessfully trying to get reception on their iPhones and telling the 'talent' to suck in their guts. Way to build confidence, guys!
We did get to go to some beautiful spots, including Alligator Gorge and a winery near Melrose, SA. And, I had my makeup done for the first time ever! I was not exactly thrilled about having my makeup done because I was a mountain biker in the photos, and I would never put on makeup before going mountain biking. I suppose that's not saying much since I never wear makeup anywhere, but, it really seemed silly for a mountain biker to wear makeup. But, I did feel better about having my makeup done when I learned that Delta Goodrem's makeup artist was doing my makeup. Even if it was silly, at least I can now say that I've had my makeup done in the back of a car at a sheep station by Delta Goodrem's makeup artist! I have to admit that I actually didn't know who Delta Goodrem was (I've since looked her up on Wikipedia), but she's quite famous in Australia, and tours in the US. I guess we'll have to listen to some of her music...
We didn't end up eating lunch until about 4:30pm because we fell so far behind schedule. To be fair, it was the crew's first day of shooting, but I was shocked at the lack of time management skills (which began with the late start). I think it was a combination of the photographer getting lost in his work and losing track of time, and the crew paying more attention to their iPhones than the clock. Though I don't think I'd ever volunteer to be 'the talent' again, it was a fun experience, and I came out of it with a nice gift certificate to a local bike shop and a new riding friend (Kev). Not bad at all. And, maybe, I'll even make it into some of the tourism materials for SA cycling. I'll be sure to share them if I do!
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