Death From the Right

No, no one died... but that is where "death" comes from on the streets in Australia. Your first thought when you step out into the street to cross is to look to the left. Of course down under you'll never see anyone coming from the left, they all come from the right. It's a bit tough trying to change your instincts... especially when everything that you have learned about the rules of the road will get you killed here. You can tell who the Canadians are because they cross the streets slowly.

So we did the Hunter Valley wineries on the 8th. It is spectacular up there. I thought it was nicer than the Sonoma Valley. We went to Tyrrel's, Hungerford Hill, Brokenwood, Peppertree, Tamburlaine and Lindemans. Tyrrel's, Brokenwood, Peppertree and Tamburlaine were all really nice, Lindemans was a bit too big and commercial while Hungerford Hill was pretty much crap. My top three wines were Tyrrel's 2005 Lost Block Unwooded Chardonnay, Tambulaine's 2003 (?) Semillon and the Brokenwood 2005 Cricket Pitch (I forget what blend it was exactly but I have notes somewhere). Mark did indeed go too hard, Dolan did get dragged into it and Courtney had more wine then either of them with a lot less whine.

The following day Courtney and I dropped Mark and Dolan off at the airport and went up to the Blue Mountains. It is really spectacular up there. It is pretty much big hills with huge cliffs and gum-tree forests as far as the eye can see. We did an amazing walk under some cliffs at Wentworth Falls and we walked down the Giant Stairway at the Three Sisters. We didn't realize it at the time but the stairs go 300 meters down the cliff wall to the valley floor. I'll post some pics soon to show you how beautiful it is out there. Plus the best part is that at the pub two pints of beer only cost $6.00.

Yesterday we were in Sydney. It ia a gorgeus city. The botanical gardens are unreal. They are full of all these exotic plants and birds plus you get a view across a small inlet of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. It's an definite must see. If you've never been to Sydney, it is worth the trip just to see that. We also walked around a few other places and took a harbour cruise. We randomly bumped into Eric, Bago, J-S, Kiki and M-E while we were having lunch in the Rocks which was a bit weird but fun. Again, I'll post pics soon.

I'm now in Perth. Qantas is the best airline ever, I was so pampered and I was still in Economy. The North American airlines can learn a lot from them.

Today I'm going to meet up with Mark and we are going to figure out our game plan for the tournament. Then we have opening ceremonies. I'm running out of time on the computer connection I have so I need to post now. I'll post some more later tonight.

DF