Melbourne beckons

Dear Friends-
As I write this, I'm entering my final few days in the city of Sydney. This week I've concentrated on savouring the cultural delights of Sydney and its environs. This Monday was Australia Day, which I celebrated by taking a walk through Chinatown to Darling Harbour where a myriad of activities were in full swing. Then I saw the National Maritime Museum, and took the ferry out from Circular Quay to Manly, proferring excellent views of the Harbour Bridge, Circular Quay and the Opera House. The next two days were spent exploring the sights of the city. St Andrew's Cathedral, where I will return on Sunday, offered welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of the city. However, in terms of grandeur and architecture, it was dwarfed by the Catholic St Mary's Cathedral across Hyde Park, where photos of the sub-tropical trees were duly taken. I also walked via Woolloomooloo, alledgedly the only word to contain eight letter o's, to explore the Botanical Gardens, following the path round to Circular Quay again. Then, I tested my head for heights by walking across the Harbour Bridge to Kirribilli in North Sydney. The final two days of the week were spent partaking in trips. The first of these was to the picturesque Blue Mountains, so called because of a blue haze. I got to see native flora and fauna such as cockatoos and kangeroos in their native habitat, and took the world's steepest train at Scenic World. The second trip was a wine tour to the Hunter Valley, from which I have just returned, which may account for slightly lower journalistic standards than usual! I got to savour whites, reds, roses, white port and a range of liqeurs from four boutique wineries in one of Australia's leading wine regions. The 37 degree heat meant that the alcohol load posed a relatively stiff challenge! I got a bottle of Verdalho, so some of those living in London, may, all things going well, get to partake in it in April upon my return. On Tuesday, I cross from New South Wales to Victoria, where I expect to see loads of Victorians in bowler hats....
Yours ramblingly
Max

Spotted: Very white Englishman with a straw hat in Sydney

So, I've been in Australia a few days now. Feels like a crazy social psychology experiment along the lines of "What would happen if one took a middle class Englishman and deposited him 10,000 miles away from home?". It's been surreal, from the sloping sleekness of Singapore airport which reminded me of martial arts flicks to the soaring humidity upon entering Sydney, which was in stark contrast to the freezing hats and gloves weather i'd left all of a day earlier. So far, I don't have much to report, but will write a post every weekend (Australian time, which is GMT +11). Due to technical limitations, I'll post my photos periodically to a host site rather than integrating them- will post links here. Have done some walking so far as the heat and humidity has allowed, seen Circular Quay and Darling Harbour. Have also indulged one of the Australian national passtimes by watching cricket at two world-famous grounds, the Sydney Cricket Ground and the ANZ Olympic Stadium, built for the Sydney Olympics.
For those that are interested, here are my brief match reports:

Australia vs South Africa- 3rd ODI- 23/1-Sydney (SCG) http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/175/175400.html
South Africa (270/7) beat Australia (269) by 3 wickets with 3 and a half overs to spare in front of a raucous near capacity crowd at the SCG. Both innings followed a similar pattern with a fast start , with special mention to young New South Wales opener David Warner (69 off 60 balls) for Australia and Herschelle Gibbs (64 off 54 balls), who was dropped twice on 0, and Jacques Kallis (60 off 72 balls) for South Africa, followed by a period of rebuilding in the middle of the innings after wickets fell. Both sides had bowlers who were able to keep a lid on the scoring in the middle overs, notably the acting South African captain off-spinner Johan Botha (3 for 32 off 10 overs) and NSW swing bowler Nathan Bracken, whose first 6 overs went for only 10 runs. However, Australian pacemen Johnson and Tait were too inaccurate in the final overs and a blistering assault by Man of the Match all-rounder Albie Morkel (40 off 22 balls), before holing out off NSW off-spinner Nathan Hauritz on his home ground, in the end saw South Africa home with 3 overs to spare.

New South Wales vs Victoria- Twenty20 Big Bash Final- 24/1- Sydney (ANZ Olympic Stadium)
http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/180/180652.html

New South Wales (167/5) beat Victoria (166/4) by 5 wickets in a thrilling last-ball victory at the ANZ Olympic Stadium, Sydney. Both sides were considerably short fof full-strength due to international commitments and injuries; the hamstring injury sustained in the preliminary final win over Queensland by leading Victorian run-scorer Brad Hodge perhaps being very significant in the end. However, this provided the opportunity for some lesser-heralded players to shine, notably Victorian opener Rob Quiney (91 off 56 balls), who hit 3 fours and a mammoth 8 sixes, Man of the Match NSW batsman Ben Rohrer, who struck 45 off 20 balls including 4 sixes at the death to seal victory, and the pick of the bowlers, Aaron Bird of NSW (3 for 21 off his 4 overs). Other valuable batting contributions for NSW came from captain and Australian test opener Simon Katich, who scored 37 off 24 balls with 5 fours and a six, and Phil Hughes, tipped to open with Katich in the Test team following the retirement of Matthew Hayden, with 43 off 32 balls with 6 fours and a six.

Max