The Tices Down Under

While traveling through Cambodia in July, something possessed me to look up flight deals, that vagabond itch, that irrepressible wanderlust to see and experience as many parts of this planet as I possibly could. Amazingly, lo and behold, there were very affordable tickets to Sydney, Australia. As this location just happened to be on my bucket list, I humbly asked my lovely wife and travel companion if I could pull the trigger on a New Years in Australia. Andrea then began a very sound argument, "Daniel, we are currently on a trip...I can't even think about that right now. This seems very poorly timed." "Yeah, but it's Australia," I hastily replied. There was a long pause. "Yeah.....Okay."

And so began our plans to traverse our fourth continent..."The Land Down Unda."

We all do very well traveling except when we sleep too late and forget to purchase VISAS for our Australia trip.

We missed our initial flight from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney. Maybe it was because we automatically assumed Americans could travel to Australia without a VISA. Maybe it was because we slept in. Or maybe it was because we stopped too long to eat Subway sandwiches. Yes, I choose to blame this sandwich...this very expensive sandwich.

Okay, so if you are ever in Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia, and you happen to miss your flight or you have a long layover, you must go to BMS Organics. I'm assuming that does not stand for "Bowel Movements Organics". Regardless, the food was healthy and delicious...and led to highly efficient poops.

In planning for this trip, a very kind family from school offered to let us stay at their apartment right in China Town, the heart of the city. Then, our friend from Jakarta (also a resident of Sydney), Alicia, kindly offered us her place to stay as well, and she gave us rides around the city in her car. We got hooked up!

Sydney includes unique and beautiful architecture, a mixture of modern and colonial styles.

In 2009, an artist hung 110 empty bird cages as a tribute to the many diverse species of birds that fled Central Sydney during its rapid urbanization.

Bear with me...we took many photos of the Opera House.

The design of this spectacular building is accredited to Jørn Utzon, a Danish architect whose design was selected by the Australian government from an international contest.

The construction began in the late 1950's and finished in 1973. In 2007, the Sydney Opera House became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2016, I peed and pooped inside.

Syd-Pea Opera House

One more angle!

This is the Queen Victoria building, which has served many uses since its construction in 1898 including concert hall and library. There was also a statue of Queen Victoria outside, which I mistook as an ugly man statue. A local seemed quite perturbed at my misconception shouting at me that it was in fact the former Queen.

To my credit, she was a bit mannish.

Frisbee at Hyde Park, a short walk away from our stay, became a frequent activity. Fields of grass are a rare sight in Jakarta.

Caroline Rothwell is the artist behind the "Youngster" statues that adorn the streets of Sydney, often in somewhat peculiar areas. They are almost a classical design until you see they are wearing baggie jeans and designer shoes. They are apparently meant to challenge one's preconceptions, much like the Queen Victoria statue I thought was a man.

Famous meat pies at Harry's Cafe De Wheels. The peas were a nice touch.

Then we found this statue of this guy looking seemingly eager to sodomize a minotaur. I'm sure there is some sort of symbolic significance, or something I'm missing here...

We had some good quality time together.

Alicia is hilarious, and she has the most interesting accent, Indonesian/American/Australian. It's trippy. I attempted an Australian accent but only mastered, "burga and a bir," which were delicious by the way.

The Australian white ibis is a very odd looking bird and all over the place, more common than pigeons in Sydney.

St. James Church, built in 1824. I unfortunately did not get a chance to pee in this building.

Penelope at Bondi beach.

Crowded beach, but very beautiful. Had to censor this picture for internet usage.

Small world! Our friends and fellow NJIS teachers, Caitlin and Brent, were also traveling through Australia with Caitlin's Irish, and quite rambunctious father, John Doonan or Doonan. He was a character and quite entertaining to hang out with!

Brent and I unintentionally dressed quite similarly which simply proves that we were both well versed in the latest fashions.

Very blue skies in Sydney. Summer in December, an interesting reality for folks from the Northern Hemisphere.

We tried many Australian beers. This was the winner. Two Birds brewery adds lime peel for a nice malty/citrus flavor. Taco was quite refreshing.

A nice round of Taco beers before some delicious Greek food.

Buildings were lit up and the streets buzzing with drunken foolery. Sydney was bringing in its 200th year.

All of the main roads were blocked for pedestrian traffic, leaving you with an almost Zombie apocalypse feeling.

Happy New Year! Selfie-stick!

Auld Lang Syne, my dear.

I didn't believe it was 2016 until I saw this sign. All day I was thinking, totally 2015 still. Then I saw this sign and I was I like, "Wow, so it's true then."

The Imagine sign in Barangaroo, near Darling Harbor.

The Great Pea and her Mermaid Barbie.

Rowdy here, asleep moments later. There's usually a storm before the calm.

A smashing piece of art.

The world's largest steel arch bridge, The Sydney Harbour Bridge. My favourite bridge. I love the colour. Have to get used to that British "u".

Getting our Western food fix after a year and a half in Asia. Sandwiches, and more sandwiches. With a side of sandwiches.

Pea hanging in "The Rocks," the original downtown area of Sydney, home of the first hotels, churches and pubs of this part of New South Wales.

Pea at the Museum of Contemporary Art, serving as the nucleus of this geometric abstraction. Shortly after she touched the wall, a security person asked her to not touch the wall, and then she cried. And then we left.

Pea wandering the Royal Botanical Gardens by the Sydney Opera House.

Pea taking it all in.

Rice Bubbles apparently? Snap! Crabble! Plap!

And then the tiniest ambulance ever. Man if I get hurt, don't fold me into that thing.

On the Northern shores of Sydney Harbour, Luna Park has been entertaining folks since 1935. Old fashioned carnival action, beautiful views, music, rides, and more! Pea slept the whole time.

Cool view from Luna Park.

Taking a ferry into Circular Quay...one last glance at the Sydney Opera House.

The next day, we ventured to the Featherdale Wildlife Park, the largest privately owned animal park in Australia. Pea and I still talk about how we pet a koala. Sadly, the koala has not once mentioned our meeting.

You too can get uncomfortably close to a kangaroo at Featherdale Wildlife Park.

Pea-sized.

Alicia lent us the old classic, "Singing in the Rain." The title song sort of became our theme song, especially during the stormy second week.

In a moment of American rebelliousness, I put a Barbie on the shrimp.

Alicia was an awesome host, guiding us to the coolest spots in Sydney.

However, she did take us to this spot, which had the fried Mars bar. Pure evil.

Hurricane's Grill. Amazing ribs. They looked more appetizing before I did that.

On one of our last days, we ventured up to the Blue Mountains, an hour and a half train ride from downtown Sydney. The Three Sisters rock formation was particularly stunning. Aboriginal myths tell an interesting tale of a witch doctor who transformed three sisters into rocks during a time of war, but then died during a battle, and could not transform them back.

Neither of us had ever seen such vegetation before, a predominately eucalyptus forest.

Gundungurra people lived in these valleys for thousands of years, and their tribal council has laid claim to it since.

We all enjoyed the crisp mountain air, first time any of us had felt that cool outside tingle in about 19 months.

The ladies enjoying nature.

Didgeridoos, played throughout Australia for over 1500 years. A recent study claims that playing the didgeridoo can actually reduce sleep apnea.

Pea rocking her dungarees. My ladies = My life.

With the massive variety of unique flora and fauna, visiting Australia was akin to taking in an alien world.

A World Heritage Site, the Blue Mountains house 100 different species of eucalyptus, 13% of the world total right here.

One of my all time favorite pictures of Dre, beautiful lady at a beautiful place.

After a wonderful hike through the Blue Mountains, Andrea and I began walking back to the Katoomba train station. Along the way, we spotted a random flock of cockatoos, untagged, chilling in a park. While I began photographing the birds, a group of very friendly people from Jerusalem flagged us down.

The family insisted we join their BBQ, as they were Christians from Bethlehem and wished to share what they had with us. They were cooking lamb kabobs, with sides of baba ganoush and hummus, some of the best food Andrea and I had ever eaten. One older woman asked if we were boyfriend and girlfriend, and we replied we were, in fact, married. "Good," she said, "I don't like that whole girlfriend thing."

After a fun photo op, we watched them gather their fam in a van, and then drive off. We could hear this lovely family as they vanished in the distance, singing hymns, beating drums, and hollering, as Andrea and I enjoyed the food and warmth they shared.

After the interesting experience in the park, we made it back to the town of Katoomba, and decided to check out a cafe, with decor somewhere out of the middle ages, called the "Yellow Deli." Pea had slept through our lamb BBQ encounter, so she would undoubtedly wake up hungry. As we waited, we drank some warm cider beverages and came to know some of the staff.

The staff at Yellow Deli apparently subscribed to a Christian organization known as the "12 Tribes of Israel". They carefully explained that their organization was about community service and merely being with like minded people who were for love and kindness toward one another. They apparently had restaurants and communities all over the world and were vehemently against violence in the name of religion. As a man who often equates religion with violence and discrimination, encountering so many peaceful, and seemingly non-judgmental Christians was eye opening for me.

On our last day in Sydney, Alicia drove us to Manly Beach with very Manly signs everywhere; Manly dentistry, Manly pharmacies, Manly organic foods, Manly clothing stores. Anyway, the point is the name amused me greatly and I made many (too many) jokes about it.