day 47 – sydney, australia, second day

morton bay fig tree "good bush tucker" (= yummy) says aussie musician

aussie schoolchildren on a field trip - they all wear uni's here!

well, it’s monday, so i want to go pick up some college catalogs and info for nino… i can think of worse places for a young man to want to go to college than a place like this… i s’pose if he goes here we could perch on one of the ships that hangs down here between new zealand and australia… not too shabby… and if he ends up on the east or west coast, or europe, we could do the same there… it’s a comforting thought to know I’ll be able to be nearby without being oppressive and be able to go out for dinner or just hang out sometimes during the year… that would hopefully help him (let’s be real… help mama!) when he goes out into the world! 

took a cab to the university of new south wales, college of fine arts… they are currently undergoing some renovations, so i was able to ak a couple of students (cute australian girls, nino!) how to find the student center and they took me there… got nino some info on how to apply, etc.  even if it ends up being a little much to consider for undergrad education, they do have a masters program as well… i don’t want him to not dream, and dream big, we just need to make sure we can get organized in terms of making a super cool portfolio for applying for scholarships, etc… i also found out foreign students can get a part time work visa for up to 20 hours a week, which would prob’ly be a necessary reality with the prices of things over here!  it's worse than anchorage... unlike the states, however, i saw 'help wanted' signs in several restaurants and store windows… after the world voyage, my late spring and summer is going to be solely devoted to being a support person for him in the process of getting ready as we travel to look at a few schools and spend the time each week organizing materials and applying for the various piles of money that are out there for young artists.  note to nino:  make sure you are looking for the places you want to go so that when i get back you can give me a list of your top 5, bean!

captain bligh... suffered 4 mutinies, was governor
of new south wales for 4 years

sky was crying cause it didn't want us to leave either

after the college visit, i cabbed back to the waterfront area and was going to meet up with a couple of guests, paul and brenda, who graciously invited me to join them for lunch at 11 (my all aboard time is 1:00 cause we have to sail at 2…. not enough time!!!)  most places we looked at didn’t open ‘til noon, so we went to a bakery café for ham and cheese croissants and really good coffee…yum!  a nice visit with them ( i know them from the 2009 grand voyage we did), and i still had time to hit the drugstore for a couple of items i needed…  holy crap, things here are expensive!  some very normal shampoo and deodorant was like 16 dollars (australian)…

got back to the ship, and wanted to take some sail away pictures… they had an australian brass band on the lido with drinks and hors d’ouevres, and i popped down to the promenade deck where it wasn’t too crowded to take some pics… there was an escort of a fire boat doing the water cannon thing, and a replica of the dutch sailing ship that brought the first european explorers to australia from holland… i love the way they say they ‘discovered’ australia, when, in fact, there were already a lot of people here, mate!  i think everyone feels we left too soon and wanted more than a day and a half in fabulous sydney… when i was here in 2009, we spent 3 days, and that didn’t feel like enough either!  next two days will be at sea on our way to cairns (they’ve been having typhoons, so, it should be exciting!) for another overnight… we will spend a little time in the barrier reef, so i hope the pictures will be nice…

fire boat with water cannons

another stunning view of the opera house and cityscape

replica of dutch sailing ship that first came to australia from europe

i got to play the vip party for all suite holders, captain and officers and our ceo and his wife who are with us through cairns… got to be introduced, shake hands, anyway and say hello!  i’ll be damned if a guest right next to us didn’t start telling him about the port songs… cool!  nice commercial!  the beverage manager let my bartender save me a glass of dom perignon, so I took a picture of it since i doubt i’ll be buying any myself… (it was nice, but i’ve had cheaper that i liked better!)

only glass of dp this kid will prob'ly get on this trip

my theme tonight was “television theme songs and commercial jingles,” and it was packed!  i couldn’t believe it, i thought for sure it would be dead… who knew?  the favorites were ‘cheers,’ ‘bonanza’ (there are words, but they are dumb and were never used, so we just sang, ‘bum bada bum bada bum bada bum bop ba baaaaaaa!’  i always do ‘all in the family’ with archie and edith voices…  i even attempted ‘star trek,’ and prob’ly wold have cleared the room if i did the complete theme… that one is a little much, but funny!  anyway, we said good bye to some cool folks in sydney, a few really great regulars, but we welcomed on some fun folks, too – i had a bunch of them in last night, and it’s like a shot in the arm to get some lively aussies in the house!  i was even asked for some rolling stones last night, so things should be re-invigorated now!  amazed to have a dozen folks still left at 11:15, saw the trio had gone, the strings had gone, so i was the only lounge on deck that had any people left, and i was glad the big cheese and his wife walked by just then… they smiled and waved… nice!

instead of writing my port song about all the cool stuff i did in sydney, i wrote about how i felt as we left…

port song for sydney, australia

(to the tune of “one for my baby, and oe more for the road”)

it’s quarter to three, we just left sydney harbor, and i’m a little misty

with a retro dutch ship escort, water cannons bursting and the ship’s horn blasts forth

like a big didgeridoo, maybe it knows i’m blue, so in this song, i’ll unload

let’s make it one for old sydney, and one more for the road

those island ports tho lush and green, were like an appetizer for this hip down under scene

not that they were so bad, but cutting in and out so fast from this city of oz leaves me sad

well i know there’s still a lot, of travels we’ve got to look forward to go

so let’s have a toast to old sydney, and another for the road

well i know you know it, money’s easy in sydney to blow it,

and i’ve let a little get away

my luggage ain’t so roomy, so go ahead and sue me,

if i end up needing an extra bag

yeah, that’s how it goes, so we only got a day and a half… why, well who knows?

later this year, i’ll go on that fall grand voyage that again travels here

and this torch that i found, might someday be drowned if my son for his masters here goes

so knock yourself out in college, nino, and make an awesome postgraduate portfolio!

and let’s make it one for old sydney, and another for the road

that long, but way way way too short time in sydney road