It's settled, then... I'm off to Australia

[pseydtonne]

I spoke to the most venerable moominmolly on Friday and she infected me with the best idea: if you need to submit to your lesser inclinations to rediscover yourself, go to the other side of the Earth. She put it in a far nicer way: "You need a different planet." Yeah, that's the size of it.

I had thought loosely about going to Australia over the years but never thought it would be suitable for me. I always thought of large, loutish men fighting over a medicine ball while Peter Garrett from Midnight Oil does a jerky capoeira to protest. As I've gotten older, I realized the place had to have some level of civilization, creativity and sarcasm since it gave us Nick Cave and Damian Conway. I've also come to understand that I need to get out of my head space, so why not go where it clearly will get shattered? I mean, wild budgies in the streets!

So yeah, I'm leaving Tuesday 12 June from Logan, laying over in San Francisco for eight hours to give my legs a stretch and maybe see my uncle Rusty for dinner, then get back to the airport and wind up in Sydney at 6:30 in their morning or 4:30 the previous afternoon at home or 20:30 UTC or...

Gah! Jet lag threatens! I'm also sorting out a way to minimize jet lag by shifting my sleep schedule before I leave. Has anyone tried this successfully? It sort of worked for me when I went to England but that's only five hours ahead instead of fourteen. If I avoid caffeine that day and a quarter (which would be a major effort) until I am waking up near the end of the SFO->SYD stretch, I may crash successfully. I may also bring a sleeping pill or two, although I've never used one before so I'm not sure that would be appropriate. I'm sure my seat mates would appreciate the passed-out version of me...

So yeah, Sydney and Melbourne are my focal points. In fact, I've read an intense amount of good stuff about Melbourne's ethnic and cultural scene, so I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally want to check that out and ride all those trams.

I look forward to reporting from the Thunderdome near the last oil refinery where Mel Gibson will fight Peter Garrett to the death or Garrett sues Gibson out of existence. Ah yes, the bald lawyers of rock!

Does anyone have advice about the following:

• How do you fight jet lag?
  
• What's a good make of duffel bag with wheels? This will be checked in but will still have to be dragged around from hostel to train to hostel.
  
• What should I see, experience, drink at least once?
  
• Do you think Peter Garrett is real? Yes, he's a member of Parliament but Bob Geldolf is a knight. Together... they killed Michael Hutchence? Nah.
  

-another hero, Dante

Comments

[bluepapercup]

Dude! I want to see you while you're in SF for eight hours. Maybe we can make that happen!

[pseydtonne.livejournal.com]

Yeah dude, totally! I reach SFO at 2:16 PM Pacific time on Tuesday the 12th and I leave again at 10:45 PM Pacific.

I have to go through security again to catch the next leg at the international terminal, even though I just got off the plane. Thus I figured, "I've never been to San Francisky before! Lemme see if I can stretch it." It turned out there is really only one plane from San Francisco to Sydney but a few that go from Boston to SFO, so I just took the longest leg stretch possible.

My uncle Rusty lives somewhere in the city (I think around North Beach -- I'll have to call him). It would be great to get him and you together for dinner or something like that.

I've really only got about five or six hours to play with during the layover when I factor going back through security. Still, I can hardly wait for 'em!

[fangirl715.livejournal.com]

Good for you! I want to hear all about this when you come back (not like you won't tell us, mind you... ;-) !

BTW, when will you be back? The Robby Roadsteamer CD release show is June 23 at the Paradise, although you can come down to the Middle East Downstairs on Friday night and catch him doing a benefit for Douglas: The Movie, a little indie film project I may end up helping out on. It's been too long since we've hung out, so come on down, OK?

[novalis.livejournal.com]

I have a Kipling wheeled duffel bag, and it sucks. I had one of their non-wheeled duffels, and it lasted me ten years of very hard use with no problems whatsoever. Three years ago, I "upgraded" to a wheeled one. It has lost a bunch of its bottom protection -- not enough to be structurally a problem, but ugly and worrying. And the plastic zipper broke. Yuck.

[tckma.livejournal.com]

It's a lot easier to deal with jet lag going east than west, I think, if you're crossing more than 4 time zones (which you are). I can't say, since I've only ever done that going east.

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

Time lag is inescapable! You are drilling through the center of the earth!

Seriously, good luck on that, man. I suppose you could try adjusting early but it's tough going to wrap around 10-14 hours (depending on how you look at it). You could invest in a pair of those jet-lag glasses (assuming they've hit the market) and exposing yourself to their light for a while each night, deciding ahead of time if you're staying up late or getting up early. The science behind them is pretty solid.

Melbourne got high reviews from galaneia. Evidently lots of interesting architecture. I'll ask her to comment on other sights.

Don't forget it's...winter...and all.

[rednikki.livejournal.com]

Oooo, Australia!

I never had a problem with jet lag, heading down. I always found that if I didn't sleep on the plane, I just stayed up as long as possible, zombie-like, slept, and then woke up the next morning, and I was adjusted. It's such a giant shift that my body just adjusted immediately, because nothing else was possible.

Well, if you have the time, Canberra is between Sydney and Melbourne, and I really liked it. But maybe save that for the next trip.

SYDNEY:
- Check out The Rocks
- Check out The Domain. Just sit and listen to the birds for a while. They're entirely different from the ones in the States.
- Take a ferry across the Harbor
- Eat at Harry's Cafe de Wheels, in Wooloomooloo (a neighborhood next to The Domain), right by the Blue Hotel. They serve meat pies, which are the Australian equivalent to hot dogs, and Harry's is the most famous purveyor of all.
- The Hyde Park Barracks Museum (http://www.hht.net.au/museums/hpbm/hyde_park_barracks_museum) was probably the coolest museum I went to in Sydney

MELBOURNE:
Melbourne for me is more about wandering around places like St. Kilda's than about actual sights. If you want, I can put you in touch with a few people there...

[pseydtonne.livejournal.com]

I had been thinking about doing an overnight in Canberra since I've visited three national capitals already (DC, Ottawa and London). It's only a few hours and it's on the way, so I'll give it a lookie.

Thank you for the advice, as this is exactly what I was needing.

[ceelove.livejournal.com]

I've never travelled that far, but I've dealt fairly well with 7 hours of time zone change. I get a late flight, take a sleeping pill (otherwise it's too uncomfortable on the plane to really sleep), and wake up in another time zone. It works pretty well; my body is confused, but not really putting up much of a fight.

[pseydtonne.livejournal.com]

The problem is that the second leg (San Francisco to Sydney) is not short enough to sleep the whole way. It's nearly fifteen hours in the box, about twice a normal night's sleep.

My plan right now is to work out my sleep pattern the day leading up to the second leg, not drink any caffeine and fall asleep sometime around halfway.

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

I think: sleep as much as possible as late as possible on the way over (using chemical aid if necessary). Bring lots of crap to watch on your computer and read. Accept that you will wake up ass-early and that that's a good time to wander around cities.

Also: Kick-ass that you're going!

[temima.livejournal.com]

I am jealous of you right now.

And oh man, I haven't heard of Peter Garrett in ages. 'Jerky capoeira' did describe the dancing.

[pseydtonne.livejournal.com]

I'm jealous of my future self. I need to be more jealous of my present self, even though that person just put sixteen hundred bucks on his credit card and will want to pay down at least half of that to feel good about the trip.

The present mind is building lists of things that need to be wrapped up before the future self hops the bus to the T to Logan and starts this journey of twenty thousand miles in the air and at least a thousand on the ground.

The past self needs a burial ceremony. I would like it to be out in the Blue Mountains somewhere. However, that would require the carrying the past self with me and I am only bringing two bags. The past self is still likely to show up, so I will prepare a speech for whomever I meet along the way.

I appreciate your envy. May it stir your next journey.

Regarding nearer-term travel plans:

[dobrovolets.livejournal.com]

Any chance you'll be in the Five Boroughs at some point before traveling to the ends of the earth? We had spoken tentatively of this coming Sunday.

Re: Regarding nearer-term travel plans:

[pseydtonne.livejournal.com]

Very much so. I would like to see y'all either this weekend or next but I have yet to work out all details. I will be pinging you later this week.

Re: Regarding nearer-term travel plans:

[dobrovolets.livejournal.com]

The next weekend won't work, unless you come down Memorial Day, as I'll be be busy all day on Saturday and Sunday.

[chaggalagirl.livejournal.com]

dude, i am SO jealous of you. want to take me with? ha!

i hope you have fun. when you're in melbourne if you get a chance to check out the porkers, please do. they're a pretty awesome ska band. :)

[graciana.livejournal.com]

GAH! TOTALLY JEALOUS! Just let me know when you come back. I have to plan the wedding sometime between the time you go away and when Gamecock football season resumes (yeah - Sean's dad is a HUGE fan).

How I used to fight jet lag was to actually watch the in-flight movies. Then when they were off, I would sleep so that when I woke up in the Philippines - wow, I adjusted accoringly! Somehow, all the jet lag would catch up with me when I returned home, yet that's only because you lose a day going there yet are still experiencing the same day when coming back. The fact that you have a nice long stopover in Cali should help you, as opposed to a two-hour re-feuling in Anchorage. :P

As to duffel bag with wheels, can't say. My family usually travels with a regular suitcase with wheels (we like Samsonite) and/or backpack (EMS). You should check out those brands for wheeled duffels.

As to what you should experience, I couldn't say. Do you know if there are any festivals/parades going on around the time you are there? Local culture in festivus mode ALWAYS fun.

[pseydtonne.livejournal.com]

Oh man I totally love that idea about adjusting via in-flight movies! Perhaps that's how they schedule them during the flight.

I'm going to look for festivals as flea markets. The goal isn't to shop but to mingle as much as possible. Meet the old-timers, meet the kids and ask 'em what they think is cool, find the goths and see how they differ from ours.

The last is more interesting than you'd think. I first learned about this when chaggalagirl and I drove down to Florida five years ago. I saw a goth kid walking along the road. He had a black hoodie over his head, black jeans with legs all the way to the ground and black boots peering out from the legging.

Keep in mind I was being dragged into a Wal-Mart to get a loose t-shirt, shorts, hat, sunscreen and sunglasses because it was April in central Florida and I was still dressed for Boston in early spring. In contrast he looked like a monk of death, suffering the hot sun directly above in a cloak.

Being a goth in the cold Yankeelands is easy: you'll stay warm. Being a goth in the South is a journey into the desert. This explains a lot about Brian Warner (aka. Marylin Manson).