Gold Coast (first impressions)…

I arrived yesterday afternoon in the Gold Coast and got a bus to my hotel, the Conrad Jupiters Casino. My first impression of the Gold Coast was not too good. It is essentially a big holiday resort. The fact I was staying in a casino gave me a bit of a flashback to Vegas.

On arriving at the hotel I noticed there was a pool, so I went straight out and had a swim. This made me feel a little more positive. Then I noticed there was a gym with a room where they teach fitness classes. The room was empty so I went back to my room, got my Yoga mat and did an Ashtanga practice. It was cool not having to practice in my hotel room. Too many distractions. After this I was feeling up for a wander around.

After leaving the hotel I walked through a shopping center and a restaurant area, then out on to the beach. This is when I realized I was going to like the Gold Coast. The beaches are long and wide with white sand. It is the perfect place to bring kids on holiday, hence the holiday resort developments. I’ve got 2 days before the conference starts so I’m going to spend my time between the beach, the gym and the pool. I’m going to try and blank out the casinos and holiday resort feel as they will only spoil it for me.

I would post photos only the hotel internet charges are extortionate, so I’m using a public terminal. Unless I get internet access at the conference, I probably won’t be online much until I reach New Zealand.

Cheers

Tim…

More Sydney stuff…

Today I started with a visit to Darling Harbour.

I’m a sucker for aquariums, so I ended up at the aquarium. It’s a bit bigger than AQWA in Perth, but the main difference was that the seals were swimming. 🙂

Next I walked across the bridge, just on the normal footpath. 🙂

Next I headed off to Bondi Beach to show the surfer types how we roll in the UK. This involved me walking round fully clothed trying desperately to keep out of the sun. I went a bit mad with the sun screen this morning leaving be with a silvery glow. I must have looked like an overdressed alien. Needless to say I didn’t get sunburn.

Later I was back in Sydney center, walking through the gardens when I noticed people checking out the trees. At first I thought these were some freaky sort of bird nests. It wasn’t until I zoomed in I noticed they were bats. Fun, fun, fun…

Cheers

Tim…

Perth to Sydney…

I got to Perth airport about 2 hours early, attempted to check in and was told I couldn’t until I paid the outstanding balance on my ticket. [Insert flashback to Frankfurt here] I called Oracle Travel and a couple of minutes later it was sorted and I got on the plane and survived the flight. Did you hear about that Qantas flight? That was on the taxi radio and the TV at the airport before I flew. 🙁

I had booked the cheapest hotel in Sydney (CBD) I could find on wotif.com. I got off the plane and became increasingly worried that I had booked into a crack-house, but it turned out really cool. It’s a pretty small place above a pub in the center of town, but the room is really cool. I wonder if they will give me an extra discount because I’m unemployed? 🙂

I went down to check out the harbour and took a ride on the Manly ferry. I know it’s a bit stupid, but the opera house is so iconic, I really feel like I’m in Australia now.

It was getting dark by the time the ferry came back from Manly.

I walked home through a park and saw a bloody big rat. I was going to photograph it and make some joke about Quokkas, but I was too slow. A little further on I heard a noise in a tree and saw something a little cuter than a rat.

Tomorrow is my only full day in Sydney before I go on to Gold Coast, so I’ve got to figure out what to do to make the most of my limited time.

Cheers

Tim…

AUSOUG Perth…

The AUSOUG Perth conference finished a few hours ago. It’s a really good size event, about 400 people, which is big enough to feel busy, but small enough to feel personal. I met a bunch of familiar faces and many new ones.

The best speaker prize went to Connor McDonald. If you get the chance, check out his presentation style. It’s not the normal thing you see on the Oracle conference circuit.

I did two talks, which must have gone down OK with the audience as I got the second prize behind Connor. It was very nice surprise.

So tomorrow morning I leave Perth and head to Sydney for a couple of days on my way to Gold Coast…

Cheers

Tim…

Doug: I’ve already had the Number Two’s joke, so I’ll head you off at the pass on that one… 🙂

Rottnest…

I took a trip out to Rottnest Island a couple of days ago. The beaches look tropical, but the center of the island is a mix of scrub land and unusual salty lakes. It’s pretty cool.

From 2008_Perth

Here’s another shot…

From 2008_Perth

The island was named Rottnest (Rat’s Nest) because William de Vlaming thought the native Quokkas were big (cat sized) rats. Here’s one of the little fellas.

From 2008_Perth

They are really tame. They walk right up to you without a care.

After taking a bike ride round the island I spent some time on the beach. Sorry to anyone present who was subjected to my incredibly white body. 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

OpenWorld Pictures…

I didn’t really take many photos in San Francisco, but here’s two shots I thought were worth posting…

First the DeLorean. Why didn’t Larry pack the Database Machine into one of these?

From OpenWorld

Next, a photo taken on Friday morning, after the conference was over. Believe it ot not, this was the road with the big marquee. Hard to imagine this road actually has traffic on it the rest of the year. 🙂

From OpenWorld

Cheers

Tim…

Whale watching in Freemantle…

I went whale watching in Freemantle today. I took a boat trip down the swan river from Perth to Freemantle, then got on a bigger boat and went out to sea. The water was really choppy, so about 25% of the people were really ill and many others were close. I haven’t found my land legs yet, so I was fine.

I wasn’t holding out much hope of seeing anything, but then we saw a Humpback whale jump. We moved towards it and it jumped again. Next we spotted a mother and calf. They were a bit more subdued, but we did see them come to the surface and there was a little bit of tail slapping. I didn’t get any photos or video of it, but I found this on YouTube which shows you what it looked like.

Finally, we saw a big whale in the distance repeatedly doing tail slaps. We moved closer, but then had to turn round and head back. I did video this, but I’m rubbish and it’s too embaressing to post it. 🙂

The rough sea made the boat trip feel like a rollercoater ride, which was fun. The fact that we actually saw the whales was totally cool.

Cheers

Tim…