I'm in Sydney Australia now, having flown 14.5 hours from Vancouver. It was an uneventful flight, except that when you land, Australian immigration sprays the inside of the plane with insecticide. Nothing says "welcome" like bug spray.
Trans-oceanic trips are odd events. You get on plane at one end, endure an endless "sit" in a flying cigar, and de-plane in a completely different place. There is no sense of movement or of traveling any great distance, you just find yourself there (or here in my case).
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| The first view of Australia after leaving the Internationl Airport Terminal |
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| Views from our Apartment |
My planned run had me running from the apartment over the Sydney Harbour Bridge to the Opera House and back, but this really wasn't that far so I added an extra leg through the Botanical Gardens to Mrs Maquaries Chair.
This is the course that I ended up taking: Opera House Run.
There are a couple of things to note here:
1) Thanks to google maps, I had it in my head that Sydney would be flat. Wrong!
2) It is winter here (daytime highs in low 20s, night time <10), so you will see people in winter coats.
3) I am not the first person to think of running the bridge, there are signs that say, "Joggers slow down"
Here are some shots from the run:
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| Stairs to the Bridge (centre right) |
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| Walkway on the Harbour Bridge (look another runner!) |
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| Opera House from the Harbour Bridge |
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| Random Stairs on way to Opera House (couldn't find 'em on the way back) |
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| Circular Quay from Bridge (Ferry Terminal) |
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| Circular Quay from ground level |
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| Opera House from Circular Quay |
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| Opera House - again, only closer |
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| Bridge from Opera House |
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| Sailing around Farm Cove Point, tough life! |
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| Royal (hey same Queen as ours!) Botanical Gardens and CBD Sydney |
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| Whoa! A runner, an Opera House and a Bridge! |
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| Furthest point of the run along the water in the Botanical Gardens |
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| On the way back, look! The Opera House! |
I should get at least one more run in before heading up to the Gold coast for the race and I'll document that one for the blog as well.
Running for Charity:
I am doing all my runs this year, starting with the Run for Reach Half Marathon and the Ottawa Capital Marathon to raise funds for a local charity called Mood Disorders Ottawa (MDO). MDO is a small but vibrant, volunteer run organization (100% of donations go to programs for our members) the that supports people with mood disorders and their loved ones. To these ends, MDO provides resources, programs, support groups, social and recreational activities for our members and their families and friends.
For anyone wishing to do the right thing and pledge/donate to MDO through my runs may do so here:
Coast Airport Marathon - Gold Coast, NSW, Austalia - July 3, 2011 -Marathon -Andrew Goodwin
Hunter Valley Marathon - Hunter Valley, NSW Australia - July 17, 2011 - Half Marathon - Andrew Goodwin
The pledges are handled through the Running Room pledge site, and tax receipts are issued automatically. Anybody pledges will mentioned in is this blog (if they so choose) , for what that's worth....
Information on Mood Disorders Ottawa can be found at: www.mooddisordersottawa.ca
More Information of the MDO and the races can be found at: http://www.northbridgetech.com/Charity.html
Ads on this Blog: All the profits from any ads on this blog go directly to Mood Disorders Ottawa.
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