Australia on Kelvin Nicholson

Birthday in Cairns

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 10:30:00 +0000

For the previous month, I had been hearing hints about a surprise birthday holiday to an unknown destination. That weekend, I finally learned that I would be travelling to Cairns in Queensland, a gateway to some of Australia’s greatest natural wonders.

I left Sydney early on Friday and arrived at Cairns Airport by 9:00am. Although activities were booked for days two and three, the first day was open. After considering my options, I decided to take the Skyrail over Barron Gorge National Park and return to Cairns on the historic railway.

Anderson's Trail

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:30:00 +0000

Six months ago, I purchased a new bike. I cycled frequently when I was younger, but had not ridden for about eight years. In fact, I had done relatively little physical activity during that period. The new bike changed that.

When I lived in the Blue Mountains, I rode the Oaks, a 25-kilometre fire road, several times. Anderson’s Trail is a longer 35-kilometre route that connects to it, and I had been meaning to try it. Fortunately, a colleague invited me on a ride; I would have become hopelessly lost on my own.

Perth to Sydney (Indian Pacific)

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 10:30:00 +0000

I decided it was time to take a vacation. There was a problem, however: I was under a lot of pressure to finish school-related work. Is it possible to take a vacation without taking a vacation? I came up with the idea of flying to Perth over the Easter long weekend and then catching the Indian Pacific back to Sydney.

On April 22, I caught an early-evening Qantas flight to Perth and took a taxi to my guesthouse. Although tired from the flight, or perhaps from the two beers I had with dinner, I decided to explore the CBD. The lights were blazing and, despite it being the start of Easter weekend, plenty of people were out. Perth appeared more diverse than I had anticipated, with a strong Asian influence. Many stores had Chinese characters alongside their English names. After a quick bite at Nando’s, I was ready to head back and get some sleep.

Walking for Android

Wed, 12 May 2010 10:30:00 +0000

You may have just read that I recently duct-taped my own walking treadmill. While driving home, I realised a reward might encourage me to keep going instead of simply crawling into bed with my laptop. Sydney’s winter is coming, and while it is not as cold as back home, it is colder than you might think. My house also seems to provide very little insulation (is reverse insulation possible?), so it can fall to 5-8 degrees Celsius inside.

Build a Treadmill Desk for $9.85

Mon, 03 May 2010 10:30:00 +0000

There are a few problems with modern life, especially for an office worker, most notably the sedentary lifestyle that comes with it. The last few years have been the most inactive of my life; I joked today about barely having a bruise or shedding a drop of blood since arriving in Sydney. Although I’ve never been a serious athlete, I was in decent enough shape at university to know that I’m now heading down a slippery slope. The clearest warning sign came when my dress pants started becoming too tight at the waist. Since I only dry-clean them, I can’t even blame the washing machine. They were also tailored during a trip to Bangkok, so I can’t claim they were tight to begin with.

Two Days in Dubbo

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 10:30:00 +0000

I am a big fan of trains. I especially like sitting back and relaxing, reading a good book, and writing postcards. After my 60-hour train ride through China, the six-hour train ride from Sydney to Dubbo was no problem.

Before visiting Dubbo, I researched how to get around without a car; I like to live green, and renting a car is sometimes a bit expensive. After eventually finding the bus schedule, which didn’t even go anywhere near the zoo, I knew I had two options: 1) take taxis and rent a bike, or 2) rent a car. Two bikes for four hours at the zoo cost $30, plus the taxi around the city. Unfortunately, Dubbo is just a bit too big to comfortably walk around, and being in Western NSW, it is 40°C during the summer. I opted to rent a car.

First Time Playing Boules

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:30:00 +0000

My regular weekends involve French on Saturday and lounging around on Sunday. This Sunday, however, we had other plans. My friends Daisy and Remko invited me over for a few drinks and a game of boules. The score was initially 2-12, and I came back to lead 14-12. Remko and Daisy kept tossing the jack short, and eventually pulled significantly ahead. We then moved on to an excellent dinner: Indonesian rice, cabbage, plenty of beer, and some chicken. Some great chicken.

Trek to Warragamba

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 10:30:00 +0000

The fire road to the swimming hole was quite steep, and I lost at least one beer along the way.

Several large cities around the world blend tame and wild elements within the same boundaries. Portland, where I attended university, is certainly one of them. Its park, within a 15-minute bike ride of the city centre, covers more than 5,000 acres and offers some of Portland’s best cycling. Sydney, where I now live, has similarly impressive attractions. Yesterday, I visited Warragamba Park, just outside Penrith, after a morning of work at the Richmond campus, where I also caught up with Nathan.

Goodbye 2009, The Adopted Version

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 10:30:00 +0000

The best balcony in Sydney for viewing the fireworks.

I had always been very lucky on New Year’s Eve here in Sydney. The first year, I had a friend who owned an apartment on one of the piers beside the Harbour Bridge. The views were spectacular. Last year, I decided to be a little creative and boarded the train I estimated would cross the bridge just as the fireworks began, and it worked perfectly. This year, I decided to do something a little different and once again ended up being very, very lucky.

GovHack 2009

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:30:00 +0000

Nearly everyone on our team stayed up the entire night; most of us didn’t sleep at all.

It had been years since I last pulled an all-nighter, but they had always been for good causes. I had just completed another one and had an immense amount of fun in the process. The reason? GovHack.

GovHack aimed to encourage the Australian government to make as much information openly available as possible. The challenge was to take the scattered pieces of information already available and turn them into useful tools or visualisations for the public.

Easter Weekend

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 10:30:00 +0000

I’m wrapping up an eventful four-day weekend here in Australia.

Day 1 - On Thursday night, I went to the Blue Mountains and stayed with a few friends. I’ve always enjoyed visiting the area; it reminds me how much I like mountain terrain. I made my way back to Sydney on Friday and began considering what to do with the rest of the weekend.

Day 2 - On Saturday, I woke early and drove to the local supermarket to buy food for the week, as the shops would be closed on Friday and Sunday. Soon after returning home, I turned the car around and headed to Kangaroo Valley, about two hours south of my house. The drive was lovely, and traffic was light. I arrived at the campsite and was stunned by its size; it could accommodate several thousand campers. After driving around and finding what I thought was the ideal spot, I pitched my tent and set up camp. There wasn’t much to do beyond exploring the area, so I cooked dinner, read, and played cards. When I tried to sleep, however, my neighbours had other plans. They weren’t teenagers, as I discovered the following morning, but they behaved like them. They played extremely loud music until about 1:00am. I generally liked their taste, including Nirvana, but not while trying to sleep. Perhaps I was getting old.

On Being Rich

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 10:30:00 +0000

I first learned the term “white privilege” during my first year at university. I don’t remember whether it was in a general education class, at an ASPSU (student government) meeting, or through the NAACP, but the revelation has always humbled me.

Today, I had another revelation.

I woke up before 7:00 a.m., caught the bus, and attended my French class. After class, I hurried back to Granville train station to pick up a lost phone, then spent the rest of the afternoon reading at Borders. My mom offered to deposit about $50 into my bank account for my birthday, but I told her I would prefer a card or a small gift she thought I would like. In the mail arrived Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell. I had already read Blink, so I quickly opened this book. If you ever want an easy, entertaining, and educational read, I cannot recommend either book enough. I finished Blink in one sitting and Outliers in two.

French Class and Laser Tag

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 10:30:00 +0000

I’m about to head off to bed, but I have to admit, today has been very productive. I woke up at 6:20am (it is a Saturday), had breakfast, and went into the city. At 9:00am I started my new French class, which looks like it will be great fun. My teacher has great energy, the students are interesting (and seemingly bright), and I’ve picked up a copy of Asterix. Although I haven’t made it past the first page, I’ve enjoyed looking up the words and reliving a comic book I read as a kid. I haven’t learned conjugation yet, so I might wait to read more until next week.

New Year's Eve 2008

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 10:30:00 +0000

Last year I had a very special New Year’s Eve on one of the private piers next to the Harbour Bridge (arguably one of the largest displays of fireworks in the world). I had great food, good company, and jaw-dropping views. A friend was not in the country this year, so I had to find an alternative.

Fireworks debris was falling around the train.

My first plan was to try and go into one of the parks on the north side, thinking that somehow the view would be better. I quickly realized that I wouldn’t be able to get into the city until pretty late, and all the parks would likely be filled up. I pondered for a little while, and we came up with an idea: the train. Last year I noticed that the train still crossed the bridge while the fireworks were going off. I looked up the schedule, checked for delays, and at 11:03, caught the train. I was scheduled to arrive at 11:55 and thought I would simply wait on the platform, but the driver had other ideas. The train left the CBD very slowly and began crossing the bridge at midnight. It is hard to describe what the view is like, but it was nothing short of spectacular. While last year I had a holistic view of the fireworks, this year I had a close-up view from inside the train. Fireworks debris was falling around the train.

Major Database Changes Coming

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:30:00 +0000

I’m about to make some major database changes. Afterwards, you’ll see a few useful new features and one ambitious blog post.

Out Camping

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:30:00 +0000

I’ve been a little delinquent in sharing my life stories, so hopefully this weekend will make up for the past few months.

I decided it was time to go camping again, so on Friday night I met Remko and Daisy and drove north towards Colo: the middle of nowhere, yet only 45 minutes from the outskirts of Sydney. I set up my tent and started cooking dinner: curry! That’s right, I was not exactly roughing it. Soon after dinner, I curled up in my new two-person tent and quickly fell asleep.

Taming the Jungle

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:30:00 +0000

Most weekends closely mimic each other: drinking a lot of wine, playing on the computers, eating lots of food. However, this past weekend was pleasantly eventful.

On Saturday night, I met some friends in Windsor, a small suburb on the way to the Blue Mountains. After a stunning dinner of fish curry with numerous sides, I drove into Richmond to watch a local theatre guild’s production, A Dark Winter Night. Having been spoiled by theatre since childhood, I still enjoyed the performance. It was humble but entertaining. They even served free coffee and biscuits at intermission!

Vista Troubles

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:30:00 +0000

The laptop had 1 GB of memory and ran Windows Vista. I heard a memorable quote today: “I think Vista plus Office equals Monster.”

That was followed by: “I just clicked the exsomething.exe with the somethingelse.exe and hit end task. Now my desktop went black.”

Into the New House

Tue, 27 May 2008 10:30:00 +0000

I had a mere 12 minutes until my laptop, running Ubuntu 7.10, finished upgrading to the newest release, so it seemed like the perfect time to share a few updates from my life.

The last few weeks have been chaotic, to say the least. I found my own place at last! I am now in Pendle Hills. The commute to work isn’t much different, and taking the bus may even be a little faster. Living in a house again, rather than an apartment, is nice. I am quickly warming to the idea and generally enjoying the house.

Hard Drive Bugs

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 10:30:00 +0000

This is a fairly inconsequential entry, but I found the incident amusing. I assembled my external drive enclosure this morning and noticed a bug crawling around inside it; I hadn’t used the enclosure in a while. I decided not to interrupt what I was doing to remove it, so I closed the enclosure and hoped for the best.

About an hour later, while moving files from my laptop onto the drive, I heard a dreadful “blugrrrrrrrrrrrr.” I looked over and said, “Oh no!” For a few seconds, I thought the hard drive was failing. Then I realised the bug had tried to crawl out through the little fan.

I Caught a Fish

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 10:30:00 +0000

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to go on a boat ride with my co-workers as a team-building activity. Although we didn’t do the usual team-building exercises, I think everyone had a great time. Clinton and I brought a case of beer, Alanna brought the wine and food, and James was the designated boat driver.

BBQ at Coogee

Sun, 30 Dec 2007 10:30:00 +0000

Yesterday we went to Coogee Beach for a BBQ, and I must say, a BBQ in December is pretty nice. Wan, our flatmate, and I visited the store in the early afternoon and bought a case of beer and $50 worth of meat. One of the nice things about the beach is that there are free BBQs to use: just push the button and away you go.

After a few hours of eating, we took a short walk to the beach. I was nominated as the designated driver, so I took Wan and one of his friends back to his house to change. Shortly afterward, we were back at the beach and then on our way home.

A Car Accident

Sat, 27 Oct 2007 10:30:00 +0000

First, don’t worry: it wasn’t me.

The day began as usual: checking email, calling the United States, and taking care of business. I baked some muffins and scones. To get out of the house, I decided to visit one of the markets on Oxford Street in the city. I love markets. At about 2:00, I left the house and headed down Parramatta Road.

An hour later, I had parked on a side street and was walking towards the market. It had more variety than the markets I knew in Taiwan, which often sold many of the same things, and I enjoyed looking around. One food vendor wanted to sell a few remaining kebab sandwiches and lowered the price from $8.50 to $5, so I picked up two.

Three-Way Chat

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:30:00 +0000

I have several months of back entries to catch up on, but I find the way my “household” operates quite funny: there are three of us, and we sit in an MSN chat room. I used to do something similar when I lived in a huge house in Portland, but it is especially amusing in our two-bedroom apartment. I could even tap out Morse code to my flatmate right now.

Arrived in Sydney

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 10:30:00 +0000

I had arrived in Sydney! The flight wasn’t too bad, but shortly after landing I realised I hadn’t fully organised my transport or accommodation. I bought a phone card at the airport, where it cost $10 instead of $2 downtown, and jumped on a bus into the city. When I arrived, I stepped off the bus into steady rain and a cold breeze. After travelling through tropical countries for the previous two months, I was thoroughly unprepared for the Sydney winter, however mild it might be.