what i loved about Sydney

i was surprised i liked Sydney as much as i did. i thought it would be uninteresting and all it had was the Sydney Opera House and the Prime Minister's residence. but it had a fabulous mind blowing Taronga Zoo which is where my heart was captured. the animals loved us! we heard tourists complaining that the lions were not out, the leopard seal was asleep, the bears was boring and the chimps were bored. but wherever we went the animals woke up and were proud to be who they were. even the snow leopard that had not been spotted for ages, our cousin said she had never seen him and it was her third visit was awed when he came out. he stretched and strolled for minutes on end. the seal woke up and came to us roaring. the chimps, young and old were banging and swinging throughout the time we were watching. koalas do not move and here they were jumping from tree to tree and posing when they reached the top.

the metro is well organized and spread through the entire city. the ferries reminded me of istanbul except for the bit about bull sharks hanging out at the harbour....the view from the train crossing the Harbour bridge was lovely. the bridges in istanbul are prettier but that's just bias talking...

and the beaches! i had missed beaches that we could swim in! we live by the water in Darwin but swimming is impossible. the beaches here are magnficient, miles of beach...with crocs waiting for poor legs to feast on. in Sydney the water is safe and swimming in saltiness was heaven.  the weather was a breezy mild hot 28 degrees...there is a coastal walk where you watched the ocean turn from turquoise to navy blue to purple.

now we cannot decide if we want Melbourne or Sydney! apparently Sydney has changed quite a bit. the mayor has put in more bike lanes, alleyways have more cafes and the art scene is expanding. we have some serious decision making to do in the weeks ahead. i think i want Sydney. we are off to Melbourne to check it out again mid- Jan to see which city is calling out to us.

another cycle begins in Australia

eclipses bring pushes to start new cycles. this weekend we told our close friends that we were working towards moving to Melbourne. of course we had a barbeque! obviously Stu stayed up till 2 am prepping his beef and Christmas ham, he loves it...it was back to our  the night befores sunrise ceremony flashback. we stayed up till 4 am preparing breakfast for later last year in July.

here in the NT folks like to spend quality time doing absolutely nothing but chat and watch the clouds for hours on end. we started having friends come around at lunch time and the last guests left at 10 pm. like i said the territory scene is a slow one. we watched the rain come in, the sun set and the lightning show in 10 hours, every bit enjoyable. this i thought was yogic...observe and be.

i  am going to miss friends i have made here. almost half of them are leaving as well! such is Darwin, people come and go. those who stay we shall come back to visit and wish we were back. i am going to miss watching the tide come in, the cockatoos fly home to Charles Darwin Park, our peaceful neighbours in the boats out front and the occasional frog, bush rat and python in the terrace. it has been an outback experience for sure.

Lake Bennett diye bir gol

dogum gunumu butun ay boyunca kutlamaya dusunuyorum. Stu tum Subat boyunca kutladi, bende kutlayacagim. neden olmasin? bir kac ay sonra melburn'da is bulursak oraya tasinacagiz ama firsat buldukca etrafimizdaki guzellikleri de gorme cabasindayiz. haftasonu dogum gunumu kutlamak icin Bennett golune gittik. Darwin'den bir saat uzaklikta- kucuk bungalowlar, kamp yapacak yerler, bir de luks evler var. bir is adami kurumus bir nehiri gole cevirmis ve 30 sene icinde kendi habitatini kurmus ve inanilmaz bir kus cenneti olusmus. burda timsah da cok oldugu icin bize timsah yok demelerine ragmen golde yuzmedik. nedeni de, belli olmuyor gercekten. golden 20 km uzakliktaki selalelerde yuzduk, ayni gun timsah gordukleri icin park'i kapatmislar. burasi guzel ve vahsi. tam crocodile dundee havasi var gercekten.

ask for some help

the wet season is about to begin in Darwin...in two months. until then the high humidity makes hot feel hotter and sweat becomes the messenger of the 'build-up'. so bike rides, walks, bird watching for lengthy periods and outings become less frequent. this is where i get restless. and i tend to take on projects that need more than just me to make it happen. recently i wanted our good ole couch to change colour. 

it was white two years ago when i first came to visit Stu. we decided red would be a lovely vibrant colour that would make the room pop. it came out pink. the colour of our love was our luck for the time being. then we figured red could be tried again but alas either everyone in Darwin is dyeing things red or noone is interested in red dye. so we opted for royal blue. it helps to be flexible.

hello purple couch! dark purple. which is pretty cool when the sun rises right on it and it is relaxing after a days worth of rat race work. i asked for help, it was a big job. a few years ago asking for help was not easy or simple for me. we live in a system of favours where people's jobs become asking for a favour to do actually their jobs; people are busy and anything beyond daily life becomes difficult...it's city life. i know how that is. but i have realised that we cannot, especially as women, do everything.

i asked Stu to dye my hair as well. yup! and he is pretty good. i warn two weeks ahead, i prepare the formula, provide gloves, i part my hair while he paints it on. great teamwork and his eagle eyes searches for greys. i cannot do it alone and i have not come across the perfect hairdresser as yet. my next project is to either learn how to cut my own hair or motivate Stu to learn :)

territory wildlife park- bird show

a fabulous show of all kinds of birds coming together- raptors, waders, parrots and an opportunity to get up close and personal with them. i was absolutely mesmerized by their beauty and grace.

the barn owl makes no sound in flight. it has feathers on its feet so when it fles there is no sound of flapping or whooshing. remarkable. it collects sound in its eye disc to process where isounds are coming from. i had no idea who a barn owl really was until now. okay it eats rats but i still thought it was gorgeous...and bloody cute as the aussies would say.

the other bird that captured my heart was the brahminy kite- white chested and the top is brick red- brown. its eyes were alert and it caught anything in the air accurately without a twitch. it did make the strangest sounds. the raptors become very territorial with their space and the owls were hanging out down below which is why he got a little irritated.

my favorite of all time (this time around) was the wedge tail eagle. he is the toughest to tame but it loves to get stroked apparently. he had not seen the ranger that has been with him for seven years, she  must have been on vacation. he actually cuddled with her! i could not believe it when he put his head on her chest, opened his wings and froze for several minutes. it was an unforgettable moment where i felt everything just made sense.

animal vacation in Turkey

Turkey is a country that has a lot going on right now- identity issues, angry minorities that have been suppressed for decades, a democratically elected leader who has gone a little nuts and egomaniacal, a youth that has had enough and want a voice. but let's not go there in this post. with cities in psychological turmoil as ramadan was underway and Taksim Square was a place to have iftar for the conservative politicians, the coastlines were still full of vacationers looking to get some sun. i had missed swimming in the sea. in Darwin you cannot swim with all the crocodiles and massive jellyfish waiting to get you.

there were wild boars in the National Park Davutlar near Selcuk, Izmir. they munch on trash. urban pigs i called them; their babies were very cute.

there were some sweet ducks among which were two black ducklings out in Bozburun near the Datca peninsula. we were there for three days and it was just in time for us to celebrate our one year anniversary. Stu found a place called Luna Bel to have a romantic dinner. we got picked up on a boat, taken to an isolated bay that only yachters can approach  and had a lovely time under the stars. near the dock were these ducks all swimming together continuously, it was hypnotic watching  them.

we went to a place called Olive Farm in Datca. the one mesmerizing thing there were the dragonflies. they were blazing red. blew my mind. i floated in the pool and watched them for minutes. i could not do it longer because i get pruney very quickly.

and of course Turkish cats.

NT day explosions

it was pretty overwhelming yesterday. the only state in Australia that can have fireworks and the only day the Northern Territory explodes into colour and flames is 1st july. the coastlines were full of crowds- families with kids, couples holding hands, folks in front of homes sitting for a night of fire. and it went on all night long started as soon as the sun started setting. it was my first time that i was at a place where the fireworks were literally everywhere. in Pakistan it was pretty much whenever people had a whim and inevitably someone died from it. in the US it was on big days and was very contained. in Turkey it was in specific locations.
the NT beat all that...it was in backyards, frontyards, beaches, streets, parks, rooftops...
i was also taken aback with the names for these explosives- blowjob, bumble bee, evil intent and 666 satan's fury was just a few i could not forget.
and then there were fires. my kundalini awakened and stayed awake for a few hours after this.