Is Not Chicago

I get off at King’s Cross station and start walking to the bar. There’s no sign out front, only an address next to the gate. I ring the doorbell, and the doorman comes to the gate. “Can I help you?” he says.

“Is this T****?” I ask. (they like their anonymity, they don’t even have their address on their website).

“Who invited you?” he responds.

Once I said the right name, I was welcomed in. Normally I would shy away from a place with a door policy like that, but I knew the band would be awesome.

A couple days earlier when I was walking around Coogee, I happened by an open-air tapas cafe with a small latin band playing. Real simple: keys, acoustic bass, bongos, and another drummer playing with brushes on the tables. And these guys were sick, even in that small setup.

After they stopped playing, I talked with the drummer to see if they were playing over the weekend, and he gave me the info about the club. Luckily he warned me about the door and he gave me his card.

The band played salsa for a while, and then various musicians began coming onstage (stage is an exageration, it was really just a small room, the band and maybe 75 people crammed into the music room) moving from salsa to funk to dancehall to rock. It was some of the wickedest shit I’ve seen. I think it’s safe to say that most of Sydney’s best musicians were there last night.

Then Justin Timberlake’s band showed up and jammed for a while. This is apparantly the place where the big bands come to hang out after they perform in Sydney. Beyonce’s band was there a couple months ago, and then John Mayer’s band. From JT’s band, it was the bass player, the guitarist, and the drummer. I found out later that the drummer used to tour with Prince for a while. Sick, sick drummer. These guys were unbelievable. Different people kept coming up and sitting in jamming until 3 in the morning.

Then it was finally time to head back to the hostel to pass out to wake up at 8am to walk up the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Fortunately, they warn you when you buy your ticket that they breathalize you can go up. So I made sure to pace myself throughout the night. But there was plenty of awesome music that the booze wasn’t quite so necessary.

So “goon” is what you drink in the hostels here in Australia. It’s cheap box (“cask”) wine you pick up from the bottle shop. Something a little odd about that. But the great part of finishing a box of wine is that you get to wear it as a helmet afterwards. At least that’s what the girls did last night. I kind of wish I was still at that hostel.

I arrived in Sydney yesterday morning and stayed in Bondi Beach, one of the most popular beaches in Sydney. Unfortunately, the weather was kind of nasty so there wasn’t much beach time. So I walked the hour trek along the coast to Coogee beach, which I thought was actually nicer than Bondi.

Today I moved into the city, which in unfortunate because today would have been a great beach day. Instead I went to the Torongo Zoo. It’s an amazing zoo a ferry ride across the harbor. It’s set on a hill overlooking the harbor. In some exhibits you can see the opera house in the background. But I did get my koala and kangaroo quota in. But that bastard platypus was hiding. I will say Australian animals are weird looking. Just look at the enchidna. At least the platypus is proof God has a sense of humour. (damn it, why did I spell it that way).

Cheers. (definitely turning Aussie).

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The frigid waters depart Antarctica and arrives on the southern coast of Australia. And when it gets here, it’s still cold. During late spring and early summer, even when the weather calls for a swim, the water temperature might not. But since it’s winter in Chicago and summer here, I have an obligation to dive in. All I can say about it is at least it’s warmer than Lake Michigan ever gets.

Ewen, Victoria, and I departed Melbourne yesterday morning heading out along the Great Ocean Road. It follows the coast west from Melbourne through mountains, cliffs, and rainforests. There’s breathtaking scenery around every turn. Unfortunately, my camera’s battery died 3/4 of the way down the road and I left my charger back in town. Luckily, Ewen and Victoria still had their camera, so I’ll have some more photos once I can get them from them.

Tonight I’m off to see Spamalot and tomorrow it’s off to Sydney.

The Twelve Apostles

We found a group of koalas napping in the trees