Doing Business In Australia: Canberra / Sydney

On January 15th, I explored Canberra, Australia’s capital. Canberra is very similar to Washington D.C. in terms of geography and political structure. Walking around the city reminded me a lot of Georgetown; Canberra is a very suburban, upper class area. The city is very hilly and beautiful. Canberra is not located in a state; it is simply named the “capital territory”. When we first arrived by flight into the city from Melbourne, we went to a glassworks factory where many apprentice artists make glass artwork. Canberra Glassworks is the oldest building in Canberra. It was built in 1901 to hold and transport coal for energy. The building was only made for temporary purposes however, it still stands today. The building is open now to tourists for tours and arts and crafts. I made a stained glass design on a glass tile. Initially, I just placed the glass chips on top of the tile; the chips are only melted when put in a very hot furnace. I decided to make a beach scene on my tile.

Some glasswork apprentices' work on their art.

After we made our craft at the Canberra Glassworks, we went to the Australian Institute of Sports. There, we had a tour from an elite Australian Olympic swimmer. He took us around the institute. During the tour, the athlete told us that the Institute was built because a few Olympics ago, Australia did horrible in the games and did not bring home any gold medals. Australia self evaluated and found that, the only thing they were missing that winning countries had was an Institute where all of their top athletes could train with the best from around the country all year long. The Australian Institute of Sports has a weight training room worth 2 million dollars, a gymnasium for male and female gymnasts, a double volleyball court worth millions and at least one Olympic sized swimming pool. Our tour guide said that if a certain sport that is played in the Olympics does not bring home a medal, preferably gold, the sport program is shut down in the Institute.

The million dollar state of the art volleyball court in the institute. This was the same court that was used during the Sydney Olympics.

This is the stadium in the Institute. Celebrities such as Lady Gaga preform here.

On the 16^th I went to the Open Weekend Market in Canberra. The market had a lot of great things including food, jewelry and native arts and crafts. One thing that surprised me was the Uggs, an Australian based footwear, are more expensive here than in the U.S. One lady who worked in retail told me this is the case because Uggs made in Australia are made with premium wool only found in Australia. Since this country is the main exporter of wool in the world, one would assume that wool would come a little cheaper here. Despite Uggs being very popular in the U.S, I have not seen anyone wearing these boots here. An Australian tour guide named Trish told me that they are considered slippers here and it is very unfashionable to wear them in public - they are the equivalent of boxers. I found this interesting because each country has different perceptions of fashion.

An Aboriginal man playing a digiry instrument in the market.

A Belgium Waffle with fruit at the Market! So good!

After our group left the market we went to the National Museum of Australia. The museum had amazing architecture, including four blue poles made by American artists that the museum bought for more than 20 million dollars. The main exhibits in the museum include native animals to Australia including the Kangaroo and Wallaby. Other exhibits include an aboriginal display that showed their social as well as survival culture and their struggles with winning respect in the new Australian society. Our tour guide took us into an artifact storage area that is usually closed to the public. She showed us an authentic boomerang that is round on the top and flat on the bottom with a slight curve in the middle.

Aboriginal Art at the National Museum of Australila

Me and the blue poles in the background that costed the Museum millions of dollars to buy from an American artists.

The architecture was amazing at the museum.

A model roller coaster in front of the museum.

KPMG is International, they were the main contributors to the museum.

Traditional Australian boomerang

Aboriginal Baskets. Some were woven so tight that they could hold water!

Australians have a similar relationship with Aborigines as Americans have with Native Americans. The Australian government issued an apology to the Aborigines and recognize them as the original people of the land.

The beautiful Australian Parliament.

Next, we went to the Australian Parliament. It was great to visit both Chambers in the building and discover the history of the Parliament and how the Australian Government operates. The Parliament is now a renovated building that was built 23 years ago with more space to build up in the future. The Australian Government used ideas from both American and British systems. For example, Australian government has the House of Representatives and the Senate, similar to the U.S. structure. The senate and representative rooms were pink and green to represent the native Eucalyptus plant. Prime Minister Julia Gillard presides over the Parliament; she is the first female Prime Minister of Australia. I really appreciated the contemporary uniqueness of the Australian Parliament. Voting is also mandatory in Australia. If you do not vote, you get a fine in the mail. Despite the older establishments in the U.S. and the U.K., Australia found its own way.

A view of the old Parliament House

The Senate room

Another picture of the capital

The House of Representatives.

The famous painting in the dignitary room of the Parliament. There was a huge competition for the painting winner.

Which is more scenic: Canberra or D.C.? Hmmmm....

Me posing on the roof of the Parliament building.

On the 17^th, we went to the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney. First, we went to Featherdale Wildlife Park. There was a young Joey named Patty greeting us at the door. Even though the baby Kangaroo was eight months old, you could still hold her in your arms. In the park there were Koala’s everywhere. Most of them were sleeping as expected, but there were two eating a Eucalyptus plant that you could take pictures with for free. There were also some Parrots native to Australia that said hello to you; I think that the parrot I talked to was shy because she was kind of quiet. There were Kangaroo cones available for a dollar so that the guests could feed the Kangaroos. It seemed as if they were used to the people because they were jumping all over us to get to the cones. I also saw the smallest penguin species in the world at the park. These penguins are native to South Australia and are on the opposite side of the spectrum compared to the largest penguins, the Emperors.

Koala's sleep 16 hours a day

The tinniest penguins in the world.

An owl and I having a conversation

Feeding a Kangaroo ice cream cones.

After we toured the Wildlife Park, we went to the Blue Mountains. I have been to mountain ranges before so I was not that excited because I thought I knew what to expect. However, I had an amazing time at the Mountain range. First, we took a walk down to a beautiful cliff waterfall called the Wentworth Falls. Then, I went on my first skyway over the mountain range. What made this skyway so cool was that the car had an automatic glass bottom that turned on once you started the trip. We took this skyway to a scenic buffet restaurant overlooking all of the mountain formations including the Three Sisters. Not only was the restaurant on the top of the mountain, it revolved so that we could get a better panoramic view. Every time I went up to get food, I had to take some time to see where my seat had moved! After the buffet, we went on an exciting mountain rollercoaster that took us to the bottom of the mountain. There, they had a display showing us how coal miners in the mountain range lived during the early 1900’s. I was surprised to feel how cool it was in the coal mines. Even if it was 100 degrees outside, the miners needed coats and gloves to work inside the coal mines.

Me in the Blue Mountains

Me in front of a waterfall.

Blue Mountains!

The Skyway I went on has a glass bottom.

It was electronic so it clouded up once we reached our destination.

Our group in the 360 view restaurant on the top of the mountains.

There was a roller coaster in the middle of the mountains, it was amazing.

The ride was pretty exciting and steep.

The track was almost vertical.

Sarah Christine and I in front of a Blue Mountain Waterfall.

The group and I posing in front of a mock roller coaster.

The three sisters rock formation.

This is where the Sydney Olympics were held in 2000

After our tour of the Blue Mountains we went on a cruise through the Olympic Park. Sydney had the Olympics in 2000; it was a great opportunity for them to boost their economy and tourism industry. Our tour guide Nigel told us that the Olympic ground was a big swamp before Sydney won the bid. He said it cost Australia millions of dollars just to stabilize the ground to make it suitable for walking and construction. In the middle of the Olympic grounds there is a wildlife reservation with a giant elevated walkway. Nigel told us the reservation was formed because around a decade ago, scientists found a frog that they thought was extinct for thousands of years in the area. They were so excited that they started tours so people could see the newfound species.The problem was that the frogs did not mate when people were around so the Australians nearly wiped out the species for good. Now, it is illegal to go onto the Wildlife Reserve as an effort to protect the species.

The Sydney Opera House. Truly amazing.

An Aborigine man playing a digire

A typical wine tasting with a bottle of water, a wine jar and glasses.

On the 18^th, we visited the Hunter Valley, known for its ability to produce high quality wine and cheese. I never drank wine before this trip and even though the tour was exquisite, I am still not much of a fan! Nonetheless, I learned how to taste wine; first you admire the color, then you swish the wine in your glass to get the aroma going, then you sniff it, last you take a small sip and move it around on the tip of your tongue to taste the flavors and sweetness of the wine. I went to three wineries today and tried around 24 different red, white and dessert wines. Of all the wines, I think the dessert ones taste the best. On our second winery stop, the man working there wanted us to leave with a bang so he brought out chili liquor for us to taste. Right after I smelled it, I knew it was hot so I did not try it; some other people did though and said it was still burning their stomachs 10 minutes after drinking it! In Australia wine makers are moving from the cork top to the twist off top because it is hard to grow the cork trees in Australia. Also, because cork comes from a living organism, it can get infected with bacteria and produce a bad odor. In Australia, only grapes that thrive in warm weather are grown. Of the 10,000 varieties of grapes in the world, about 100 are grown in Australia and these grapes grow well with olives and roses.