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2008 Apr - Back to index |
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Soundtrack of my life Strutter Gene Simmons & Paul Stanley |
Olli and Nina popped in for a quick visit on the ANZAC day weekend. We did all the traditional tourist things, such as played Guitar Hero II.
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On my way back home I spent a sunny afternoon in Melbourne, which is my favourite among Australian cities (it's easy to say as I don't actually have to live there in that weather...) The Waterfront City at the Docklands has an indoor iceskating rink (!) but unfortunately it is closed on Mondays.
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When I saw Kata Tjuta, I thought to myself "there's no way Uluru is gonna be better than this!" Nevertheless, it was. The best holiday destination in Australia may well be Fraser Island; Kakadu may be the most magnificent of the national parks, Blue Mountains the most beautiful. And don't even get me started on the underwater scenery. Still, if you have to choose one thing and one thing only, this gigantic (and surprisingly, triangular) rock isn't a bad choice.
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Can you spot the mitochondria?
A duplex a la Uluru.
It is time to do my duty as an Australia-based woman of mystery, and go and see what all this babbling about the red rocks at the heart of the continent is about. However, the first sightseeing event of the day took place ten kilometres above the ground, as I spotted Lake Eyre. It was pretty much like any dried out salt lake the size of Uusimaa region would be - very flat, very white, and almost completely featureless... There was some nice obscure geography to be observed around the lake, though, like these oxbow lakes (or billabongs, like we call them in this country) that had escaped from the bosom of their mother river.
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After landing, I jumped into a rental car and started my solo trip. Frankly speaking, beforehand this journey had felt more like an obligation than a wonderful opportunity - I cannot live in Australia for four years and not see Uluru, if you know what I mean! But when I first saw Kata Tjuta from a close distance, I was bloody overwhelmed by it. There are many reasons why these monoliths take your breath away, but the single most important one is the optical illusion caused by the combination of red rock and cloudless blue sky, which makes it look like the mountainous rocks have an aura. The camera absolutely refuses to capture the effect, but if you own a copy of The Magician's Birthday by Uriah Heep (preferrably LP-sized), stare at its cover for a while and you'll know what I mean.
I walked three hours through the Valley of the Winds seeing hardly anyone - except that I swear that on several occasions, I almost saw Tjukuritja disappear behind the corners of this labyrinth.
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The sunset wasn't a disappointment either. The colours change from the deepest crimson of an eclipsed moon to dull purple within seconds; blink and you'll miss it.
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Soundtrack of my life (On Tuesdays She Used To Do) Yoga Peter Hammill |
During the last two or three months I've watched all episodes of the new Battlestar Galactica, and I've enjoyed myself most of the time. With a post-apocalyptic journey across the space, troubled friendships, charmingly imperfect heros and heroines as well as plenty of sex, what could possibly go wrong? Admittedly, Season 2 was a weak attempt at propaganda, but Season 3 immensely improved the quality of it (both the series and the propaganda). While Galactica isn't exactly scripted by German philosophers - it's a frakking TV series! - it manages to pose semi-ambitious questions every once in a while. Can a machine have a soul? How about the enemy? When is it a good time to smoke a cigar that is last of its kind in the universe? Is love for the faint-hearted?
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The research institute in which I'm studying has a dual role as a biotech business incubator, so my PhD education includes a three day retreat in a posh resort, and a competition where student teams present an (imaginary) business proposal for some (imaginary) venture capitalists in front of a live audience. Unfortunately our team didn't make it to the top, but as we came in second we still got a trophy. That's going straight to the pool room!
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