Jeff Salchow Down Under

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3

Rainy April
2008-04-24 02:19:00
It has been a rainy, sloppy mess here in Sydney over the past few weeks. On the news today, they said we broke a 77-year record for the successive rainy days. When I say it has been rainy, I don't mean just a few sprinkles here and there. It has been a constant downpour nearly every day. Ugh.Just as the rains began to fall, my best friend Kelly arrived from the States for a visit. Despite the weather, we hiked all around Sydney hitting the zoo, the Blue Mountains (again) and several other key sites. All in all, we had a great time. Kelly went home on Wednesday which was a big bummer but hopefully now the rains will stop. ;) I will post some photos of our adventures soon.
More About: April

Sinead and the Pumpkins
2008-03-31 14:29:00
Over the past few weeks, I have been lucky enough to enjoy a couple of my all time favorites in concert right here in Sydney. Sinead O?Connor came to Australia for the first time ever to perform and I got to see her twice over two nights in Sydney. She played at the State Theater which is a lovely historic theater in the heart of the CBD. When I heard she was coming, I was so excited. I immediately jumped online but the ticket had been on sale for a while so I didn?t get the best seats. Her initial tour plans included a stop in Sydney, Melbourne, and few other cities as well as a headlining spot at a big blue festival in Byron Bay. She added a second show in Sydney shortly after the tour was announced. Of course, I got tickets. The shows were excellent and she is a truly amazing singer. Her voice has lost a bit of its luster (she is a smoker which has clearly cost her some of the higher notes/screams) but she still mesmerizes me with those songs. She played a similar set list both n...
More About: Pumpkins

Blue Mountains
2008-03-22 05:38:00
While Jamie and Sam were in town, we enjoyed a weekend trip to the lovely Blue Mountains . This major Sydney attraction is located about 2 hours west of the city. They are not actually mountains but a huge gorge created from erosion. The name comes from the blueish hue the range takes on when viewed at a distance, which is caused by the release of oils from eucalyptus forests. Here are the Three Sisters with the blue hue in the backgroundOn Saturday morning, we met Joe and Michael at Central Station and hopped on a train. It is a short trip by car but I was happy to relax and ride the train. Once we arrived, we rented a car (a minivan actually) to get around and see the sites.Here are a few shots from our train ride:On our first day, we traveled around the area, visiting the Three Sisters rock formation and a beautiful private garden called the Everglades. On day two, we road the Blue Mountains railway which is the world?s steepest train incline. You get on the train (which is more l...

Jervis Bay
2008-03-21 02:08:00
While Jamie and Sam were in town, we took a couple of small trips around Sydney. The first was a day-trip to Jervis Bay which is an area 3 hours south of the city with a bunch of sleepy little beach towns along a giant bay. We rented a car, grabbed my friend Joe and hit the road. View Larger MapAfter you pass through the last big southern Sydney suburb called Wollongong, you come across this stretch of amazing highway that wraps around some cliffs, hanging over the ocean. You can see the road in the background of this photo taken during a toilet stop/photo op.We spent most of our time in Jervis Bay at Hyams Beach which is known for having the most amazing white sand. The bay itself is surrounded by a national park so it is really quiet and secluded. There is also a navy base nearby so as we played in the surf and sun, a few warships and even a submarine were doing maneuvers just off the beach. I saw the sub submerge and resurface. So cool!We enjoyed some fresh fish and chips and oth...

Birthday Bridge Climb
2008-03-16 00:50:00
I had my first official visitors when my good friends Jamie and Sam came in from LA for a holiday down under. We kept ourselves very busy seeing the sites and traveling around Sydney and Melbourne. The girls were in town over my birthday which was alot of fun. On the actual day, we decided to experience one of Sydney?s biggest tourist attractions, the Harbour Bridge Climb .For a couple hundred bucks, you go on a 2-hour guided tour of the bridge. It was a bit cheesy and you have to wear these awful jump suits but being on top of the bridge was incredible. For safety reasons, you are tethered to the bridge at all times so once you chose a spot in line, that is your spot for the next 2 hours. Sam, Jamie and I smartly decided to be the last in line for our tour which meant we could lag behind a bit and enjoy the climb on our own. Here are a few of the photos from the climb:Later in the week, I had birthday drinks at a local pub called the Darlo Bar. Many of my old pals from Leo Burnett s...
More About: Birthday

My Friend Scott
2008-03-12 12:34:00
Tonight I learned that my dear friend Scott Steinkamp lost his long battle with cancer. He had a lot of ups and downs over the past few years as he battled a very serious brain tumor but never gave up or lost his faith. He kept fighting until the end. Here is a photo of Scott (on the left) with his little boy Tyler and partner Tim.I am sitting here remembering all the great times we had over the years. Here are a couple of my favorite memories:-In 2004, Scott and I won a doubles tournament together in Chicago. He had a great run at the tournament, winning the singles event as well. I was excited when we won our match but will never forget how choked up I got when he won the singles. He was so thrilled to win and I felt like a proud father or coach. It was great fun to see him that happy. -Scott and a few other friends organized these ?Survivor? weekends which were set up like the TV show with a big group of guys isolated in the country, battling through physical challenges, eating ...
More About: Friend

Australia Says Sorry
2008-02-27 12:41:00
A few weeks back, there was a huge news event over here. Australia 's newly elected Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, followed up on one of his campaign promises and formally apologized to the Aboriginal people of Australia. I won't try and explain all the terrible stuff that occurred as the Aussie settlers moved across this country but as you can guess, it was pretty bad. If you are interested, do a Google search on the Stolen Generation and you will find a kinds of info.The former PM John Howard consistently refused to apologize and the topic has been debated for years in government and amongst the people. So it was really interesting to be here when they finally made the announcement, especially since I am from a country that has a few similar skeletons in its closet.Check out Rudd's apology speech on YouTube

Interpol, Mardi Gras, tennis and more
2008-02-27 12:17:00
I have been busy with lots of little things lately. Here are a few updates:Last week, I went to see Interpol at the Hordern Pavillion with a group of former coworkers from Leo Burnett. I think this was my 7th time seeing them and once again, they did not disappoint. It was my first time at Hordern which is a medium size concert hall on the grounds of Fox Studios. The complex also has real movie studios (Matrix, Mission Impossible 2), cinemas, a shopping mall, and offices. The sound of the show was pretty crap but things improved once we moved back. Thumbs up for Interpol. Next I have two nights with Sinead O?Connor and a Smashing Pumpkins show at the end of March.I have been playing lots of tennis with some rather varied results. My partner Glenn and I signed up for another Thursday night comp and we easily won our first match against one of our big rivals. Glenn and a sub won our second match pretty easily too (I was across the street at the Interpol show). That is the good.We also...
More About: Tennis , Mardi Gras

PJ Harvey at the Opera House
2008-02-17 07:12:00
I went to to see PJ Harvey on Friday at the Opera House . I have seen three straight shows at this incredible venue (Tori Amos, Bjork, and PJ Harvey). PJ played in the same cool little theater as Tori did on top of the building.She is an odd chick for sure and has a wide range of songs. Some are really dark and melodic while others are 2 minutes of her screaming while slashing away on her guitar. She played solo for most of the show which I find very impressive. It takes some real guts to stand up in front of a big crown all by yourself. I knew most of the songs at the show which was a bit surprising as I am not a huge fan. All in all, she gets a big thumbs up from me!I will never forget when I went to see PJ back in 2001. The concert was a week or so after Sept 11 and I remember telling my friend Karen (who I was going to show with) that I didn't want to go. It didn't feel right to be seeing a concert at such a terrible time. In the end we decided to go and I am so glad we did. Sh...
More About: Opera House

New job at Mojo
2008-02-10 11:17:00
So I switched jobs a few weeks back. After a year and a half at Leo Burnett Sydney, I finally made the jump to another agency. I am the new Head of Digital Production at an Australian agency called Mojo . Mojo is part of the Publicis Groupe (the large French conglomerate of marketing companies which also owns Leo Burnett) and is very well known and respected in Australia for creative work. An unnamed friend spent a few months whispering in my ear about Mojo, I guess she finally wore me down. Oops, did I say she? It was very hard to leave everyone back at LB, I made some really great friends there. My new deal is shaping up to be a big challenge but also looks like a perfect fit for me. My role is focused around managing the team in Sydney but I am also responsible for working with our Auckland and Melbourne offices, helping bridge everyone together. It will be a big task! My first few weeks have been busy, lots of meetings, introductions, names to learn, etc etc. The physical office...

Out Games in Melbourne
2008-02-04 12:26:00
I went back to Melbourne a few weeks after the Aussie Open to compete in the 1st ever Asia Pacific Out Games . There are plenty of tennis tourneys around (gay or straight) but not many at Melbourne Park, the site of Australia's grand slam.All in all, the event was pretty fun and well run. I entered both singles and doubles, playing doubles with my friend Jason. In order to fit all the tennis into the two days, the early round matches were reduced to one set which is not exactly ideal for a slow-starter like me. I generally require all three sets when I play a match if I am going to win.I won my first match in singles then lost to a guy I felt I should have beaten. In doubles, Jason and I killed our first two opponents which got us to the semis but lost in the semis to a team from Bali after a poor start in our Sunday morning match. We won a bronze medal for our efforts but had we played to our potential, we would have done much better. Coulda shoulda woulda. It was pretty disappoint...

Bjork at the Opera House
2008-01-26 05:25:00
I went to see the increcibly unusual Bjork perform on the front of the Opera House as part of the month long Sydney Festival. Here is a video that is a bit dark but gives you a little perspective about the set up and atmosphere.I am not a huge fan of Bjork but really enjoyed the show. She is definitely an odd bird but fun to watch. She had another run in with a reporter when she arrived in New Zealand. She really doesn't like to have her picture taken!
More About: Opera House

Aussie Open 2008
2008-01-26 05:02:00
I am sitting here on a beautiful sunny day watching the women?s final of the Australian Open . It has been another fun two weeks of grand slam tennis but now that it is winding down, I am starting to get a little depressed that the Aussie summer tennis season is coming to an end.I went to Melbourne for the middle weekend on the tournament. I stayed with my friend Joe which was perfect because he lives pretty close to downtown and the tennis center. I arrived early Thursday and headed straight to the tournament. It was a perfect day weather-wise, sunny but nice and cool. I had a grounds pass so moved around a lot and watched a bunch of matches. The best match of the day was a wild five setter with two guys named Amer Delic and Juan Monaco. Neither guy is necessarily a marquee player but the drama was great. Unfortunately for Delic, he got some pretty bad cramps in his legs and hands and lost it 8-6 in the fifth set.There has been a lot of coverage and discussion about the new surface ...
More About: 2008

Sydney Medibank Tennis 2008
2008-01-21 04:58:00
My second summer here in Australia brought me another fantastic few weeks of professional tennis. Since early January, I have spent about two weeks sitting courtside in Sydney and Melbourne watching match after match and loving (nearly) every minute of it.Last year, I posted daily updates from the Medibank tournament with lots of detail on the matches/players and the overwhelming response was....YAWN. So this year I decided to post a simple summary of my experience at the Sydney tournament and in Melbourne for the Aussie Open. I volunteered for the second year at the Medibank which is an Aussie Open warm up event. The beauty of this tournament is that it is a combined event (has both men and women playing) which is a very rare to see except at the grand slams. The down side is the tournament is a week before the Aussie Open so many players seem to lose early or withdraw if they have any hint of an injury. I suppose this makes sense, why would they want to risk playing on and making ...
More About: Tennis , 2008

Christmas and NYE 2007
2008-01-13 11:48:00
I have just gone back to work after a wonderful 17 day break for the Christmas and New Year?s holiday. I was so busy with work and a few other things leading up to the holiday that by the time it actually arrived, I realized I had nothing planned. I was going to try and organize some sort of vacation but ended up just enjoying some down time here in Sydney. My second Christmas here was great, very relaxed but fun. My friends Joe and Michael invited me and a few other orphan Americans over for dinner. We ate, drank, and played cards all night. Not terribly traditional but great food and company.I didn?t do much during the week between Christmas and NYE. Lots of beach time, tennis, drinks with friends, etc. It was a very fun week.I was a bit torn about what to do for NYE. Many of my guy friends were going to a big dance party which didn?t sound too great to me. My friend Marie invited me to a party in Kirribilli which is a neighborhood on the north side of the harbour (I am on the sou...

The Dumbass Who Cried Shark
2007-12-23 23:01:00
So the news story from last week about a guy getting attacked at Bondi has officially been proven to be a lie. Turns out, the guy is an amateur thief and probably injured his arm breaking in to someone's home. There have been two other real attacks in the past week so don't go thinking the fish are not looking for some Christmas dinner.Here is the latest article from the Sydney Morning Herald:Dumb-dumb dumb-dumb: shark bite claim shatteredA shark attack at Bondi Beach, which made headlines around the world, never occurred and the man who made the claim has been arrested for theft, sources have told smh.com.au.Scott Wright had told reporters on the weekend that he thought he was a "goner" after being bitten on the arm by a shark on Friday night.The last attack at Bondi was 70 years ago.Even as late as today lifeguards at Bondi thought a wobbegong shark might have been responsibleBut sources have told smh.com.au that Wright injured himself when his arm went through a glass window -...
More About: Shark , Dumbass

Party Season
2007-12-16 02:57:00
Haven't blogged in a while mostly because I have been knee deep in the holiday festivities. Christmas is hard on the wallet as well as the liver. A couple weeks back, there was a big gay outdoor festival called Summer Gay Day in Moore Park which is a big park just south of the city. The party had nothing to do with Christmas but since it fell in December, it gets lumped in with the other holiday events. It was basically a big outdoor dance party which is not really my scene but my friend Joe won free tickets (which were around $100) so we decided to give it a go.The layout was great, they had a huge part of the park blocked off with various stages, food stands, and bars. It had been pissing down rain most of the day but by the time Joe and I arrived, it had cleared up and dried out so all was OK. We walked around, had a few drinks, and talked with some friends for most of the evening. I spent the entire night trying to convince Joe to go on the giant reverse bungee jump ride that w...
More About: Party , Season

A Holiday Shark Attack
2007-12-16 02:43:00
For the first time in 70 years, there was a shark attack at Bondi Beach this weekend. Happily, I was not there. I should point out that this fool was swimming at dusk (a big no no) and aparently ended up passing out on the beach until the next morning due to shock (which seems a bit odd). I am sort of half expecting this to be proven a hoax. True or not, it is still real scary. I hate those damn fishes!Here is the story and a lovely photo from the Sydney Morning Herald:Swimmer fights off shark at BondiA SWIMMER has been attacked by a shark at Bondi Beach, leaving him with deep gouges to his elbow and forearm.Scott Wright, 34, of Hobart, was swimming at south Bondi when he felt a shark bite into his arm about 8.30pm on Friday.He made his way ashore, where he passed out in a cave that he had temporarily made home with a mattress and his belongings.Mr Wright said he was found by his girlfriend on the beach yesterday morning."The shark attacked me, grabbed hold of my arm and wouldn't l...
More About: Holiday , Shark , Shark Attack , Attack , Atta

The Big Elections
2007-11-26 06:24:00
This past weekend, two big decisions were made here in Australia. The citizens voted to make a big change in the leadership of their country. They also voted to name the next Australian Idol. After weeks of build up for both, I happy that some decisions have been made but still not sure which one was a bigger deal.The federal election went as predicted. The Labour Party won a majority of the seats in Parliament and took control of the government which has been run by John Howard and the Liberals for the past 11 ½ years. Australian voters don?t actually ever vote for the Prime Minister. They select a candidate to representative their district and whichever party ends up with the majority of seats nationally, gets to appoint someone to be Prime Minister. The Liberals have won this contest easily for the past 4 elections but this time, the Labour Party won in a landslide. The really big news that came from the election was that John Howard actually lost his seat in the Senate to a form...
More About: Elections

Thanksgiving #2 Down Under
2007-11-26 05:43:00
Now that I am into my sophomore year here at Australia U, I am enjoying my second go at various events and holidays. Last year, I spent Thanksgiving in Manly with my friend Marie and a big group of non Americans which was a blast. This year, I did the opposite and enjoyed a quiet Thanksgiving with a small group of Americans. My friends Joe and Michael decided to host their American friends this past Saturday. They just moved into this amazing 160+ year old house in Darlinghurst which is just 10 minutes walk from me. I arrived around 3pm with a bottle of wine in hand and little in my belly so I was ready. The guest list included Eric and Angela, a couple who are moving back to Chicago in a few weeks, Kelly, a friend-of-a-friend of Michaels from back home, me, and them. I think they had invited another couple who could not attend. I also invited Scott and Kyle but both passed as a result of the big night on Friday (I left early). Fools.The food was great, delicious turkey and most of ...
More About: Hank

Aussie Election Day
2007-11-24 02:42:00
Today is the national election here in Australia. You may notice by the date of my post that it is Saturday which is a little odd to anyone from the States. They smartly hold their elections on Saturdays so more people are off work, making it easier to get to a polling place. It is illegal for Aussie citizens to not vote (they get fined). Both ideas are excellent, we should consider these in the US.It has been really interesting to be here for the build up to this election. The current Prime Minister John Howard has been way down in the polls even since I arrived. He has been in power for 11 years as the leader of the Liberal Party which is the equivalent of the Republicans in the States. Liberal means something very different down under. Howard is a buddy of George W which is not winning him any favor here these days. He is also known for saying some incredibly insensitve and somewhat racist comments over the years yet his party has won re-election a couple of times. The opposition...
More About: Election

Quiet November
2007-11-24 01:43:00
The last few weeks have been pretty uneventful over here. Have not done much more than work, head out for a few drinks on the weekend, hit the gym, and play lots of tennis. Oh wait, I have been pretty busy going to the beach and pool too as it has been absolutely perfect weather lately. Sorry for the gloating to all my northern hemisphere friends and family.November is Movember here in Sydney (and probably in lots of cities) so many guys around town are sporting really awful mustaches for the month to raise awareness around prostate cancer and male depression (odd mix, are they related?). I love my prostate and hate when I am down but am going to leave growing staches to others. Most guys just look like 70s porn stars. Work is work, not too much to report there. One pretty cool update, we recently launched a website to promote the Heineken DraughtKeg here in Australia. Heineken is one of my favorite clients, very nice people and a fun brand to work on, and they give us alot of creat...
More About: Quiet

Halloween in Sydney
2007-10-29 04:14:00
This past weekend, I went to a very fun and festive Halloween party co-hosted by my good friend Tam. The party was at the Flinders Hotel which is a typical Sydney pub near Oxford Street in the heart of the city. It was a ‘fancy dress’ (costume) party as you would expect but I ended up without a costume due to some last minute lame-ness by a couple of my friends.Australians surprisingly do not celebrate Halloween as we do in the States. Considering what a big party town (country) this is, I am amazed that they haven’t embraced this most sacred holiday. Luckily for me, there lots of Brits (Tam) and Americans here to make sure Halloween is celebrated properly.Not too much to report specifically from the party. There were lots of great costumes and the hotel was all decked out. My friend Tam was Medusa, Ryan was a mummy, Kel and a few of her friends were Emo/Goth kids, and I was a dumbass with jeans and a tshirt. After a few drinks, I borrowed someone’s machete-through-the-head ...
More About: Allo

Back from Chicago
2007-10-29 02:31:00
I just returned from nearly two weeks of work and fun back in the States. I had a week-long training session in Chica go that came together rather quickly. I spent the few weeks leading up to the trip scrambling to make sure all my work was covered off and getting my personal stuff in order (i.e., what to do with the pug?).I added a few days to the beginning of the trip so I could see the band Interpol play at the Aragaon Ballroom in Chicago. I have seen them several times so was very excited to catch them at one of my all time favorite venues. I went to the show with Scott and Karen. The band did not disappoint, they actually played every song I wanted to hear so I was quite pleased. One of the highlights from the show was watching this dumb-ass sorority chick dancing around like a fool during the show. Her boyfriend just rolled his eyes and tried to enjoy the show.The week in the office was really odd but strangely a lot of fun. There have been lots of changes at Arc/Leo Burnett bu...
More About: Back

One Year Later
2007-10-02 14:23:00
A few weeks back, I enjoyed my one year anniversary here in Australia. It still blows my mind that I am even here so it is really hard to believe it has already been a year. Time flys.....This past weekend was a three day holiday thanks to Labour Day on Monday. Three day weekends are always festive but this one included a few extra events to ramp up the energy and alcohol consumption:-the Grand Finals of the AFL and NRL footie leagues (basically Superbowl Sunday x2 for Australia's two big football leagues)-the last pool play weekend of the Rugby World Cup (which is taking place in France but a big big deal here)-Sleazeball weekend (second biggest gay party weekend in Sydney after Mardi Gras)Another contributing factor to the fun atmosphere of this big weekend (the last few actually) is that summer has come a few weeks early. We have enjoyed a fantastic stretch of beautifully warm and sunny days. It was so warm Monday night, I considered turning on my A/C for the first time since Ma...
More About: Year

Tori Amos at the Opera House
2007-09-27 11:12:00
This week, I went to see Tori Amos perform at the Sydney Opera House . Tori has been one of my favorite artists for years. I think I have seen her 11 or 12 times over the past 15 years. I was looking forward to seeing her (concerts are always fun) but was really excited to make my first visit inside the Opera House.I went to the show with my friend Paul who is also a pretty big fan. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed to the show. I have been in Sydney for over a year but have somehow never made it inside this major attraction.She performed in one of the small theaters (there are several) at the very top of the building. We had great seats on the left side of the stage in one of the boxes. We could see her perfectly thoughout the show.She came out and did her typical entrance, running across the stage, waving to the audience in her own special way. When you see her, you can tell that she is kind of a nut job but also the epitome of a true artist. This was her last show in Austr...
More About: The O

I hate Citibank
2007-09-21 23:57:00
For the last 11 months, I have been able to easily transfer money back to the States from my Citibank AU account. I log in to my AU account, submit a transfer, login to my US account, and there it is. Instantly. This month when I went to make the transfer, I got an error. I waited for a few days thinking it was a technical glitch but when I tried again, I got the same error. I eventually called customer service and was told the US changed the way they accept wire transfers (I called Citibank US and found out this was a lie) and I now need to submit it and wait for up to 3 business days for someone to call me and confirm the transfer. After that occurs, the transfer will happen. Are you kidding? I need to wait for someone to call me to confirm a transaction?For the sake of getting the specific tranfer done, I followed this bullshit process. I submitted the request on Tues and when three days went by without a call, I started making some calls. I contacted my local (useless) Citibank ...
More About: Hate

APEC and George W
2007-09-17 13:44:00
So not too much APEC drama. There were some protests and arrests as expected but very little in terms of damage or serious security breaches.George W did manage to trip over his tongue as he often does in these situations. Here are a few of his best quotes from his visit to Sydney: "Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for your introduction. Thank you for being such a fine host for the OPEC summit." --George W. Bush, addressing Australian Prime Minister John Howard at the APEC Summit, Sept. 7, 207"As John Howard accurately noted when he went to thank the Austrian troops there last year..." --George W. Bush, referring to Australian troops as "Austrian troops," APEC Business Summit, Sept. 7, 2007The one really interesting APEC news story was the arrest of some actors from a local practical joke TV show called the Chaser. The crew rented a limo and created their own motorcade complete with motorcycles and police escorts. The person inside the limo was dressed as Osama bin Laden. They actually...

Ski Weekend at Perisher
2007-09-17 12:13:00
Early Thursday of APEC weekend, I dropped Oliver at my friend Jess' and headed off to go skiing with a few friends. Jess has a dog too and was very sweet to offer my pug a place to stay while I was away. I drove down to the snow with Desi, Alan and Rob (Desi's boyfriend). The drive is a little over 5 hours south west of Sydney but it went really quickly as we chatted and played various road trip games. We stopped a few hours outside of Sydney in a city called Goulburn to meet up with Jamie and Greg (friends of Desi and Alan). Goulburn doesn't have much going on but it does have the world's largest concrete Merino sheep statue. We ate lunch at a bakery next door to the giant sheep. Before I left the States, I had read about Australia's love of giant road-side statues. There are books, tours, and websites dedicated to these unusual attractions but the Merino sheep was the first time I had seen one myself.We continued along, driving through Canberra which I had also never seen. Ca...
More About: Weekend , Peri

Sydney Lockdown
2007-09-05 15:29:00
Well, George W arrived here in Sydney so the APEC chaos is underway. The police have built a metal fence for a several block area around the President's hotel and a few of the meeting venues.I just watched the late local news and they showed some video of the secret service snipers who are stationed on top of most buildings in downtown Sydney including the Opera House. There are helicopters buzzing like bees all around the city. It is totally creepy. The meetings started today and last through Sunday. Everyone is expecting riots but there are so many police and security agents, the protestors might end up outnumbered. If interested, check out the Sydney Morning Herald's APEC page for all the fun.I am headed out of town tomorrow bright and early with a couple of friends from work. We are going skiing at Perisher Blue which is about a 5 hour drive southwest of Sydney. It has been snowing alot there so we should have some great weather and excellent conditions for the weekend. And be...