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Page 10 of Doug Gschwind Travel Blog Posts

Cal Campus

North America » United States » California » Berkeley October 25th 2008

Maxwell Family Field

Doug Gschwind

Just a few photos I took from around campus this day. Weather was great again.... read more

UCLA vs. Cal Football Game

North America » United States » California » Berkeley October 24th 2008

Pre-game Entertainment

Doug Gschwind

It was a great weather day, seemed like it was around 80 degrees in Berkeley, so I made my way East into campus to see if I could check out the game. Cal would win the game by adding a good number of points in the fourth quarter, but it was good to see another Pac 10 stadium live. Oh, and I should mention that I had a brand new Cal t-shirt on so I wouldn't be worried about fitting into the crowd. Oddly enough, the UCLA fans that I saw paid no attention to me, even though I sat in that part of the stadium for some of the game. In the third quarter a UCLA pass was intercepted, and the Cal player ran right to the part of the stadium where I was sitting ... read more

Sydney Opera House

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney February 20th 2008

Taken early morning on 19 Feb 2008

Doug Gschwind

You are going to have to excuse my over indulgence in this topic. Prior to me seeing the Sydney Opera House in person, I was simply thinking it was just another interesting artfully architected building and didn't hold my interest. Upon seeing it in person, I found it extremely compelling. Very cool indeed. I didn't have time to take a tour to see the inside of the building, other than the lobby and such that I captured from outside, so these pictures are generally of the exterior, taken over the two days I was in Sydney. Please excuse the redundancy you may find in this set of photos.... read more

Hyde Park

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney February 20th 2008

For Our King and Country

Doug Gschwind

On my last day in Sydney, and of my trip, I decided to swing by Hyde Park to get any pictures that I had missed in my very brief visit to the area during my bike tour the previous day. These are the photos that resulted from that more in depth study of the area.... read more

Get some perspective on the size of things

One Last Look at Sydney from High Above

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney February 20th 2008

Downtown Sydney

Doug Gschwind

Well, after many days of new exciting adventures and exploring, the rip cord was about to be pulled to send me back to the US and A (another nod to Borat, thank you) after 16 days on the road. Luckily, for my flight from Sydney to LAX, I was given a seat in United's Economy Plus, and had no one in the two seats adjacent to mine.... read more

Manly Beach Excursion

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney » Manly February 19th 2008

Manly Wharf Arrival

Doug Gschwind

After my bike tour around Sydney concluded, the tour guide let me keep the bike for the rest of the day, so I got on a ferry to Manly Beach to go check out that area. Here are the photos from that excursion.... read more

Sydney Bike Tour

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney February 19th 2008

Starting Point

Doug Gschwind

On the 19th of February, I was to take the Sydney Harbour Bridge bike tour, that tours downtown Sydney, then has a jaunt over the Sydney Harbour Bridge into the land over on the far side of the bridge for a bit, then back. There was little interest (it would have been just me and my guide) in the tour that I signed up for, so I elected to join a different tour (which had one additional person in it due to other folks not showing up) that would focus entirely on downtown Sydney and the Circular Quay area. We started from very near the Sydney Opera House, then made our way around the Circular Quay, under the Sydney Harbour Bridge around and up to the Sydney Observatory, a quick jaunt through Darling Harbour and the ... read more

Christchurch Gondola

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch February 17th 2008

Welcome

Doug Gschwind

For the third tour of the day, it was up to the top of Christchurch's gondola for some cool views. Had I known the Crater Rim Walkway existed, I would have planned ahead to hike it for a while. Am sure it lends itself to other photo opportunities.... read more

Christchurch City Centre is down there somewhere

Willowbank Wildlife Reserve

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch February 17th 2008

Tame Eels eh?

Doug Gschwind

The second tour of the day was Willowbank Wildlife Reserve. A sort of petting zoo with certain animals, some you could feed but others you could not, but with some different animals than I am used to seeing at a zoo. For instance, the eels were quite cool. They would hang out just below the surface and would often raise their heads above the water and you could touch their slimy soft bodies with a finger. If you held your finger above their heads they would raise up in interest. Not sure if they would do any damage if they got hold of your finger, but they were pretty fun to watch. Check out the video clips. Additionally, this was were I saw a live Kiwi (the bird) for the first time in my life. They ... read more

International Antarctic Centre

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch February 17th 2008

Entrance

Doug Gschwind

On the 17 Feb 2008 I visited the four main attractions in Christchurch, this being the first of the four for the day. While I had read that the Little Blue Penguin exhibit in the International Antarctic Centre was by the far the most interesting of the tour, I actually found many things quite interesting there. They generally think 90 minutes is all you need to blast through there, but I stayed for two hours and could have read many more of the displays. Was an interesting visit for sure. They have a room in the centre that "simulates" an Antarctic storm. It really doesn't simulate a real Antarctic storm as the room doesn't drop below -2 degrees Fahrenheit, but I had to check it out nonetheless. Other than my glasses being fogged for a couple ... read more

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Doug Gschwind

Welcome to my travel blog. Thus far, I have shared a few of my recent trips, some highlights below : 1) Japan, Sep 2014. With the allure of a very foreign culture to me, non-English speaking, Hiroshima, Tokyo, Shinkansen (bullet trains), Tsukiji fish market, and Sumo wrestling, it was time for a two week break from life and traveled to Japan for the second half of September. Wow, what an amazing place, just loved every minute I spent there exploring. 2) On assignment in Berkeley, CA (Sep 2008 - Apr 2009). I explored the San Francisco Bay area in some detail during the weekends I was there ... full info