A Virtual "Meet and Greet"

Oh, boy, am I nervous and excited.

Tonight I am hosting a Hangout on Air about Genealogy Cruising for Unlock the Past. I am nervous because Mr Unlock the Past, Alan Phillips, has put his faith in me to carry out this task for UTP. I will try my best no to besmirch the reputation of his organisation.

Sometimes the Google Hangout application can be a bit flaky and sometimes my internet connection is dodgy (I do have a backup plan) so that adds to my anxiety. I also don't know exactly who will be on the panel until they actually join so I can't really script the activity. I just make do with a rough runsheet.

Overriding all of this is my excitement. I love the Hangout tool which allows people from distant places to join together in an online teleconference that is livestreamed to the world. Potentially thousands of people could watch our little broadcast tonight.

I am excited because I am going to meet fellow presenters and cruisers prior to our cruise in three weeks time. I know that presenters from three countries will join me (technology willing) as well as seasoned cruisers and some first-time sailors. We plan to chat for 45 minutes (but may have to stretch to 60) about who we are, why we love geneacruising and what we expect to get out of the cruise. We hope that our newbie or any potential cruisers come armed with questions to ask.

This Hangout will be of interest to anyone who wants to meet some renowned genealogists, find out about geneacruising or just spend some time with fellow family historians. While the 4th Unlock the Past Cruise will be our focus we will share details of future cruises and geneacrusising in general

You can watch this event at 8:00pm Sydney time tonight directly from here on the Unlock the Past Youtube Channel.  If you wish to comment or pose questions during the event you should join the Unlock the Past Hangout Community on Google+. You need to have a Google account for this, if you have a Gmail account you can log in to plus.google.com with your Gmail username and password.

Disclaimer: As their Hangout Host I am being compensated by Unlock the Past. The excitement is all my own.

Trove Tuesday - Farm Cove

In a couple of weeks I am going to the movies. The setting for the St George Open Air Cinema on the shores of Farm Cove in Sydney Harbour is stunning. While waiting for the movie to begin we sit and sip on mineral water and drink in the view of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge.

As the Cinema season opens today I thought I would look for an image of Farm Cove on Trove. One image I found from The National Gallery of Australia appears to have no copyright restrictions so I am sharing it here.

The view I see from the cinema site today is so different from what was painted in 1891.

Sydney Harbour from Farm Cove February 2011

An Alumni Tree

Flipping through one of my university Alumni Magazines, unsworld, I found something with a genealogical flavour on the back cover.

I don't know that I'll fill out the tree but, as we have five alumni from the University of New South Wales in the family, I thought I'd take a look at the site.

A message on the home page of the site states:
We are searching for graduate family stories to share with our students and alumni community. The Chancellor, Mr David Gonski is proud that 12 members of his family are UNSW graduates. Share your UNSW family tree and we will be in touch to feature some of our newly discovered UNSW families in the UNSWorld alumni magazine.

After reading this I took a look at the data entry page on the site. 

UNSW Family Tree Data Entry Page

I wonder if David Gonski is into genealogy?

Pre and Post Cruise Accomodation

I posted this information for those who were joining the 3rd Unlock the Past Genealogy Cruise in Sydney last year and, as it is useful for those joining the 4th cruise, I am reposting it with a few amendments (in italics).
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I received a message from a genealogy contact " XXXXX has asked me for suggestions re accommodation in Sydney before and after the above cruise. His preference is downtown prior, and maybe near the beach after. As I am more QLD'er than NSW re this thing, if you could offer him some suggestions, I would appreciate it."

Rather than just sharing my ideas with one person I said I would put some thoughts in a blog post that may benefit others.

For someone with an unlimited budget who has never been to Sydney there is one standout option. It is the Park Hyatt on the Harbour Foreshore in Sydney Cove in the shadow of the Harbour Bridge. I stayed there once for a birthday treat and it was awesome, I was able to repose on the bed, sip my Moet, and look across the bay to the Opera House while watching the Sydney ferries coming and going. An added bonus is that this is just a short walk from the pier where the ship berths.

The view I had from my room at The Sydney Park Hyatt

The Sydney CBD is dotted with hotels with most of the major international chains being represented. I have stayed in a dozen or more city hotels and serviced apartments ranging from 3 star to 5 star and they 
have been fine except for a couple. A free city shuttle bus, Route 555,  is available during the day, 7 days a week so wherever one is in the inner city one can avail oneself of free transport. The main areas for hotels are the CBD, Circular Quay, Darling Harbour and Railway Square. There is more chance of getting a view in Darling Harbour or around the Quay but also note that the City Centre is a few blocks uphill from Darling Harbour. I would give the area around Railway Square and Kings Cross a miss. B&Bs can found in inner city suburbs a few kilometres out of the CBD. 

Sydney City (Darling Harbour is bay at bottom left)
From Google Maps

For the budget conscious traveller theTravelodge Sydney Hotel is a 3 star property that I have stayed in. It is down a side street just a couple of hundred metres from Hyde Park. The Travelodges at Wynyard and Phillip Street are also conveniently located. 

The cruise departs before the Sydney Mardi Gras Festival commences on the 12th February and schools resume at the beginning of February so there is no need to book a hotel way in advance. There are many hotel rooms in Sydney.

Tripadvisor has reviews of Sydney Hotels but check where the hotels are on a map before proceeding with a booking so as to avoid the more dodgy areas of the city. Lastminute.com, Hotels.com, Wotif.com and similar sites offer great last minute offers. Audrey Collins, on her recent trip to Sydney, snagged a room at the Radisson with a partial view of the Harbour Bridge at a really great rate. 

When the cruise returns to Sydney the Mardi Gras will be in full swing so hotel rooms may be in shorter supply. The problem with Sydney beaches is that many of them, especially the Northern Beaches, don't have good hotels nearby. B&Bs can be found in beachside suburbs but I don't know about these. It depends on how far from the city the visitor wants to be. Coogee is a nice safe little beach (not good for the serious surfer) not too far from the city (8 km) that has a Crowne Plaza and Medina Serviced Apartments. There are plenty of restaurants and the Coogee Bay Hotel Beer Garden is a local institution. Nearby world famous Bondi isn't too well served with accommodation. Manly on the northside has both a surfing beach and a harbourfront beach. Cronulla in Sydney's south (29 km from city) has a beautiful beach and some good accommodation options. 

I haven't really given any clear advice in this post just a few pointers. I would be happy to field questions about Sydney from any other genealogists who are joining the cruise.