Catching a wave at Coogee

Coogee Bay is not known for having surfable waves.  Wedding Cake Island is a good swell break and the underwater structure makes for a dangerous "dumpy" shore.  The waves break really late and slam violently into the sand.  Coogee has a reputation for issuing the most spinal injuries of any beach in Sydney (might be all of NSW or Australia...).  Regardless, body boarding is pretty popular here and the Surf Life Savers love taking out the rescue boards in the waves. 

Today there was a big swell that I've been watching all week via the swell report.  At low tide this evening the swell was 3+ meters and producing some good waves far enough off shore for surfing.  I went down after work and managed to catch one of these big ones and got tossed about by a couple even bigger ones!  It was great fun, but I didn't wear the wetsuit, so I got cold and wasn't out there long.  There were 2-3 other people out there with me, so it was nice not battling for a spot or worrying about getting run over.  Now I can say that I have surfed Coogee!

For dinner, Amy and I had some fillets from my success last night.  Tim and I went to the north end of the bay for a "spear".  There were a lot of fish around and I ended up harvesting a male Crimson Banded Wrasse (pic). It was actually not bad; breaded and fried.  We hope to learn more as we go and get into some bigger, better fish.

Crimson Banded Wrasse

Thanksgiving with Brits?

With the weather and being so far from home, it didn't really feel like Thanksgiving this year; however, we did our best to continue the tradition.  Tim, Liz, Amy, and I (the Americans) put together a massive meal for our friends here.  Many of whom are British, so we had a few cheeky comments about what we are thankful for.  It was a full day ordeal running down turkeys and all the traditional fixings.  We purchased two frozen turkeys (below) for $60...not exactly the City Market bargain birds!  Amy and Liz hit up a fancy import shop where they found the rare items needed to complete the meal, but they paid the extra price. 

We managed to cram 13 people into our little apartment and used Tim's ping pong table for a dining table.  Everybody had a good time and enjoyed the meal.  The girls did an awesome job in preparing the meal and used all the best family recipes.  Overall a success even though it took a several hours to clean up and do the dishes:)

Liz and Amy starting the birds.

The entire crew.

Fancy setting for a pong table!

Cheers!

Food comas on the way.

Ringo and Penelope

Meet Ringo and Penelope, the Rainbow Lorikeets.  These guys decided to come over for breakfast one day and were quite comfortable to eat right out of my hand!  They have been back a few times and Amy has fed them out our side window.  They are quite colorful and happy to get some free bread!

Ringo and Penelope eating some stale bread on the balcony.

The Keets are quite content with their meal!

Bloody Bluebottles!

There are these horrible creatures that attack our eastern beaches and don't appear to have a useful purpose.  They are known to us as "blue bottles", but you have likely heard them called Portuguese Man O' War (Bluebottles). They are these bladder-like balloons with a blue-purple color that float on the surface of the sea.  They cannot swim so they rely on ocean currents and wind to carry them around.  Underneath the surface of the water they have these long tentacles that are armed with ridiculous stinging power.

So these guys will blow in regularly and those days are not good for swimming or surfing.  They may come in by the thousands, just waiting for the unsuspecting swimmer.  One day Tim, Baha, and I were out for a leisurely swim and ended up getting stung several times as we fought our way back to the beach.  On that day, we were wearing only board shorts, so we had a lot of exposed skin.

Yesterday the sun came out for the first time in a long time, so Tim, Baha, and I headed to Coogee to see if we could get a couple of fresh fillets to put on the grill.  There were HEAPS of blue bottles out, but we figured we'd be ok cuz we were wearing full length wetsuits.  We managed alright for some time, but as we were heading out deeper, a wave broke over me and my lips were on fire!  One of the damned things got its tentacles wrapped around my snorkel, mask, head, and neck!!  I was freaking out, pissed off, and feeling a rush of unpleasant sting.  I called Baha over and he used a glove to get the remaining tentacles off of me.  There were several other stings, including a good zapper on my adams apple and a nest of tentacles wrapped around my exposed ankle, but it was overall a great day!  Although, this morning my lip is still numb and I still have a noticeable mark on my throat...

I was successful in harvesting a Black Drummer - my first ever on the Zap 1000.  It was a very small fish (too small to be legally taken; it looked big underwater), but we filleted it anyway.  Tim also shot a fish.  His was a Rock Cale - known to the regular spearo's as Chit Fish or Boot fish.  You boil a Cale with your boot and when its ready to eat you throw out the cale and eat the boot.  lol

Anyway, think were going to try to get some more today.  The sun is shining and it's a good day to be outside!

Beached blue bottles at Coogee Beach.  Wretched little creatures!

Nearly ruined my wetsuit...

Hello all!  The weather has been more consistently nice; with the exception of this morning.  Of course we cannot have pleasant weather on the weekends!  Not to complain, it will be too hot to handle in the coming months.

Tim and I have been swimming at Coogee regularly in the evenings after work.  The water is not bad once you are in (17-18 C), but it can be cold when you get out and the wind picks up.  It can be difficult to swim in the rough water, but it is fun to check out the sea floor while getting exercise.  There are lots of fish and I have identified Whiting and Blue Groper.  Whiting tend to hang out in big schools in the sandy shallows and the gropers like the rocks with a little more cover.  Whiting are a game species that I plan on going after as soon as I acquire a spear gun - I have a lead on a used one for a very good price!  Blue Groper are a protected species and must be released if unintentionally caught.  I won't be going after them!  We are looking forward to the warmer days when the sea is more inviting.  However, it is good to get a little exercise and "train" for the wedding cake island swim that happens on the last weekend in November.  Perhaps I will be ready for that?  It is 2.4 K in the ocean where the swell can be strong.  I believe I can make it, but it might be after all other swimmers are drinking cold beer on the beach!  We will see...


Last weekend we traveled 3.5 hours north to Bluey's Beach to celebrate Trevor's birthday.  Amy was on call and spent all weekend (in Sydney) dealing with a colic horse that sadly TTJ Sunday evening; so she was unable to come along.  We had an amazing time and try not to talk about it around her:)  Tori (Trevor's girlfriend and associate at REC) found this wonderful beach house that we hired for the weekend.  Tim, Liz, Illona, Mark, and Connie came along as well, so we had a good crowd of great people!  In the house, there was a framed newspaper article that had a picture of a surf school and a shark fin in the background!  Bluey's beach is known for good surf and surfing was on the itinerary for the weekend, but that framed article made the activity less inviting.

We stayed up late Friday night drinking wine and shooting the breeze after a fantastic bbq rib dinner, prepared by Tim.  Saturday morning the weather was overcast and spitting a few drops, but we headed for the beach anyway.  The boys were surfing and the girls were doing beach yoga.  Trevor and I were in a pretty good spot waiting for the next good wave when I looked in Trevor's direction and about 20 meters behind him I saw that dreaded sight - a distinct fin.  My heart started beating fast and before I ruined my wetsuit, the fin turned and the creature was clearly visible in the wave.  What the?!  You can imagine the relief when my mind processed that the fin belonged to a dolphin and the dolphin had friends with him!  The dolphins were actually surfing with us!  They caught the wave behind Trevor and swam out in front of me, catching the wave breaking directly in front of me.  At this time I was enjoying the experience, but a bit nervous when three of them had their beaks aimed directly at me.  They passed only feet from me and then continued up the beach.  What a wonderful experience!

Later that afternoon we played 9 holes on a golf course nearby.  We are not what you would call scratch golfers, but we had a good time making divots and shooting golfballs into the bush.  Most notable from the golfing adventure was the picture below - a mamma wallabie with a joey in her pouch :)

Bluey's Beach.  According to the local cafe, this beach got its name from a cow named Bluey, who fell off a cliff into the sea...interesting.

The boys of Bluey's.  We earned exceptional points in the surfing category.  This was on Sunday when the sun decided to come out.

A nice little par 31.  Three members of this squad qualiffied for the Australian PGA on this course.  Notice the intensity.

The mum wallabie with her joey!  She didn't mind us being there until we started getting close to take pictures.

Must get going for now.  We are celebrating Liz's birthday with a beach bbq at Coogee.

Updates from Downunder!

Sorry for the lapse in time since our last update, but it seems that we have sadly slipped into the daily grind...  We are healthy, happy, well and still enjoying the adventure, but the 'newness' is wearing off.  I no longer doctor up my instant coffee and the craving for a good cuppa drip is cured by a tasty TimTam.  Driving on the wrong side of the road is now natural and I've even submitted to the terrible driving culture by honking at the occasional lousy driver.  Not proud of that, but I guess I am adapting!


Anywho...we have finally put together the rest of our apartment.  We now have a sofa that completes our common area.  Our other bedroom is set up as an office, but ready to accommodate visitors.  There is a nice big futon so nobody will have to sleep on the tile floor or a blowup bed! Oh, and it has a tv as well.  Wouldn't you know it, the two biggest tv watchers you know have inherited two huge, bulky tvs...awesome.



There have been a few exciting things that have happened over the past couple weekends.  Amy had a weekend off, so we traveled to Wiseman's Ferry (a little town on the Hawkesbury River north and west of Sydney).  We spent the night in a quaint cabin on the river and woke up to some serious waterskiing action.  Apparently, we were there on a race weekend where boats were pulling two skiers for 15 laps and a total distance of 20 kilometers!  There were several crazy skiers decked out in loud colors, bouncing along at 40mph in the pissing rain.  It did not look tempting at all... They cancelled the rest of the day after the first race due to weather.


A week ago we attended the races at the Randwick race track.  Overall a fun time with successful betting!  We had free tickets to the "Members Area", which has a strict dress code and requires elbow grease.  I didn't bother to bring a suit jacket here (luggage was limited).  Two minutes after walking through the entrance, I was approached by the staff: "sir, you are required to have a jacket in the members area.  You can hire one at the cloakroom."  So, I made my way to the cloakroom and picked from their wide selection of 5 dirty, ugly, mismatched coats; likely left behind at the track from previous attendees.  The one I chose fit well enough and kinda matched.  Check out the photo below.


Amy's workmate, Jenny (and her husband Eden) showed us around and acquainted us with the track.  Eden gave me a tutorial on the betting boards and how to place bets with the bookies.  "Five each way on number two" - this was the first winner I had, placing $5 on him to win or finish in the top 3.  Jenny and Eden have a good friend who is a bookie, so he always gave us the best odds.  On the day there were 9 races.  We bet on 6-9 and ended up winning money on 3 of those races!  We made small bets, so didn't win big money, but it was fun to have a stake in each race.



Later that evening, we went out to dinner with the group of people from the races.  It was a quite pricey meal, but overall a good time.

 

Wisemans Ferry - The council decided not to build a bridge and the only way across the river with your car is on this auto ferry.

 

 Amy really captured the experience from the drivers side window.  We are parked on the ferry and it just started to shuttle us across the river.

 

 

Take note of the sign and the Holden Ute in front of us.  Apparently "el caminos" are the hot item in Sydney.  They honestly look like el caminos and only a serious bad mofo can drive one of these.  Oh, and if you drive one, you must be as loud, annoying, and self centered as possible.  The road was built for you, Mr. Holden Ute operator.

 

A fuel dock on the Hawkesbury river near Wisemans Ferry.  This was right out the door of our quaint little cabin.

  

We took the opportunity to see some of the country side and ended up at Settlers Arms Inn.  This is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) hotels in New South Wales.  It was built in 1836 and it has become a tourist stop.  We had a cheeky schooner there and got out of the rain.

 

We arrived back home from Wisemans Ferry and found this strange creeper bird on the windowsill of our bathroom.  Amy walked in and was shocked - "hon, come here; what the hell is that?"  hahah  He must have been sick or old, because he was lying in a pile of feathers the following morning beneath the window.

 A shot of the grandstands at Royal Randwick.  To the left is the paddock where they bring the horses by.  The shot is taken from the members area.

 

Number 2, Streama!  I picked this guy to win the second race we bet on - yep, there he is strutting his stuff in the winners circle! 

  

Amy and I with Jenny and Eden.  Jenny is a veterinarian that works with Amy and her husband Eden consults in the racing industry.  Very nice people.

  

 The paddock is directly behind us.  Check out that coat!  Had to give them $20 to rent that for the day.  It is close to matching the rest of my attire; however, it is a bit too big and had some stains.  I opted to collect my $20 at the end of the day and return their coat.

We had a pretty low-key weekend this weekend.  Amy was not on call, but we stayed in the eastern suburbs.  On Saturday night we attended the birthday party of my manager's fiance in Bondi.  They rented out this big place (the Bondi Pavillion) on Bondi beach, had a DJ, tons of pizza, and the best beer I've found yet - Golddigger Ale (aka Ned Kelly).  It was nice to meet some new folks and "plug into the social pipeline" lol.

We recently had a time change here so it is staying light out til about 7pm.  It's nice to get off work and have much of the day left to enjoy.  Amy was actually home 2 days before dark last week!  I was stunned.


Hope that everything is going well for you all and your updates are greatly appreciated - it's so nice to hear the happenings of home!  Please continue to email us and keep us up to date.



OHHHHHH!!  I keep forgetting!  Gotye (Aussie musician) has held the #1 spot for months with his song: Somebody That I Used to Know.  Check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UVNT4wvIGY&noredirect=1 
Has this song made it to the states yet?

Another weekend sadly ends:(

Hello out there, all you dedicated followers of this riveting blog!

Just wanted to throw up a few more pictures while I was in the mood.

 We spent some of our Sunday planting more seeds and organizing our balcony garden.  Maybe it was a good thing we ran out of soil today?  We have tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, basil, dill, beans, peas, carrots, and others planted/sprouting.  Spring is here and we should be getting consistent warmer weather, so things will be taking off!

 This is our bathroom sink.  Not a big fan of this design, but it will do.  There is hardly room to get your hands or toothbrush under the spout.  If you just use the hot water - it turns scalding in seconds...just another little factoid as you imagine our living situation.

 This is our economical and environmentally friendly clothes dryer; actually, 1 of 3.  We have these set up in our spare bedroom and have the windows or door open so the laundry dries more quickly.  We will likely not buy a drying machine.

 Here is the remains of our trip to the Hunter Valley.  We have been enjoying good wine, but still have plenty to last us!

 This was another Sunday project.  We rigged up this fancy wine glass holder on our new shelving unit.  It is really nice considering our limited storage space in the kitchen.

 Another shot of the sweet setup.  We purchased a few parts from the Bunnings and put it together this afternoon.  Bunnings is our version of Home Depot or Lowes (they also have a nice garden center).

 This lettuce tray and planted herb garden sit above our kitchen sink.  We have the lovely view of the neighboring apartment complex when we wash dishes or prepare a meal.  Not too bad though; we enjoy our balcony view.

 Yeah!  We finally have a kitchen table and chairs.  Its a smaller table we picked up from some Canadians moving back home.  This set came with two coffee tables, and the shelving unit; all for the fantastic price of $150.  Not to mention, they threw in four free coasters!

 Well, now I feel like a real tradesman.  Here are my new "steel caps" and gaiters.  Most of the "tradeys" wear this style of boot with gaiters and shorts.  The gaiters prevent dirt and other junk going in your boots.  I am a fan.  Steel toes are required on all job sites when you are operating equipment.

Hope everyone is doing well and we love hearing from you!

Have a great week!

A few pics!

Hey guys!

Hope all is well with everyone...  Here are a few pics from our travels as of late.

Here we are - fresh off the jet and looking quite amused!  Sydney harbour with the opera house in the background.

Sydney harbour bridge after our whale watching adventures!  We saw some humpbacks from close proximity (50 meters) and had a fun tour guide; however, no excellent whale pics transpired.

 I went one day to help REC (Randwick Equine Centre) radiograph young horses before the big yearling sale season.  This day we were at Strawberry Hills and the owner (ridiculously wealthy) owns all kinds of birds.  The guy in the picture was a bit pushy and was trying to take away my water bottle.  These birds will land on your car and rip it apart if you don't shoo them away.  One of the associates had her windshield washer valve ripped off by one - I don't get it... :)

 First sighting of a kangaroo!  Yippee!  We have now experienced an essential part of Australia.  BTW - we enjoyed some roo on the grill that evening (no, not this one!).  Roo meat is common in markets.  It is all wild harvest and tastes quite good if grilled properly.

 These are our rubbish bins.  The yellow ones are for mixed recyclables, the red are rubbish (trash), and there are green bins that are for organic yard waste.  It is a pretty cool system and all paid for by the council (town/suburb) so no additional fees are required.  These are posted just to show some differences - little things you wouldn't think about, but are part of the "experience" here.  Like the electrical sockets that have switches.

 Here we are enjoying Saturday evening at Coogee (sweet hair).  There are some really neat rock cliffs that overlook the sea.  Behind us you can see Wedding Cake Island - a rock formation that efficiently breaks the surf coming into Coogee Bay - which makes Coogee beach a pretty mild beach with little break.  The island is about 1 km from the shore.  In November there is a big swimming race that goes around the island - I believe it's around a 2k swim.  Depending on our motivation, we may enter!

 Our favorite tasting room!  This is the "backroom" tasting room at Lambloch in the Hunter Valley.  Nice couches, a wood burning stove, big windows with spectacular vineyard views, and delicious wine.  These guys also had some fantastic imported scotch to taste.  Wonderful.

 Second to last winery on Saturday.  What a lovely place with spectacular scenery.  This may have been the only winery from which we didn't purchase a bottle of wine.  They had a great rustic tasting room and a very welcoming atmosphere.  Good wine, but not good enough to buy a bottle or two...or six.

 The infamous "Wedding Cake Island" east of Coogee Bay.  Lots of members of the Coogee fishing club take their boats out and fish around the island.  Not yet members...

 Beautiful right?  This is a fantastic view of the Hunter Valley wine country.  We had an amazing weekend and plan on making our way back.  We are now part of a wine club and the Hunter Valley Wine Society - yes, so sophisticated and drinking some FANTASTIC wine!

 Our last winery of the day and a gorgeous sunset to cap it off.  Again, the Hunter Valley.

 The "nature loo" at our rustic accommodations in the Hunter Valley.  This loo requires no flushing and no water.  It is a bit strange to get used to, but I suppose the concept is good.  The owner of the property has 150 acres, his house, and his "guest" house.  We had a great time and it was SOO nice to get out of the city.  We also saw the kangaroos here!

 That's just a 'lil o jug a wine there!  Our gracious hosts and Aussie friends (who are from Ohio) Liz and Tim.  Liz is Amy's intern-mate and Tim is her husband.  They are wonderful people and now to be long-time friends!

Good morning Hunter Valley!  This was the hilltop behind our country abode.

 Here is a view looking west off of our balcony.  It is strange not having a sunset here, but I guess we're getting used to it.  This is Oberon street.  There are all kinds of plants popping up in pots on the balcony now!

Coogee beach from the south.  This photo was taken about 8 minutes walk from our apartment.  Can't wait til the weather warms up some!

Do you want the backpacker to...?

Last week I replied to an ad on the gumtree - somebody was looking for a hand to stain a fence.  No email response, but the next day I get a text message: "are you available tomorrow?  I need some help moving furniture for a couple hours."  What the hell I figure; nothing else going on today.

I show up at the woman's house.  She wrangled another guy from Germany to help out as well.  We spent about an hour moving a piano, chairs, shelves, tables, mattresses, and a bunch of trinkety stuff from one room to the other.  Kind of strange, but not a big deal...  When we finished, she called up her husband: "do you want the backpacker to do that?  Should I send him to pick up the...?"  Yeah, I am the the backpacker.  Anyway, she gives me instructions, a couple phone numbers and says "see ya later".  I drove off to some jobsite to pick up a ute (if you have been following, a ute is a truck) from some guy I've never met.  He hands me the key and I head off with a non-functioning humidifier to a shop 2 hours away.  Keep in mind that I've just met this woman and all she asked me was: "can you drive? have you driven a ute?  have you pulled a trailer?"  Yes I answered to all of the above.  "Are you interested in working the rest of the day?"  Sure, of course.

So there I was, in a new work truck driving on the wrong side of the road, in a huge city with asshole honking drivers, on my way to a couple destinations hours away.  I guess this woman trusted the "backpacker" to not steal or wreck her nice vehicle and actually return it!

After several wrong turns and the guidance of our mobile hotspot and the netbook, I managed to reach both destinations unscathed.  I dropped off the humidifier, picked up the "calf crush" (they have llamas), and then met her husband at his office in another suburb.  I said "hello and nice to meet you", but he hardly said anything, swapped me the ute keys for his car, and told me how to get back to Bondi Junction.  I returned with her husbands car and she paid me a days wages.  I was quite happy for the adventure, but am blown away that she just sent me off like that!  The whole situation was quite comical to me, but it was fun.

The contact produced more work yesterday.  I spent all morning working at the woman's house cleaning sidewalks, sealing tiles, and repairing some sheetrock damage in the garage.  She did use my name this time though - I wasn't just the "backpacker."



This past weekend was amazing.  We (Nick, Amy, Tim, and Liz) traveled to the Hunter Valley.  "The Hunter" is a huge wine producing valley known for their Semillion and Shiraz grapes.  Tim found us a quaint little guest house in the sticks of Quorrobolong, just south of the wine country.  It was a really nice place with a great deck, bbq, fire pit, Wii, Playstation, kitchen, citrus orchard, kangaroos, and a nature loo.  Saturday was overcast and it spit a bit of rain, but we managed to hit up several wineries.

It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed learning about the production of the different styles and grapes.  It is fascinating!  I thought brewing was a lot of fun, but I think I could be drawn into a new craft!  When you go to the wineries (this was my first real experience) one of the staff sets you up to try their wines.  They have a list that starts with whites (Semillion and Chardonnay) then moves to the reds (Shiraz).  Many also have a few bubbly varieties, which I enjoyed very much.  The server pours you about 20 ml tastes of each wine you want to try.  You do a bit of a swirl, sniff, and roll it onto the tongue.  Often the server tells you what tastes to be detecting and what foods pair well with what you are drinking.  By the end of the day, our pallets were pretty much worn out and picking out the fine flavours of a certain grape was, well, even more challenging.  We stopped into about 6 wineries throughout the day and usually ended up liking something so much, we bought a bottle or two, or 5.  The car had little room to begin with and on Sunday, we rattled our way home with bottles between our legs.  It was a great time and we will be enjoying excellent wine for months to come.  We are now proud members of the Hunter Valley Wine Society...very classy.

We need to get some pics uploaded, but it is getting late and I am worn out.  I'll post a few now and get some more recent shots up soon.  It gets dark here around 6pm now.  We are looking forward to the longer days and warmer weather.  I haven't been to the beach in a while - kinda sad considering it is just down the road. 

Until next time, be safe everybody.

We are moved in!

August 13, 2011:

Amy is the secondary on call this weekend - she had to go in last night at 2am and then again at 8am this morning.  "Typically" the secondary on call rarely has to go in, but that is not the case this weekend!  We will hopefully go to the beach with Tim, Liz, and some of the other interns today.  For anybody interested you can google map or google earth 'coogee beach' to see where we live.  There is a great foot path that follows the coast from Bondi Beach south to Maroubra Beach.  The path takes you past steep cliffs overlooking the water and into each of the coves - usually sandy beaches.  Along the path just north of us is Gordon's Bay, a reserve that is well protected from the break and is supposed to offer good snorkeling and shallow diving.

Last week we signed a lease on our first apartment for the killer price of $480/week...:(  Very expensive, but everything is expensive here.  Bananas are currently $15AUD/kilo! We have a two bedroom, one bathroom apartment with a fair sized living area and a balcony facing a quiet street.  We also have a laundry room connected to the kitchen.  Internal laundry is a big advantage because many places have shared laundry or no laundry at all.  Now we just have to find a washing machine on gumtree (the aussie version of craigslist)! 

We have been staying with Tim and Liz because we don't have sheets or much other furniture; plus its nice to have company around and to be in the loop.  We have electricity connected at our place and 'mobile' internet.  One of the wireless companies has this device (about the size of a cell phone) which serves as a hot spot. I picked up one of these pre-paid devices and we have a monthly plan that allows for 3GB of data.  It is portable and we have internet wherever there is coverage.  I actually checked my email on the bus yesterday!  This was a far cheaper option when compared to a cable or dsl connection for our apartment.

Yesterday I went to the city to take a work site safety course.  It was a boring six hour class that taught us how to not injure or kill ourselves and what to do if that happens. The instructor was pretty entertaining given the content of the course.  He shared hilarious stories of the stupid things people have done - I never believed somebody could drink an entire glass of bleach.  Most employers require this "white card" certification for all their employees.  I have received a few call backs from employers and I have a trial work day next week with a fancy landscaping/gardening company.  There is work, but it has been a bit frustrating based on our location and it would be nice to find a job that I enjoy.  With public transport, it can be difficult getting to work or taking a job that requires 30-60 minutes on a bus or train.  My aspirations of become a trinket salesman may become a reality :) j/k


August 22, 2011:

We we are finally situated in our new place.  There are so many things that we couldn't justify bringing with us (kitchen items, etc) that we have been slowly purchasing.  There are a couple of stores that sell cheap 'Made in China" stuff that we have been shopping at.  Tonight we actually made a meal with our own pots and pans!

Yesterday we purchased a washing machine from an ad on Gumtree.  It cost us $220, but its a good machine and we should be able to sell it when we leave and get most of our money back.  Some people have clothes dryers here, but most people just hang their clothes on lines or racks.  We picked up a rack that is set up on our balcony.

I looked at a car on Saturday - a real "deal of the day", but by the time Amy and I talked it over (she was at work), the Germans sold it.  It was a sweet Ford Falcon wagon hahah!  It was all set up for campers and came with all the goodies including a surf board - oh well...

We did end up purchasing a car today.  It's a green 4-door Hyundaiu Excel (1998). Not set up like the Falcon, but it will get good fuel mileage and serve our needs.  It cost $1900, but again, if we use it for a year or so, we should be able to sell it and get most our investment back.  Car ownership is strange here.  Every car must have "rego" (registration) which means it has been inspected by a mechanic and determined to be safe and road worthy.  That inspection costs money and you end up with a "pink slip".  Registration can then be done after a pink slip is obtained.  Fortunately for us, the Excel has a pink slip good through August 2012 and registration is paid for through February 2012 - that saves us some cost.  Insurance is affordable at $37/month for both of us.  It will be nice to have a car when we want to get out of town for the weekend, to pick something up across town, or for me getting across town before the buses run in the morning.

I did end up getting a job.  It's a landscaping/garden maintenance position with Peter Fudge Gardens (www.peterfudgegardens.com.au).  I like work well enough and the starting pay is pretty good.  Right now it is part time, but things will really pick up in the next month or so when we move into spring.

More to come soon, including pictures. 

Hope all is well and much love!

We made it downunder!

So much to say!

Before getting any further, we want to give a sincere thanks to all our family and friends that helped out with the wedding and to those who attended and shared our special day.  You are all generous, caring, and so supportive.  We had a fantastic time on the honeymoon (a special thanks to everyone that helped support our trip)!  Thank you's are coming soon.  It has been a whirlwind following the wedding and we wanted to use photos from the wedding - you'll soon see.  Anyway...

Antigua was so relaxing and so enjoyable!  We stayed at a very nice place (Jolly Beach Resort) that had good food, good drinks, a great beach, and lots of activities!  Not only did we 'bag some rays' on the deserted beach, but we swam, kayaked, and took sailing lessons.  We learned to sail a hobie cat and wind surf.  Raymond, our private instructor, is an accomplished sailor and a great teacher.  The beach was fantastic.  At any given time there were about a dozen people laying in the sand or swimming in the warm water.

We took a land tour one day to see some of the more touristy places: Shirley's Heights, Nelson's Historic (but still active) Dockyards, and Devil's Bridge.  The two of us rode in the back of a Land Rover that was outfitted for about 12.  We set up the tour for the day before, but the driver never picked us up - so we ended up with a private tour the next day - fun, but a bit awkward.

Overall, the trip was amazing and soooo relaxing.  The wedding was rather stressful and the honeymoon was a great way to wind down, relax, and reflect.  The first morning after we arrived, Amy rolled over to look at the clock: "1:30!?  I think lunch is served until 2, do you want to get up?"  haha  We had to drag our butts out of bed for lunch!  I think we were a bit burned out from the wedding...

When we returned, we spent a couple days in FOCO.  We managed to get the rest of Amy's gear cleared out of her house and most my Nick's.  There are a few remaining items in the garage - sell it and keep the money guys!:)

When we got back to the western slope, we hit the ground running and its been a whirlwind since.  We were fortunate enough to stay at Aunt Sue and Uncle Jimmy's guest house for a few weeks - it was wonderful waking up with Mamm's Peaks out the window and only the occasional vehicle passing by.

We were quite busy getting the cattle sorted and turned out.  We ended up doing a lot of riding and Nick did a lot of irrigating.  The hay was amazing and Frank had to actually turn water off in July!  The days were busy and pretty long, but we managed to get a day to camp and fish and got our things packed for the long trip.

We traveled with Sheila to Dallas for Shanna and Zach's wedding.  We left early Friday morning, leaving Gretta behind.  The wedding was perfect and so beautiful; despite the fact that it was HOT there.  Nick was sweating through his shirt ushering people at the wedding - he had to put on an undershirt before the ceremony started because he was 'pooling up'.  Shanna looked gorgeous (of course) and Zach was looking pretty sharp himself.  For some reason, we hung out at the hot tub til 4am the night of the wedding...good thinking.

The next day Nicole and us dropped Sheila off to catch her flight and met Shananaba and Yakyak before we hopped on our plane to LA.  We were flying stand-by from LAX to Sydney.  The Mayor had us reserved on United and Jeremy had us reserved on Delta.  The Delta flight had no open seats and the United flight had ~45.  We thought we had a good chance of getting on the United flight, but they closed the doors with 44 open seats and 9 stand-by passengers waiting...boo.  We got a room for the night and decided to buy tickets.

We were able to check our bags at 2pm for our flight at 10:30 - pretty nice.  Then Toni picked us up at the airport and took us to her fancy place in La Canada (outside LA) to relax and hang out.  We sat by the pool (Nick took a quick swim) and had a nice dinner before heading back to catch our flight.  Thank you so much Toni!  That was such a nice afternoon and saved us from the cold tiles at the airport.

The flight took 15 hours and we arrived in Sydney around 6:30am.  We were able to sleep some; there were also movies and games to keep us occupied.  From what we were told, they schedule all the international flights to arrive early in the morning and ours happened to be one of the later ones; so we were stuck in a long line getting through customs.  It wasn't bad though, our line was screened by dogs - little hounds of some sort.  We caught a cab to Tim and Liz's place - only cost $50...:(  Liz is one of the interns that started in February.  She got her DVM for The Ohio State and brought her husband Tim along with her.  They have been great and very welcoming.  We have been staying with them in their extra bedroom.  It would have been a real hassle and pretty expensive if we weren't able to stay with them.

Finding a place to rent is a real pain.  Regulations require that all tenants must inspect a property before they put in an application or sign a lease.  We saw about 12 places before we found our 2 bedroom apartment at 178 Oberon Street.  Amy was working, but Nick inspected the property and put in the application - each of us had to fill out the paper application.  They require all kinds of ID, bank statements, rental history, references, former utilities bills, 2 pints of blood, and a psychological exam.  Ok, maybe not the blood and psych exam, but it is a serious process!

We were able to use the Randwick Equine Centre's (REC) ute.  A ute is what we call a truck, but they aren't really "trucks" here.  Most are small little Mitsubishi's or Mazda's and some are classy El Camino styles...sweet.  Anyway, we cashed in on a moving sale and ended up with a mattress + box spring, a fridge/freezer, 2 chest of drawers, a hanging rack, and some bathroom storage drawers, all for $200.  Considering the price of things here, that was a great deal.  We have since moved all that stuff and most of our clothes to our new place.  We will likely move in permanently this weekend.

Amy is enjoying work.  REC is a pretty fancy place and they see a lot of cases.  She has been busy the past 2 weeks learning the ropes and getting used to things.

More coming soon!