It's hard to believe it's been a full six months since we got on a plane in Atlanta and left for the unknown. Since we've been gone, we've learned so many things about ourselves, each other and Australian culture. Here are some of our favorite things we've discovered about the Land Down Under so far...
A paper cutter is a guillotine
Jail is spelled gaol
A car trunk is a boot
A windshield is a windscreen
Food can taste beautiful
A street curb is spelled kerb
A bottle of beer is a stubby
They drink champagne almost as much as wine; it's not just for weddings!
Plenty of Speedos can be seen on the beach
They watch so many American shows yet are still excited to hear American accents
Their People Magazine is a girlie mag
Veggie is spelled vegie
You pay for internet usage by the megabytes you download/upload
It's really hard to find good Mexican food but you can find great Indian and Thai anywhere
Aussies are repulsed by the idea of PB&J
It's completely accepted (and fairly common) for 20-somethings to live with their parents
Burger King is called Hungry Jacks
Peppers are called capsicum
Cilantro is called coriander
Weather is often predicted to be 'mostly fine' (one of my personal favorites)
If someone says they're pissed, they could be mad or drunk
No pics to post as of now, but my new camera will be arriving shortly!!
Stayed tuned...
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Easter Weekend Adventures
Brace yourself- this is the longest blog entry yet! But it involves Irish men peeing in our room, camel rides at sunset, and lots of cool photos, so it's worth the read! =)
Here goes...
Australians love an excuse to have long holiday weekends, so we had off Good Friday through Easter Monday. Jen and I decided to take advantage of the 4-day weekend with a trip to a beach town about 3 hours north of Sydney called Port Stephens.
I ventured to the airport on Friday morning to pick up a rental car and jumped in a white Toyota Corolla hatchback. Jen inadvertently ordered a manual car so it was a good thing I learned to drive on a stick shift and wasn't scared off by it! It took a little while to get used to shifting with my left hand and a few times I turned the windshield wipers on instead of the turn signal, but at least the gas and brake pedals were on the same side as normal!
We arrived at our hostel and checked into a cabin-type setup which seemed manageable for a few nights. (I'm so proud of Jen for suggesting we stay in a hostel since she wasn't keen on the idea for such a long time.) The bathrooms were in a separate unit 50 yards away which didn't make for fun late night bathroom breaks, but again, we managed.
From our hostel we walked 5 min to One Mile Beach (which is an unusual name since they use kilometers here) and enjoyed the scenic sand dunes, forests, rocks, etc. surrounding the water. After we had some dinner we headed back to the hostel to call it an early night. We were sharing the room w/ 4 other people including 2 Irish guys and 2 German girls. The Irish lads were playing cards and drinking a few beers in our room and we chatted w/ them for a little while before they decided to move to the common area to continue their late night debauchery. Hours later they stumbled back into the room and one of them proceeded to snore loud enough to be heard over the iPod earphones Jen and I were both using. After that (around 4am) we heard a strange sound of leaking water and I hear Jen say, "Dude, are you peeing?!?" The snorer drunkenly mumbled a few swear words before I told him to go outside to which he replied, "There's only a little bit left."
Never in all my experiences at hostels have I ever been in such a situation! Jen finally convinced him to get a mop to clean it up even though he said, "That's gross- I'm not touching that." We surely weren't going to touch it either! This whole time his friend was passed out and didn't have a clue that his laptop just got peed on.
When the German girls left around 7AM, they stopped in the office to let the owners know about the peeing incident which prompted them to come in our room at 7:30 and kick the two guys out. We really don't think the one guy had any idea about why they had to leave so suddenly. I would have loved to have heard the conversation between them about why they were out of pocket for the week's worth of accommodation they booked and how the computer got wet!
Even though we were going on very few hours of sleep, we still managed to have a good day at the beach. We took a catamaran lesson, hiked up a mountain with gorgeous views at the summit, and went on a camel ride on the beach at sunset. (So cool!) We were ready for an early night but were faced with anything but that. The two Swedish girls who replaced the Irish guys were loud, rude and inconsiderate of the rest of us who were exhausted from the drama from the previous night. We asked them repeatedly to go somewhere else to talk but they just didn't get the clue that we wanted to sleep! They said it wasn't their fault that the guys kept us up the night before so they didn't see why they should have to keep the noise level down. If that wasn't enough, we heard the neighbors in the cabin next door making a rucus and discussing who was going to sleep where since one of the girls threw up in her bed. Such drama!!
Needless to say, on Sunday morning we asked for our money back for the 3rd night we were meant to stay there so we could drive back to Sydney and sleep in our own beds. After we were refunded, we jumped on a ferry for an hour long ride where we saw quite a few dolphins. We were then picked up in a 4-wheel drive vehicle for the day-long tour we had booked. We drove a few miles down the beach and then walked over some sand dunes to go sandboarding. So much fun! We then went surfing and were able to catch a few waves (after plenty of failed attempts). From there we went kayaking on a lake and eventually made it back to the ferry for the ride back. We jumped in the car and got on the road as soon as possible and somehow managed to stay awake for the drive home.
Even though it was a drama-filled weekend, we still managed to enjoy our adventures during daylight!
Enjoy the photos! (Thanks to our friend Nagesh, we were able to borrow his camera to take pics of our adventures.)
xoxo,
K&J
Sunset at One Mile Beach
Jen during our hike in Tomaree Head
The view from the summit of our hike
K&J in our special camel riding helmets
Here goes...
Australians love an excuse to have long holiday weekends, so we had off Good Friday through Easter Monday. Jen and I decided to take advantage of the 4-day weekend with a trip to a beach town about 3 hours north of Sydney called Port Stephens.
I ventured to the airport on Friday morning to pick up a rental car and jumped in a white Toyota Corolla hatchback. Jen inadvertently ordered a manual car so it was a good thing I learned to drive on a stick shift and wasn't scared off by it! It took a little while to get used to shifting with my left hand and a few times I turned the windshield wipers on instead of the turn signal, but at least the gas and brake pedals were on the same side as normal!
We arrived at our hostel and checked into a cabin-type setup which seemed manageable for a few nights. (I'm so proud of Jen for suggesting we stay in a hostel since she wasn't keen on the idea for such a long time.) The bathrooms were in a separate unit 50 yards away which didn't make for fun late night bathroom breaks, but again, we managed.
From our hostel we walked 5 min to One Mile Beach (which is an unusual name since they use kilometers here) and enjoyed the scenic sand dunes, forests, rocks, etc. surrounding the water. After we had some dinner we headed back to the hostel to call it an early night. We were sharing the room w/ 4 other people including 2 Irish guys and 2 German girls. The Irish lads were playing cards and drinking a few beers in our room and we chatted w/ them for a little while before they decided to move to the common area to continue their late night debauchery. Hours later they stumbled back into the room and one of them proceeded to snore loud enough to be heard over the iPod earphones Jen and I were both using. After that (around 4am) we heard a strange sound of leaking water and I hear Jen say, "Dude, are you peeing?!?" The snorer drunkenly mumbled a few swear words before I told him to go outside to which he replied, "There's only a little bit left."
Never in all my experiences at hostels have I ever been in such a situation! Jen finally convinced him to get a mop to clean it up even though he said, "That's gross- I'm not touching that." We surely weren't going to touch it either! This whole time his friend was passed out and didn't have a clue that his laptop just got peed on.
When the German girls left around 7AM, they stopped in the office to let the owners know about the peeing incident which prompted them to come in our room at 7:30 and kick the two guys out. We really don't think the one guy had any idea about why they had to leave so suddenly. I would have loved to have heard the conversation between them about why they were out of pocket for the week's worth of accommodation they booked and how the computer got wet!
Even though we were going on very few hours of sleep, we still managed to have a good day at the beach. We took a catamaran lesson, hiked up a mountain with gorgeous views at the summit, and went on a camel ride on the beach at sunset. (So cool!) We were ready for an early night but were faced with anything but that. The two Swedish girls who replaced the Irish guys were loud, rude and inconsiderate of the rest of us who were exhausted from the drama from the previous night. We asked them repeatedly to go somewhere else to talk but they just didn't get the clue that we wanted to sleep! They said it wasn't their fault that the guys kept us up the night before so they didn't see why they should have to keep the noise level down. If that wasn't enough, we heard the neighbors in the cabin next door making a rucus and discussing who was going to sleep where since one of the girls threw up in her bed. Such drama!!
Needless to say, on Sunday morning we asked for our money back for the 3rd night we were meant to stay there so we could drive back to Sydney and sleep in our own beds. After we were refunded, we jumped on a ferry for an hour long ride where we saw quite a few dolphins. We were then picked up in a 4-wheel drive vehicle for the day-long tour we had booked. We drove a few miles down the beach and then walked over some sand dunes to go sandboarding. So much fun! We then went surfing and were able to catch a few waves (after plenty of failed attempts). From there we went kayaking on a lake and eventually made it back to the ferry for the ride back. We jumped in the car and got on the road as soon as possible and somehow managed to stay awake for the drive home.
Even though it was a drama-filled weekend, we still managed to enjoy our adventures during daylight!
Enjoy the photos! (Thanks to our friend Nagesh, we were able to borrow his camera to take pics of our adventures.)
xoxo,
K&J
Sunset at One Mile Beach
Jen during our hike in Tomaree Head
The view from the summit of our hike
K&J in our special camel riding helmets
(Because camels are so speedy and reckless!)
Jen and Jack the camel
K&J with Lucy and Jack on the beach
Me on the ferry to the Tea Gardens
Jen among the gorgeous sand dunes
Sandsurfing!
Jen took a tumble
I'm so excited to go surfing!
Jen and Jack the camel
K&J with Lucy and Jack on the beach
Me on the ferry to the Tea Gardens
K&J at Hawks Nest Beach
Jen among the gorgeous sand dunes
Sandsurfing!
Jen took a tumble
I'm so excited to go surfing!
Monday, April 6, 2009
Another year older...
I had a great birthday with a whole weekend of celebrating. Thank you to everyone who sent birthday cards, packages, texts and wishes!
The festivities started off with our friend Adam cooking us a FEAST on Friday night. There was appetizers, soup, chicken, veggies, and a cake to top it all off. We were stuffed to the brim by the end of the night! Our friend Nagesh also came over to join us for dinner, wine, and a few rounds of cards.
On Saturday we got "frocked up" in our racing outfits which were complete with fascinators in our hair. (They are way more popular than hats here.) We took a train about an hour away to Rosehill Gardens where the Golden Slipper races were. It was somewhat of an overcast day, but we still had fun people-watching, picking out horses to cheer for, and drinking champagne. After the races, we went back to our apt for leftovers and then stopped at a few local pubs before calling it a night.
On Sunday we jumped in Adam's car and went to the Blue Mountains about 1.5 hours north west. We hiked a little bit and saw some waterfalls and the Three Sisters, among other beautiful scenery. It was a gorgeous day- perfect for hiking and sightseeing in 'the bush,' as they call their forests here.
The day was topped off when we were driving home and spotted an Outback Steakhouse. This resulted in us forcing Adam to exit the highway immediately and make an illegal u-turn to find the American chain restaurant. Who would have thought there would be an Outback Steakhouse in Oz?!? I even got a free birthday dessert which made the day that much sweeter.
Unfortunately my camera died on Friday night which was quite disappointing and upsetting, but luckily Kat and Adam were able to snap pictures throughout the weekend. I will find out tomorrow if it can be brought back to life. Fingers crossed!
Enjoy the photos from Adam's camera. I'll try and post more when I get Kat's pics. (Hint hint, Kat- send me your pictures!!)
Me in my new b-day dress from Jen surrounded by my b-day streamers sent from Heidi!
Jen, Adam and me
Where's Tarzan when you need him?
Fun with jungle vines
The festivities started off with our friend Adam cooking us a FEAST on Friday night. There was appetizers, soup, chicken, veggies, and a cake to top it all off. We were stuffed to the brim by the end of the night! Our friend Nagesh also came over to join us for dinner, wine, and a few rounds of cards.
On Saturday we got "frocked up" in our racing outfits which were complete with fascinators in our hair. (They are way more popular than hats here.) We took a train about an hour away to Rosehill Gardens where the Golden Slipper races were. It was somewhat of an overcast day, but we still had fun people-watching, picking out horses to cheer for, and drinking champagne. After the races, we went back to our apt for leftovers and then stopped at a few local pubs before calling it a night.
On Sunday we jumped in Adam's car and went to the Blue Mountains about 1.5 hours north west. We hiked a little bit and saw some waterfalls and the Three Sisters, among other beautiful scenery. It was a gorgeous day- perfect for hiking and sightseeing in 'the bush,' as they call their forests here.
The day was topped off when we were driving home and spotted an Outback Steakhouse. This resulted in us forcing Adam to exit the highway immediately and make an illegal u-turn to find the American chain restaurant. Who would have thought there would be an Outback Steakhouse in Oz?!? I even got a free birthday dessert which made the day that much sweeter.
Unfortunately my camera died on Friday night which was quite disappointing and upsetting, but luckily Kat and Adam were able to snap pictures throughout the weekend. I will find out tomorrow if it can be brought back to life. Fingers crossed!
Enjoy the photos from Adam's camera. I'll try and post more when I get Kat's pics. (Hint hint, Kat- send me your pictures!!)
My Aussie b-day presents from Adam. Now I'm legit!
Jen eyeing the feast!
My homemade b-day cake.
Me in my new b-day dress from Jen surrounded by my b-day streamers sent from Heidi!
At the races!
Reading the paper while waiting for the train.
Wentworth Falls
The Three Sisters
Jen, Adam and me
Another huge waterfall. This was taken from a sky rail high above the falls.
K&J with the big rocks
Living on the edge
The Blue Mountains are known for their blue haze
Where's Tarzan when you need him?
Fun with jungle vines
Me in my new hat!
Outback!
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