Nice Man at the Cafe

Just a quick little story about one nice man at a cafe. I suppose this could happen anywhere but it certainly would never happen in Philadelphia and it totally took me off guard.

Abby and I went to meet Jason at Hyde Park in the CBD tonight for a picnic dinner. Jason has been working really long hours to finish a project and hasn't been able to see much of Abby. So, he had dinner with us before having to head back to the office for a late night. I picked up some cheese and crackers and salad at the food court in the basement of David Jones (one of the big department stores) and we were going to stop at the outdoor cafe next to the park for drinks.

Side Note: I found a section in the food court that was all USA Foods stuff. It was like being at home again. There were UTZ pretzels, French's mustard, Aunt Jemima syrup, and there was even candy corn left over from Halloween. It just felt like home!

I asked the guy at the outdoor cafe if they took Visa because I had no cash and he said, "No, sorry, but what are you after?" I told him a Coke and asked where the nearest ATM was. He said,"It's okay, take one, you can pay me back", as though we were old friends. I just laughed, said thanks and walked away to look for the ATM and to wait for Jason. I sat on a bench in the park and about 2 minutes went by and the man from the cafe comes over with a Coke and said, "No, really, I meant it, you can pay me back."

A couple of things to note about this story -
1) A cafe that doesn't take Visa! There's alot of that here. I've been trying to carry more cash but I'm just not good at it.
2) We were in the heart of the CBD (same as downtown Philadelphia) where people are usually just not as nice as the country folk, probably because they've been hardened by the number of jerks that they typically come across.
3) The nice man from the cafe left his cafe unattended to come up the walkway into the park to bring me a Coke I wasn't even paying for.

Well, I took the Coke but as soon as Jason got there I ran back to the cafe to pay him back. Jason is much better at carrying cash! Thanks nice man at the cafe!

Cutsie Tootsie

I don't know what the deal is here with all the kiddie cutsie tootsie words that people use but they are getting out of hand. It seems as though an "ie" or an "o" are added on to shortened words to make them just extra special cute and it's annoying.

For instance, brekkie (breakfast), arvo (afternoon), barbie (barbeque), garbo (garbage), footy (football), uni (university), Aussie (Australian), esky (a cooler)...the list goes on.

Or maybe it's more about just shortening the word because there also is Oz (Australia), ute (utility vehicle i.e. pick up truck), veg (vegetables), g-day and on and on.

It's not as if it takes any more time or effort to say the whole word and it seems so childish to say this like "After brekkie, can you take out the garbo?" Ughh!! Never! Here I am trying to teach Abby how to speak properly and this is what we have to contend with.

4.97096954 miles per hour

Some things never change...Jason had his first run-in with the Australian Law. Or rather, his first electronically-detected-and-ticket-issued-through-the-mail run-in with the Australian Law. Apparently, about a month ago, on a trip south to Jervis Bay Jason was travelling 8 km/hr over the speed limit. Mind you, that is only 4.97096954 mi/hr over the speed limit which, for the record, even if you round up to 5 mi/hr, doesn't even count as speeding in the US.
We were notified of the violation, not by a police officer pulling him over, nor a citation received in the mail. Rather, we were told by the rental car company that we were being charged $50 as an administration fee for the citation we were going to be receiving in the mail within the next few weeks. And when I say charged, I don't mean sent a bill, I mean they charged our credit card that we used to hold the rental car reservation!
When do you get to cry to the cop and say that you're a tourist and you didn't know that driving 4.97096954 mi/hr over the speed limit was speeding? And do you ever get to feel good about "making good time" on a trip when you can calculate exactly the maximum time it will take you because you have to maintain the speed limit?
The whole system is just un-American! I suppose everyone here believes that the government (and their stupid cameras) is keeping strickly to the straight and narrow with no funny business such as, setting their speed detectors 5 km/hr high to make a quick 90 bucks! Or that there is NEVER (ever) a reason that you should exceed the speed limit...like the fact that we were trying to get to the beach with the whitest sand in the world to watch my white skin glow.
One positive to this whole thing is that they give you a month and half to pay it, unlike Philly that wants you to send in your payment within 24 hours of receiving the ticket. Maybe Philly should just charge your credit card without asking, then they would get their money.

How Much for Pizza?!

We went out on Friday night for dinner with two other couples and their children sort of last minute. We picked a place in Darling Harbour, right on the water. It was an Italian place that had a menu that was twice as large as any diner menu I have ever seen. It was extremely overwhelming; especially when you throw 4 kids into the mix and then look at the price of the food. We all had sticker shock when we noticed that you could actually purchase a pizza for $90. We were slightly relieved when we heard that said pizza was 1 meter long by about 1 foot wide and would be able to feed all 6 adults. So, when you do the math it's actually not that expensive but, you have to do the math. Prices here never cease to amaze me.
It wound up being a great evening and I am happy that we have found some friends to hang out with. Abby had a blast with her new friends (Mia, Victor and Senan) and didn't go to bed until 10:15pm.

USD vs. AUD

Well doesn't our luck just stink. Just as a note, Jason is being paid in U.S. Dollars (USD) and then we transfer it into three different bank accounts and after about 2 weeks of our money being somewhre in bank cyberspace it arrives in our Australian bank account in Australian Dollars (AUD). With today's technology I don't understand why the transfers and the conversions can not occur instantaneously but anyway, it is what it is.

When we first got to Sydney the exchange rate was such that $1 USD bought us about $1.15 AUD which was okay. Not quite as good as it had been in the past but it was still helping to give us a little bit of an edge as we were buying everything in AUD. Now, for the first time in 15 years or something, the AUD is now at parody with the USD. In fact, last week it even was above the USD. This basically means that as we watch the USD drop in value we watch our money evaporate into the thin air. Or maybe it goes into that same cyberspace that our transferred money gets stuck in.

If anyone thought this might happen they could have made a bunch of money by buying AUD, waiting a couple months and than exchanging it to USD. I guess there are people that play that game but not me. I don't like this international exchange stuff. It's our money and I don't like just giving it up to the exchange rate gods.

Meat Pies Never Tasted So Good

One of the quick inexpensive meals around here are meat pies. You can basically find anything in a meat pie from your standard chicken pot pie to lamb and mushroom meat pie (which is the one in the picture below). We get them at Quay (pronounced key) Deli before heading out for a picnic in the Royal Botanical Gardens or Jason will pick one up for lunch for $5 at Pie Face. Or, on this particular day there was a meat pie and schooner of Coopers Pale Ale special for $20 at pubs all over Sydney as part of the Crave Sydney Food Festival. Note: A schooner is 425ml or 15 oz. This meat pie was the best one I've had yet. I'm not sure if it was just that good or the playboy bunny really added something!

Roos

A quick video of some of the kangaroos when we were camping last weekend. Abby loved to chase them away from our tent.

Is that all you got...you DOGS!?

The night before we left for our Jervis Bay trip we were in our bedroom packing and doing last minute preparations when we heard a scuffle outside of our window. For those of you that know the voyer that I am, I quickly turned off the light, opened the window and craned my neck out to see and hear what was going down. Being that we don't have screens in the windows here we could really get a good look.

The scene:
On the sidewalk of the restaurant across the street

The players:
Hairy back drunk guy with an umbrella who keeps taking his shirt off (HBDG)
Relatively sober guy with a SAAB (SGWS)
Sober guy's worthless friend
Random shouldn't be involved Asian chick
Little boy cops
Woman in power suit

The story:
Hairy back drunk guy (HBDG) is continually throwing down his broken umbrella screaming at the sober guy with SAAB (SGWS) "I'm going to fuck up your SAAB, you DOG!" SGWS picks up HBDG by the throat, slams him down on the hood of the SAAB and is seemingly ready to deliver the death blow. HBDG is continually screaming, "Is that all you got...you DOG?!" Inexplicable, SGWS does nothing and releases the HBDG. HBDG now kicks the windows of the restaurant, the door of the SAAB and is screaming, "I'm an animal...is that all you got?!" It's at this point that random Asian chick walking by with her boyfriend decides to get involved to calm down the situation. You wouldn't see that in the States! She does seem to calm HBDG down a bit and they hug. Do they know each other? Then HBDG kisses her on the lips and she freaks out yelling at him and running off. They don't know each other that well I guess! This is the last that we see of random Asian chick that shouldn't have been involved in the first place.

About 20 minutes of scuffling continues with the shirt being put back on and then off again, and no real action. Finally, a cop car pulls up in no apparent rush and two guys in cargo shorts and t-shirts jump out. The questions here are, "were these cops off-duty at the bar partying with their buddies when they got the call?" or "Is there really no police uniform?" They look like teenagers but one has a billy club (which he probably has no idea how to use) and they have handcuffs so they must be for real. They get HBDG on the ground and it takes awhile to get him cuffed. All the while HBDG screams, "Is that all you got...you DOGS?!"

Next, an unmarked car pulls up and a middle aged woman in a serious power suit jumps out (I question if she is the Queen herself) and looks like she is going to handle the situation. She proceeds to hold down one of HBDG ankles until the paddy-wagon shows up. It's phrases like that, paddy-wagon, that just don't make sense here. It takes two more cops (in shorts and t-shirts) to get him in the wagon. It actually looked more like a car pulling a small u-haul.

Now, I'm sorry if you have invested time in reading this which should end with some crazy climax but alas, we are in Australia and that just doesn't happen here. No threat of anyone pulling a gun and 14 yr old cops that don't know how to use a billy club=boring ending to a great start.

Things I miss...

I can't believe we have been here for over two months which means that our adventure is 1/6th of the way over. Have we seen 1/6th of everything we want or plan to see? This is a BIG country! Back to things I miss.

I miss being able to get from the front door to the street in 5 seconds. To get to the street from our apartment we go down a long hallway to the elevator where Abby has to get out of the pram to push the down button. Down eight levels, through our lobby, out a door and down a step (not easy with a stroller) into the courtyard. Then through the courtyard, swipe the key card to get in the door to the main lobby. This also involves going up a step. Then through the lobby and out onto the street. To get back to our apartment it's the same routine but add in three additional key card swipes and unlocking the door. Just to give you the full picture, imagine me having just gone food shopping so the pram is loaded with groceries, I have two bags on my arms, Abby is holding 3 litres of milk, and I need to find the key card and go up and down the steps.

I miss the quiet plumbing and appliances. There is a drain on the floor of each bathroom. When you flush the toilet or drain the tub which are loud by themselves, the drain on the floor then gargles for a couple minutes. The dryer is insanly loud. Forget about trying to watch tv or talk on the phone when that thing is running. And the kitchen sink drowns out any conversation. It works great during an argument but that's about it. Turn it on and..."what? I can't hear you!" End of argument.

I miss shopping carts that travel in the direction that you push them. All shopping carts here have four wheels all of which can move in any direction. You would think that would be like all-wheel drive giving you ultimate control but in fact it is quite the opposite to the point where I almost run into other people on a regular basis. It does however make for fun 360's for Abby once you get into the wide aisles!

I miss autumn. It's suppossed to be getting cool in October. Green pumpkins aren't the same.

I miss our friends and family. Lots of acquaintances here but no close friends or family that already know your whole life story. I miss not having to start from scratch. Skype is great but it's just not the same as being able to give and get a good hug.

Blue Mountains Trip

A couple of weekends ago (prior to us having internet access hence the delay in blogging about it) we went on a camping trip in the Blue Mountains. Jason took off of work on Friday and we went for the weekend.

Driving out of Sydney was strange in that we were on the most major road (the M4) you could be on to get out Sydney and there were lights and we were going through towns (and not very nice ones either). No wonder Sydney has such traffic congestion! Anyway, back to the trip.

Driving into the Blue Mountains is somewhat of a let down in that I imagined winding up steep roads to get to the top of the mountains but actually it was less impressive than the Poconos. But once you get out and look around it is as though you have been transported to the top and there are cliffs all around.

Friday we spent the day in Katoomba which is the largest town in the Blue Mountains and has the most touristy areas. We took a couple of short hikes around Wentworth Falls with Abby in the backpack. She stayed awake all morning, missing her nap and I was starting to get worried about the weekend. Well, in the 5 minute car ride to lunch at the Conservation Hut she fell asleep, of course. After lunch we headed over to scenic world and took the old rail car down into the valley.

Around 1880 they were mining coal down in the valley and used the railcar to bring the coal and the workers in and out of the valley. Here's me, apparently on vacation by myself, in the old rail car. We took the cable car out of the valley. There was no way I was hiking out.

We got in the car and headed to Blackheath to pick up some firewood for the night and then down to Megalong Valley and the campsite. Well, apparently Megalong is an Aboriginal word that roughly means "Valley under the Cliff" so it's a little redundant to say Megalong Valley but I digress. Of course it started to rain at this time so everyone in the car (minus Abby) was slightly worried (that might be an understatement) about how setting up camp and the night would go. As we drove into the valley, the rain passed. Thank God!

The night was good. We managed a fire after some serious tending to it, we had steak chili for dinner and we all were in our sleeping bags and asleep by 10pm. We got up in the morning and had some eggs and fried devon (balogna for those not following along) and packed for the hike.

The hike was 15km (9ish miles) and was quite a bit further than I thought we going but it wound up being a really good hike. It was part of the 6 foot track and no, it's not 6 feet wide the whole way. We hiked through farmland first and then rainforest. We ended up at a swing bridge and turned around for the hike back.

All in all, it was a great trip!! Can't wait to go camping again and maybe see some freakin' wild kangaroos already!

Where We Live

We live in a small surburb outside of Sydney called Pyrmont (marked A on the map). It is probably the same distance to the CBD (marked Sydney on the map) as we were to Center City Philly. There are tons of things that I love about Pyrmont and our new apartment. First is the amazing view off our balcony. Looking east towards the CBD.

Then is how close we are to the Fish Market. You can probably just make it out on the map, south of our marker. Abby and I go down many mornings and get a scone (Can't beat the price at A$1.20/ea) and a coffee for me (I wish I could find a better price at A$4 for a small!). The atmosphere early in the morning is awesome. There are no tourists there yet, the boats are just getting in with all the fresh fish and the pelicans are swimming around in the bay.

Pyrmont also has Pyrmont Point Park (North of our marker, right on the water) which is a beautifully landscaped green space and has a cool playground with sandbox for Abby. We go there at least once a week. In fact, I am meeting 14 moms, all with kids Abby's age, there on Tuesday. Crazy Mom's Club.

Next thing that I love is that the walk to the CBD from here (including Jason's walk to work) is over Darling Harbour by way of a pedestrian bridge. The monorail runs across the bridge and Abby and I often meet Jason on the bridge on his way home from work. Just on the CBD side of the bridge is the Aquarium and Wildlife World which we have a yearly pass to.

And just a few more (I will have to blog later about the things I don't so much love but there's not many):
The number of Thai food places. Thai take away is our new pizza night!
There is a full grocery store right out front of our building.

Needless to say we are happy here :)

My Nonna

Now that Abby is talking we are trying to teach her all of her many grandparents' names. Yesterday we were working on Abby's grandmother who we call Nonna. This one's for you, Nonna!!

Don't call it a comeback...

Yeah, that's right, we're listening to LL Cool J as I blog. The blog is back!

We were busy getting settled into our new apartment and setting up a phone and internet that there just wasn't any time. Besides, it took us three weeks to get the internet and the thought of getting Abby to sit in an internet cafe while I blogged was incomprehensible.

Random Thoughts...

- Jason has mentioned that even though they are on the metric system here, all of the structural steel sizes are just English conversions. For example, here, you might have a 101.6mm pipe. When converted this is 4" on the nose. Weird.

- Have you ever been to a zoo and have a 1 year old ask you "wassat?" (What's that?) and you find that 9 times out of 10 you don't know the answer and you run around looking for the signage that tells you it's a cassowary or a wombat or some other strange animal.

- When one phrase is used in place of "you're welcome", "no problem", "not a big deal", and "don't worry about it" (to name a few) it can become overwhelming. "No worries, mate" is the most said phrase here by far!

- Babysitters get paid $20/hr here. I am slightly torn about this news. On one hand, that's my business and thus I could make a boatload. On the other, we have to pay a babysitter to get out without the little lady.

- "Everyone knows Fijians can't handle their booze." You don't hear that kind of stereotyping in America.

As promised, a post about the drinking here as it is a bit different from home. When we first got here one of the things we had to figure out quickly was where to buy beer and wine. We had a tip from a Frommer travel guide that alot of restaurants have "bottle shops" attached to them where you can buy beer and wine. We went into quite a few restaurants the first couple days and found nothing. Jason had mentioned he found a place right on our street that had wine but he didn't want to ask if they also had beer (I think it was one of those guy things, not wanting to ask for directions). So, the next time we were out together we stopped by the place and I went in to ask while he waited outside with Abby. Sure enough, they had beer it was just back in a walk-in-cooler. Looking around, I didn't recognize any of it so I went with a six pack of James Squire. That has turned out to be one of the best decisions yet. Jason has gone though every James Squire type of beer and they are all really good :) It's similar to the craft beers that have gotten to be very popular at home. And, as it turns out, the James Squire Brewery is right around the corner from us. We are going on Sunday as they have free kids meals and face painting, I haven't had my face painted in years :) Oh, I mean, Abby will love it! We have yet to find another beer that we REALLY like.

As it turns out, there are "bottle shops" we were just missing them for some reason. We also missed the liquor express store that is right in the middle of the foodstore. I feel like I was walking around with my eyes shut. Maybe there was just so much new to take in that I couldn't quite process it all.

Jason's company goes out for happy hour every Friday to Bar 333 right across the street from his office so he has had a bit more interaction with the drinking atmosphere. He said that alot of people drink Stella and quite a few drink champagne. I guess it's not reserved for celebrations :)

There is alot of wine made in Australia so we are doing our best to try them. We won't be adding to our cork collection though as they are all twist off. This did however come in handy the first bottle we opened when we weren't sure if there was a bottle opener in this place. The Hunter Valley (kinda like Napa Valley) is only 2 hours north of Sydney so that is on the list of places to go. Maybe for an anniversary trip?

Lastly, the drinking prohibited signs make no sense at all. They are all over the place and say things like "Alcohol Free Zone - the consumption of alcohol is probited from 3/7/07 to 2/7/10". Alot of the signs are out of date and so I guess you can walk down the street with a drink in hand? Not sure.

Driving Miss Daisy

We had our first Aussie driving experience yesterday! We rented a car for a couple of reasons: We were invited by one of Jason's co-workers to have lunch with him and and his family and we needed to buy a cot and mattress for Abby. Both of which were out in the northern suburbs of Sydney.

Important thing to know: The steering wheel is on the right hand side of the car and you drive on the left hand side of the road. Totally and completely backwards!
As any good organized person would do, we mapped out our route from here to lunch and then to Babies R Us (they have them here!) and then home again. But of course, Google Maps let us down yet again, and the names that they had for almost all of the highways we had to take were not listed on the signs while we were driving. We had printed out 8 pages of directions and maps so as navigator (sitting on the left!) we figured it out and didn't get lost. Nor, did we get in an accident...way to go Jason! It appears as though the hardest part is turning and remembering to "stay to the left!" but with a little reminder from the navigator we got back in the correct lane and not heading towards on-coming traffic.

Tolls here are a bit different in that you have to register your car online within 48 hours of going through the toll and I guess it takes a picture of your license plate and then charges your credit card. I still have no idea how much we paid in tolls but since we drove over the Sydney Harbour Bridge I'm sure it's not cheap.

There were signs everywhere on the highway (and commercials on tv) that said to beware there are cameras that can catch you speeding, anytime, anyplace. It seemed a bit creepy, like someone was watching you at all times. Needless to say, we didn't speed!

A couple last random thoughts: Here, the turn signal is on the right and the wind shield wipers on the left. That means we were cleaning the window every time we turned instead of using the turn signal. All the controls on the dashboard you control with your left hand when driving. Finally, something made for all you lefties out there.

I think we will stick with public transportation and walking as much as possible. Walking is hard enough trying to remember to look right than left when crossing the street :)

Kangaroo Meat?!?

First, I would like say that I've got myself an "idea guy" for the blog (thanks Andy!) who has submitted questions and blog topics that will be used for upcoming blogs. So, if you have any complaints on blog content, it's not my fault.

Anyway, now that we have been here for two weeks I think I can officially comment on the food here. We have done regular food shopping which has proven to be a little difficult. The Cole's (love the name!) that we go to doesn't have signs telling you what is down each aisle so you have to go down every single one. To make it even more time consuming food items don't seem to be organized the same as they are in the US. You would think that the pasta and pasta sauce would be in the same aisle...nope! Or the toilet paper and paper towels...nope! Chicken broth and soup...nope! You get it. One major bonus, there is a liquor store in the food store (more on the liquor selection in another blog).

We've tried different kinds of chicken and it's just not same texture. It seems as though it is full of fat. I thought chicken was a lean meat, hmmmm. And it's also very expensive. Lamb, on the other hand, is pretty reasonably priced so that is next on the list to try. I bought a small roast and after I figure out the oven we'll be in business.
Yes, they do have kangaroo meat and lots of it but I have yet to buy it. My main issue with it is that it is right next to the chilled dog and cat food. If I was in the US I would assume that it was on par with the likes of dog food but here, it could be more similar to filet, who knows.

We've been out to eat a couple of times and all pretty successful. We went out for some Malaysian food which was delicious but I'm not sure how authentic. I walked through Chinatown yesterday and there are quite a few Pho places so that's on the upcoming list. There is a very large Asian population here (many of which were born here and thus have Australian accents which was a surprising mix for us) so I am hoping for some good Pho. We've had Nando's, a fast food chain from the UK which was kind of like Boston Market, yum!

For those of you that count calories or even just look at the calories on packages, you would have to do some serious conversions as it's in Kilojoules. It makes eating TimTams (chocolate covered biscuits aka cookies) much easier.

Food thing I miss the most so far...brewed coffee. Tea just doesn't do it for me and all this espresso is making me jittery. The shop downstairs makes a killer latte so that is my compromise but at $3 a pop it gets pricey.

One of Abby's Favorite Games

Weekend Update

The weekend was very busy but great! Saturday was the first real day of apartment hunting and we saw 7 apartments. Each open house is only 15 minutes long so you can't be late and I had heard that sometimes there are 20 people lined up outside to see the place. I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself to be the only one at most of the inpections. Apparently furnished apartments are not in high demand right now because of the "overseas credit crisis". I'm assuming that means that people cannot afford to move to Sydney and rent a furnished apartment. Thank goodness Jason's company is paying for our rent because we couldn't afford it either!

We were looking in Kirribilli which has amazing views of the harbour but most of the buildings are old and do not have heat or air conditioning. That just blew my mind, an apartment building with no heat?! We were still considering some of these places thinking, "well, if none of them have it than the weather must be mild enough to not need them." After asking around I don't think that's the case. Everyone just has space heaters and fans everywhere. So, we may have to give up some gorgeous views for some good old American amenities. Looking at some more places today.

Sunday was more of a fun day! We went to the Rocks and had lunch at Loenbrough, a good German place with delicious soft pretzels (almost like home). Abby got a balloon there which no sooner was on her wrist than was floating away into the sky. We stopped and had some good coffee on Nurses' Walk (an old cobblestone alley with small shops) and let Abby walk around.

Then we headed towards home and decided to go to the fish market in Pyrmont. Without a map in hand we set off and found it pretty quickly. It was packed with people getting food and sitting out on the dock eating it. Very cool atmosphere. A pelican flew right over our heads and looked like he could just pick up Abby and take her away. We bought some good looking crabs and had fresh crabs, corn and pasta for dinner...yum!

I would have loved to include some pictures with this post but our internet connection is so slow that it's just not going to happen :)

I'm On My Own

Today was Jason's first day of work so Abby and I were out on our own. We went to go see another apartment which was no good. The pictures that they showed on the internet were gorgeous views of the Harbour Bridge but there was so much crap on the windows that you could hardly see the view! The other deal breaker was that the second bedroom only had a single bed which is no good for when we have visitors. Ashley could definately deal with a single bed but I didn't think making Jason's parents sleep in a single bed together was going to work :)

We took the train over to the North shore and walked down a huge hill (Manayunk style) to the apartment. I asked the woman that we met if there was another way back to the CBD because I just couldn't imagine pushing Abby in the stroller up the huge hill. She said there was a ferry right out front. Awesome! We took the ferry back to the CBD and home. I got myself a latte at the place next door and then home for Abby's nap. I was craving a brewed coffee as we can only do french pressed coffee (I know, fancy!) or instant coffee (in a tea bag) in the apartment. I guess I'll have to get used to tea.

We walked around the Queen Victoria Building (QVB) today which is an indoor-outdoor shopping mall of all extremely expensive boutiques. Abby was obsessed with a purse in the window of one of the stores. It was purple and sparkly and probably $500. She's going to be trouble!! Ash, you are going to LOVE the shopping here! Also of note in the QVB were the awesome structural details (I know I'm a dork!). If I had seen these before doing the design of the Stetson stair I might have....shown them to Jeff to help him do the design for me! Thanks Jeff!

On tap for tomorrow...visit Glebe, a suburb of Sydney. Looks like a nice place to live.

I'm Feeling Greener Already

One of the main differences that I have noticed here has been the sacrifice of convenience to be more environmentally conscience. A few of note from in and around the apartment first:

- The gas stove does not have a pilot that is always lit. You have to push an ignitor button and then turn the gas on to light the flame (kind of like lighting a grill). Then you have to hold the button for about 5 seconds to keep it lit. Saves on gas.
- The toilets have a #1 and #2 flush. Obviously #1 is about half the water than a #2 flush. I can't seem to get Jason to do a #1 or a #2 flush!
- All of the outlets have a switch right next to them. So, if the outlet is not in use you have the switch off to save power. Takes some getting used to. When we first plugged things in we thought they didn't work. It took a minute to figure out there is a switch you have to do first.
- All of the light bulbs are these terrible flourescent (long-lasting) ones. We tend to keep the lights off and the blinds open as long as possible. It reminds me of the trip I took to London (with Erinn and Ashley). We went to visit some family members and sat in their living room talking. The sun started to go down and no one ever turned the lights on. We wound sitting in darkness! They didn't seem to mind though.
The list goes on but you get it.

If nothing else, I feel like I'm reducing my carbon footprint. In order for it to work all industries would have to make the change and I don't think the US would go for most of it!

What We've Been Up To...

Besides trying to get our sleep right (I was up at 5am but Abby is still sleeping!) we've been trying to get out to see the city. We walked down to Cockle Bay Wharf on Friday. It was a cloudy day but they were having a boat show so there were a ton of sailboats to look at. We ate outside at a restaurant right on the wharf. Even though it is "winter" here the weather has been amazing...at least we think so! Sydneysiders are all in winter coats and scarves saying that the weather is terrible while we are walking around in t-shirts. It's been between 65 and 70 degrees so perfect weather for a t-shirt, not a winter coat!
We've made it to the food store a couple of times and most things look surprisingly familiar. They have alot of the same brands and some that are just slightly different, like rice bubbles instead of rice krispies or apple puree instead of applesauce.
We walked over to Hyde Park and the Botanic Gardens yesterday and got our first glimpse of the opera house and the Harbour bridge. It's crazy to see it in person when I've seen so many pictures of it. I still can't believe we are here. We saw (and heard!) a ton of different birds which Abby loved.
As for normal life stuff we are getting things figured out. We are now able to access our money...whew! We are working on getting our cell phones up and working we have been able to pay our US bills online and the list goes on and on. I won't bore you with those details though.
I would love to post some pictures but our internet is so slow! I will save time for that later today.

A Fire Drill...Seriously!

I thought last night might, just might, be the first night that we all got a good night's sleep. And there was even a chance that Abby would sleep through the night. Then, at 11pm I woke up to a bell ringing outside. It didn't sound like it was coming from our building but I woke Jason and he got up to check things out. He went into the hallway and people were running down the stairs. So, I got Abby up out of her cot and we went down 10 flights of stairs and outside. We think someone set it off by accident but that was not a good start to the night.
I feel like we are back in our Broad and Walnut apartment in Philly. The fire drills there were so regular there that if they weren't deafening we would have rolled over and slept through them.
Abby was up again from 4am-5am so we are all tired today!

It's Already an Adventure!

We have arrived!! We got here Thursday morning at about 7:35am Sydney time after a very long journey. There was quite a bit of stress about whether or not we had seats together, or seats at all and then whether or not our bags were going to make it here (because of the flight cancellation). As it turned out, we wound up having great seats in the bulkhead row so we had tons of leg room. When Abby was awake we would put a blanket down on the floor in front of us and she would play there. They did however lose two of our bags. They have located them still in Atlanta and they are being sent on the next plane out. They say we should receive them tomorrow or so. It was one of the camping backpacks and a bag with household stuff like towels and sheets. So, not too critical since the place we are in now is fully furnished with everything we need.
The leg from LA to Sydney was supposed to be 14 1/2 hours but was closer to 16 hours because we sat on the runway for awhile. Abby slept a couple of different times but once for 5 hours straight which was great. We were up walking with Abby quite a bit so we weren't sitting the whole time and thus managed to keep the swelling down in the ankles and feet (thanks for the tip Dunfey!)
Everyone we have met so far has been really nice. Jason's manager at work met us at the airport with another guy who works there too. They helped us with our ridiculous number of bags, gave us a great welcome bag with some starter food and got us a taxi. A maxi taxi to be exact...because of the number of bags.
I will post pictures and such soon but just wanted to let everyone know we arrived safely...finally!

My Sleeping Beauty!

Take Two!

We are heading out of the Hilton and hopefully all will go smoothly today. For awhile there Abby was scheduled to sit by herself in the exit row which was fine with me but I don't think that the guy sitting next to her would have been happy. Jason also didn't have a seat from LA to Sydney so they were going to throw him in with the luggage. It sounds like it is all figured out now after being on hold for 25 minutes. We now have the bulkhead seats which means extra leg room and space for Abby.
Abby slept through the night and is now napping so she should be well rested for another fun day in the airport. She did fall down today and split her lip open (her first injury!) but she handled it well. She looks cute with a fat lip :)
It's been an adventure already!
P.S. Never ever fly Delta!! Sorry Ash...I know you have your ticket already!

We're Not Off!

Well, we haven't left Philly yet. We were forced to take a little side trip to the lovely Hilton Airport Hotel. Apparently Delta had some serious mechanical issues today with their planes and only got about 1 out of 10 flights in the air today. After waiting in some long lines and dealing with some less than pleasant people Delta gave us two rooms at the Hilton and some meal vouchers. We are booked to leave tomorrow at 2pm with the same itinerary as today. Is it Groundhog Day?
On a more positive note, Abby was amazing! She fell asleep in her carset for awhile and was happy when she was awake. She has no idea what is going on and is just her happy old self. She is now sleeping in the adjoining room and hopefully will sleep through the night in a strange place. Gotta love my little sleeper.
We'll keep everyone posted! Wish us luck tomorrow on Take Two!

We're Off!

We just finished packing and the total is...

9 checked bags plus a stroller
3 carry-ons plus a camera bag, computer bag and baby backpack

Not too bad considering we are going for a year. We are leaving for the airport at 10:15am tomorrow and should be arriving in Sydney at 6:35am on Wednesday (that's 3:35pm on Tuesday Philly time). Both of Jason's parents are dropping us off (one for the bags and one for us!) Hopefully it all goes smoothly as there are alot of places that something could go wrong. For example, we received an email last week about some possible strike that the Sydney airport employees might be going on that would cause huge delays. Can't even worry about that. Or, Abby and I both have head colds right now so we could be in lots of pain once we are a million feet in the air. But, there's nothing I can do about that either.

We're beat...to bed! We'll be in touch from Sydney. Thank you to everyone that has helped us get to this point, we are very grateful.

No One Wants to Say Goodbye!

I have been noticing a funny thing going on and that is that no one wants to say goodbye! The days are winding down and as I see people that in my mind I know I will not see again before we leave, I am expecting a big hug, a goodbye or a bon voyage. But instead, I get an awkward, "when will I see you again? Oh, I'm sure I will see you again before you leave." There are even a couple out there (you know who you are) who are actually refusing to say goodbye!
So, I just want to say that it's okay to say goodbye. We'll be back and a year goes by SO quick!

Packing twice is no fun!

I thought packing everything once was bad well looks like most bags are needing to be packed twice. Why? Because Abby LOVES to undo all of my hard work. She is a huge fan of "putting in and taking out" and it doesn't matter what it is or where it's going. She has a few good hiding spots that have stumped me in the past but I'm on to her. Any basket, box or trashcan is the first place to look. I found a pair of my shoes, that I had already packed in a suitcase, in the trashcan yesterday! She has hidden my credit card in the magazine bin...the list goes on and on.
This is definately a trait from her father as his cleaning method is much the same. Put it out of sight in some bin or drawer or closet and it's clean. I'm on to him too.

8x8 Tent in a 10x10 Backyard

I was reading on one of the many ex-pat forums recently that if we plan to bring any camping gear that we should be certain that it is spotless. Someone said that their stuff was held in quarantine while they tested a soil sample taken from one of their tents. They didn't get it back for about 2 months. So, today I put up the tent in the backyard to clean it out and it's a good thing I did. The stakes did have dirt on them and there were some leaves and stuff inside of it. Erecting an 8x8 tent in a 10x10 backyard is not an easy feat.

22 Days and Counting!

I can't believe that we leave in 3 weeks! We sold the car last week so we have been living the real city life since then. It has entailed quite a bit more walking and more time for Abby in the stroller. It's a good thing she likes it. We should get used to it since we won't have one in Sydney.

I realized at some point last week that we didn't have enough bags to pack all of our stuff so we bought some nice pink and brown luggage that was on clearance for the trip. I'm guessing the colors are what had it on clearance because it's really nice. I will be sure to pack all of Jason's stuff in the pink suitcases :) We packed our winter clothes last week...3 more bags down! We used vacuum sealed space bags for our sweaters and coats but I am not convinced that they really save space. I think my packing skills are such that I could pack more in there but 50 pounds is 50 pounds so it doesn't much matter.

We got new temporary accomodations which are even closer to Jason's office because the other place was "not able to accomodate a cot" (translation: they couldn't get us a crib for Abby). The new place is not nearly as swanky.

This move to Australia has caused us to finally get a will and trust together which we had been talking about doing for awhile. I suppose that going to a country with the most deadly plants and animals in the world will do that to you. It has made us consider some really terrible life scenarios such as, if everyone that we have ever known in this world is dead, and Abby with her superhuman powers is still alive, who will have custody of her? Hmmm...that was a tough one.

And now that I know that people are actually reading and keeping up with our blog...leave a comment or a question!

Temporary Housing!

We have received our temporary accomodations in Sydney and it looks amazing! It's right on the Harbor (here's hoping we have a view!) and is on the 6th floor. It's 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom and probably bigger than our house. It's a 10 minute walk along the harbor to Jason's office. Sounds like a relaxing commute. Might be slightly nicer than taking 2 SEPTA buses in 95 degree weather! Looks like we have a buyer for the car. As long as the inspection from their mechanic goes well it will be gone on June 28th! That's a little earlier than we hoped but that's okay, it's almost gone! I will miss it though.

Things are moving now!

2 bags down...how many to go?

We have two bags packed! They are our two hiking packs with all of our camping gear. We intend to introduce Abby to the Outback through camping so it is up high on the list of stuff that is coming with us. I have been very worried about the weight of our bags since they charge you an arm and a leg if you go over 50 pounds. So, to ease my mind I bought one of those scale things that you hang the bag on. After putting my backpack on I was convinced it was at least 40 pounds. We weighed it last night with the new gadget and it was 19 pounds!! That's right, less than half of what I thought. So forget the scale. The new test is if I can pick it up...it's less than 50 pounds. As another reference - Abby weighed in at 18 pounds at her 1 yr doctor's appointment, only one pound less than the bag. What am I going to do when she weighs 30 pounds and still wants to be picked up?! Maybe this packing of 50 pound bags will help me in the long run.

And just a note on how different men and women are (has that bit been overdone by stand-up comics yet?). I was totally concerned about the weight of the bags but Jason, on the other hand, gets the scale in his hand and proceeds to try and figure out how high he can get it to register by pulling it apart. (About 70 pounds for reference. I could only do 30!). This is not the purpose of this gadget and it will surely be broken before we leave!

Jason will be forever 29!

We have booked our flights!! We leave Philadelphia at 2pm on July 26th and arrive in Sydney at 6:30am July 28th (we stop in Atlanta and again in Los Angeles). We will be crossing the date line and will be skipping right over July 27th (Jason's 30th birthday). Of course I am convinced that Jason has planned this so that he is forever 29. Bull shit I say! Be a man and turn 30 like the rest of us old heads!

When looking at flights and airlines we had a couple of considerations that got us to where we are with our flights.

- The only airline that we could get direct from PHL-LAX-SYD was United and apparently United "sucks donkey balls". That's a direct quote from one of the many horrendous reviews on United. Hence the stop in Atlanta.

- I was rooting for Qantas, an Australian airline, but Jason's company has some preferred airlines that they like to fly. Delta was on that list and they got some really good reviews. So, Delta it is. One free alcoholic drink and OnDemand movies and tv in the back of every seat!
Note: Those of you who are thinking of visiting, Delta is probably the most affordable one.

So, it's off to the races to get everything done before we leave and figure out what can fit into 8 or 9 fifty pound bags.

Abby Got a Credit Card?

We had a great memorial day weekend visiting lots of friends and family! By Monday night, we were beat. I was laying on the couch resting my eyes (aka: out cold sleeping!) and Jason was checking his work email to get a head start on the morning. I can remember the feeling of going into work on Tuesday morning after a long holiday weekend feeling happy and refreshed. Then I would open up my email and it would take 10 minutes for all of them to come through from the crazies who worked all weekend long. So, to avoid this awful feeling a quick check at night is all that's needed. We are glad that he did because there were, among others, three emails (one for each of us) with our visa numbers saying that we were approved. YEAH! As Jason read them one by one he says to me, "My visa was approved, your visa was approved, and Abby's visa was approved." In my delerious state I half woke up and said, "Abby got a credit card?" Man, I am funny when I'm sleepy! :-) Now, off to check out flights!

Abby's First Flight

Since we have found out we were moving to Australia I have been worrying about the plane ride with Abby. How is a 1 yr old who doesn't stop moving all day suppossed to handle a 22 hour flight? And, what about her ears? Are they going to bother her? Abby's first plane ride cannot be half way around the world!! With all of these questions in my mind I planned a trip to North Carolina to visit my Mom and Tony. We bought the GoGoBaby carseat attachment which basically turns the carseat into a stroller...so cool! (Yes, these are now the type of things that I find cool!) We checked a bag and of course had to listen to multiple people say, "you sure you don't want to check her?!" HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Come on people, get a sense of humor...way to obvious! Give me something original.

Anyway, the trip was great. Abby did good on the plane and her ears seemed to be fine. She of course planned her morning poop appropriately so that we had to change it on the plane, smelling the whole place up. Thanks Abs!

When we got off the plane in Philly there were about 5 or 6 guys in military uniform lacing up their boots presumably because they had to take them off coming through security. I'm not sure where they were headed but they all looked slightly depressed. Abby waved at one of the guys and he smiled and waved back. She proceeded to wave at each guy and wait until they waved back before moving on to the next one. They were all smiling when she was finished and the one guy said, "she just made my day!" :) Glad we could help out.

Visa Update: The visa has been lodged. I guess we got all the paperwork completed correctly and it should be issued in the next couple of weeks. After we have a visa number we will make flight arrangments. Till then, still waiting.

War Crimes and Soft Pretzels

We completed and signed the visa forms last night. I filled them out initially and then Jason and I went over them before signing them. I guess I was tired when I filled them out because there were quite a few mistakes on the forms. You can't make mistakes on these forms! The most disturbing was my failure to answer the question:

"Have you, or any secondary person included in this application ever committed or been involved in the commission of war crimes or crimes against humanity or human rights?"

The failure to answer a question doesn't imply guilt does it? Hopefully any other questions that were answered incorrectly do not have the FBI knocking on our door.

We also started a discussion with Patti...'sidebar'-you will hear her name quite often. She works for AECOM (Jason's company) and is the one with all the answers, or at least able to give us the name of a person who has the answers -'end sidebar' - about what "furnished" means in Australia as that might change what we need to pack. She gave us the name of someone who knows the answer but she believes that furnished means everything; furniture, all kitchen stuff, tv, etc. So that is great news! No need to pack 3 forks and 3 spoons.

How is the list making going? Not well....2 more lists made since last week!

One last thought...I am going to eat at least one soft pretzel a week from now until we leave. We get them hot off the line after midnight at Philly Soft Pretzel. We ate them for breakfast on Mother's Day!! YUM!!

Sliding Date?

As time ticks on it becomes perfectly clear that having a set date is not really all that important to anyone in this process. Nevermind the fact that we have close up our house, pack our belongings, and move our family and life to the opposite side of the globe! Apparently the visa process has just been started and it takes 4-6wks for that and then we make flight arrangments after that. That will pretty much put us into July and if that's the case, we won't be leaving until July 25th or 26th. Why so late? There is a VERY important wedding that we need to attend on July 23rd and how terrible would it be to miss it by a mere 2 weeks. So, those that have not been accepting that we are leaving before July 23rd (you know who you are)...your wish may have come true! And we are SUPER excited for a weekend in A.C. before heading out. We'll keep you posted.
On another note, did you know that it costs $600 to send a 50lb. box to Australia? Or $50 to send a 12"x12"x5-1/2" package? What do you even fit in a box shaped like that? Looks like we are only bringing what can fit in our suitcases. Granted we have a maximum of 12 suitcases (50 lbs each) we can bring with us but who wants to lug all of that around an airport? We are going to try and keep it to 8. Is that possible?

It's Official!

It's funny to think that this all began when Jason came home one day from work in November and said he got an email asking if he would be interested in going to Australia for year. It feels like that day was now a point at which our life has diverged from the path it seemed to be happily going along on. Maybe that's too deep?! But to think if we didn't sit and discuss, "Wow! Wouldn't that be awesome? A year in Australia?" We wouldn't be where we are today.

The papers are signed and we are left with about 2 months in the U.S. It's all very exciting and scary at the same time. There seems to be so much to do, so much to think about before we leave and so many lists to make. Just thinking about the number of lists makes it hard to start any one list. As you might have figured, I'm a list person. But, I don't want to be a list person. So, my hope for myself, and my family, is that I can keep the lists under control (I don't want to say get rid of them entirely because that is downright impossible) and think about life in a simplier way.

Do we NEED to have two strollers (one for comfort and one for portability)? How many pairs of shoes does it make sense to ship half way around the world? Can we not get by with say, 4 each of forks, knives and spoons? It's not as though we will be hosting a U.S. Thanksgiving dinner. Or, maybe we will with our new Aussie friends and we'll have to buy some plasticware. Do you need a clothes dryer? I hear the sun does a darn good job.

The point I'm trying to make (and trying to convince myself of) is that we don't really NEED 3/4 of what we use on a daily basis, so why clutter up what I imagine will be a small 2 bedroom apartment with these things. And pay alot of money in shipping costs to do it! It just doesn't make sense. It seems easier to just lead a simplier life. If there was ever a time to do it, now is it.

So, I will keep you posted on how I'm doing with the list making and we'll see how the "simplier life" is going come August (the middle of the Aussie winter) when my clothes are crunchy from being line-dried in the non-existant sun!

Do Blogs Cause Fights?

Of everything I've seen about blogs I've decided they cause fights. Have you ever seen the movie Julie and Julia? Julie and her husband almost get divorced because of her time consuming blog. Or, that episode of House? Anyway, this blog will not cause fights it will just let our friends and family know what we are up to as we plan for this crazy adventure that will soon be life!