Sunday, January 28, 2007

Home Sweet Dirty Home!






Finally, the moment has now arrived when you shall all see pictures of our glorious new Manly Beach digs. Please try not to soil yourselves with envy. Truly, Veronica and I almost feel a bit like the Beverly Hillbillies having moved into such a posh new stratosphere of luxury and refinement!

The best part of these pictures is that you all are getting to see our room now that it is finally furnished. Before Sunday we only had the single bed, the fan, the hanging rack, and a solitary chair in our room. But yesterday was the day Veronica and I hit the lotto here at the Manly Beach Resort. Our next-door neighbors, a young traveling German couple (yes, they are German, not Swiss), left to go back to Germany after 2 months here in Australia. We raided their room in the same fashion as a pair of homeless people would raid a dumpster. So that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but we scored ourselves another chair, a table, and a double bed. We are in heaven now!

Have we mentioned yet that practically every Australian smokes cigarettes? Seriously, it seems that everyone smokes here. Veronica and I have felt that we are almost smoking a pack a day from all the 2nd hand smoke that we inhale just by being around friends and walking down the street. The best part about it is that all of the cigarette packs have a big black label warning people of how many deaths cigarettes cause compared to car accidents, murder, and something else that I now seem to forget. Reminded me a bit of my favorite movie of last year, “Thank You For Smoking”. Obviously with all of the warnings on the pack people still smoke regardless. Oh, and packs of cigarettes cost almost $9 here.

Going out to eat here in Oz has been interesting as well. First, no one tips. Waiters actually make a living wage. You can tell by the price on the menu that it is more expensive because of that very fact. But the biggest surprise has been the portion size here in Australia. Unlike America, things here are much smaller. But it is a good thing because at the end of the meal here you don’t feel like a stuffed pig. The one bummer I must admit to is the fact if you order a Coke you don’t get any free refills, which really stinks because a lot of times you are only served a tiny glass of the delightfully refreshing sugar water. BUT, the people here seem to be in much better shape than Americans. The amount of obese people down under at least from what I can see has to be a very small percentage of the population.

Yesterday and today I went surfing with our flatmates. The water was crystal clear out there and it was a bit weird looking down and not seeing any reef. There were actually some good waves out at Freshwater, and I caught a head high left that lined up quite nicely for a solid little ride. However, the water was PACKED! It reminded me of Canoes in Waikiki. Surfers everywhere. Granted, it is the weekend but I can already see that I will have to venture out of the city in order to find some uncrowded waves to enjoy. Today we surfed at Dee Why Beach and I must say, I miss Hawaii. Surfing beach breaks is much more exhausting since there are no channels. Plus I am extremely out of shape. Oh well.

Meanwhile, Veronica has been enjoying running along the beach. After the cold weather and the inactivity of our stay in Dallas, it feels nice to be active again. There is a great running path all along the beach here in Manly, and Veronica has enjoyed it immensely.

Well, we are back to the job search. Cheers.

Friday, January 26, 2007

Australia Day Recap






Well, Australia Day has come and gone, and it was a beautiful day for a "barbie". Jase and Brenda brought us along to hang out with some of Jase's oldest friends and their families. The location of the barbie was at Chinaman's Beach, located in a very posh neighborhood park in Sydney Harbour.

The beach was beautiful, but the water was still a tad bit cold for us after Hawaii. We've been told that since there is no ozone here in Oz that you can get 3rd degree burns in less than 10 minutes. This has been enough to scare the living crap out of Veronica and myself, so we have been wearing sunscreen everywhere. Better safe than sorry!

An interesting person we met at the barbie yesterday was Patrick Keating. Patrick's father is Paul Keating, who is the former Prime Minister of Australia. In fact, the former PM was thinking of coming to the barbie, but unfortuantely decided that since there were no people his age that he would skip out. Pretty crazy to think that Veronica and I were so close to meeting a former leader of the free world. It would have been a bit like moving to the US and meeting Bill Clinton on the 4th of July.

Perhaps my favorite part of the day happened when a 5 year old child told me that "Americans are idiots". We laughed pretty hard at that one. The boys father Simon (a great bloke) was a bit embarassed and tried to blame it on his son's schooling, but we know better than to believe that line. In reality, everyone welcomed us like we were a part of their family. Great people these Australians.

The pictures show Veronica at the lovely Chinaman beach. Another one shows some of the kids giving a rocking performance to AC/DC much to the delight and laughter of the adults. The one where I look like a madman is actually me chasing a 5 year old boy around after he stuffed ice down my shorts (which seems to be a favorite pasttime for these young whippersnappers!).

Hope all is well. Veronica and I are off to Curl Curl beach to soak up a little sun, but no skin cancer!

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

The Day before Australia Day




Well, as we stated yesterday, we have finally found a place to lay our heads. It is a former hostel/hotel that is now slated to be demolished in the coming year. It was actually supposed to be demolished last July, but due to complications for the developers of the new high rise that will be put in it's place, the property still stands. Sounds enticing, I know, BUT, our place is a block to the beach and we can literally step onto our sidewalk and see the ocean. Oh, and it is dirt cheap. Our roommates consist of a German or Swedish couple (no one is quite sure) who are moving out this Sunday to go back to Europe, and 3 guys from New Zealand, 2 of which are cameramen for TV shows. Unfortunately we have not taken photos yet, but don't you worry, they will be posted soon enough.

Tomorrow is Australia Day, and the whole country stops to throw a massive party. At least this is what we are told. Parades, barbies, concerts, surf carnivals abound. Lucky for us we have a friend of a friend (I guess we can now consider him a friend since we spent an entire day with him and his friends) who has invited us to spend the day with his girlfriend and mates. It shall be a glorious time no doubt, but, these Aussies can really throw down so we are a little worried about Saturday morning.

Some simple observations we have noticed since we have arrived: they love to put spicey balogna on their pizza (what's up with that?), you don't have to tip waiters (so sometimes your service is a tad slower but no worries mate!), everyone here is all about taking public transportation (great for us not feeling like losers since we don't have a car), every Aussie we meet has a THOUSAND suggestions of where we need to go or things we need to do, a lot of people here barely speak any English (not too different from the other places we have lived).

Manly Beach is a brilliant place. It is a quick ferry ride to the city, yet it is removed from the majority of the hustle and bustle of big city life (except on the weekends when Manly becomes packed like a carnival). Our friend Jase lives at the next beach up from us, Freshwater, which is the site where Duke Kahanamoku introduced surfing to Australia. There is a statue of him (which we will soon be visiting) up on the cliffside and the board he rode is displayed at the surf lifesaving club. Great thing about this little tidbit is that it will provide the fodder for my first article as the Australian correspondant for Heavywater Magazine.

Our next post will be a detailed recount of our Australia Day extraordinare. Cheers!

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Viva Australia!


We have arrived in Oz, safe and sound, albeit 2 days late due to an ice storm in Dallas. After spending 6 days in a hostel, we have finally moved into a place in Manly Beach. We are a block from the beach and are accomodations are quite "unique". We will soon post pictures of our place, but first we need to look for jobs! Check back soon mates!