Mussels in Manly are ReDONKulous

Where to begin…. Our loyal followers, this epic adventure has come to a close, but now without a bang. We had no internet at our hostel in Sydney, so this is due to be one massive blog detailing the adventures that were had over the last 4 days.

It all started Sunday night after one heck of a jam-packed day with the boys, Tony and Ryan. That night we actually got back to the Tylers’ place fairly early, but that won’t stop us American gals from staying up ridiculously late! Mrs. Tyler was gracious enough to let us do our laundry at her home, and even offered to wash them herself! Whoa, we just couldn’t make her succumb to the stench of our clothes from the crazy days we have had, especially after they had just been stuffed into our suitcases. As the Tylers’ slept, Sab and I took over the living room with our laundry, blogging, packing and talking. Somewhere around 2:00am we got settled into the bedroom, but not before the biggest shock of the night. Literally! Sabrina was trying to plug her phone charger into the wall, but first had to remove the lamp plug from the outlet. The plastic part of the plug came apart though, and when she reached for the shambles of it still in the wall, electric current jolted her (and her scream jolted me!). I have no idea how the Tylers’ didn’t wake up, but constant time with we crazy Americans must have worn them out. Naturally, after that it was about 3:00 when we finally dozed off, only to wake up half past 6 in order to catch our morning flight to Sydney. In a sleepy haze, we said goodbye to the wonderfully hospitable Tylers, with whom we enjoyed so many conversations (and coffees!), and off we were.

The flight to Sydney was largely uneventful. Tony read while Sab and I napped. Late nights and early mornings is really the only way to do it when you are travelling. Sleep can wait, or is there when it is convenient, but I don’t want to miss anything when I’m exploring a new land! But after a few weeks of this, that first day in Sydney was really low-key. We got out of the airport, hopped a train up to Circular Quay, and then took a ferry over to where we were staying. Ready for this one? MANLY. That’s where we were staying. It’s awesome for 2 reasons: 1) It’s a surfing hot spot. 2) The name, Manly! There was so much fun had with that name. The three of us in some ways have not aged past the age of 7 though, because when a dump truck drove by with the words “Manly Waste” on the side, giggles and pictures ensued. It was pretty stinkin funny!

That really was the day. We just ambled around the streets, exploring the Manly sights (I can’t help it!) and taking it all in. Umm, we’re in Sydney. SYDNEY! All I could think was let’s go hang out with Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban and Hugh Jackman. That night we ended up at this local microbrewery right by Manly Wharf and enjoyed some special beer and appetizers as we overlooked Sydney Harbo(u)r. Cheers to that! Hard to believe everything that has happened has actually happened…





Our sweet hostel, Boardrider, had the primo location. After a dinner of kebabs (pronounced ka-BABs), we headed back for a low key bum movie night of “Love Actually” in our room. Those are the best nights when you can just veg out in your sweats with friends and one Chinese roommate to enjoy a chick flick.

We got a bit of a later start the next day than we had intended, but eh, no worries: I’m on vayCAYtion! After enjoying a flat white and Sabrina’s white mocha on the ferry, we were off to the happenin Taronga Zoo. This place is absolutely baffling in its awesomeness. It’s a sprawling place located right on the Sydney Harbor. We got such a sweet view from our gondola (or skyrail) as we rode up to the zoo entrance. It was an absolutely amazing view of the water, Opera House, Harbor Bridge and the city itself. The craziness began as soon as we entered the park: right at the entrance was a visitors’ center with 3 amazing things in it. The first, was a map of the place. Here I learned even more what a mapman Tony is! He had us in stitches throughout the day with his attachment to that thing, but it did come in handy when we later wanted to make a quick run to Seal and Penguin world! The second awesome thing was these monkey hats they had for kids. We took this as kids at heart, because those were on our heads so incredibly fast! It played perfectly into the third awesome thing here: a picture challenge! Some contest where you take the best picture located somewhere in the zoo and enter to win. I’ll keep you posted on how that one goes! Challenge accepted.





The entire rest of the day we just took over that zoo, enjoying all of the animals! Lions, tigers, bears, seals, penguins, kangaroos, red pandas, mountain goats, wallabies, giraffes, zebras, snakes, gorillas, peacocks. Elephants, Tonys, Sabrinas, and Kristins! The diversity in that zoo is what makes it so fabulous, because there are so many animals to see! Of course, the fact that behind every elephant is a view of the harbor doesn’t hurt either! That day was incredible, but my favorite was the stray peacocks that cruise around the grounds…with Sabrina and Tony chasing after it. Those two jetted off into the grass after this one peacock, that quickly wisened up to the crazies that we are and hid in the trees.

After the day in the wild, it was time to hop the ferry and go off to get some dinner. Tony is an absolute genius for this one though, because in the midst of the surrounding thunderstorm, his craving for adventure and Indian food persevered. “Why not go to Mosman Beach tonight?” Exactly. Why not? Off we go on the ferry, and after a short power nap, we were ready to take on all that Mosman had to offer. Which unfortunately, by the ferry wharf was not too much! With the rain pouring down, we forego the bus and begin our hike up the hill into town. I’ll just guess it was just short of a mile that we walked, but it was so much fun! We were cracking up the entire time, just joking back and forth about Mosman vs. Manly. Rain will not stop us in our quest for Indian! We made our way to Military Rd., found a bus stop and on the advice of this woman we passed and asked in the street, headed off towards Neutral Bay.

Interjection: here is where another interesting fact about Tony was learned. A lot of men out there will not stop and ask for directions until the perils of not being fed become dire enough. Not Tony! This boy will stop anyone and everyone to find out the best local place, how to get there, best way to get there, best thing to order, best way to get back to the ferry and bus stop etc. etc. etc. This quest would not have been complete without this little addition from Tony, and the three of us had an absolute blast getting wherever we pleased to go. We could have never found Indian and been stuck with McDonalds and it wouldn’t have mattered- this was a top night. Eventually, on the advice of many, we found Mantra, this Indian place in Neutral Bay, and wow, are they amazing!! The place is a dazzling sea of Indian jewels and sashes of pinks, reds, oranges, and yellows. Like wet rats, we scampered in amidst a wave of laughs, and were seated at this table in the corner. Soon we had a sea of “Naner” bread, chick peas, green peas, spiced chicken, creamy lamb, sizzling beef at our table with a bottle of Barossa Valley shiraz wine. Or as Tony/Ricky Martin would say, “She-RAZ, she-RAZ!”

With the warm and vibrant ambiance of Mantra, the good times followed. This is one night I will always remember just because of the adventure and heartfelt conversation we three shared. It was a night that we just got to understand each other more, and connect with a variety of discussions. The waiter and waitress kept coming over to pamper Sabrina and I with all sorts of stick on jewels and bindys. It was fantastic! Maybe it was the wine or the adventurous quest through the rainy streets but that night was the highlight of Sydney in my book.

After a delicious dinner and photo shoot with the waiter and waitress, we jumped back on the bus and headed back to our uber-masculine hostel. It’s funny looking back, we were so amped up from the night, that our original plan of just heading to bed was quickly replaced with the genius idea of hanging out in the common room. This really tends to happen a lot! Decked in our comfy clothes, we head to the common room which consisted of 15 loveseats and couches arranged around a TV mounted on the wall. A few other people were hanging out, so we just joined them to watch a bit of TV. Tony’s roommates were all in the common room, which was funny because it all happened completely unintentional. Jimmy, the older Indian guy, and Marty and Paul, two Irish brothers became our buddies in Sydney. No appealing shows were on the TV menu, so we found Click and were determined to fix the DVD player to watch it. It really sounds like the beginning of a joke, “2 American girls, 1 Kiwi, 1 Indian and 2 Irishman were in a room…” How many nationalities does it take to fix a tv? Apparently, four. But it worked and Click it was.

The next day, was sadly the last full day in Sydney. Hard to believe, because up until Tuesday night I thought that it was Monday and we still had 2 days left! But we just became more determined to live the day to its fullest, and that we did! First came our exploration of the Opera House. This place in incredible in its architecture, and I think water just makes anything better. We had a photo shoot all around the House with the bay in the background, and then proceeded into the neighboring botanical gardens. Our bathroom, (or “toilet” if we want to be an Aussie),finding skills need some refining though, because after 20 minutes of walking in the park, there was none to be found! Thankfully later we came across nice people in the Coca Cola building that let us use theirs. No worries, we made it back to the gardens to hear Tony’s nutrition lecture. He is a nutrition nerd like I am, and so we were treated to a lecture that he had been asked to put together, under a tree in the botanical gardens of Sydney even. It was funny though, midway through the rain started to come, so we high tailed it off for shelter. Ironic, though, that the only place we could find was a McDonald’s. Oh Mackers, you and your Supersized nutrition lectures. It was a really thought out lecture though, he did a fantastic job! Kind of not fair though because I’m such a sucker for health info!

After that came the Kristinizing part of the day. Hands down, the best way to explore a city is to forego the map and play Straight-Left-Right when you come to an intersection. Easy directions: come to an intersection, randomly choose a direction, and walk! Sabrina relinquished Tony from the confines of the city map and off we were. Sydney really has so much to offer! Beautiful city with a variety of architecture and history wrapped up in a sprawling setup. We came across the historic Mint house, Sydney tower, the convict museum, the Australian museum, Hyde Park and more- it was beautiful! But then, Tony’s relinquishment could only last so long. In the Mint house, he couldn’t help himself and the map and direction asking came back. It was hilarious, but incredibly helpful! The lady pointed us in the direction of Darling Harbor to enjoy the sights of the bay. It was such a beautiful place! I’m noticing a trend with this, but yes, right there on the water with all of the buildings made it just spectacular. We walked around, got some Subway and just took it all in. The Maritime museum is there too so we saw some huge anchors, submarines (not the sandwich!) and old navy ships. After a bit of souvenir shopping we settled in at this local place for a drink and more conversation. With the setting sun, pink lights of the bar and moonlight dancing across the water, it was another fantastic night of conversation and laughs. Perfect way to begin the last night in the city.

We enjoyed an array of pizza for dinner, and headed back to Manly for Karaoke night at this local place! That ferry ride over was something to behold, though. The night sky had settled over the city, and the colorful lights decorated the sky. Sabrina and I went to the balcony on the back of the ferry to watch the last bit of the city disappear. Words don’t really do it justice, but suffice to say, it was a moment of awe and disbelief. The view we had was the picture we had looked at before for so long, just enchanted by the fact that we were actually there. Yeah, you can get use to the culture and area, but never will I not be amazed that we did this trip together, and we were directly across the world from home. Amazing! That’s where our reminiscing was.

After our moment, we packed and the three of us headed to the place on the corner for some karaoke. I don’t even know what to say about this night, except it was the perfect capper to the trip. Tony’s roomies, Marty, Paul and Jimmy joined us and our little group hung out there late into the night! Tony put in to do Brown Eyed Girl and Sabrina and I chose the go-to woman anthem of Shania Twain, Man I Feel Like A Woman. Sadly, our numbers didn’t come up before karaoke closed, but we still enjoyed belting out others’ songs and enjoying some more conversation. Marty and Paul became our Irish buddies and entertained us with tales of potatoes, travels and of course, love. In the middle of our conversation, Jimmy completely threw me off when he sidled up to our table, waving a 50 dollar bill in my face. I had no idea what he was saying with the music, and that made for a hilarious moment to Tony! Hahaha, and the rest of us. Jimmy was a nice guy, wanting to buy us all a round of drinks to celebrate the last night there together. Tony the trooper took off to go get some sleep while Sabrina and I and our new friends hung out some more.

Jimmy made for a few hilarious moments now, come to think of it! Marty and Paul, the two Irish brothers were chatting with Sabrina and I about their many travels and various Irishisms when Jimmy interrupts, points at Paul and goes, “Harry Potter! Harry Potter!” We four shared a look and then burst into giggles at this! Marty then starts making finger glasses going, “Ooo-ahhh-oooo!” That night was incredible! But 3:30am rolled around and it was time to call it a night (of course not after Jimmy tried to coax us all out for kebabs!). So many laughs with our new friends, that night really capped off the trip well. Just…..amazing!


Hard to believe it, but the epic adventure came and went. We’re both so thankful to have the blog and 1,121 pictures to relive the good times. This trip just could not have been any better! Literally, Sabrina was the one and only travel partner I could have had to make this trip the caliber that it was. 3 weeks together of continual laughs, girl talks, and adventures. Our craziness combined was a whirlwind through Australia! Best buddies who aren’t afraid to be complete dorks everywhere we go, and take on whatever the city we’re in has to offer. The friends made along the way were such an experience, that I will be reliving over and over through pictures!!

I will be 90 years old, toothless in my rocking chair with my mumu billowing in the breeze, telling my great-grandkids about 2 friends, 1 country, countless people = one epic adventure!

Stay classy.

Myponga, Dust the Shoulders Off

Today was a jam packed day that began when the alarm went off at 8am accompanied by some groans. Then there was some rolling over a few times before the painful moment of getting out of the cocoon of warmth that Kristin and I had formed throughout the night. We eventually made it out of bed since the boys were picking us up at 9. We headed upstairs for our morning ritual of cuppa and a chat with the Tylers. We ended up having a later start than we intended since we took our time drinking coffee with the Tylers’, Ryan, and Tony up until an hour after we had initially planned to jet out the door.

The master plan had been setup for the day and our first stop on the list was the quaint German town of Hahndorf. We met up with Nicole and Cynthia for a bit of brekkie and some more coffee in a cozy café then jumped across the street to a museum that gave a bit of background to history of the settlement. They showcased a few local artists with some brightly colored art, no odd pictures like the modern art from Brisbane - “paint this!” – The museum also included some unqiue articles such as a black wedding dress! You’d think a woman was going to her funeral as the subheading read, “It was a time to put aside girlish frivolity to become a sober matron.” The dress could also be worn at other important occasions and was meant to be practical. I guess every girl needs that “little black dress” but on your wedding day? Pa-lease…then Kristin reminded us that our favorite character from Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingles got married in a black dress – go figure. As we went throughout the rest of town, we tasted some fudge, practically bought out all the boomerangs from the souvenir shop owned by a pretty cool Greek woman, played around with these cool oven mits shaped like Australian animals and marveled at the pig turning over on the spit roasting in the middle of the sidewalk. Would you believe that we also saw Dundee face first buried in the mud? Not to worry, no relation to the Kristin Dundee we have all learned to love.

Our time in Hahndorf had to end for us to get the next stop for the day: 4th of July BBQ at the Magers!!! After meeting Mark the Aussiecan at headquarters and talking about our love for America, he took some pity on us travelers and made it a special day for us by decking out the whole house in red, white and blue. The tablecloth was a collage of American flags and he had Sousa booming in the background as we ate some classic burgers and fries. We topped it off with mint chocolate ice-cream, my fav, and a beautiful tale of how the Magers fell in love across the seas. God had a hand in their love story that basically sealed the deal that they would end up at the same feast site, that despite having 25 standbys ahead of him for a flight to the feast when the time came no one was there and they got straight on the plane! They wrote romantic letters to one another and put them in binders upon their marriage. We were lucky enough to read a few paragraphs which left Kristin and I sighing those girly sighs and the two Mager boys saying, “Dad you were a love machine!” haha

We bid farewell to the wonderful Aussiecan family and made a quick pit stop at the Olive Shop. They had lots of olives to sample; herbs, garlic, chili, traditional. We bought some stuffed olives and Olivemite then headed to Victor Harbour. Now a discussion ensued on how to pronounce/spell harbor. They spell it with the “u” and pronounce it “Haba” or “Abba” so we naturally had dancing queen moves incorporated into the conversation. We had a nice bit of cruising time today in the car learning that no wokka is another form of no worries, ridgadijjy means authentic , a jackaroo is a farmhand and . We saw a sign or heard from Tony or Ryan about Myponga. It is a small town somewhere nearby and when we heard it busted out in giggles and said who’s ponga? Myponga or Yourponga? The pure brilliance of this phrase is that ponga can be anything and it works! Just before writing this blog we looked up the real meaning and it means high cliffs or according to some other locals, ponga means smelly.

At Victor Harbor we went on a walk around Granite Island where there are supposed to be some penguins. It was the perfect time of day when the sun is low in the sky and you have just an hour or so before the sun sets. We strolled along the long bridge to the island while the trolley would pass being pulled by a massive Clydesdale. We took some stellar self-timed pictures on the rocks, climbed a few gangly old trees, jumped around, sprinted/raced each other, piggybacked and hid in some of the caves, watched the sea waves crashing onto the cliff and boulders below, all the while trying to spot some whales since tis the season. We also found that the South Pole was a little over 3000m… away!

After we watched the sunset we walked back to the car, and had good ol Tom Tom lead us to the Beach Hotel Café for some scrumptious pizza with Beth, Brian and Ben. From the time we last saw Ben to tonight he has nicknamed me Miss America and Kristin Miss Moo Moo! It was a blast just hanging out over some tasty food after a jam packed day with the fun-loving couple and lively “Ben the Builder.” Beth now has a plan to get Kristin hooked up with someone, have her move over here and we can all work on a vineyard making some fantastic wine or be professional goobers.

The hour or so drive home was complemented with some Norah Jones and Buble – cds courtesy of Mr. Tyler. Of course, on the way back there were lots of Myponga references dropped, but the best came from our newly gangsta friend Ryan who quipped: "Myponga, go on dust the shoulders off." In an Aussie accent of course (which we learn is accomplished just by adding mate at the end of even a British accent- go figure!). We just finished a load of laundry, a cuppa of tea and a bicky and now it’s time to pack for Sydney!!!!

Backstreet’s Back…with fritters!

Saturday's Post:

Briquette pancakes were bunk this morning (East coasters say “bust”). Last night at supper, Sabrina had made the plans that she and I would proceed to the boys place early this morning to whip up a batch of buttermilk pancakes for them. At 9:45am. Pshawwwwwww! This morning rolls around, and in the dim, early light (yes, you know the kind that just lulls you back into REM mode) Sabrina rolls over and goes, “It’s 8:47!” There was no way we were leaving the warm cocoon of our bed to hop into the shower, rush through our coffee to get up and go within the hour. One phone call to Tony later, she and I were snuggled back into bed where we remained until *cough* 10:00am.

It has become our routine to relax in the sitting room over cup after cup of coffee, and enjoy some stories about life. This morning, we were treated to the love story of the Tylers’, followed by that of Beth and Brian. Oh man, it was just like a movie for both! Sabrina and I had so many “Oh and then what!?!” moments, we ended up talking our way through brekkie. Funny how that seems to happen so much… At a quarter ‘til 12:00pm, I noticed the time, and seeing that we needed to leave for church just before 1:00, I went and hopped into the shower for a quick 6 minutes. Oddly enough, it was right after this that we had our first damsel in distress moment: after my shower, I had my head flipped over to blow dry my hair when Sabrina slipped past me to duck into the shower stall. La de da, I’m drying my hair on a peaceful Sabbath morning when I hear, “Ahhhhhh! It’s in there! Woohooohooooooo!” I freak out, run into the shower area and there’s Sabrina pointing into the stall with a hilariously horrified look on her face. Turns out there was a big black spider chillin in the corner…and also turns out that apparently he was in there the entire time I was!! I’m glad he wasn’t too friendly… Mrs. Tyler heard our ruckus and came through the bathroom door, fly flapper in hand. As soon as she heard it was a spider though, Mr. Tyler was the one who came to the rescue. It’s interesting, again we had a full circle moment today because within the last few days the topic of spiders has come up, and always quickly followed by Mrs. Tyler’s and Sabrina’s contempt for them.

Thankfully the rest of the day had no surprises like that. We made it to church in Adelaide and had an absolutely fabulous day. It’s always such a wonderful experience to get to visit another church area because there are always such interesting people to meet and fellowship with. We had a very poignant sermon by Mr. Tyler that touched on a few topics she and I had discussed on one of our many airplane trips (funny how that happens). After services, we both talked our way through snacks and cuppa too! But it was totally worth forgoing food to have the conversations that we had, and to share the time with the brethren that we did. Each and every one was so warm and welcoming, eager to hear our stories and to tell theirs, and to discuss various topics which just made the day what it should have been. The Montgomery’s graciously shared their delicious chicken soup and bread with us, and my Pip impression came out more than once. And while we were washing dishes, Ellie joined us in a rendition of “Happy Working Song.” At the tail end of it though, we heard a bit of a chuckle and turn to see Mr. Rob Tyler thoroughly enjoying our “ah ah AHHH’s.” An absolutely fantastic day of conversation and fellowship- everyone needs to come visit the Adelaide area.

As night fell and the clock ticked to 9:00pm, we all pulled an Elvis and left the building. We had plans to go over to the guys’ place and watch that movie, “The Ultimate Gift.” But as happens, plans always change! Just short of 10:00pm, we walk into the home of Tony, Ryan and Paul. We got the grand tour of the house, and I think the backyard was my favorite! It’s perfect for a BBQ. But, after yakkin all day like typical women, Sabrina and I were famished and started snooping a bit through their kitchen. These boys are quite perceptive though, and all of a sudden we see potatoes in the sink, a mixing bowl on the counter and a frying pan warming up on the stove. Ryan was treating us all to potato fritters! It was a really special moment for him to enlighten us Americans with the family recipe of fritters as tears began to swell in his eyes. Onions, shmonions. Wow but those things hit the spot! Nice and hearty, and we had an array of condiments to try on them. I think the crowd favorite was tomato sauce though, or as Paul put it, “toMOTTo on the poTAYto.”

Fully replenished with some fuel, the movie idea went out the window as tails of rock-n-roll dancing filled the air. The music started playing, and Sabrina and Kristin’s dance session began. This whole trip Sabrina has wanted to bring the gift of dance to the Adelaide area, and so she and Tony started with a bit of swing dancing. And then came Paul’s line dance, followed by the one…..the only…..Crocodile Rock! Yes, we got to break it down to a little Elton John in the boys’ living room! They all picked it up pretty quickly, and so tomorrow we shall see if it was retained! The movie was out, but man it was such a fun night just goofing around like that after some delicious fritters. Oh, and did I mentioned that most of our music tonight was Backstreet Boys?

I think Morgan, one teenage girl in the area has brought the love that is Backstreet Boys to this area. It really brought back the whole NSYNC vs BSB debate, but the original BSBs prevail here. We turned into 13 year old girls again, belting out the words and talking about the dreamy Nick Carter… it was great stuff!

Backstreets Back- ALRIGHT!

Aussiecans About Town

Friday's Post:

Our night last night ended about 1am so our morning began a bit later today around 8:45. We showered, and skipped up the stairs to find Mrs. Tyler in the kitchen ready for some French press coffee to start our day. We are really enjoying having the time to sit and chat but decided we would remember to have some breakfast today. We treated ourselves to some muesli as Tony made his way over to pick us up. He bought some beautiful purple flowers that matched our purple outfits this morning, really brightening up the rainy day. As we chatted about our dinner last night and busting out the Webster’s, Mrs. Tyler tried to pull a bit of trivia on us – “what is a sifleur?” Anyone? Anyone? Well if you whistle a happy tune and it is even the slightest bit recognizable, then you may be a sifleur, or a whistler.

We jumped in the coral sea colored car and cruised through Adelaide passing by some lush views of green hillsides and views that stretched out to the ocean! In Australia the winter time is actually the time where the most greenery comes out while the summer is more of a desert climate. We pulled into headquarters and had the master tour thanks to Tony. We started with strolling through the extensive gardens full of herbs, avocado plants, carrots, beets, onions, garlic and the list goes on. Tony made us try a slice of lemon from their lemon tree, can’t believe he suckered us into it. The headquarters are now two buildings from the 1860’s so it has that historic feel when you walk in. The ground shifts during the seasons so they have to patch up some cracks in the walls every few years. The first room we walked into we were met by Paul and Mark. Mark calls himself an Aussiecan since he has dual citizenship. He totally understands us Americans and our love for pumpkin pie and fireworks on 4th of July so he invited us over for some lunch to play some Souza and spark some sprinklers. The recently bought the house next door and have a mighty fine lecture room coming along that I think would be excellently dualed as a dance floor…right Rob? J We met up with Ryan, Mr. Tyler, Rob Tyler, Mark, and Paul, and found that indeed they do some work in the beautiful setting of Clarendon.

From there we were onto the next part of the day, wine tasting! Ryan joined us, he seems to have an appreciation for wine too. Our first stop at the Chapel Hill there was a bunch of friendly Aussie’s with one girl that knew her stuff! She gave us all the suggestions and we got started with a peppery red. There were a few grapes I was unfamiliar with such as the temperilla, nicknamed tempremental wine which turned out to be pretty tasty in some places. We got the granache, a Spanish grape that has been growing here for a while now that has a pretty smooth feel on the palate. It would have tasted savory with a piece of chocolate ganache, which is what is what I also kept calling that type of wine. We tried at least 5 different types at each winery and some of these are pretty ample samplings! The second place there was a talkative woman who served us our tastings sharing her knowledge about the various grapes and joining in on our creative thoughts on describing the wines. When in doubt say, “mmm raspberries.” At Samuel’s Gorge there are no small tastings of wine but rather a good fourth of a glass tastings! Initially we were thinking 5 wineries but by the second we were rethinking and thought one more might just top us all off! Our last stop was Rosemount where we found ourselves laughing and really soaking up the flavors of the wines. We strolled around and viewed some artwork displayed along the barrels and even had a sip of port. Basically, wine was our tasty lunch and we headed back to the Tylers’ for a nice Sabbath meal which more than satisfied these two travelers.

Bethany, Brian their son Ben along with Paul were already at the house with the smell of lamb emanating throughout the house. We had excellent conversation and cuisine and it was a true feast of friends. At the end of the night Mr. Tyler showed us the rocket joke with the tea bag and after a few attempts we saw a really amazing occurrence. Just ask us and we’ll try to show you the joke in person J Tomorrow we get to meet everyone at church services and hopefully get a catch up on some of our rest.

Vicissitudes of Grid-Iron

Wow! After this spectacular day, my jaws definitely need a rest. Typical women, we just love to gab (and oddly enough, that was a hot topic of conversation too!). But first I’ll update you on yesterday. We were lacking the internet, but you didn’t miss too much. We hung around Adam and Louise’s home, packing up all of our stuff before heading off to the airport to catch a flight to Adelaide. We spent the first hour in heavy girl talk before I decided my eyes needed a rest. In my aisle seat, I leaned my head to the side facing the aisle and let those heavy eyelids of mine droops for a few seconds…only to mid-flutter get startled by the face of our flight attendant directly in front of me! I have no idea exactly what he said, something along the lines of “Bored?”, but I just nodded in my shock. It worked though, because to break the boredom he whipped out a sweet magazine to occupy our time.

He was feeling mighty feisty because a little later on, he started trivia games via the intercom. This quizzical little man promised a special treat to whomever correctly answered his questions: #1) What two airports are the busiest airports in the world? (Highest air traffic) Answer: Chicago O’Hare…okay, yeah that makes sense. And….Atlanta?!? I had no idea Hotlanta was up there ahead of Amsterdam, London, or JFK. Question #2) How many windows are on the airplane? You could tell those that were bored and relishing the on-flight entertainment because heads started swiveling around to frantically count the rows of seats and neighboring windows. Correct answer? 60. And Sabrina and I totally scored those special chocolate treats…and even a new Facebook friend. Honestly, I’m going to be so disappointed next flight when there is no chocolate, trivia, or a card with a name to remember the fb addition… Kudos Virgin Blue!

That night after the delayed, but interesting flight, we received such a warm welcome at the Tylers' home. We got such a great laugh when one of the first comments after we walked through the door was: “Wow, they’re tall!” It was so nice to finally meet them after hearing their name in announcements and whatnot. It was such an enjoyable night of full conversation over some delicious taco soup. Honestly, everyone should get the recipe from her! They are such hospitable and thoughtful people, and wow we always manage to have such a laugh together. As I type that I realize that is such a recurrent theme in our travels!

Although we had the option to sleep in separate rooms, Sab and I are pretty tight and love having our goofy girl talks before we go to bed! But, we later learned that sharing served a useful purpose other than silly girl times. It threw us for such a loop when we were getting ready for bed and Mrs. Tyler pops into our room with the quip, “I’m sure you can reach the blankets up in the closet. You’ll probably need them, it’s going to be 2 tonight. Goodnight!” Sab and I look at each other, longingly thinking of the 28 degree left behind in Cairns, and burst out laughing. Seriously? 2!?!? They weren’t kidding when they said those arctic blasts reached up into Adelaide!

Naturally, we snuggled up to stay warm (after some more talking…), so useful purpose was served. I again woke up with a numb left side because apparently last night I did not move one bit. Nope, I took myself a little mini-coma last night and just did not move a muscle – I was sleeping so hard! Waking up this morning took a bit, but once we were awake, the day was a go.

Mrs. Tyler has become an avid reader of this blog (Hi Mrs. Tyler!) and so she has become aware of my coffee trials. The problem I have been having seems to come down to two factors: 1) They use espresso instead of American drip coffee, so everything is espresso with hot water or milk added in. 2) They have no idea what liquid cream is. It’s interesting to me the standards in each coffee, and on each side of the great cream debate, we think the other is crazy for not having our style of cream! Something so simple….But Mrs. Tyler came to the coffee rescue this morning, determined to bring an end to my coffee debacle. So we took a spoonful of their thick cream (it has more of a yogurt texture) and whipped it in with a bit of milk. Later Mr. Tyler came through the kitchen and added in more of the cream, and made it an absolutely delicious addition to the French pressed coffee, but he has yet to try it. Maybe tomorrow morning….

We sat in the living room this morning to enjoy our fantastic coffee and get started on the conversation. We’ve realized we are all talkers, and so it’s a beautiful game of give and take when we get ready for convo-mode. Apparently we are all quick learners though because we talked clear through brekkie! You really have to love it when you can sit down with people you have just met and enjoy a conversation like that. A couple of hours later, in the midst of our chat this fireball of energy came bursting through the room. Bethany and her son Ben had arrived, and this kid is such an amazing character! Not a shy bone in his body! The fact that Sabrina and I are these strange American women didn’t faze him at all, and instead it was just two more people he could entertain. I think he must have recently developed a fascination with cows, because he and I were back and forth about milking and moos. Absolutely precious little guy. He got to hang out with his grandma today while Beth took Sabrina and me shopping.




What was originally just supposed to be a lunch thankfully turned into an all day extravaganza for Tony. He joined us this morning and was a phenomenal addition to the events of the day. It was an overcast day which coincided perfectly with Beth’s plans to take us on to the mall in Marion. I felt like the elderly people back in Seminole, FL who go to the mall neighboring the retirement home to walk laps for exercise. But hey, it beats a treadmill any day! Beth is an absolute trip, and our goofball sides connected instantly.



That is one thing we have heard a good deal about is how animated and energetic we (and thereby Americans) are in our manners and speech. Tony can really put it diplomatically when really he is just saying: You two are dorks. Full on goofballs. On the one hand, I feel like we must apologize to Australia for me and Sabrina combining our personalities in this way! But Beth today proved that Australians can be just as crazy and out there as we are. Moseying through the mall today, I was thankful for the times when we were either sniffing candles at Dusk, or eating lunch so that I could catch my breath from all the laughing! (sidenote: Sabrina and I were able to carry on conversation today during our meal! Progress has been made, folks!) Absolute hysterics spliced with some fantastic conversation is really the best way to get to know each other- at least it was the case today.

After a day of walking and giggling, we made our way back to the Tylers’ place only to quickly leave again. Local brethren in the area, the Montgomery’s, had invited Tony, Sabrina and I over for supper. I am just always blown away by how hospitable, warm and welcoming people can be. Cynthia and Ryan, two other youngins in the area also joined, so the dinner table was how I like it: nice and full of folks! Mrs. Montgomery had prepared a scrumptious meal of lamb, potatoes and pumpkin, beans, carrots, and garlic bread to top it off. Really interesting conversation about a variety of topics, and even Enchanted made its debut. Oddly enough we weren’t the ones to bring it up though! Their family had recently watched it, and so naturally out came the impression of Pip pantomiming. Ohhh, again, I’m almost sorry, Australia! It really was just such a special night, and we thoroughly enjoyed the chance to share a meal with that wonderful group of folks.



Over a cuppa, the conversation turned to sports. Rugby is the Australian pastime, and wow is it intense! The great debate is between 3 types of the sport…and that is really all of the details that I could give you. Rather we were blown away by the quizzical looks we were given when we had no idea what grid-iron was. Absolutely no clue, and if another American out there has an idea what it is, I am sorry that we misrepresented you. But to my knowledge, that term has never, EVER, been used in the States. It was hilarious though, because know what it is? Football. Why is it called grid-iron? Because the yard lines on the field resemble that of a pancake griddle. Seriously, Australians are really simple and point-blank about things. Mr. Montgomery broke out the American Webster’s dictionary to define grid-iron and football, and on this quest we all learned something new. The 3rd definition for football is: something over course of vicissitude. Say wha??? Good thing we already had the dictionary out, so we flipped on over to the V’s and lo and behold! Vicissitude is the progression from one thing into another…So here’s to attempting to get our new word into conversation this weekend. We’ll let you know how it goes.

I thought it was quite poignant that my preferred sport, baseball is universal and a term not convoluted by cultures…way to go, national pastime.

So now after this, both my jaw and my fingers need a rest, so the tales from today are coming to a close. We need our rest because tomorrow’s adventures are sure to be amazing- you can’t beat wandering through Australian vineyards and wine tasting! As long as it is a positive vicissitude of weather…

I’m on VayCAYtion!

Well, every trip over a few days needs a day like we had today. This whole time that we’ve been here, Adam has been telling us to let our hair down- we’re on vacation! After last night catching up with Heather and working up some fantastic plans to go to the Gold Coast, we alerted Adam and Louise to this awesome plan of ours to catch a bus, to catch a train, to catch another bus to walk to the beach. When it was met with big eyes and “Ohh….well, okay!” we really should have known. Waking up this morning in our nice comfy clothes and the warmth of the blankets, the plan started to fade. Well, let’s see how we feel after we upload pictures (which yes, by the way, pictures are finally all uploaded so the world can breathe a sigh of relief. And all thank Brenda again!)

But nope, nothing changed except we liked our pajamas even more. Hey- everyone needs one of these days and we loved every minute of it! So after some toast and fresh squeezed orange juice, we curled back up in bed and decided to satisfy our Disney-song love. For some reason, this trip we have been belting out a little Enchanted and acting out the Pip pantomime scene like nobody’s business. Thanks to a little stealth googling on Sabrina’s part, we managed to find a website that let us watch Enchanted. In bed. Yeah, it was awesome! “How do you KNOOOOWWWWW!”

After our Disney fix, we just really enjoyed our time to hang out here today. We caught up on some reading, got our pictures up, caught up on emails and the like- it was pretty sweet. Louise had made some really delicious casserole that we enjoyed for lunch with Adam’s favorite drink: Wild Turkey and coke. Then later on in the afternoon we thought we would try to head into the city to do a little souvenir shopping and explore the last bit of Brisbane, but oddly enough none of the buses would stop! We sat at the bus stop for about a half an hour, and yeah here you have to flag down a bus like you do a taxi, but even with that they passed us on by. We took it as a sign to head back to the house, enjoy a little Wild Turkey and coke and wait around for Adam and Louise to get home from work.

They had an evening planned out in the city for Louise’s mom’s 50th birthday, and so it worked out perfectly that we could just catch a ride with them. We really have a blast anytime we are all together, just cracking up at the littlest things while we have some really thoughtful conversation. Sabrina and I were treated to their wedding video, a pretty stellar compilation with an obviously fantastic videographer. It was so beautiful and we got to see a few of the people that we’ll get to meet tomorrow in Adelaide.

But, we couldn’t spend our last night here in Brisbane just chilling at the house, so we hitched a ride with the Jennings’ into the city and met up with Heather once more. The square on Queen’s street that has become our meeting place always gets the same reaction from us when we get together: a gleeful smile, an excited “Heeeeey!!” followed by at least 20 minutes of standing there gabbing. There are always stories to share and we are just a bit too amped up to wait! Unlike the night before, we tore ourselves away before the hour ticked by and we strolled on down the Riverwalk to The Coffee Club for some delicious salads. Seriously, that will be one sad thing when I head back to America- they eat their food like I love it! Food tastes so fresh and actually tastes like food as opposed to butter and sauces. Mmmmm, gotta love it!

Conversation turned to the topic of dancing and how we all love to bust a move out – and thankfully, we have no shame because in the middle of the restaurant (and granted, there were only a handful of other people there) Heather, the ultimate dance teacher, breaks out some sweet moves for Sabrina and I to master. Oh the “Tabletop” was by far the best, and we told some stories through our salsa moves. It was pretty hilarious to try to be the guy in these dance ensembles, but we owned it.

Dinner with Heather was absolutely fantastic, and after a bit of walking around we decided to reminisce on our sweet photo shoot (hint: one took place right before the dancing dinner session. Again, thank you Brenda and the inventor of the self-timer feature!) Heather had her laptop in her computer so I handed her my SIM card that she slipped into her computer slot, ready to upload, point and laugh. Ahh but unfortunately me and the camera have had some issues this trip! The card didn’t fit the slot, and got lost in the abyss that is her Toshiba. Eh, no worries mate! 15 minutes later, there was some crazy finagling taking place in the backseat of her car, with her in a sea of bent bobby pins, clips and whatever else we had on hand that might be useful in the card’s retrieval. Visions of the Best Buy Express came to mind, and all I could think was, “But I haven’t thought bad thoughts about that machine today!!” Finally, after a slick two handed double bobby pinned, 3 armed attack, the card was released and safely back in my camera. What a relief!

A little later, around 9:00 we got the call that Adam and Louise had finished up their dinner down the street. The last night in Brisbane was coming to a close, but not without a few more laughs. Poor Adam had to drag us gasbags away because the stories just kept coming! But hey mate, we’re on vacation!!

Brizzy, Sweet As

This morning we woke up to bid farewell to two good looking people – aka the Jennings were off to work. We had fresh squeezed orange juice with the oranges straight from the tree in their backyard! Louise mentioned how fantastic a bit of Vegemite on toast with butter was and that we should try it, so we decided to be a bit adventurous and go for a dab. It was creamy and good, but should be reserved to sample in small amounts. We got ready for the day, played a bit with Tibby (their adorable dog), watched some news etc. and were on our way to the city!

The bus station is just a stone throw away from the Jennings so we skipped up the road, caught the 204 and took it straight to the center of the town to where the windy river meets with lots of shops. As per the recommendation of many, we walked the famous river walk and stopped into the museums. Before that we needed a pick-me-up so we decided to grab a bit of coffee.
Coffee in Brisbane seems to be a tough thing to get right for Kristin. She is the simple customer over in America with nothing fancy, just straight up coffee with a bit of half and half. But so far this quest has failed, and she has ended up with either a cup of hot cream or full espresso. I told her to just give it up and get an espresso drink, which are quite delicious here such as skinny cappuccinos. I decided to try an espresso drink with marshmallows, not as sweet as you would think which is good and it hit the spot. But I think Kristin is going to get it right as tonight a few calls were made and we figure she needs to order a “long black with a bit of milk.” So we shall see…

We hit up the Modern Art Museum where there were some, as there are always in modern art museums, very interesting showcases. I enjoyed the Aboriginal Art section with bright fiery colors but also found the picture of what a man sees when he pokes himself in the eye…a very funny concept. The picture was a big black dot with red outer rim on the left and a smaller yellow circle to the right, or the light you see when you get poked in the eye. This artist probably had to poke himself in the eye multiple times before completing his masterpiece. When we walked into one room there was an enormous sculpture of a forlorn woman in bed that was like something out of Ripley’s. She would be a good match for Goliath or the Jolly Green Giant. A man also put up 9 TV screens showing pictures of John Wayne films. I know Grandfather Peterson would appreciate that one! The most calming part of the day was when we entered the “Song Dong” exhibit. They had massive stones in a dimly lit room with a video of the artist practicing calligraphy to soothing music. On the side were containers of water and calligraphy brushes so that you could interactively practice your calligraphy skills with a key on the stones. I brushed out the numbers and the symbols for happiness and longevity. Kristin brushed out lucky and harmony.

After our brains began to whirl from all the modern art, we walked a bit more through the park area singing songs from Enchanted. We stopped by a river café as the sun began to go down. Yes, the sun sets over here around 5pm! We took lots of pictures of the bridges, pools that people swim in along the river and the beautiful walkway that has a canopy of purple flowers covering overhead.

We went to Queens Street for some shopping and realized Heather Hirst would be close by and getting off work so we met up with her for dinner. It was a great run across the square and hug meeting followed by a catching up chat session standing in the middle of the hustle and bustling that lasted over an hour before we realized we should get some food. We grabbed a bite outside under some heaters, then walked to another place for a pitcher. She filled us in on Australian culture, such as zero tolerance for driving over the speed limit, even 1km! We got to hear more details about Shelley’s wedding, what it’s like working as a structural engineer with Australian construction workers. Apparently they are really respectful to women. The whole evening we were cracking up as Heather keeps you in stitches whenever she tells you a story. We saw where she worked, rode the marble elevators to use the nice bathrooms and rode home to the Jennings in the company car.

Not sure what the day holds tomorrow but we plan to live it up! Oh Brizzy…