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…