2 weeks in

Sorry its been so long since I've written! Since the last I had talked to you, I had taken off to Australia with Jen, Gary, and Ruby. The past two weeks has been quite the adventure to say the least! Our east coast tour of Australia will forever be in my mind as one of the most fascinating experiences I've ever had in my life. Now as I'm writing this, the boys have gone and Jen and I are sitting in our hostel soaking up the internet we haven't had and trying to piece together some kind of life here down under for the next 12 or so months. As soon as the boys started packing this morning in our hotel room it became all too real that now it was time to grow up and face reality. However, in the middle of my search for jobs and apartments my mind randomly reverts back to all the memories we made since arriving here that Tuesday, August 28th...

First we arrived in Sydney and coerced Dora at the Europcar International Terminal to upgrade us from our Hyundai Getz into something that would actually fit all 6 of our suitcases. I don't know what we were thinking, driving on the left is hard enough without having to fiddle with the stick shift on the wrong side!!! Ruby drove first and after making Dora take 27 shots of us all piled in we were off, on the left, into downtown Sydney. (Sydney CBD, as the locals call it) We spent the day walking around The Rocks, soaking up all the surroundings from the opera house to the harbour bridge and finishing it off with a nice meal of Kangaroo and Crocodile at Wolfies. It was a good day. The next day we took a cab over to Bondi, one of the worlds most famous beaches. From there we walked at least 5 miles to the Westfield shopping center, enjoyed a VB and Tooheys new, then proceeded to get into the most dangerous cab in the entire world. We almost ran over at least 7 pedestrians, hopped a few curbs, and went the wrong way over the Harbour bridge. Twice. All the while the cabbie was saying 'shit shit shit' under his breath. Let me out here, its fine.

The next week or so was a compilation of hotels, hostels, and hours and hours in the car. We visited Surfers Paradise (Ripleys, and the ultimate perfection of Phase 10 - which I won both times), Brisbane ('thats a completely different bridge' and nutella calzones) then eventually up to Airlie Beach - the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands. It was there we realized that Americans simply do not travel enough. The term 'on holiday' in the states means a 3 day weekend, christmas break, etc. The thought that the rest of the world takes months and weeks off at a time to experience other countries, cultures, languages....is baffling. Who are we to think that we don't need to experience these things?? I learned about 6 years ago that these such things are vital to our well being and growth, and I hope that now Ruby understands the same thing. Talking to people from Ireland, Scotland, Holland, etc....hearing them shout the words to all your favorite songs, teaching you new words (slap the goon!) watching them try to learn your card game and letting them teach you theirs...all very important activities!! Now I understand the importance of saving and preparing for your family etc, but to me experiencing these things is just as important. Maybe I just started a little bit late...but I recommend it to anyone. In just about 2 weeks the four of us have seen and grown so much and its memories that we will never forget and some people may never get to have. I'm so glad that, as scary as this journey is, I get to embark on it and experience it with such good friends - and I look forward to making many more!!! (please refer to my fbook page for photos of our 2 week tour!)