Happy Holidays!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanza, Boxing Day etc…

This was our first Christmas abroad and we definitely missed having family around. Luckily my Nana’s package arrived with holiday cookies in time for Christmas. Armed with Pizzelle’s and the Kenny G Christmas album, we were able to survive our first Christmas away from our families, as well as our first Christmas in a warm climate.

I made Christmas dinner for Mere and myself and then we met up with some friends for drinks in Queenscliff, about a 15 minute walk from Manly.

Santa brought us some snorkel gear, which we tried out the next day.

Here is Mere doing some Xmas shopping (don’t worry, we didn’t buy those for anyone. As good as Tom Brady looks in them, I will probably bypass getting some man Uggs):

New Years is a big deal in Sydney as it is the 1^st major city in the world to roll in the new year and we’ll be on a boat in Sydney Habor taking in the fireworks – we’ll post some of the pictures.

Side note on the Kenny G Christmas album – my favorite song is Silver Bells, probably because it sounds like a cross between Christmas and when the credits roll at the end of Saturday Night Live:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6iNPAZZhIA

So, to everyone, we miss you and have a happy New Year

Brisbane, Koalas, and the Gold Coast

G'day Mates,

Sorry for the long delay, we promise we will start posting regularly again.  This past weekend we took our first trip outside of New South Wales to Queensland - we flew into Brisbane, about an hour flight north.  Mere planned* the trip around visiting the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, the world's largest  Koala sanctuary, where you even get to hold a Koala! (This is a big deal since it is illegal to hold them in some states, but not Queensland).

Us with "JJ" (Jax Junior)

*I use 'planned' loosely since she kind of just booked the first hotel that popped up on Expedia as our hotel was in the middle of nowhere.

It is technically a Koala sanctuary, but there were plenty of other animals to see such as Kangaroos,

Dingos, Emus, Cassowary (giant birds with a horn-like thing on their heads), a Platypus, and as John called the most disappointing animal in the world when he travelled to Australia a few years ago...

The Tasmanian Devil. Not sure how much drugs the Looney Tunes guys were, but this is not even close to the cartoon character.

After prying Mere away before she stole a Koala to take home (preferably this little guy),

we took a bus into the city, which is built along the Brisbane River. We walked along the South Bank Parks for some sightseeing.

After a day of walking around the city, we decided to stop for a couple of drinks and to rest at Super Whatnot. The bar manager happened to be from Indiana and gave us some restaurant and night life suggestions. We (I) took him up on his suggestion of the Archive Beer Botique in West End (not the apartments at Elon) where they have over 200 different beers. As chance would have it, we ended up meeting a couple from Adalaide who had just moved to Brisbane and hit it off.  We took them up on their offer to try surfing at the Gold Coast with them the following day.

Also, for those wondering if Santa is busy getting ready for Christmas...he's not.  He's chilling out in Australia

Does Mrs. Clause know Santa is hanging around with these elves?

Gold Coast consists of 57km (35 miles) of coastline. While Gold Coast is known for being pretty fake/trashy (they even have their own version of The Jersey Shore known as The GC), the part of the beach we went to, Burleigh Heads, was beautiful.  When we weren't being thrown around by the waves and the undertow, we attempted to surf:

Successfully I might add

and somewhat-successfully

Overall it was a great weekend as we got to see another part of Australia, made some new friends, and finally got to surf. One bonus of the trip was flying domestically in Australia, which has none of the anxiety/stress of flying in the US.  You can show up a half hour before your flight, and don't even need ID.  Also, if you're Mere, the Security Agents will hit on you on your way through the security check... with me standing right next to her.

I saw the sign, and it opened up my eyes....

Hey Mates,

Sorry for the lapse between blog posts, things have been a little hectic over here. Long story short, we are moving from our current apartment to a different one in the same building next week (thanks Mere!).

Thought we would post some pictures of the funny signs we've seen throughout our trip. Enjoy!

Best Theme Park Ever?

Correction...Best Theme Park Ever.

The famous keep left signs - the guy at the bottom is supposed to be riding a bike. Just looking at this sign I would guess it suggest to run away from the guy with a big...well you get the idea.

Love the detailed imagery going on over on the right

Green Man Crossing! For those fans of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia:

Elementary my dear Watson ('s Bay)

Our most recent adventure was a trip out to Watson's Bay.  In order to get there we had to take a ferry across Sydney Harbor.  It was my first ferry ride here....

Thank you Captain Obvious.

We jumped on the ferry from Circular Quay and after quicks stops at Garden Island, Rose Bay and Double Bay, we washed up along the shores of Watsons bay.  In Watson's Bay, one of the main attractions is Gaps Bluff.

Apparently, it's okay to fall off the cliff in addition to hiking.

Gap's Bluff.  It's an impressive view, but while walking along the cliff face we pulled out the guide book to see how far we were only to find out we had already passed it without noticing.

 Panoramic view from the top of Gap's Bluff.  You can see Sydney in the background on the right.

One of the other major attractions in Watson's Bay is Doyle's Restaurant on the Waterfront.   We grabbed some of their famous fish and chips served with tomato sauce (a.k.a ketchup.  bt dubs - it does not taste like ketchup) before heading back.

Doyle's on the Waterfront

Happy Thanksgiving!

One of the drawbacks of moving to Australia is missing out on the holidays with family. So, while we didn't celebrate Thanksgiving this past Thursday, we did join some friends to celebrate Thanksgiving on Saturday...Australian style.

After dropping our bags off in our new apartment in Manly, we rode 2-3 hours northwest to Maraylya, a very rural suburb of Sydney. The hosts have acres and acres of farmland and their backyard is set up in a Bali theme. It felt like we were staying in a resort on a tropical island.

This is the bungalow we had dinner in. It's safe to say we've graduated from the "kid's table"

This is the ceiling of the bungalow

The turkey was 8 kg (close to 16lbs) and since they don't celebrate thanksgiving here, it was the cook's first turkey. 

Not too bad, huh?

Thursday was the first day we really missed being home, and this weekend made us feel like we were home for a little bit. There was no football, cold weather, or actual family, but there was stuffing, gravy,  cranberry sauce (from the can!), pumpkin pie and friends.

A belated Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Aussie Slang

How to Speak Australian

Written by two Bostonian Americans

“How you going?” – How are you?

Bottle shop – Packy

Cozzie – Bathing suit

Thongs – Flip-flops

“Heaps awesome” – “Wicked pissa”

Schnitzel – Chicken cutlets

Return trip – Round trip

“Dollar King” store – “Nothing is Under $2.50” Store

Mozzie – Mosquito

Mackers - MacDonald's hamburger

Inverted comma – Quotation mark

 “I’m sorry, nobody drinks that here” –  “I’ll have a Fosters”

Shark Week(end)

Today we made it over to the Syndey Aquirium, which is right next to Wildlife World in Darling Harbor.  We figured since it was cloudy out (WTF?  One of the main reasons for us moving here was better weather), we would head down early to beat all the families with children.  Turns out, by "families with children" we mean "asian tourists" (they're EVERYWHERE and come by the bus load).  When not swarmed by mobile-Chinatown, we were able to see some really neat fish, sharks and the famous "sea cows" (a.k.a. dugongs), Pig and Wuru.

 Dory, from Finding Nemo, made a guest appearance.

("I'm a manatee!"  "Whatever, seacow"

- Jim Gaffigan)

The best part about the aquarium were the giant fish tanks that had a glass tunnel to walk through so the fish would be swimming over your head.

"You're going to need a bigger boat"

And, what better way to end a day of admiring sea life than by eating it?  After the aquarium we went down to the Sydney Fish Market.  We ate some fresh (and delicious) osyters and sushi while overlooking the harbor and watching people fend off sea-gulls from their food.

Lastly, we'll leave you with a picture of Mark striking the "asian tourist pose".

For some reason they're big into the double peace sign (a.k.a the Nixon)

This blog post is in honor of our dear friend's fish, Roger, who just passed. RIP Roger.  

Sydney Wildlife World - Darling Harbour

Koalas! Finally!

One of our friends from Boston has been here for over a year and not seen a koala yet, so last night we joined her on a trip to the Wildlife World so she wouldn't be shunned if she went home without seeing one.  The Wildlife World is a small-scale zoo located in Darling Harbour that allows tourists to see Australian animals (koalas, kangaroos, salt water croc, wombat, emu, kookaburra) without having to actually leave the city.  The pictures below are just a taste of what's to come from our trip(s) to various wildlife sanctuaries planned for the future.

They have a kangaroo walk where kangaroos can roam around with the people. 

The bigger kangaroo is just a statue, but they can get that big out in the wild:

Fun Koala related fact:  Koala's are not bears.  They're actually related to wombats.  People just often call them bears because they look like teddy bears.

And here's when Mark harassed a male kookaburra with a female kookaburra mating call from a youtube clip on his phone and got it to respond.  Please do not call PETA to report this incident.

(Also, love his epic fail trying to jump on the branch at the end of the video)

Mere's First Day Out

Today was my first official day exploring the city.  I've been here for a full week now so I'm sure some of you are wondering if I've really just been hanging around our apartment and the answer is yes.   Please note that our apartment has an outdoor pool, it has been hot and sunny almost everyday and I have all three of the Hunger Games books downloaded on my Kindle (Go Team Gale!)  It's not like I haven't been outside and walked around a little; it's just that today I reached for my running shoes instead of a bathing suit and my camera instead of my beach towel.   It was also the first day I felt comfortable enough with my surrounding so I didn't have to text Mark and ask him how to get home.  

Here are a few of the pictures.  I've put the rest on fbook.  And Tina I'll send you a link to my picasa account since you're the only person still left in the world under the age of 30 that does not have a facebook account.  

Sick of pictures of the Opera House yet?  Well don't be.  I'm just getting started.

These are jacaranda trees which Mark reminded me to take pictures of at least a billion times because he likes them so much.  When I asked him if he liked these trees, or Justin Timberlake more, he couldn't give me a definitive answer.  

I think they started painting this at every cross-walk for people like me. (b.t.dub - I was only almost hit by ONE car today and it wasn't even that close.  A marked improvement from last week).

Weekend Update

Monday Nov 12th

Welcome to Weekend Update, I'm Mark LaPierre and you're not (old SNL reference for you Johnny).

On Friday we met up with my coworker's for our first official Australian Barbie in Camperdown, which is 4km southwest of the CBD, just north of Newtown. There was no shrimp on the barbie, as they call shrimp prawns over here, and there is a big movement to change the 'throw another shrimp on the barbie' slogan to 'throw another steak on the barbie' since steak is the traditional barbie food in Australia. Who knows, maybe back in the States, they will change the Oscar-Meyer wiener song to 'My bologna has a last name... it's a hyphenated version of the last names of both parents since we are a modern progressive family that does not believe in the old patriarchal dominant society. Also, my bologna is made from tofu'.

There were some great views of the sunset from my colleague's porch, which was connected to the living room and separated by a pull-down garage door, instead of a sliding door, so it seemed like an outdoor space in the living room - very cool.

On Saturday, we nursed our hangovers by finishing season 1 of Homeland (and didn't feel guilty about it since it was cloudy and rainy most of the day). We met up with a friend of the sister of a friend, who just moved over here 2 weeks ago to live with her Aussie boyfriend. We met for pizza and drinks at the Australian Heritage Hotel in the Rocks and hit it off. To top it off, she is also unemployed, so her and Mere may be spending a lot of time together...not working.

On Sunday, we went over to another colleague's house in Mortdale (30 mins on the train south of CBD) for a mini cookout and to help bottle the homebrew I aided with 3 weeks ago. We had sausages (since there are no American hot dogs over here...which probably is a good thing) and rissoles, which are kind of like a hamburger usually with carrot, onion, and maybe other vegetables chopped up in the meat.

The Motes has Landed!

Thurs Nov 8th

Sorry for the long delay between blog posts, I've been catching up with Season 1 of Homeland Meredith. Quick note on Homeland - people LOVE it here. It is advertised on every bus that drives by, and they fast track the current episodes from the US and show them on non-pay television Monday nights.

Now, when I got to Australia at 6am in the morning after 20 hours of flying, it was important to stay awake the whole day in order to get my biological clock adjusted. With Mere on the other hand, her argument that she doesn't have a job to get ready for won over and she basically slept for the day(s).

When Mere has been awake, she has been walking around the city exploring. After just a week here, she is already tired of it and ready to move to the beach. Sorry to those back home shoveling snow right now. I'd have to agree with her about the living in the downtown of the city aspect. It is convenient for work, but I can't tell you how many people I've bumped into. Not like bump into someone I know, but literally walking directly into people. At first I thought it was me as I usually stay on the right like driving back home, but even after switching to keeping left, it has not alleviated this problem. So if you are one of or know someone who says they are leaving the US after the election...Australia is all full.

Below is a picture that Meredith took of her cousins Asian tourists her 1st day, doing what they do best.

One of them asked her to take a picture with her in broken English, so Mere thought she meant take a picture of her. Turned out she actually wanted the picture with Mere. This would have been a great picture to post here.

Today's big dilemma was Mere learning that the coin with a 20 on it, did not actually stand for 20 dollars, but instead 20 cents. It might be a really long year.

Just an FYI, Mere will be contributing to this blog going forward, once she gets over her jetlag.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to more Homeland.

Cornhole and the Blue Mountains

Sat Nov 4th/Sun Nov 5th.

On Saturday I met up with some colleagues to play some cornhole at the Waverton Bowling (Lawn Balls, kind of like bocci) Club. This meetup was organized by Australian Cornhole, which was started by an Aussie who lived in Nashville for a while and moved back, bringing cornhole back from the states. There were a lot of expats slinging bags, mostly from the South. Made me feel like I was back in college, especially with the ipod of continuous country music. Sweet home Alabama Australia!

On Sunday I took a trip with some other colleagues out to the Blue Mountains which is about 30 miles west of downtown Sydney. They get the name from the blue haze caused by the mixture of the oil of the Eucalyptus leaves, dust, and water vapor.

We climbed down Wentworth Falls which was a pretty steep descent, but well worth the climb:

We also made it out to Eco Point in Katoomba which provides a panoramic view of the Blue Mountains, including the Three Sisters:

Tried to keep myself a little busy this weekend waiting for Mere to get here.

Official Days until Mote's comes countdown: 12 hours!

Makin' it Hail

Day 27 (Wed Nov 1st)

Not much to report on as it has been a busy week at the office and I've been laying low after work for the most part.

One of the biggest difference here is the importance of coins. Back home, besides Quarters, all coins are pretty much useless, especially pennies, which cost more to make than they are actually worth.
Here they have $1 coins, much like the Sakagawea's (not even going to spell check it) back home, just slightly bigger than a nickel. Even better worse, they have $2 coins....smaller than a penny! I feel coins should go up in value with size, so subconsciously, I never use these $2 coins and at the end of the week I'm walking around with about $38 in change in my pocket. Instead of throwing dollar bills in the air and Making it Rain, I will chuck my change in the air and Make it Hail (credit to Daniel Tosh).

The paper money is very vibrant. Every time I go to the ATM, I feel like I just landed on Free Parking:

At work, I noticed the NBA started up, and after watching a couple of games of the local basketball league (NBL) on tv, it's safe to say I will sorely miss the NBA this year. The NBLwas pretty excruciating to watch as I took in the Sydney Kings face the Melbourne Tigers, and then the Melbourne Tigers against the Perth Wildcats. I will try to get to a Sydney Kings game, but won't put money on it. The league doesn't even have many American ringers in the league - about 1 per team, and the ones they do have I've never ever heard of, so I assume they didn't even play Division I NCAA in the States. This league is whiter than BYBA (the youth league in Belmont we grew up playing) and I expect a dude to walk on the court in jeans and a turtle neck under his jersey. The team Moose and I played for in the YMCA Chinatown league back home would be in playoff contention.Their slogan should be: NBL: As many Tattoos as the NBA, none of the talent. Where mediocre basketball happens.

There is one thing I do miss more than the NBA....but not for long:

(Cue the NBA on NBC music...John Tesh, hit it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZKX-cf_p90 ) 

Official Days until Mote's Gets Here Countdown: 4 days!

International Apartment Hunters

Day 24 (Monday Oct 29t)

So, I decided to take the easy way out and take over my friend's apartment in Manly Beach when she leaves to head back to the States the end of November. I would have been the most boring episode of House Hunters. When it got to the part before the commercial break where the narrator rhetorically asks the audience "Will they take house #1, the single family detached just outside their dream neighborhood but close to his work? Will they take House # 2, the..." This is where I would just cut her off and tell her we took #1.

It is a little pricey, but everything is over here and we are in a great location:

Our apartment is the marker below. Slumming it!

The worst part of the location is now it will be increasingly harder to convince Mere to get a job while she is here and not just lie on the beach everyday.


Here are some pictures of the apartment:

One of the reasons we decided to take the Sydney opportunity was because of the beautiful weather. Who knew it was also to escape Massachusetts hurricane season. Good luck to those weathering hurricane Sandy back home, stay safe. Mere, good luck w/ taking Jax out to pee

For those Elon Alums reading the blog, when I hear 'hurricane Sandy' it makes me think of the after effects the next day after a night of Drink Til You Drown at Lighthouse and hitting up Sandy's for some beer-batterd fries and and a chicken-cheese bomb. (not pleasant)

Days until Mote's arrives countdown: Officially 1 week!