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!