For my Cubbies out there

I had been meaning to let you know that I am also keeping track of Cubs gear I see while here in Sydney - and Herrity(and Ted, Mericle, Cass and Colby) you would be happy to know that I have seen 2 Cubs hats - and thats just been in the first ten days...yowzers!

Internet Woes in the Land Down Under

My internet and I are in a fight - there should be several pictures on this blog, but I have been exchanging not so kind words with my computer for the last couple days, so forgive me for the lack of photos - but I figured I better check in, with or with out pictures before you all started to worry.

This weekend we did a lot of birthday celebrating for Chris's big 2-5.

Friday night we headed to a bar in Surry Hills (a neighborhood only about 15 min. from our place) called the Beresford Hotel with several of Chris's coworkers - where for the first time since our visit, we got properly smashed.

On Saturday we had one of the best weather days yet - so we took the ferry to a near by suburb, Balmain to check it out - we heard that we could do our grocery shopping cheaper away from the city so we gave it a go....after walking inland for nearly 15 minutes to the Woolworth's (Wooly's) in Balmain we decided that our 10 min walk, with out the fee of the ferry would be the way to do the grocery's from here on out -- but the trip to Balmain wasn't a complete wash...we discovered a little sport called Lawn Bowling, it looked a bit like boccee ball, but with more people playing, and more pitchers of beer involved - I am hoping to join a rec team soon.

Sunday was by far one of the most unpleasant days here...cold, and it was raining side ways for pete's sake - but we braved the weather and hopped on the bus on Sunday morning and headed out to Bondi Beach. www.gobondi.com

Where we had plans to meet a few of his coworkers for a Sunday birthday lunch at North Bondi Italian. The public transportation got us there so quickly we were there before the joint even opened. So we went up a few more doors to a little breakfast stop (the name escapes me right now - I was so frozen I didn't care what the place was called, I just wanted shelter). Where I downed a cup of hot chocolate, and once I was properly thawed out, I was ready to head to lunch -- this place was like no where I have been before, with an amazing view of one of the most popular beaches in Australia - it was so busy you would've thought it was a Friday or Saturday night at most restaurants - the place was buzzing. There were about 10 of us there, and I learned rather quickly when Aussie's go out for a Sunday lunch they aren't messing around - we started with beers and bottles of wine, followed by calamari and rizzoto rice/spinach balls, the main course, wine, beers, bread, more wine, cheers for Chris's birthday, and desserts...it was quite the afternoon...and had the weather been more enjoyable I am sure lunch would have stretched into dinner.

After work on Monday Chris and I visited our new favorite spot -- the Customs House where we enjoyed birthday pints of Stella, and had the "go to" chips - (to our knowledge) that seem to be the best in town.

I also wanted to share with you this link for Tim Tam's, which we have nearly overdosed on several occasions...but they are just so delicious you can't say no.

http://www.about-australia-shop.com/timtams.htm

Word of the day...I am pretty sure the word "tosser" is the equivalent to our "jerk," but please use sparingly - it's not very polite to go name calling.

Hopefully I will have pictures for you all tomorrow!

Some Nibblets for Thought

...Before I forget -- in the photo of downtown Sydney that I posted the other day, I failed to point out that Chris's building, the AMP Building is the tallest one in the shot...he is on the 43rd floor of that building and has some pretty amazing views - hopefully pictures of that coming soon.

I have learned heaps (no one says a lot here, so I figured I should try to cut it out of my vocab) about my new environment. I had orientation with the International Exchange Program (IEP) on Wednesday and was bombarded with info about my new habitat.

• I discovered that we had the floods of '93, and they experienced the brushfires of '94.

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~macinnis@ozemail.com.au/fireweek.htm

• On Wednesday night the George St. Theater hosted the red carpet premier of Australia, although I didn't get a glimpse of Nicole Kidman or Mr. Hugh Jackman they were definitely there- dozens of streets were blocked for the event, just moments away from our place.

• I learned that kcals are not the same as calories...I was working out at a new gym and realized I would have to learn, km, kgs and kcals...I have no idea exactly how far I have been running or how much I have been burning. If anyone has a quick trick to converting kcals to calories...please share.

• I saw on the news that TRL is no longer part of the MTV afternoon line up -- did any one ask Carson Daly if he was okay with that?

• I got a cell phone, but so far all I can figure out is how to dial locally, here in Sydney. I am working on trying to successfully dial back to the states. I will let you know how this progresses.

• I found out that words like organize, utilize and specialize are spelled with with 's's....I am glad I caught that before I sent out the 'ol resume.

•  At orientation I also found out that they offer a Surf Camp - which I certainly plan on attending. They offer 2 day, weekend and 4 day classes...I am planning on going to the 4 day - time permitting of course. http://surfcamp.com.au/

And lastly for today, Chris and I have decided to keep a bar/beer list of things we have tried.

On Monday night we joined his coworkers at The Customs House where we had pints of Stella, and learned that they have a size of drink called a "schmiddie"...it was also our first expereience of chips and mayo, and I'm talking real mayo here....none of that miracle whip stuff. They were delicious.

Tuesday we tried out the Ship Inn - it has a $10 pizza special on Monday and Tuesday nights - 

We got the Acapulco pizza...also known as the Hawaiian. YUM.

On Wednesday there was a social with IEP and we met at the Excelsior Hotel in Darlinghurst for $10 jugs of Carlton Draught and 2 for 1 pizzas.

So far, Ship Inn's pizza is beating out The Excelsior's. 

Word of the day -- Honk. It means it stinks or smells. To use it in a sentence one would say, "That apartment really honks!"

A bit more from my new backyard...

Just in case I am with out Internet for the rest of the week I wanted to make sure and get these posted for you all.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge (Mom, if you look closely you can see people doing the climb!)

I was standing with the Opera House behind me for that shot of the bridge.

Also, standing with the Opera House behind me, a view of downtown Sydney. Our building is smack in the middle of all of that action.

The Opera House. It's more massive and amazing than I imagined it.

A building in The Rocks district, less than 5 minutes from the front door.

While we were out exploring yesterday we found a place called the Burger Rocks - which we will be trying sometime soon, they had a burger with Kangaroo meat as an option, not sure if I am ready to start nibbling on Kanga yet, but I may give it a go. 

In addition to the burger joint we stumbled across dozens of pubs and other restaurants and the stage where there will be live music every Friday for the rest of November. I have also begun plotting a way to eat my way through this city. I think first on my list will be this little Italian Pizzeria place that looks as if it was the first restaurant in Sydney, and the rest of the metropolis grew in around it - 

The Harbour Bridge

Another building in The Rocks, it has been around since the early 1800s - more history lessons on the The Rocks coming soon.

G'day and g'night mates.

New vocabulary for the day - the bathroom/restrooms here are known as the toilet. 

The Pictures

Here are a few photos to hold you all over -- More pictures of the apartment coming soon. I am still trying to figure out the right time of day to get the best shots. All of the windows make it a bit difficult.

This is a shot from the living room, looking north out to the harbour. You can see the Opera House to the left.

The living room, dining room and the kitchen 

The view from the couch!

No Worries Mate

First things first...you may be asking yourself...what does 280 lbs of luggage look like? (And if we are going to get technical here I am sure my belongings out weighed Chris's- just to set the record straight).

Although I am still Internet-less at our apartment I found a Starbucks today with wireless, and for a super-cheap fee I will have access at the Circular Quay(pronounced Key not Quay)Starbucks for the next 24 hours. So I fully intend on sitting here and soaking in the Internet for roughly the next day, since I have been without such luxuries as my iphone and the Internet for nearly a week.

I think I am just now recovering from one of the most serious of jet lags I have ever personally experienced - I have heard from a few of you that the link to one of the apartments is no longer working, and I discovered that it the one we moved into, which is why its no longer linking correctly, so here are some pictures of our place:

We're here!

The answer to Wednesdays quiz is (drum roll please.....) 280.5 and thats in pounds not kilos...Nick, I think you win...you were closest with out going over!

We landed after 30 hours of travel on Friday morning - and it is safe to say my body is still trying to bounce back after sitting in coach for nearly 15 hours.

We still do not have internet at our apartment but should in the next couple days, and I will give you a much more detailed account of our first few days in Sydney once I am settled in.

p.s. I have discovered after running a few errands that the Targets here are subpar to the Kmarts here -- who knew?!?

I have also learned that the mailbox is the letter box, the garbage is the rubbish, the lift is the elevator...and the pharmacy is the chemist -- and the coins here actually have value! So much to learn!!

It's Only a 16 hour flight...

Well, the time has finally come - after months of waiting for visas, re-booking flights and crossing fingers that the trip would actually materialize...tomorrow, around noonish, we will board a plane at Des Moines International Airport - make a quick pit stop in Denver (where I hope to have enough time to sprint to Terminal B, where they serve the most delicious Aunt Annie's Pretzel) and then to LAX, where we will have about a 5 hour layover in Los Angeles, which will hopefully ensure that our luggage is making its way to our plane. At 10:15pm (PST) we will board for Sydney...and just a quick 16-hours later, we will land in Australia, at 8:00am Friday,November 14, Sydney time. For those of you who were keeping track, we depart DSM Wednesday and land in Sydney on Friday. So, whoever can explain what happened to Thursday? I'd appreciate it!

Just to give you a sneak preview of what life will be like for us in Sydney here's a quick tour of what we know so far..

(1) The City Centre (note my spelling here, folks :). That's Australian for Center
http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&q=129+Harrington+St.,+Sydney+AU&ll=-33.861632,151.206679&spn=0.008214,0.019054&z=16&g=129+Harrington+St.,+Sydney+AU&iwloc=addr


(2) The Cove Apartment Building:
www.domain.com.au/public/propertydetails.aspx?adid=5519294#
www.domain.com.au/public/propertydetails.aspx?adid=5926289
we aren't sure if either of these will actually be the one we live in - but you get the idea

(3) Darling Harbour and The Rocks (essentially the entertainment district right below our balcony):
http://www.therocks.com
http://www.darlingharbour.com

Today's Quiz:
How many pounds of combined checked luggage do you think we have? Check back soon for the answer.

G'Day Mates!