Goodbye, Australia! G'day US.

We're back and safe. Of course, we waited impatiently for our luggage at the baggage area after the flight only to find that it was lost yet again. On a more positive note, it showed up on the door step this morning. Maybe it's the Christmas spirit that fast-tracked it and helped it to arrive in less than 24 hours?

On that note, it's great to be back. Australians didn't have many Christmas lights, and snow doesn't exist over there in Melbourne. I think the cold weather was a bit refreshing, and with that feel of the light snow and harsh wind, we were able to sigh the word, "home."

While we're excited to be home, especially so close to Christmas, we learned quite a few things about the culture differences in Australia and the life of the Aussies. So, we'll take some time to share those things with our loyal readers in this last post!

1.) Coffee. I think we've mentioned this before, but everything is espresso based. Long black = espresso and water. Macchiato = espresso + water + stained with milk, etc. So, everything is a lot smaller and stronger. Without a daily coffee, we both suffered severe headaches. In addition to that, there aren't nearly as many Starbucks' in Australia. Most cafes are local, family-owned places. And I hate to admit it, but I quenched the seasonal Starbucks gingerbread latte more than I enjoyed the coffee at the local cafes. We made a quick trip to the coffee giant this morning, and I'm sipping on an "American" coffee as we speak.
2.) Babies. This isn't something we mentioned yet, and it might sound kind of odd, but probably about 50% of the women in Australia are pregnant, and maybe the other 50% have small children. OK, that's a small exaggeration, but it really felt like that. Every time we turned the corner, we saw evidence of it (woman with big stomach, woman with screaming children, etc.). And that doesn't count the women who are still in the beginning stages of pregnancy because you can't tell by looking at them! Apparently, the government is offering incentives for babies and trying to make the entire country more accommodating for newborns. The trade off is a stronger economy because more people will live there, then spend money there, etc. Interesting, don't you think? I was never much good at econ, and definitely never learned this theory in macro and micro economics!
3.) Cars. No, there weren't thousands of smart cars like there are in Europe, but there were thousands of Utes. For those friends of mine growing up in Wexford or those friends going to OU, you (probably like me) haven't seen many of these. They're cars with truck beds on them. It's almost like a truck that failed high school actually -- big enough to have a bed on the back and small enough to be called a "car." They're also very low to the ground.
4.) Celebrities. Everyone loves America because they think we're the inspiration for all great celebrities. 16-year-old girls ask, "Do you know Chris Brown?" or "What's LA like?" or "Do you see celebrities on the street?" No, I have never met Chris Brown, nor do I care about Chris Brown. If our population was similar to Australia's small population, then maybe I'd see Chris Brown walking down Club House Drive in Wexford. But being 15 times the population, and nearly the same size in land mass, we don't see sort of thing unless you can randomly say that Christina Aguileria went to your high school....but you never knew her. (If you're from NA, this means you.) And no, I've never been to LA unless the airport counts. Rather than there being two big cities in the US, there are many. (Australia has Melbourne and Sydney.) Similarly to liking celebrities, they also follow American sports teams. One guy, about our age, started talking about the Yankees and a football team and some other sport that I don't follow on the bus in Sydney while Jamie and I were with Emily and Kate. Honestly, he seemed like an unpopular school kid trying to fit in by spitting out statistics that he knew, but at the same time he probably could win a trivia game about American sports. We had to laugh when we got off the bus because he seemed a bit to eager to talk to Jamie about sports this and that...
5.) Every little suburb has it's own little market area/"main street." I think we both grew up in places where you drive to the mall, and then to the grocery store, then to the shopping area, then to get lunch, and each place is 5 or more minutes away. In Australia, you get off at whatever "Main Street" is in each little town, and there you walk along the street for all your necessities. Just make sure you bring enough cash for the occasional baked good because window displays at bakeries aren't easy to pass up.
6.) Every house has a gate! There is no such thing as a house on a hill with a big green grassy yard. Rather than having a short cut to the next door neighbor's house by opening your front door, turning right or left, then walking in a straight line to their front door, you have to: walk out your front door, walk to and undo the lock on the gate that in most cases covers the majority of your house, turn on the side walk, hope your neighbor's gate is open, then walk on the driveway to their front door. Some gates were brick, wooden, and who knows what else. Every one was different. When we talked to an Aussie (in his thirties with a wife and two kids), he said they do it for privacy and so that they know where property lines are. Since properties there are smaller, I can kind of see the logic. But, personally, I thoroughly enjoy looking at everyone's houses when driving down a new road. If it's their most prized and expensive possession, you'd think they'd want admirers, too, right?
7.) Public Transportation!! We've talked about this. It's so easy and pretty cheap. Getting around in Pittsburgh is all about who's going to drive, where are you going to park, etc.
8.) Australians actually like Americans. Unlike horror stories many of us have heard about French ignorance or even Aussie distaste toward us, all the people we met seemed to take a genuine interest in us, in the US, and in our politics. I hadn't realized how important the US is to Australia until actually going there. Their morning shows focused on: 25% Aussie news, 25% American news/American news related to Australians (i.e. maybe economic crisis), 25% celebrities, 25% weather and misc. On a side note, every one we met wanted to chat and seemed happy we were there... spending our good, hard earned American dollars. :)
9.) Australians abbreviate everything.
Breakfast = Brekkie
Tasmania = Tazzie
Australian = Aussie
Football = Foottie
Sunglasses = Sunnies
Barbeque = Barbie
...and that's only some of the abbrev's

They also DO use the words (very often): mate , bloke , no worries and cheers. Cheers is used usually meaning thank you and your welcome (I think).

Example of a restaurant conversation with me obviously being the one ordering and the usage of the word "cheers":
Me: Thanks for the sandwich.
Server: Cheers.

Me: Here's the money for the bill.
Server: Cheers.

Server: Here's your drinks, cheers.

On that note, we're so thankful that we had the chance to stay with the Shoemaker family. Without them, we wouldn't have been able to do our six-week holiday! What else... In the past six weeks, we both have traveled on 12 flights, and to each of our destinations, we were were like little explorers navigating our way through what was the great unknown. It was an exciting adventure.

Now we're broke and jobless, but at least it's the holidays, and friends and family are more important than any of that other stuff. Plus, by the look of our e-mail inboxes, things are looking up in the job market; people are hiring they're saying; we're scheduling interviews, etc.

So, all in all... we had fun, hope you had fun reading, and see you soon!
CHEERS!

What have we been doing this week?

It's hard to believe that six weeks of Australia will be over in two short days. We spent the last week doing odds and ends in the city and in the 'burbs. One night we met up with Emily and Kate because they came to Melbourne for a mini trip. Last night (Friday) we went to the trendy area of St. Kilda for a nice dinner. We hung out in the city and went to DFO (direct factory outlet) for some good shopping. Just kidding. It was more of looking at the window displays and wishing we could do some serious shopping. Another night, we finally caught the Bond movie and also had the chance to watch Baylee sing downtown for her school Christmas carols. We also went for a bike ride along the beach yesterday for a few hours in the afternoon....

We started packing this afternoon and will finish that tomorrow. The flight Monday leaves from Melbourne around 11 a.m., and we're scheduled to get to Pittsburgh (after 26-hours of traveling) at 9:45 p.m. that same day. Some time tomorrow we will post some more final  thoughts and maybe even some sentimental ones, too, about leaving this beautiful country but still looking forward being back in the states. See ya soon! 

Us at the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge! 

Scratch that. Sydney bound!

We spent Friday afternoon through Monday night in Sydney, and we thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. This is how the whole long weekend panned out:

Friday, Day 1:

We got to Sydney and took a taxi to Emily Mitchell's apartment at Coogee beach. She lives on the top of a small hill that overlooks the beach and is a 5 minute walk to her work at a coffee shop. Her roommie is great. They met while studying abroad together in London. After working for four months in Australia together, they're going to travel the whole country in addition to doing Thailand and some other great places. (Can you say jealous?)

Anyway, we went out that night to a restaurant at The Rocks. It's close to the Opera House. Naturally, we had to use the restroom, and what better first place to have a bathroom break in Sydney than the Opera house? It's beautiful in there! Every restaurant on The Rocks was crowded with the after work crowd drinking out of martini glasses for the late happy hours. Unfortunately, we can't afford anything that comes in a martini glass, so we picked up $10 of boxed wine, took it to the BYO restaurant where we ate, and had an awesome time! 

Later that night we met up with Emily's Aussie boyfriend in trendy suburb, Paddington, and hung out with him and his friends. We learned the rules of cricket and bonded over yet some more wine. 

Saturday, Day 2 

Before we left Em to head to our hotel, we hung out on Coogee beach and roamed the park for a bit because there was a fair that day. We got to our hotel around 4 p.m., then grabbed some dinner, then headed to the Sydney Harbour Bridge... for the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb!

This was a definite highlight of the trip. When you get to the bridge climb area, they give you a bridge climb protective jump suit and climbing gear. They harness you into the bridge with the group (10 of us) and there starts the 3.5 hour climb. 

Throughout the climb, our guide explains the history of the bridge. Similar to the Golden Gate bridge in size; 16 people died while making it; most people who worked on it were young boys; the bridge creates a "black rainbow shadow" that we saw in the sky; the opera house forms a sphere when all the pieces are put together; there were only 5 cars on the other side of the bridge in 1932 when it was built. While we were up there, 148 meters above the little ant-sized cars, it felt like we were on top of the world. Although we were up pretty high, it felt so safe, that there was just enough adrenaline pumping to make it fun and not scary. The guy from Las Vegas a few people in front of me might of felt different because he was doing to get over his fear of heights. More about him and his other Las Vegas friend: Jamie and I chatted a bit with them on the trek up about our trip and theirs. I also asked them if they happen to watch the weather in Las Vegas... They said they do and they also know my awesome, semi-famous cousin who is a meteorologist out there. Shout out to Gina, Vivek and beautiful Camilla for being awesome!

Sunday, Day 3 

After the bridge last night, we rewarded ourselves with Gelati. It was this day that we burned those calories plus some. We woke up and prepared for the day by arming ourselves with a camera in one hand and map in the other. From about 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. we spent the day exploring Sydney's Darling Harbour, The Botanical Gardens, The Rocks Markets (found great x-mas gifts here!), The Ferry Ride to Balmain suburb, some shopping outlets and more. The day was exhausting. My 4 blisters prove the excessive walking and exploring! Later that night we relaxed out on the rooftop terrace of our hotel with a few James Squire Golden Ales. 

Monday, Day 4

We had to catch our shuttle to the airport at 5ish, so this gave us enough time to walk to another area of Sydney - Glebe. Glebe is lined with bookstores and cafes in additions to some authentic type candy stores. 

Sydney in a nutshell

Sydney actually reminds me a lot of NYC but without the snow. It was hot hot hot, and there were people everywhere. Nightlife was hopping; Sundays were hopping; everything was, well.. busy! Like a city that never sleeps... loved it! 

Lets live in Melbourne

Melbourne is one of the friendliest, most accommodating cities that we've ever visited. In addition to its great atmosphere, it offers vibrant nightlife, several unique shopping  that satisfy any taste, and there's more than enough to do.

In between day trips or other getaways since we got here (i.e. Port Douglas, Tasmania, and Sydney this Friday), we'd spend the extra time exploring the city of Melbourne. The public transportation system here will take us from the very outer suburbs to the very inner city. And there's no switching trains like New York. Hop on and hop off 2o minutes later.

Plus, we have two stations to choose from. There's one a few blocks down the road, and a bit further (about 2k), there's another station. When we get on the train at the far station it's less expensive. So we've been able to save a few dollars and get a nice brisk morning walk in on the days we go to the city. 

Our train cards also work for the bus and tram. If you're a tourist and want to get to the 15 city hot spots? Take the free shuttle bus that makes a loop to the most recognized or historic or happening areas of the city. Hop on or off the bus whenever you want to stop. Or there's a free city circle tram every Saturday as well.

The other day when I was looking at a map next to the tram station, a nice young bloke asked me if I needed help. Aha - he could tell I was a somewhat clueless American and looked a little lost. Little did he know that Jamie is good with directions and navigating around an unfamiliar city. Anyway, the point to this story is that the bloke is hired to ask confused people if they need help. Hello, NYC... Where are your friendly guides?

There are other people that wander the city in red sweat suits that do this same thing. Except they go one step beyond the bloke I met. They're almost like information boxes you'd get in a museum. You can ask them about the history, coming events, or best places to eat and stay in the city. Pretty cool, huh? 

The people here are also very nice. Everyone we meet takes a genuine interest in our holiday. The first question we're asked is, "Are you American or Canadian?" (Who knows where they get the Canadian stuff.) But then they also ask where we've been here, where we're going, etc. It's safe to say that I have never met a mean Australian! 

The other reasons why Melbourne is great is because there's always something to do here. Within the past month or so, when we go on exploring trips, this is what we've found:

1.) The Royal Botanical Gardens. It's an area filled with greenery, flowers, and exotic plants. We took a stroll through it one afternoon.

2.) Lygon Street. Kind of like Melbourne's little Italy. Sat outside and split a piece of tiramisu and had a long black (coffee.)

3.) The homeless world cup. Homeless people playing soccer from 56 nations for over a week right in Melbourne's historic Federation Square. It's a huge fundraising thing for homeless people that attracts a major crowd and is pretty entertaining! The homeless people are awesome at soccer, and I sat amongst many ethnicities: Polish, Scotish, Kyrgystan (might have spelled that one wrong), etc. US lost on the first day 10-1. Darnit.

4.) Bakeries, Bakeries, Bakeries. One thing the US most definitely lacks is bakeries. Upon every corner I find myself looking into the window of these bakeries like a sad puppy dog wanting all the homemade treats inside. However, in planning this trip, I didn't allot money for sugary midday snacks. We usually pass up the bakeries and say, "next time!"

Maybe in Sydney there will be some really great, famous bakery that we'll both just have to splurge on an unforgettable danish... or two. ;) We'll be there Friday night and get back to Melbourne Monday night. Friday we're staying with a friend from college, Emily Mitchell, who is from Indiana, Pennsylvania, and she now works in Sydney. Also a former journalism/PR major at Scripps. Shout out to Emily! We're pumped to see her.

What else is new in the states? We get back Dec. 15 but have yet to hear comments from a lot of you. An update would be oh so appreciated because I know I'm feeling a bit behind on life there!

P.S. Notice the title of this post? Well, we aren't actually going to move to Melbourne because it's way too far away from the good old US and all that we know and love already. However, if there were a city like this in the states, I think we'd both relocate there ASAP!

Pseudo Thanksgiving

Heard it's cold out there in the 'burgh and in the O-H, too. Yesterday, we celebrated Thanksgiving here in Melbourne and took a cooking break in the middle of the day to sit by the pool. So, it wasn't the typical Thanksgiving, especially because we're on the other side of the world and the majority of Australians have never even heard of the word "Thanksgiving." But it was pretty darn close to a Thanksgiving in America!

Our Thanksgiving dinner menu:

Turkey, Ham, mashed potatoes, corn pudding, stuffing, scalloped potatoes, green beans, and bread. Dessert was dirty dessert and pretzel salad.

Total attendees: 10 

Leftovers: lots! 

Tasmania - check!

The city and its people were even more relaxed than the others in Australia... meaning that rather than shops and cafes open from 8 a.m. - 6 p.m., they are open from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Restaurants and bars managed to stay open for the "late night" crowds. I think we're really beginning to envy their work ethic.

Tasmania only has a population of only about 400,000, and nearly half of those live in Hobart where we stayed. The city is surrounded by gardens, and the island is made up of mostly national parks. Inside the city, there's a street called Salmanca Place, home to several pubs and gift shops. Every Saturday is the Salmanca market when the shops and restaurants come the the street to give the city a taste of their latest menu offerings and season's gifts. It's actually very similar to what the Strip District offers in Pittsburgh every Saturday.

Overall, the trip was very relaxing. We had two half day tours planned, and we spent the rest of the four days exploring the area's gardens, historic locations, and local shops. Something unique about Hobart is that the city was built almost two hundred years ago by convicts from the USA, the British Isles, and the rest of Europe. Nearly all the buildings are made of sandstone, too. The buildings complement the port area at Hobart, which is always busy with boats, more restaurants, and more than enough options for fish and chips (what we ate on Thanksgiving).

The major highlights would be:

1.) Our boat cruise through the island. We traveled along the island that's surrounded by huge rock formations and caves. Throughout the trip, we swam with a dozen dolphins that rode the waves from the 20-person boat. Seat otters and birds were other animals who proved to not be shy. Since it was a small, 20-person boat, the waves rode us rather than us plowing through the waves. For me, the bigger the waves got, the more fun I had. It was like a roller coaster ride that added to the beautiful scenery. However, for Jamie, it was like a battle between him and the ocean, but he lost. No, he didn't throw up. But he did manage to maintain a sickly, pale color and throw out a few choice four-letter words under his breath. He didn't feel horrible the whole time during the 3-hour ride, but it was probably a good 30 minutes that I think he would have rather been somewhere else.

2.) We fed kangaroos. They eat off of your hand like a horse would, leaving a nice layer of thick, slobbery film on your hand. It kind of looked like they blew their noses on our hands. It was especially bad because the was no where to wash our hands after that, so we had to ride the bus home and not touch anything. (Just kidding! We washed our hands, but I wanted to gross you out a bit.) Some others animals we saw and touched were: wombats, koalas, and the tasmanian devil. The devil seemed pretty nice, but we weren't allowed to touch it. Supposedly it could bite through your bones due to its amazing jaw strength.

3.) The area was very picturesque. Every where you look, there's a mountain.

4.) Fish and chips was great... and fresh, too! While we ate it on Thanksgiving day, it didn't matter much because Monja is cooking a Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow that we're very excited for...so we can at least celebrate it in somewhat of a traditional way even though there will be probably no football and definitely no snow (probably more like 70 degrees, actually). Miss all of you and happy belated Thanksgiving!

Tasmania tomorrow

We leave tomorrow at noon for the airport and are headed to Tasmania - the home of the Tasmanian devil. (And yes, we will be able to meet the crazy animals!)

Our hotel is located right in the center of Tasmania's biggest city, Hobart. Everything in Hobart is within walking distance, whether it's the markets, restaurants, botanical gardens, the port in Hobart, and more.

We've scheduled an eco tour and a boat ride. The rest of our time the next four days will be spent exploring the city. So, time to pack. Catch ya' later! We'll be back on Friday and ready to post again some time after that.

Adios!   

Yarra Valley Wineries

We visited three wineries but started off the day with "morning tea" (breakfast) near the train station with our tour group. We sat with two other couples - one from New Zealand and the other from Norway. After a quick biscuit, we walked outside, and our guide gave us bird seed. Not even a second later, a bird pounced on my hand. One sat on my head. Another hopped on my should. Some of them were beautiful with bright red and rich green colors. The other half of the probably 35-40 birds were cockatoos - huge and mean. When they go down for a bite of seed on your hand, they make sure they don't miss a morsel. I think one of the birds took a nice chunk out of my palm. There are some great pictures of all this. For me, the best part was one leaving his/her breakfast on Jamie's shoulder... ha!

After our morning tea we took a train ride on a historic steam train called the Puffing Billy. The walls of the train explained it's life from how it was built hundreds of years ago and how it is today.

Our bus then took us to the first winery called Ferguson's - a family-owned winery and restaurant. We sipped on a fresh glass of a Cabernet-Merlot mix and ate a roast beef lunch with vegetables and bread. Definitely a first-class meal. We had a tasting there as well before venturing off to the next stop.

We had another tasting at Dominique Portet, the second winery. Here, the man explained the difference between the steel and oak barrels among some other facts. We sampled a more acidy-type wine and compared it to the oaks. Jamie liked the acidic ones better, but I like the oak.

After this, we made our way to the last winery, which was probably the most unique. It's a champagne winery, so we learned about the process of making it true "bubbly" and the different types of sparkling wine. The vineyard was owned by the same company that makes Dom Perigon, Belvedere vodka, and a list of other designer brands. The tour guide rattled off the names of each brand almost overconfidently... I think to make sure we understood the caliber of the winery. Others might have thought she seemed a bit snobby. Either way, the sparkling wine lived up to her speech. We sampled it, and much to my surprise, we liked it. I usually think it's too sweet and sugary, but the type we tried was just right.

We stopped at a pub on the way back, James Squire, because an Australian family we chatted with recommended it for the pub's microbrews. (P.S. The 16-year-old girl who I talked with from the family asked if I see celebrities all the time and if America is really like all the "American movies" like Mean Girls, American Pie, etc. Odd, isn't it?!) Sitting in the microbrew, we saw some peanuts on the bar. Jamie grabbed a few and a woman glared at him as if the bar's peanuts were hers... and for good reason. She bought the bar snacks that we're used to having for free sitting on the bar. There's a small chance she sighed "dumb Americans" under her breath as we apologized.

That plus the bird poo landing on Jamie's should that morning made his day pretty interesting, and I had a few good laughs.

The great Great Ocean Road

And that's exactly what it was - a Great Ocean Road.

We hit the train by 7 a.m. after I took some DayQuil on an empty stomach. Come 7:45 a.m., I was outside the train station ready to vomit from some mild motion sickness + DayQuil. After a few minutes passed, we were back on the train and ready to go a banana later.

It was a bit cold and windy - making it a perfect day to be on a double decker tour bus. We had the whole back seat to ourselves because the bus was only about 3/4 full. The tour guide was most definitely a talker and a joker. His first joke was about the bathroom.

"There is a small room located on the first floor of the bus, most inappropriately called the rest room," he said. "It would be quite inconvenient to rest here, as it's where the toilets are located."

He made corny jokes like that throughout the trip that made us roll our eyes at the guy, but you still have to giggle.

We made about eight stops throughout the Great Ocean Road. It truly felt like a visit back in time because every landmark and quaint little town seemed so untouched, making it all truly picturesque.

Here are some of the highlights:

• We had "Billy tea" that morning and tried vegamite. It was disgusting. The ingredients are: sodium, yeast, malt, coloring. No wonder I didn't want to put it on my cracker.
  
• Took a few pictures at the famous Bell's beach. The beach is known for it's groundbreaking-sized waves and surfers who visit it. Unfortunately we didn't see much surf or surfers. It was an unusually calm day.
  
• The Twelve Apostles and London Bridge attractions were both amazing to see. The shapes of the rocks were jaw-dropping, especially because both are made only through nature.


• The tour guide talked about shipwrecks because they used to be very common on the coast due to the harsh winds and the combination of fog and heat. In one wreck, only two of 54 survived - Tom and Eva. They lived in caves near the water before they were able to go above sea level. I took a picture in front on Eva's cave, and we walked around the area.

The best part about the Great Ocean Road is that it winds around the coast through small farming areas, through magnificent beaches, through rolling hills, and through towns that are so small they're probably barely on a map. A unique experience I'd definitely recommend.

Pictures to come soon!