The Never Ending Summer

Ahhhh...Shelly Beach!

Glen and I left Breckenridge on August 25 and arrived here in Sydney on August 27.  The late winter weather in Sydney was almost exactly the same weather we left behind in Breckenridge in late summer.  The past seven months have felt like one long summer...and there's still plenty of summer to be had. 

In all fairness, Glen and I once loved winter so much, we both chose to live in it for two decades, which is what left us longing for warm, sunny days.  That's exactly what we're getting. 

It's been very hot lately, but we are lucky enough to be house/dogsitting in a very cool spot.  We are right above Curl Curl Beach.  The breeze is almost always blowing off the ocean.  Doors off of the living room open onto the backyard and send cool air blowing into the house.  There's also a massive Norfolk Island Pine in the backyard producing tons of shade.  We sleep with the windows open and fans on. I've been keeping red wine in the refrigerator

The other night at about 9pm the breeze stopped, so Glen and I jumped in the South Curl Curl rock pool.  It was a full moon at high tide, so the waves from the beach were bashing into the pool.  We were having so much fun, we stayed down there for more than ninety minutes

Last night, it was so hot, that we were both awake in the middle of the night.  We woke up this morning to learn that it was the hottest night Sydney has ever had.  Ever.

Today was exceptionally hot, so we met Deb, Steve and Kian (our friends who come to Breckenridge for a few weeks every year) at Shelly Beach.  When we got there at 7:30 this morning, it was already broiling hot.  We played around with paddleboards and snorkel gear for the entire morning.

It's mid-January and we're in the middle of a heat wave.  The summer is never ending, and I almost hope it will never end.  Almost...ask me again in twenty years.  😉

The South Curly rock pool in the light of day.  

 

    
          

At first glance, Australia is not that different from the US.  You can buy a snickers bar at any convenience store cash register, regularly see KFC and McDonald's (colloquially known here as "Macca's") on street corners and we even watched the Sunday night Giants/Packers live on TV this Monday morning.

The differences here are subtle, but many.  I don't mention them to Australians very often, because the "You call it a rock melon?  We call it a cantaloupe" conversation gets very boring after awhile.  But I love the differences that I see everyday, and by no means am I saying that one way is better than the other.  There would be no reason to go anywhere if everywhere was exactly the same.  However, the little differences are fun to notice, or sometimes a little embarrassing when I realize I'm 'doing it wrong.' 

Let's start with the date.  Today is 9/1/2017.  The 9th of January, 2017.  The day goes first.  Morgan is my surname...not my last name.  Many homes do not have clothes dryers, or if they have them, they only use them occasionally and I am now a pro at hanging clothes on a line. 

Two days after we got here, I went to the supermarket.  As my groceries were being checked out, I stuck my credit card in the credit card reader...unintentionally unravelling the space-time continuum.  The reader started flashing weird messages and the cashier looked at me as if I'd tried paying with a goat.  Slowly but firmly, he said "MA'AM.  DO NOT PUT YOUR CREDIT CARD IN UNTIL I AM DONE CHECKING OUT YOUR GROCERIES."  I hung my head and thought to myself "I am SO STUPID!  Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

Speaking of paying, I'm pretty slow when paying with coins.  The bills are colored and different sizes, but the coins throw me every time.  There is a one dollar coin and a two dollar coin.  Other coins are the  $0.50, $0.20, $0.10 and $0.05.  There is no penny.  The ten cent piece is bigger than the five cent piece, which makes sense, but to me, the ten cent piece looks like a nickel, and the five cent piece looks like a dime.     

At many restaurants, you order your food at the counter and pay.  Then, you either bring a big number back to your table and your food is brought out to you, or you're given a pager, and when it beeps, you go and get your food.  Even if you have a server, tipping is not customary (while you can leave something, 20% is not expected at every meal).

Random Breath Testing (RBT):  When driving, at any time of day, you regularly see RBT stations set up by police.  They randomly flag down passing cars and give you a breathalyzer, regardless if you were doing anything wrong...they can randomly drug test too.   

Then there's the words.  So many words are different, and while I have no doubt Australians know what I'm talking about when I call a holiday a vacation, I make an effort to speak the words commonly used by Australians while I'm in their country.  So in no particular order:

Gaol - Jail (different spelling, but pronounced the same).  No, Glen and I haven't been to jail...or gaol.  I put it first because I enjoy making my parents worry. 

Footpath - Sidewalk
Tyre (spelling) 

Petrol - Gas (from the petrol station and/or serve-o)
Kerb - (spelling)
Fire Brigade - Fire Department
Aeroplane - Airplane
Bonnet - Hood of Car
Boot - Trunk of Car
Windscreen - Windshield
Lead - Leash
Docket - Receipt
Physio - Physical Therapy
Chips - Fries
Tomato Sauce - Ketchup
Bickies - Cookies
Aluminium - Aluminum (notice the 'I', it's pronounced that way too...and fun to say)
Lollies - Candy
Muesli - Granola
Lemonade - Sprite/Lemon Lime Soda
Torch - Flashlight
Eskie - Cooler
Entrée - Appetizer
Bottle Shop - Liquor Store
Takeaway - To Go and/or Take Out
Chemist - Pharmacist
Capsicum - Pepper (the vegetable, not the seasoning)
Serviette - Napkin
Whinge - Whine
Pram - Stroller

Cozzie - Bathing Suit
Nappies - Diaper
Yacht - Sail Boat
Theatre - Operating Room
Cinema - Movie Theater
The Bill - The Check (at the end of the meal, if you have sit down service)
To Hospital (Used like the term 'going to church', you don't go to the hospital, you 'go to hospital'...don't worry, Mom and Dad, we haven't been 'to hospital', either).
Lift - Elevator
Rocket - Lettuce.  (I actually think it's some lettuce but not all lettuce.  That's okay, I never talk about lettuce anyway.) 
Queue - Line (as in waiting in line at the store).
Dummy - Pacifier
Mobile Phone - Cell Phone
Thongs- Flip Flops
Hire - Rent (as in 'hire a car at the airport')
Sultanas- Raisins
and my very favorite, Bubbler - Water Fountain

The trees are different!  This is the Norfolk Island Pine.  If you look closely, it's needles stand upright.  Although it is native to Norfolk Island in Australia, they can be found in various parts of the world, including Southern California and Florida.  (Thanks, Wikipedia!)

These birds, Lorikeets, are everywhere and I still get excited every single time I see one. 

We took this picture in  'FNQ'  or Far North Queensland.  This is something I never had to worry about paddling in Lake Dillon.  

From Left to Right, I bring you $0.05, $0.10, $0.20, $0.50, $1 and $2.  Can you understand why I mix up the $0.05 and $0.10?

2017

I've never been a huge fan of New Year's Eve.  Typically, Glen and I eat a nice dinner at home, watch a movie and kiss at midnight if we haven't fallen asleep.  Also, because I'm from New York, I always figured that in Colorado I was living two hours in the past, so I was perfectly happy only making it to 10pm and watching the ball drop at Times Square, live on TV.

But being in Sydney, I felt a little bit different about New Year's Eve this year. Even before I met Glen and started regularly paying attention to what was happening in Australia, I vividly remember that US TV stations would show Sydney's New Year's Eve fireworks live, early in the morning on December 31 in the US.

Our friends Carolyn and Ian (an American gal married to an Australian guy, who we know from Breckenridge) invited us to a party in Carolyn's office in the Central Business District.

We ate Thai food in their neighborhood in Neutral Bay and then took a short bus ride into the city.  Her office is on the forty third floor of a building right near Circular Quay, with huge views of the harbor, the location of the famous New Year's fireworks. 

In all, there were about thirty other people gathered in her office.  We arrived just in time for the 9pm fireworks, which were amazing in their own right:  Fireworks were choreographed from different landmarks, with a few being shot off from the Harbour Bridge as well.  The next three hours went very fast as we sat in a group with drinks and snacks.

At five minutes to midnight, ten of us gathered in a corner office overlooking the Harbour Bridge.  There was a countdown on a pillar of the bridge and at midnight, I saw what is known as the most spectacular fireworks display in the world.  A river of fireworks streamed down off the bottom of the bridge and even bigger colorful blasts came off of the top.  The "BOOM" factor was huge and the whole thing lasted fifteen minutes. 

I was so excited to be able to see such a famous Australian tradition in person on my first New Year's Eve in Sydney.  The fireworks were even more incredible than I thought they'd be.  I was so impressed that the night didn't turn into some huge debacle getting in and out of the city.  More than 1.5 million people are in the CBD watching the fireworks, but it is the most well organized operation.  The city streets are closed to cars and depending on which direction you are heading to get home, you go to a different station where dozens of buses or trains are lined up to get hoards of people out of the city quickly.  Within 30 minutes of the display on the Harbour Bridge, we were crossing the very same bridge on a bus.

By 1:30 in the morning, we were 'back home' in the Northern Beaches ('home' right now is a house in South Curl Curl, where we're taking care of two dogs while their owners are on vacation in Colorado).

By 2:15am, we were asleep, and by 9am on New Year's Day we were awake, ready to face the day, and ready to face all the adventure 2017 in Australia has to offer.  



          



 

Christmas in Summer

I've heard differing opinions of Christmas being in Summer here.  A few people (both ex-pats and Australians) have told me they're disappointed it isn't the traditional season and it doesn't feel like Christmas, but most people I've met love it and embrace it.  Christmas is an outside, summer holiday, with barbecues and trips to the beach.  Personally, I love it.  Running your errands and doing your shopping on the warmest and longest days of the year makes this time of year so much more enjoyable.

On Christmas Eve Glen, Gary, Megan and I went to the supermarket at 7am.  It was very busy, but also very organized.  Every cash register was running, there was tons of staff and the shelves were constantly being re-stocked. 

We woke up Christmas morning and did a little gift exchange with Gary, Megan and Jackson.  We spent some time in the kitchen getting dishes ready.  Being summer the food was a lot of vegetables, fresh salads and prawns, along with the traditional ham, pork and chicken and my very American contribution: brownies for dessert. 

At about noon everyone starting arriving and Glen and I made a quick run to pick up Zach, where he was spending time with Nikki's family. 

Everyone was coming to Gary and Megan's (where Glen and I are staying).  I love their front yard.  It's a big, sunny deck, closed off from the street.  The temperature was sitting at about ninety degrees, but they had an awning up to protect us from the sun and a constant breeze kept us cool.

Not long after lunch/dinner, Nikki arrived along with a few friends of Gary and Megan's.  The afternoon turned into a late night and we were still sitting outside, nice and warm in shorts and sundresses.  There was a lot of laughing.  Someone poured shots of tequila.  Then another.  Megan pulled an enormous red lamp out of her garage and plugged it in, and for some reason (probably the alcohol) I thought it was the funniest thing in the world. 

I woke up this morning (Boxing Day) feeling pretty good after a cup of coffee and a vegemite sandwich.  We're going to the beach today and having a little picnic with the paddleboards tomorrow.  Sharon and Tony will be in town until Thursday, and we'll be spending time with them. 

Since we arrived in August, I've been keeping a list of my favorite things in Australia, which I will share in a future blog.  The latest addition to my list: Christmas in Summer.

Christmas under a Frangipani Tree!

  The bar set up on Gary & Megan's deck.  Note the umbrella up above, so Zach the bartender wouldn't get too hot making our cocktails.

We stayed up pretty late and at some point, this huge red lamp came out.  It looked like a cartoon!  I still can't look at it without laughing.

Glen and I are back in the Northern Beaches.  We are staying with Gary, Megan and Jackson (Glen's brother, sister in law and 13 year old nephew) We drove about six hours from the North Coast today, arriving at about 5pm, just in time to kick off the beginning of Jackson's summer vacation.  

We told them stories from the road, and it was hard to believe we'd only been traveling for 18 days.  The beginning of the trip felt like it was years ago.  Because we showed up today happy and well rested, it was funny to recount how difficult the first days of the trip were.

When we left Sydney, we headed straight back to Port Stephens, not far from Shoal Bay, the town we fell in love with back in October.  We set up camp and paddled and spent time at the beach.  We drove out on the sand dunes to Samarai Beach, a very beautiful and secluded spot, and had a great day laying in the sun and swimming.  On the drive back, the car got completely stuck in the sand dunes. Realizing how stuck we were was upsetting.  Lucky enough, we were far enough off the beach that we didn't need to worry about the tide coming in.  We tried to dig the car out.  I put my foot on the accelerator and Glen pushed the car.  Then Glen put his foot in the accelerator and I pushed the car.  Finally, Glen looked at me and said "Oh, Jenny, we're in trouble."  We stood on top of a sand dune and called NRMA (Australian Triple A).  They said they don't come to the sand.  We called a towing company that does come to sand.  They said they'd come in an hour and a half and it would cost $450.  

Suddenly, two men appeared in a pick up truck and towed us right out. They were so friendly and nice, we thanked them profusely and drove into town, canceled the $450 tow and planned out the next leg of our trip,  to a town called Forster.  

The following night we packed up for an early departure the next day.  We glanced at our phones only to see in every Australian news outlet that there had been a shark attack on a surfer.  In Forster.  We decided to pass Forster and head farther north.  

As we drove out of Port Stephens the following morning, the 'Check Engine' light in the car came on.  We drove the car to Beuladelah, about 75 kilometres to the north and as we pulled into town, we realised that at low speeds, the car was shaking. We googled the nearest Toyota dealership which happened to be in Forster.  The car was fine at high speeds, so we drove it into Forster where the Toyota dealership was happy to take a look.  

While we waited, we ate a kilo of shrimp at a picnic table.  We walked on the beach.  Not all the beaches were open due to the shark attack. But this particular beach was open...but for obvious reasons, we were the only people on it.  It was so hot out.  We couldn't help it....we jumped in the water....really fast.  We didn't get eaten by a shark.

We were thrilled to pick up the car and even more thrilled to learn it was a simple, seventy five dollar fix.  

So we continued up north, eventually landing in the beautiful town of Crescent Head, in a campsite on the water.  We swam and paddled and walked on the beach.  We had a glass of wine and saw some big clouds building behind us.  We could see a big storm was coming, so we got some cheese and crackers ready and figured we'd have a little party in the tent.  

The wind started blowing.  I got in the tent and Glen came in too.  Suddenly, a pole broke.  Then another....the back side of the tent collapsed.  I ran into the car.  (I'm not very brave).  Glen loaded everything from the tent into the car and took the tent down but secured it to the ground.  We googled hotels in Crescent Head and found a room for $99. 

We drove into town and checked into the room.  The room was situated so it was not near the road or parking lot, so we had to run our things quite a distance, in the rain.  

Finally we were settled in.  We were wet.  All of our stuff was muddy. It was still pouring outside.  We never got to eat.  For the first time since we'd arrived in Australia, we were both completely defeated.  We talked about the move we'd made, and even questioned why we did it.  We said this may have been have a big mistake and we wondered, where do we go from here?  Not just on this road trip, but in life in general.

We barely slept and woke up early.  The day was beautiful.  We drove back to the campground.  People everywhere were re-building their campsites.  Ours was back up by 930am.  We made friends with our neighbors.  We spent the next few days swimming, paddling and surfing before continuing north to Yamba, then even farther north to the Gold Coast and then back down the coast to beautiful Nambucca Heads.

As you can probably guess, as we talked to Gary, Megan and Jackson we loved telling them the stories from the road.  The more trouble we were in, the more fun it was to talk about.  I suppose it's natural for us to question what we've done sometimes.  But at the end of the day, I wouldn't trade this for anything.

At this moment in time we probably should've been tying more ropes off, rather than taking photos in front of the storm clouds that would take the tent down about ten minutes later. 

It's about 90 degrees and being December 12, it's one of the longest days of the year.  The holiday season doesn't seem to be quite as a big a deal here as it is in the US, and I'm not sure if that's because it's summer or because Australians just aren't as into Christmas.  The other day I walked into a movie theater and Jingle Bells was playing and for a moment I thought "why are they playing Jingle Bells!?"

After six weeks on the Northern Beaches, Glen and I have spent the past two weeks camping up the coast.  Although I write this from the Gold Coast (we are at Sharon and Tony's again!) it's hard to believe we're ten hours from Sydney because we never drove more than two or three hours at a time.

Camping in Australia is a completely different experience from camping in Colorado. It's far less rustic.  Campgrounds are called caravan parks,  Caravan Parks consist of cabins, RV sites and tent sites.  We've always had water and electricity. The  campgrounds have camp kitchens, with grills, sinks and sometimes, refrigerators.  Oh, and the campground bathrooms are absolutely, positively immaculate.  The only downside is, campground bathrooms are constantly closed for cleaning.  So, not exactly roughing it (to borrow Beaver Creeks tagline) but I don't mind one bit.

The past two weeks have been filled with adventure, including four wheeling down a sand road to a secluded beach, where we got stuck in the sand on the way back.  Luckily we were pulled out by two friendly guys, who when we thanked them just replied "too easy!"  which I think may be my favourite Australian saying.

Another night, on a campground just off the beach in a town called Crescent Head, a thunderstorm storm came in with so much wind that part of our tent collapsed.  Glen took the rest of the tent down and secured it to the ground, while I helped by hiding in the car and googling hotels.  We spent the night in a hotel, and had our tent back up by 930 the next morning.

We've spent a lot of time at the beach.  I thought I had a great tan until I saw myself in a full length mirror and was shocked....I look like an over cooked turkey!  Glen surfs and I've been playing around on his surfboard a bit...not surfing, just playing on the board, with the thought that one day, I might jump up!  And of course, we've been paddling!

One of the highlights of the past two weeks was a stop in a town called Yamba, about two hours south of the Gold Coast (8 hours north of Sydney). We really fell in love with this beautiful beach town with good restaurants, yoga and a feeling of a great quality of life.

Tomorrow morning we're heading back down the coast and we'll take about five days to get back to Sydney.  We'll be staying in the Northern Beaches til the end of January and then...who knows?  I'm hoping whatever we do includes another visit back to Yamba.

Hello from Shoal Bay!  Shoal Bay is in the Port Stephens region, about two hours north of Sydney.  We pulled in yesterday for some much needed relaxation time.  Just kidding.

Really, though, we wanted to take the new car on a road trip and Glen has always talked about this area.  He spent a lot of time here as a kid and I've heard a lot about the area, but I never realized it was so beautiful.  It reminds me a bit of Hawaii, with mountains rising out of turquoise water. 

The towns of Shoal Bay and nearby Nelson Bay are low key and relaxed, a beach scene with little cafes and shops. We've rented the cutest little cabin here for three days.  

We brought our paddle boards and took them out for a two hour paddle in the bay this morning.  The water was so blue and clear - we could see the bottom the whole time!  The water was wavy and bumpy, but the boards handled great.  

Afterwards, we threw on shorts and t-shirts and went into Nelson Bay.  We went to a local fish market where we bought a kilo of prawns, caught here in Port Stephens last night!  We ate them at a picnic table right across the street.  They were absolutely delicious.  When we were done, we went back to the same market and bought a dozen oysters for dinner tonight.

Dare I say it?  I really, really love Port Stephens, it's the newest addition to my 'favorite towns in Australia' list.  

Cheap red wine and pizza is the way to travel on a budget!  We just discovered 'Lambrusco', a sparkling red wine, served chilled.  Perfect for al fresco dining on warm, Spring nights.

Port Stephens taken from a lookout, at the entrance to the bay.

 The fishing looks amazing, (Dad)!