...It was sand in the air

maybe some of you have already heard about this over the news, but we had a sandstorm on wednesday!  this is the view from the balcony of the house and that palm tree you see coming half way into the shot is usually out of view.  along with our first sandstorm was our first genuine Australian meat pie!  Kara actually ate her entire half of the pie too! 

apparently Goldstein's is the place to get your meat pie, and apparently you want a giant heaping mound of mashed peas.  i'll have to admit it was pretty delicious.  not pictured, is the mixed mangoes and yogurt we got from the fruit stand across the way.  yum!  with all the new foods here and all of the foods we miss i think we are brainstorming a giant list of food business ventures that we can either bring to or from Australia :P

take coffee sippy cups for example.  just about every cafe you go to, they will have sippy cup lids.  i really meant to post this sarcastically but i wouldn't be half surprised if i was taking a sunday walk along phinney ridge and saw sippy cup lids for all the yuppie toddlers up by the zoo.  bleh.  i will close this post with another senseless photo of the amazing endless beaches on the GC.  ;)

there's something in the air at the moment...

sitting at the pool yesterday after a hard night of partying, i came across this awesome article in FRANKIE -- one of Romena's magazines.  just feels great to see other people going through similar situations as us.  reminds me of my friends that will be trekking through Nepal in October, going back to fight forest fires, or moving to Australia like me :P  anyways check it out, hope the photo comes through legibly.

So Famous

Today, on 105.7 metro radio...David and I got a shout out from the best Radio DJ on the coast, ROMENA G!

'and I just wanted to give a shout out to my friends David and Kara who have just arrived from the states and are enjoying the BEAUTIFUL Australian sunshine..as they should be'

We were screaming in the car...Romena is the best DJ ever. Now we are just getting tired from all the autographs and photos people want to take of us...

Now out to the infamous Surfer's Paradise night scene..we heard there are some crazy fights and crazy outfits to be seen. I can't wait.

The Best Doughnut in the World

Today was a big day. We went to Byron Bay...and I met the best doughnut in the world.

Byron Bay is the ex-hippie/hippie town. So, there are some traces of 'back in the day' (LOTS of veggie restaurants, aura readings and people dancing with the waves on the beach) but most of it has been replaced with tourists shops (3 cheers for the Byron Bay Hat Company)

David became a true hippie/hipster by sporting his patented Beach Bummaire Look. Please note the popped collar Polo and the white 'man skirt' that can be whipped off as soon as you hit the beach. I'm telling you, people. Watch for this fashion at Australia fashion week.

David striking a pose in an urban setting:


Keeping with our retirement duties, Dave-o (David's Aussie nickname) and I grabbed a 'flat white' (espresso with milk NOT foamy milk) and headed to do a crossword puzzle at the beach. And Byron is GORGEOUS. We read that surfing is big here because beaches are on all sides of you...so no matter the weather, there is decent surf.

(that's the famous Byron Bay Lighthouse..beyond that is the 'Most Eastern Point of Mainland Australia'

Here's another view, from the same spot on the beach!


And then. The best part of the day. My encounter with the best doughnut in the world. He was at the Byron Bay Organic Doughnut Company. You order your Doughnut, they will inject (yes! INJECT) your organic filling of choice, and then you devour it. I barely let David have any bites...

Here is me with my blackberry filled delight:


Another tiring day on the Aussie Circuit! :) We were hoping to make it up to the truly hippie town of Nimbin..but there was just too much fun to be had at Byron Bay. I guess we'll have to wait until next year's Mardi Grass...

backwards driving

a quick video review of driving in our backwards Holden Commodore

a fine day for skin cancer

today we decided to make a day trip out to Byron Bay.  after finding a great parking spot near the beach and town, we stepped out to find that we had parked right in front of the skin cancer clinic.  mama gibson and mama ka, this post goes out to you.  we have purchased our hats and yes you are right, it is wayyyyy cooler and we are way happier with our new lids.

...and now for a proper introduction

[the uncut unedited unplanned version]

The Great American Send-Off

We had the best day in L.A. the day before we left (best layover ever, thank you very much Mr. Ramirez)

Jandro took us all over the city...to some lesser known L.A. Highlights: Caribbean food at Cha Cha Cha, The Observatory made famous by James Dean, Michael Jackson's Star ..still complete with flowers from fans; Olvetta Street, My Father's Office and their delicious beer (and amazing burgers I hear) and lots. and lots. of L.A. traffic.

Thank you Jandro for a wonderful send-off from the USA!!

a picture is worth a thousand words so here are 8,232

so today is our first weekday on the G-C.  it's been a hard knock life so far, as we just spent the last weekend mainly sitting on the beach.  the beaches here are perfect and it is hard to believe that people actually live here.  Richenda's mom has been kind enough to offer us her room while she is in Europe for the next several weeks as well as her car.  i've definitely been having a blast driving on the left side of the road and we've started each weekday so far with a drive into surfer's paradise at about 7am to jog along the beach.  the room we are staying in has its own balcony overlooking the river with a nice cool breeze coming in through out the day.  i just wanted to post some photos you guys have probably been itching to see...

 

first photo on Australian soil (airport gate in Brisbane)

our first meal at 9am with Manny: hot dogs with tomato sauce, mustard, and cheese at Donut King

the view from the bedroom balcony

 

yes we have already visited a motorcycle store--my girlfriend and an mv augusta :D

 

having an ice cold bottle of Toohey's at the beach

 

 

 our wonderful hosts Manny and Romena (Mikey not pictured)

 

having the freshest fish and chips by the beach

 

at burleigh getting ready for a short hike by the beach followed by a swim--YEEAAAA!!!!!

Project Runway...AUSTRALIA

While DKa was trying to tape the American Football on cable last night..we came across my favorite show, Project Runway, Australia!!!

I had the biggest poolparty..and we watched the final 20 minutes.

Too bad they are down to their last episode...and that they don't have anyone as charming as Tim Gunn.

Plus, the Mikey, Romena and Manny tried s'mores last night (I smuggled in from U.S.A) and they loved it. Word.

Project Runway and S'mores...Australia is just heaven, isn't it?

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Arriving in the G-C

after spending our final american days in los angeles, 14 hours on a plane, and an entire day exploring the town, our first post will be communicated in list form:

first...
-drive on the wrong side of the road
-meat pie served up hot from a gas station (incl. kara)
-never-ending beach at surfer's paradise
-australian grocery store experience (rice crispies = rice bubbles)
-australian cellphone

and now it is 4:30am PDT and we are proud that we have stayed up until 9:30pm local time.

promise to write more soon!...