The morning that we had to leave Australia came way too quickly. I think both Pratt and I were a little sad when we had to say goodbye, to each other and to this amazing country, at the airport. The highest praise that I can give this experience actually came from Jaime about halfway through the trip. She looked at me as we were walking around somewhere and said that she had not, for even one single minute, thought about what has happening back in America or wished that she was there. I couldn't have agreed more. We were so present in every single second of this amazing experience that it truly made for the trip of a lifetime! Can't wait to go back!
*Because of my sunburn and the fact that I was dressed as a homeless person for my long flight home, I would not allow Jaime to take one last picture at the airport. What a jerk I am. Sorry!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Last Night in Sydney
For our last night in Sydney, we had a pretty good idea of what we wanted to do. We planned to hit up Opera Bar right on the water next to the Sydney Opera House and then go to Chat Thai, which Jonny and Filo had recommended to us. We got all gussied up, I applied copious amounts of lotion and cover-up in attempt to disguise the fact that I looked like a sunburned freak, and headed out. Jaime got in touch with our old friend, the Weasel (aka Dave) and invited him to meet up with us for a drink. One drink of course turned into multiple drinks at the Opera Bar. We even met some fellow Americans, who were from New York and I'm pretty sure called us Canadian. They're lucky we kept talking to them...
Bridge Shot - Thanks Dave for being so patient and diligent in trying to get us good shots!
Opera House shot - a little blurry as we were trying not to use the flash...
The three of us then set out for Chat Thai and enjoyed a really delicious meal of Thai food. The place was BYOB, which could have dealt a major blow to our evening, but luckily the Weasel was willing to go out and grab a great bottle of wine for us. After our meal, a bottle of vino and some inappropriate conversation, we called it a night. Okay, we stopped into a bar for one more beer, but then we really called it a night. Thanks to Dave for keeping us entertained and making fun of the way we talked. Seems to be a common theme, doesn't it?
Chat Thai 1
Chat Thai 2
Bridge Shot - Thanks Dave for being so patient and diligent in trying to get us good shots!
Opera House shot - a little blurry as we were trying not to use the flash...
The three of us then set out for Chat Thai and enjoyed a really delicious meal of Thai food. The place was BYOB, which could have dealt a major blow to our evening, but luckily the Weasel was willing to go out and grab a great bottle of wine for us. After our meal, a bottle of vino and some inappropriate conversation, we called it a night. Okay, we stopped into a bar for one more beer, but then we really called it a night. Thanks to Dave for keeping us entertained and making fun of the way we talked. Seems to be a common theme, doesn't it?
Chat Thai 1
Chat Thai 2
Bondi Beach
We dedicated our last day in Australia to relaxing and taking in the beautiful views at Bondi Beach. We had really gone back and forth over whether to go to Bondi or Manly, and each person we asked had their own opinion, but we decided on Bondi as it was the iconic Sydney beach and we were, after all, tourists! The forecast for the day called for thunderstorms, but we really thought ahead and still slathered ourselves in sunscreen and wore our bathing suits, just in case. We took the bus to Bondi and arrived to find blue skies and breathtaking views. We laid on the beach for about an hour, and while Jaime emerged with a healthy bronze glow, I once again got fried. You're shocked, I know. Other than that and the fact that we neglected to bring towels, our day at the beach was thoroughly enjoyable!
Bondi
Hike/Walk Path to Bronte beach - we did not do this and opted to go back and have lunch and drink instead.
Sports club/pool right on the beach called the Icebergs
Us at Bondi
Beautiful water at Bondi
Funny ad we saw in the Rocks as our first night in Sydney we went to this place and met locals! Here is Lindsey pretending to be a chimney sweep.
Bondi
Hike/Walk Path to Bronte beach - we did not do this and opted to go back and have lunch and drink instead.
Sports club/pool right on the beach called the Icebergs
Us at Bondi
Beautiful water at Bondi
Funny ad we saw in the Rocks as our first night in Sydney we went to this place and met locals! Here is Lindsey pretending to be a chimney sweep.
Hold that Tiger
The airline that we flew from Melbourne back to Sydney was called Tiger Airlines and was by far the most inexpensive leg of our trip. As we walked to the separate Tiger terminal that was like three miles from the normal terminal, we started to understand how they kept their prices so low. To say that this was a no frills operation would be a gross understatement, but we flew comfortably and made it to Sydney safely, so no real complaints I suppose. We got really brave upon arriving in Sydney and actually just took the train into town and got dropped off at Circular Quay, where our hotel was located. After schlepping down the street with our bags and up the narrowest staircase in Australia at our bed and breakfast with our oversized suitcases, we were informed that there had been a mix-up with Expedia and there was actually no room for us at The Russell. Luckily for us (but to the dismay of the poor guy who had to carry our bags for us), they had taken care of booking us up the road at the Harbour Rocks Hotel. This place turned out to be just fine.
That night we attempted to go to a place called Cargo Bar, that had come at high recommendation from Filo and Adam. Well, after standing at the bar there for at least 10 minutes without so much as a glance from one of the three bar staff (sidenote: there were only 2 other patrons in this bar), we walked out and headed over to a place called Bungalow 8. The night turned out to be rather tame, so unfortunately there are not too many other stories to share.
That night we attempted to go to a place called Cargo Bar, that had come at high recommendation from Filo and Adam. Well, after standing at the bar there for at least 10 minutes without so much as a glance from one of the three bar staff (sidenote: there were only 2 other patrons in this bar), we walked out and headed over to a place called Bungalow 8. The night turned out to be rather tame, so unfortunately there are not too many other stories to share.
St. Kilda Round Two
We woke up in St. Kilda and walked to breakfast on Acland Street. It took us quite a while to pick a suitable establishment, most likely because all we really could think about was what type of pastry (cake) we would be grabbing after we ate. These eating habits may or may not explain why none of my pants fit upon returning home...who really knows? We ended up at a place called Abbey Rd, not because it stood out for its menu or setting, but because they had the Gator game re-playing on a big screen randomly. We watched the same quarter of the game that we watched live at the airport in the Gold Coast, but it was still fun to see our team in action!
Artistic sailboat shot...had to do it!
View of Melbourne from St. Kilda pier
Guy wearing a Magic jersey in front of a building with the word Orlando on it
Entrance to Luna Park
After checking out of our hotel, we took a walk down to the pier to kill some time and see some lovely scenery. We thought it might be a good idea to get some ice cream as we set out upon this walk, but as we walked along the boardwalk where winds were whipping and the sun was not shining, we once again questioned our decision making skills. Once we got down to the end of the pier, Jaime was summoned by an old shirtless salty dog to get her butt over to the area he was pointing at. After nervously calling me over to go with her, we walked to where the man was and took a look at what he was gesturing toward. In one of the crevices between the rocks, we saw two tiny penguin heads poking out and looking at us suspiciously. We spent the next 10 minutes or so looking for other penguins, never seeing any, and wondering how the old man knew exactly where these two little guys would be found. We tried to find them again to snap a photo, but it was hopeless and we didn't really want to ask Popeye for help again. So you'll just have to imagine what they might have looked like. Interestingly, we were told by the friendly bartender at the Royal Saxon that these penguins used to be called Fairy Penguins, but upon protest by the gay community, had to be renamed Little Penguins. I'm not sure I think this is entirely fair. What's next? Are the little people of the world going to come forward and ask for another name change??
Artistic sailboat shot...had to do it!
View of Melbourne from St. Kilda pier
Guy wearing a Magic jersey in front of a building with the word Orlando on it
Entrance to Luna Park
After checking out of our hotel, we took a walk down to the pier to kill some time and see some lovely scenery. We thought it might be a good idea to get some ice cream as we set out upon this walk, but as we walked along the boardwalk where winds were whipping and the sun was not shining, we once again questioned our decision making skills. Once we got down to the end of the pier, Jaime was summoned by an old shirtless salty dog to get her butt over to the area he was pointing at. After nervously calling me over to go with her, we walked to where the man was and took a look at what he was gesturing toward. In one of the crevices between the rocks, we saw two tiny penguin heads poking out and looking at us suspiciously. We spent the next 10 minutes or so looking for other penguins, never seeing any, and wondering how the old man knew exactly where these two little guys would be found. We tried to find them again to snap a photo, but it was hopeless and we didn't really want to ask Popeye for help again. So you'll just have to imagine what they might have looked like. Interestingly, we were told by the friendly bartender at the Royal Saxon that these penguins used to be called Fairy Penguins, but upon protest by the gay community, had to be renamed Little Penguins. I'm not sure I think this is entirely fair. What's next? Are the little people of the world going to come forward and ask for another name change??
St. Kilda
Our last night in Melbourne was spent in a beach community known as St. Kilda. This was a fun area and if we were to go back we would probably spend more time there. We checked in to our hotel, showered and with Kevin and Adam in tow went to a popular spot called the Esplanade Hotel, more commonly referred to as the Espy. Thankfully, we had been warned earlier in the day that if we called it the Esplanade, people would recognize us as tourists/outsiders right away. As if our rockin' accents didn't already give that way... Anyway, we drank some beers there and then moved on to the Pelican.
The Espy
Pratt and vW enjoying the sunset
9 PM sunset! Summer is awesome!
The Pelican is actually a sister restaurant to the one we went to earlier in the day, The Royal Saxon. We all split a tapas meal and had some more to drink before calling it a day! Two things happened between dinner and parting ways that are still bringing a smile to our faces. First, we decided to treat our ordering at the Pelican as if it were a fantasy football draft. Each person had two picks and when the poor waitress came to take our order, we went around the table twice and all ordered our picks. I'm sure she thought we were crazy, but we certainly entertained ourselves! Secondly, when we were leaving, Adam offered to drop us off back at our hotel. After making two highly illegal u-turns, we realized that the hotel was in fact directly across from the restaurant. Hilarity ensued. It honestly felt like a scene from a movie (and during the confusion and laughter, we successfully slipped the 50 note that Adam and Kevin tried to give us for dinner back into Adam's car. We won!)
The Espy
Pratt and vW enjoying the sunset
9 PM sunset! Summer is awesome!
The Pelican is actually a sister restaurant to the one we went to earlier in the day, The Royal Saxon. We all split a tapas meal and had some more to drink before calling it a day! Two things happened between dinner and parting ways that are still bringing a smile to our faces. First, we decided to treat our ordering at the Pelican as if it were a fantasy football draft. Each person had two picks and when the poor waitress came to take our order, we went around the table twice and all ordered our picks. I'm sure she thought we were crazy, but we certainly entertained ourselves! Secondly, when we were leaving, Adam offered to drop us off back at our hotel. After making two highly illegal u-turns, we realized that the hotel was in fact directly across from the restaurant. Hilarity ensued. It honestly felt like a scene from a movie (and during the confusion and laughter, we successfully slipped the 50 note that Adam and Kevin tried to give us for dinner back into Adam's car. We won!)
Shoes and Frocks..
One of the items I wanted to see while in Melbourne was the Ian Potter Centre. This is a museum in Fed Square with aboriginal art. Well, my poor planning was in effect because like most museums, it was closed on Monday. So we looked through the store of the other museum, the National Gallery of Victoria, and continued on our way.
Federation Square
Umbrella art in the atrium of the closed museums
Cricket on the big screen in Federation Square
We decided to venture out to Bridge Street and Chapel Street. Our friend in the Gold Coast, Jonny, told us to go to Bridge Street for our shoes, and Chapel Street our frocks. If you look closely in the pictures, Lindsey is pointing her toes in front of the Bridge sign and I am holding my dress in front of the Chapel street sign.
Chapel Street = place to get frocks
Bridge Road = place to get shoes
We shopped and walked…..well we really just walked. Things were very expensive in Australia. The exchange rate was almost 1:1 and things are just more pricey. I was in love with this t-shirt that had bicycles on it but the price for it was $80. Shoes sales had cheaply made shoes for the low low price of $90! We stopped in at a great little bar called the Royal Saxon for a mid day cocktail too.
My favorite Australian also met up with us on this day. My friend Ryan Fletcher who used to live in Encinitas but now lives in Barwon Heads where he grew up, drove up to meet us. We were actually thinking of driving down to meet him but we were too scared after seeing a hook turn that is utilized when turning right in Melbourne. Ask us if you want to know what that is. We grabbed beers and some food at a local Irish bar and then did some more walking and looking.
Ryan and Jaime
Off to St. Kilda!
Federation Square
Umbrella art in the atrium of the closed museums
Cricket on the big screen in Federation Square
We decided to venture out to Bridge Street and Chapel Street. Our friend in the Gold Coast, Jonny, told us to go to Bridge Street for our shoes, and Chapel Street our frocks. If you look closely in the pictures, Lindsey is pointing her toes in front of the Bridge sign and I am holding my dress in front of the Chapel street sign.
Chapel Street = place to get frocks
Bridge Road = place to get shoes
We shopped and walked…..well we really just walked. Things were very expensive in Australia. The exchange rate was almost 1:1 and things are just more pricey. I was in love with this t-shirt that had bicycles on it but the price for it was $80. Shoes sales had cheaply made shoes for the low low price of $90! We stopped in at a great little bar called the Royal Saxon for a mid day cocktail too.
My favorite Australian also met up with us on this day. My friend Ryan Fletcher who used to live in Encinitas but now lives in Barwon Heads where he grew up, drove up to meet us. We were actually thinking of driving down to meet him but we were too scared after seeing a hook turn that is utilized when turning right in Melbourne. Ask us if you want to know what that is. We grabbed beers and some food at a local Irish bar and then did some more walking and looking.
Ryan and Jaime
Off to St. Kilda!
Worst Dining Experience Ever!
Sunday came quickly and we realized soon that all of the fun we were having was catching up with us. We both were pretty exhausted even from the start of the day. We met up with Kevin and Adam at a restaurant called Little Creatures. It is a fun restaurant in an old wedding dress warehouse that brews its own beer in Victoria somewhere, I think. The boys looked fabulous as they were dressed up on their way to the wedding. We were not which was pretty funny for us to be meeting these dapper looking fellows looking so casual.
How our bill came....in an old children's book!
Lindsey with the water pitcher.
A picture of the restaurant from the outside.
The beer and food was great and we even had a celebrity sighting (Denny Minogue? This is only according to Adam b/c we wouldn't have know who she was if we ran smack into her on the street). At the end of the meal our two groups parted ways, with grand plans to meet up later after their wedding was over.
We had walked to the restaurant from our hotel and it was such a nice day that we walked home. We walked up and down Brunswick Street and saw some amazing second hand stores. We passed this amazing church and gardens and took some photos.
Beautiful Church
We also passed by this funny stand near our hotel. They had all different nationality labels for their dipping sauces. American was barbeque.
Lord of the Fries!
Once we returned to the hotel and since we were without hosts, we decided to research where we should go for dinner. Adam had informed us that Melbourne has a very large Greek population so we decided to eat Greek. We looked online and decided to try a place called Saganaki in the Docklands area of Melbourne.
So we made it to Saganaki for a nice Greek dinner. Well, we got a big surprise. We had made a reservation, which when we got there immediately noticed we didn’t need as there were probably four other groups in the entire restaurant. They put us at a table for two that was directly up against a wall with a mirror.
vW taking a picture of herself seated at the table.
Our crappy little table in an empty restaurant
The food was not that great and service was horrible seeing as there was no one else in the restaurant! The ironic thing was that right before we left to go to the restaurant, I had to google the address. When I brought it up there was one review saying that it was “the worst dining experience ever”. And we still went! We learned our lesson!
We decided after this terrible dining experience that we would just go home and get some rest. Lindsey broke this news to Filo via text and sarcastically added that we would be heading to our room to watch movies and braid each other's hair. Apparently this came through on his phone as we were going to "braid each other" and as you may imagine, he was confused. She clarified for him that we were joking about the braiding part, but were serious about not meeting up and he made it clear that he and Adam were none too pleased. It sounds like they had a great night enjoying each others company and ordering fruity absinthe drinks, however, so we hardly think we were missed.
How our bill came....in an old children's book!
Lindsey with the water pitcher.
A picture of the restaurant from the outside.
The beer and food was great and we even had a celebrity sighting (Denny Minogue? This is only according to Adam b/c we wouldn't have know who she was if we ran smack into her on the street). At the end of the meal our two groups parted ways, with grand plans to meet up later after their wedding was over.
We had walked to the restaurant from our hotel and it was such a nice day that we walked home. We walked up and down Brunswick Street and saw some amazing second hand stores. We passed this amazing church and gardens and took some photos.
Beautiful Church
We also passed by this funny stand near our hotel. They had all different nationality labels for their dipping sauces. American was barbeque.
Lord of the Fries!
Once we returned to the hotel and since we were without hosts, we decided to research where we should go for dinner. Adam had informed us that Melbourne has a very large Greek population so we decided to eat Greek. We looked online and decided to try a place called Saganaki in the Docklands area of Melbourne.
So we made it to Saganaki for a nice Greek dinner. Well, we got a big surprise. We had made a reservation, which when we got there immediately noticed we didn’t need as there were probably four other groups in the entire restaurant. They put us at a table for two that was directly up against a wall with a mirror.
vW taking a picture of herself seated at the table.
Our crappy little table in an empty restaurant
The food was not that great and service was horrible seeing as there was no one else in the restaurant! The ironic thing was that right before we left to go to the restaurant, I had to google the address. When I brought it up there was one review saying that it was “the worst dining experience ever”. And we still went! We learned our lesson!
We decided after this terrible dining experience that we would just go home and get some rest. Lindsey broke this news to Filo via text and sarcastically added that we would be heading to our room to watch movies and braid each other's hair. Apparently this came through on his phone as we were going to "braid each other" and as you may imagine, he was confused. She clarified for him that we were joking about the braiding part, but were serious about not meeting up and he made it clear that he and Adam were none too pleased. It sounds like they had a great night enjoying each others company and ordering fruity absinthe drinks, however, so we hardly think we were missed.
Melburnians...
Well we left the Gold Coast with complete satisfaction. We had such a great time there spent with real Australian folks and to boot the Florida Game was on at the airport while we waited to board! We watched the second quarter of what ended being a blowout and boarded our plane to Melbourne. Kevin was on the same flight with us as he was going to a wedding in Melbourne that Sunday. He included us on plans to go to a place in Melbourne called the Night Cat with his friend Adam.
Once we arrived in Melbourne, Adam so graciously drove us to our hotel and he and Kevin asked if we wanted to check in and change really quick or meet them out a little later. We chose the latter as we had not slept the night before (see blog post Shrimp on the Barbie) and wanted to get in a quick nap. This was all around 5:30. Fast forward to 9:34 PM. I awoke to the sound of the hotel phone ringing. I roll over, pick it up and put it back down on the set, effectively hanging up on whomever was calling. I was awake and knew what I was doing but for some reason, in my sleepy haze, believed it was what I was supposed to do. I see the clock (9:34) and roll back over to Lindsey telling her the time. She awakes and tells me, “It’s before nine……Filo hasn’t called.” I immediately think she must know what is going on because of the matter of fact nature of her speech. She starts checking her cell phone and said he in fact did call some 5 times and texted her. Meanwhile the hotel phone rings again. This time I pick it up and put it to my ear. On the other end, a voice says, “Hey”. I respond, “Hey,” having really no idea who it is. Then the voice says, “Is this Lindsey or Jaime?” At this point my pea size brain understands that it is Filo forgoing the cell phone calls to the hotel room phone to contact us. From what I remember at this point, I just told him that we overslept and that we needed to get ready and then we would meet them. The whole thing was so confusing and funny! Later that evening Filo told us that he had to go back through information and the front desk at our hotel to get our room again since we had hung up on him! This would explain the "you ladies tired?" comment that the concierge made to us as we walked out to get a cab.
So, in a flash we got ready, and took a cab to the Corner Bar in Richmond. It was a cool music venue a rooftop bar. We drank a “pot” of beer and hung out for a bit. We then moved over to another bar in an old Post Office. The décor was awesome.
Insert
Light fixture at Post Office Bar
This is where we learned about Australia v. USA. Kevin and Adam have an ongoing list of items that differ from Australia to the States. From burgers, to money, from Mexican food to bacon, they had developed arguments for each country’s version. It was hilarious. Don’t worry Americans, we won on the burger and Mexican food.
Since the Night Cat was closed and vW and I hadn’t eaten since the Gold Coast earlier that day, we then had a kebab at a small restaurant next to the post office bar. I would liken their kebab shops to a burrito stand in the states. Most of the people in the place were heavily intoxicated (it was by this point 11 PM) and the souvlaki’s were huge! Side note: in your head say the work kebab. Notice that at the second syllable, it is a long a that sits between the b’s. The Australian’s, who claim we always say things with unrefined short a’s, say kebab like kee-bab, with the bab rhyming with bad.
Anyway, we moved on after the kee-babs, to a place called EuroTrash. This was a multi level maze like dance club. As dance/techno music is very popular there, it was a neat albeit strange experience. There were only a few rooms open. One room being the room we entered the establishment and the other being the dance room. The additional places to hang out were small covered outside rooms and the stair shafts. We had such a great time hanging with Adam and Filo at this place. They both really are fun and great hosts!
Once we arrived in Melbourne, Adam so graciously drove us to our hotel and he and Kevin asked if we wanted to check in and change really quick or meet them out a little later. We chose the latter as we had not slept the night before (see blog post Shrimp on the Barbie) and wanted to get in a quick nap. This was all around 5:30. Fast forward to 9:34 PM. I awoke to the sound of the hotel phone ringing. I roll over, pick it up and put it back down on the set, effectively hanging up on whomever was calling. I was awake and knew what I was doing but for some reason, in my sleepy haze, believed it was what I was supposed to do. I see the clock (9:34) and roll back over to Lindsey telling her the time. She awakes and tells me, “It’s before nine……Filo hasn’t called.” I immediately think she must know what is going on because of the matter of fact nature of her speech. She starts checking her cell phone and said he in fact did call some 5 times and texted her. Meanwhile the hotel phone rings again. This time I pick it up and put it to my ear. On the other end, a voice says, “Hey”. I respond, “Hey,” having really no idea who it is. Then the voice says, “Is this Lindsey or Jaime?” At this point my pea size brain understands that it is Filo forgoing the cell phone calls to the hotel room phone to contact us. From what I remember at this point, I just told him that we overslept and that we needed to get ready and then we would meet them. The whole thing was so confusing and funny! Later that evening Filo told us that he had to go back through information and the front desk at our hotel to get our room again since we had hung up on him! This would explain the "you ladies tired?" comment that the concierge made to us as we walked out to get a cab.
So, in a flash we got ready, and took a cab to the Corner Bar in Richmond. It was a cool music venue a rooftop bar. We drank a “pot” of beer and hung out for a bit. We then moved over to another bar in an old Post Office. The décor was awesome.
Insert Light fixture at Post Office Bar
This is where we learned about Australia v. USA. Kevin and Adam have an ongoing list of items that differ from Australia to the States. From burgers, to money, from Mexican food to bacon, they had developed arguments for each country’s version. It was hilarious. Don’t worry Americans, we won on the burger and Mexican food.
Since the Night Cat was closed and vW and I hadn’t eaten since the Gold Coast earlier that day, we then had a kebab at a small restaurant next to the post office bar. I would liken their kebab shops to a burrito stand in the states. Most of the people in the place were heavily intoxicated (it was by this point 11 PM) and the souvlaki’s were huge! Side note: in your head say the work kebab. Notice that at the second syllable, it is a long a that sits between the b’s. The Australian’s, who claim we always say things with unrefined short a’s, say kebab like kee-bab, with the bab rhyming with bad.
Anyway, we moved on after the kee-babs, to a place called EuroTrash. This was a multi level maze like dance club. As dance/techno music is very popular there, it was a neat albeit strange experience. There were only a few rooms open. One room being the room we entered the establishment and the other being the dance room. The additional places to hang out were small covered outside rooms and the stair shafts. We had such a great time hanging with Adam and Filo at this place. They both really are fun and great hosts!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Shrimp on the Barbie
We woke up on New Years Day sunburned and exhausted, but really excited about having had such a great night with our new Aussie friends. We kept talking about the fact that we were made to feel lame when we were ready to leave the festivities the night before, but upon realizing that it was actually 4 a.m., it was clear that the people with the problem were the people who stayed after we left! Only kidding of course, but the ability of these Gold Coast people to party all night should not go unmentioned.
So, after waking up, we walked to lunch and settled in with a huge plate of nachos (they certainly had nothing on the Mexican food of Texas or SoCal) and a beer and basically waited to hear what the plans would be for the day. After hearing literally nothing all day, we began to be concerned that we had in fact made a bad impression on these people that we considered our new best friends. Then I stopped being such a stupid American and figured out how to call Filo's Australian number, and to our delight, everyone was at a bar-b-que, anxiously awaiting our arrival (of course). We headed over to the barbie and, while there were no shrimp, we enjoyed great food, cold beer and wonderful conversation. In fact, we had such a remarkable time that we forgot to go to sleep that night! The photos below chronicle the progression of our night and the beautiful sunrise. A big thanks to Toppy and Darren for entertaining us all night and well into the morning.
View 1
"Hey Americans - Eat more meat!"
View 2
At about this time in the evening, the crowd started to thin out and some people had to go ahead and pass out on the table. It was just so fun that he couldn't bring himself to leave the party! Jaime and I, however, were still going strong. If memory serves, we were getting made fun of for our accents. listening to impressions of American valley girls (cool, dude!) and learning Australian slang words at about this hour. Some favorites - bogan (white trash), cruisey (laid back), no dramas and knob (jerk, idiot...the k is silent, ha).
Liam sleeping on the table
Toppy, vW and Daz
Is that really the sun coming up? Really? REALLY?!
Darren was a really interesting guy who had spent a lot of time in the States, staying on various yachts, or as we Americans say - yaaaaaachts. Our favorite things about Darren were that he had to take a break from the cider he was drinking because he was feeling bloated and that he has been asked not to return to the United States after losing his temper when trying to extend his visa. He was a genuinely nice guy and great to talk to.
Jaime and Daz
Our new friend, Simon Toppenberg, was probably the funniest person we've met so far in our Australian travels. One minute he would be telling a great story (like when he started smoking at age 4), then he would be singing a show tune and the next thing we knew he was feverishly dancing to Beyonce's Single Ladies. I talked to him for hours on end for two nights in a row, and I only wish I was able to tape record our conversations because I can't begin to do them justice here. It's official, Toppy (in case you ever read this), you are the funniest guy in all of Oz.
vW and Toppy
View 4
Our Australian friends were wiling to do whatever it took to make our experience in their homeland more enjoyable. When I told Toppy that we did not get a chance to hold and get a picture with a koala at the zoo, he immediately offered his services and posed on my back like a cuddly koala. Thanks for making our dreams come true!
Can I hold you like a koala?
So, after waking up, we walked to lunch and settled in with a huge plate of nachos (they certainly had nothing on the Mexican food of Texas or SoCal) and a beer and basically waited to hear what the plans would be for the day. After hearing literally nothing all day, we began to be concerned that we had in fact made a bad impression on these people that we considered our new best friends. Then I stopped being such a stupid American and figured out how to call Filo's Australian number, and to our delight, everyone was at a bar-b-que, anxiously awaiting our arrival (of course). We headed over to the barbie and, while there were no shrimp, we enjoyed great food, cold beer and wonderful conversation. In fact, we had such a remarkable time that we forgot to go to sleep that night! The photos below chronicle the progression of our night and the beautiful sunrise. A big thanks to Toppy and Darren for entertaining us all night and well into the morning.
View 1
"Hey Americans - Eat more meat!"
View 2
At about this time in the evening, the crowd started to thin out and some people had to go ahead and pass out on the table. It was just so fun that he couldn't bring himself to leave the party! Jaime and I, however, were still going strong. If memory serves, we were getting made fun of for our accents. listening to impressions of American valley girls (cool, dude!) and learning Australian slang words at about this hour. Some favorites - bogan (white trash), cruisey (laid back), no dramas and knob (jerk, idiot...the k is silent, ha).
Liam sleeping on the table
Toppy, vW and Daz
Is that really the sun coming up? Really? REALLY?!
Darren was a really interesting guy who had spent a lot of time in the States, staying on various yachts, or as we Americans say - yaaaaaachts. Our favorite things about Darren were that he had to take a break from the cider he was drinking because he was feeling bloated and that he has been asked not to return to the United States after losing his temper when trying to extend his visa. He was a genuinely nice guy and great to talk to.
Jaime and Daz
Our new friend, Simon Toppenberg, was probably the funniest person we've met so far in our Australian travels. One minute he would be telling a great story (like when he started smoking at age 4), then he would be singing a show tune and the next thing we knew he was feverishly dancing to Beyonce's Single Ladies. I talked to him for hours on end for two nights in a row, and I only wish I was able to tape record our conversations because I can't begin to do them justice here. It's official, Toppy (in case you ever read this), you are the funniest guy in all of Oz.
vW and Toppy
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Our Australian friends were wiling to do whatever it took to make our experience in their homeland more enjoyable. When I told Toppy that we did not get a chance to hold and get a picture with a koala at the zoo, he immediately offered his services and posed on my back like a cuddly koala. Thanks for making our dreams come true!
Can I hold you like a koala?
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