Automated Response: In Paradise :-)

If you're reading this post this weekend, I am happy to report that I am stranded on a tropical island (by choice, of course).  To celebrate his big 3-0, I'm stealing David away from work this weekend for a trip to Heron Island in the Great Barrier Reef!

Can't wait to update with tons of pictures when we return!

 

 

I’ve Always Wanted an Accent

Like most people, I’ve always loved accents: Southern accents, British accents, Australian accents, whatever the accent is… they just always sound so much more glamorous.  And interesting.  And fancy.  Well, little did I know until moving down under, I apparently DO have an accent. 

Since moving here, I’ve been asked more times than I can count where my accent is from.  I think it is safe to assume that as Americans, we tend to think that we don’t HAVE accents.  I know that’s how I’ve always thought about it. So when people ask me this, it really surprises me- and sometimes even makes me laugh.  

Accent?  Me?  Have you HEARD yourself talk… “mate?!” 

I mean, I grew up in Arizona for crying out loud!  No accents there.  Right?

What’s even stranger to me is when people guess where I’m from based on my supposed accent.  The most common is Canada.  But I’ve also had people ask if I’m from South Africa, or the strangest- Eastern Europe.  To be completely honest (and probably pretty politically incorrect), I think that most Australians expect Americans to have a Southern accent (I’ve seen “Sweet Home Alabama” on TV countless times here) OR a “red-neck accent,” so if you don’t sound like either of those stereotypes, you must not be American.   

But I’m fine with it. I’ve always wanted an accent, so to think that I’ve magically acquired one is just fine by me!  Now I have that fancy accent I had always wanted J

My New Bird Friend...

Australia has some seriously weird different animal life.  I knew to expect the ginormous bugs, snakes, etc., but what I did not expect was the crazy amount of birds that are so different than anything I’m used to seeing in the States. 

On the positive side of things, I still can’t get over the fact that I see kookaburras on a daily basis.  There is a big eucalytus tree (or gum tree) across the street from our house where heaps of them can always be found. 

 

Each morning at around 5 AM (unfortunately, I know this because I am usually up at this hour to take David to work), you can hear them doing their crazy kookaburra call/laugh.  I kid you not, it sounds like monkeys laughing.  Not that I’ve ever heard monkeys laugh, but if they did laugh it would totally sound just like THIS

Recently, this bird has started occupying our little porch area.  He sits right by the window and just stares at you.   In this picture, he’s fluffing his feathers for me.  So cute and harmless, right?

 

I recently learned that this bird is called a magpie (which is why I named the one in the picture above Maggie, duh).  I also recently learned that this is their breeding season.  Apparently, these suckers get extremely territorial during their breeding season, and if you happen to be out walking or God forbid, riding a bike, they seriously will start swooping at you trying to peck your head. I swear- I couldn’t make this up if I tried.

I didn’t believe it, until on my way to work the other morning I saw a little girl getting swooped/stalked by one as the poor thing rode her bike to school.  To protect themselves from these attacks, Aussies do this to their bike helmets.

 

Between the deadly snakes, crazy scary ocean-life, and spiders the size of your face, I’m not sure if I’ll make it out of here alive. 

Brizzy - Part 3 (aka Marsupial Overload!)

Tuesday, October 2

Shortly after I learned that we would be moving to Australia, I read about the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane.  Visiting this zoo immediately went to the top of my “Australia To Do” list.  I mean come on, you get to HOLD A KOALA and pet kangaroos- who wouldn’t want to experience that?!  I was seriously obsessed with the idea of holding a cute, cuddly koala from that moment on.  And when the day finally came for us to visit Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, I was 5-year-old-child-on-Christmas-morning GIDDY!  I’m fairly certain that David thought I was crazy.

As the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is about 30 minutes outside of the city, we opted to take a boat cruise down the river that drops you off right at the zoo.  The tour took about an hour, and it was interesting to see the sights along the way and hear some of the history of the city. 

 

 

 

I could go on and on about how much fun we had here and what an amazing experience it was, not to mention what a nice and well-maintained zoo it was, but I will try and refrain from doing so, and just let the pictures do the talking.

 

 

Birds 

 

 

 

Dingoes

 

 

 

Tasmanian Devils (Tazzy Devils)

 

 

Wombat

 

Kangaroos

The kangaroo habitat was this HUGE, open field area where there were literally at least 50 kangaroos and wallabies just hopping around.  You were allowed to go in and out of the enclosure as much as you wanted, and you could buy kangaroo food for $2.  I was totally surprised at how docile the kangaroos were. It was almost as if they couldn’t be bothered by the crowds of people wandering around.  They would let you pet them without any hesitation or fear.  Even the mama kanga’s would let you pet them and their joey’s- which really surprised me.  You’ll see a little joey in one of the photos below, AND if you look closely in another photo, you’ll see a mama kanga with a bulging pouch.  It was cah-razy to see a pretty decent sized joey climb right in there.  It was a truly amazing experience- they are SUCH beautiful and unique animals. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Koalas

And now, my favorite- the koalas!  First of all, I must tell you that they are NOT Koala BEARS. Aussie’s do not like it if you call them bears, and are very quick to remind you that they are not bears.  J  There were seriously probably over 100 koalas in the sanctuary in various pens and exhibits.  And you better believe I paid the $16 to have my photo taken holding a koala.  As my friend Kayli said, “$16 for a lifetime of happiness is a small price to pay.”  I totally agree!  The koala I held was named Finn, and as you can see, he loved me very much.  They really are very cuddly, and when the handler handed him over to me he kind of “sighed” and then just cuddled right up.  I had serious thoughts about trying to get one home with me, but was unsuccessful.  I did, however, take so many pictures of the koalas that the camera battery died (no joke!), and I had to resort to cell phone photos.  Yes, I went a little overboard… I just couldn’t get enough koala cuteness!  It was neat to learn about the koalas- how they sleep about 20 hours a day, that their cute little koala bums are speckled to camoflauge them when they are up high in the trees, that they are one of the only creatures that can digest eucalyptus leaves and that it takes a ton of energy to digest which is why they sleep so much, and that ALL baby marsupials are called joey’s- not just baby kangaroos. 

 

 

 

They look so awkward walking on the ground 

 See the joey on the mama's back above?

 

Me and Finn!!!

 

WHEN you come to visit us in Australia ;-), you MUST visit the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary!  I definitely already can’t wait to go back. 

Brizzy - Part 2

Monday, October 1

This was the day we had dedicated to exploring Brisbane and hitting all the tourist spots.  Unfortunately, the weather was not the best- overcast, windy, and actually kind of chilly, but that didn't stop us. One thing I loved about Brisbane is that it is situated on a river (The Brisbane River – imagine that), and they have some really great public transportation for the river – several different options for ferries, some even free.  So we started the day by taking the CityCat ferry across the river to Southbank Parklands.  This is a neat area of the city that has lots of parks (crazy, I KNOW!), restaurants, shopping, and even a man-made beach.  We spent most of our time walking around the parks underneath the beautiful bougainvillea-covered overhangs.  These flowers were so pretty, and we weren’t even there when they were in full bloom.   

 

As you can see in the picture above, I was clearly famished by this time- so it was time to eat.  Of course, I would find the one Spanish/Tapas restaurant Ole, and that is where we ate an amazing meal.  We even had a legit Spanish waiter, and after a couple glasses of sangria, I was even brave enough to speak some of my now broken Spanish with him. 

 

 

 

 

 Our next stop was the Wheel of Brisbane Wheel of Brisbane.  Ever since my trip to visit my sister in Seattle and my ride on the new Great Wheel of Seattle, I’ve been obsessed with Ferris Wheels.  So now, any place I travel that has one, you can bet I will be on it.  The neat thing about this Ferris Wheel is that there is a recorded “guide” while you ride around that points of interesting locations and information about the city.  Unfortunately, it was pretty cloudy, so the view was not the best. 

To end our day exploring Brisbane, we took a night Ferry on the river.  The views of the Story Bridge and the city at night were so pretty! 

 

Up next: The last installment of our Brisbane Trip- Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary!

Season Affective Confusion

Earlier this week I received a very exciting shipment in the mail.  I had placed an order from a website here in Australia called USA Foods that sells nothing but American foods that you can't get here in Oz. You don't even want to know how much the prices were marked up, but really, it's irrelevant.  These are necessities, people (especially the Hot Tamales). Here is my loot:

One of the things I was most excited about was the pumpkin puree.  Don't worry, they were only like $7 a can. But so worth it to just have that little bit of "normal" and comfort that makes a strange place feel more like home. In anticipation of the arrival of my 3 sacred cans of pumpkin puree, I have been pinning pumpkin recipes like crazy, so today I decided to make these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, called Pillows of Pumpkin-y Love.  If I were Australian, I would say, "they turned out just lovely" or that "they are quite nice."

 

Now, I also have to admit that while making these cookies, I had my Pandora Christmas Music station blaring.  If you don't already know this about me, I LOVE Christmas music. Since college, I've always started listening to Christmas music right after Halloween. Shout out to my roommate, Hannah, who thought I was ridiculous, but still put up with it :-)  So I figured, hey, it's November, I'm actually a couple days overdue for some Christmas music. But I gotta admit, as much as I stand by my belief in early-Christmas-music-listening... It. Felt. WEIRD. I mean, we're just a few weeks away from summer here. I had the AC on. I was wearing a tank top and sandals. Heck, I even got a sunburn yesterday.  So hearing "Frost the Snowman" and "Jingle Bells" totally messed with me. Even though I have lived in warm climates most of my life (aside from Spokane, Washington) even the weather in those places- Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Houston would still cool down somewhat during this time of year. So this just felt so foreign, even for me.  Australia, you and your backwards seasons and really confusing me.