June - Enough with the rain!

Brrr...it's definitely winter now. While mild for North Carolina winters, it is still chilly - low 40s at night and touching 60 in the afternoon. The first 3 weeks of June I think it rained every day. Not just drizzle, but several days exceeded an inch of rain; supposedly most rain in June in history. It was needed in the area, but still not very exciting.

- from Polly -
What Jason neglected to say regarding the cold temps is that central heat is not very common in Oz! Jason does have it at the office. We have an air con/heat unit only in the living room and have to use space heaters in the master, master bath, office, and main bath. You know it's cold when you need to wear long underwear at the office;-) Polly-Wolly

We took advantage of the Queen's Birthday on June 11th and enjoyed a 3 day weekend. We went south to Kaima, Wollongong, and took a beautiful drive through the Royal National Park. Wollongong is the 3rd largest city in New South Wales, but we really weren't very impressed. Kaima is a smaller coastal town, know for a very cool blowhole made out of the rocks, where water shoots out some 40+ feet. The drive to and through the Park is called the Grand Pacific Drive and was beautiful. It was very much coastal cliff driving with several scenic outlooks along the way and reminded us of the California coast. We ventured out over the Sea Cliff Bridge , an amazing almost 1/2 mile long bridge that hangs over the cliff side. There is a separate walking lane which made for a beautiful walk.

Kaima Blowhole:




Grand Pacific Drive:



Sea Cliff Bridge:



Polly on da bridge:



Monthly foot shot for Steph:



Polly's parents arrived on Friday, June 22nd and are staying for 2 weeks before taking Polly and touring New Zealand for another week. They had a nice stay in Tahiti for a few days, but their flight to Sydney left at like 2am, so they were understandably wiped when they got here. It was great to see them, and we were thrilled to have our second visitor in Australia. We had saved some of the "touristy" things we wanted to do when we had guests, so we hit the town on the Sydney Explorer tour bus, as well as went to the Sydney Tower. Polly took time off of work to spend with them, and took them to the Taronga Zoo, the Blue Mountains, Featherdale Wildlife Park, Chinatown, and the Markets.


Being tourists!




Views from the tower looking West towards our apartment,





and looking East towards the Habour and the Pacific




The four of us in the tower




Bob & Joan and a Giraffe




and a Koala!



We have good news. Polly will end her current gig of working a few part time jobs and has accepted a full time position of Sailing Manager, working for Getaway Sailing, a sailing school and chartering company about 2 miles from our apartment. She'll start when she returns from New Zealand and is very excited about the opportunity.

June 24th was our 6 month anniversary in Oz. It seems funny now to think I originally wanted to only stay 6 months, as it has flown by and there is still so much we want to see and do. Polly and I were reflecting on it, and thought we'ld share some of the things we have noticed and found interesting:

1. Our attachment to "things" we owned has weakened. We did an amazing job getting rid of "stuff", but what we kept things we thought we would never be able to let go of. (Thanks again Mark & Tammy, Lee, and the Granacks for storing them). Now, we realize some of those prized things, are probably just "stuff", and they really aren't as important to us as we thought.

2. How "convenience" oriented the US is. If you need something, no matter the time of day, you don't have to look very hard to find a grocery store or a Walmart that's open 24 hours. Here, most stores during the week close at 5 or 6, except on Thursday night where they stay open until 9pm. So for the first 3 months, we'ld always reserve Thursday nights for shopping. At first it was a pain, but now I don't even think about it. Also, they don't have pay-at-the-pump, and that's one I dearly miss! They want you to come in and buy their overpriced stuff, so they give you a discount on fuel if you spend like $2 in the store, or if you have a "docket" (receipt) from affiliated grocery stores. Also, there very few fast food drive-thru places. Sure, you don't have to drive all that far to find a McDonald's (Maccas), KFC, or a Burger King (under "Hungry Jack" label here), but you won't find 3 on a corner every 2 miles, it would be more like you'ld see one every 10 miles.

3. Prices. Sydney is rated the 19th most expensive city for a reason. However, on Tuesday, for some reason all gas stations lower their prices considerably (6-10 cents a liter). Also, movies on Tuesday are only $9 (normally $15.50!)

4. Street signs. Geez. I just don't get this one. If you are on a road, forget about it - you'll rarely see a sign telling you what road you are on. (I know, I should already know the road I'm on, right?) At an intersection, it's a game to find the street you are crossing. There will be exactly ONE sign, and it will be in a random place. Sometimes on a normal, civilized sign post, but often on the side of a building, or behind a tree across on the othe side of the street. It definitely makes navigating a challenge, but it's kind of a fun game who can spot it first. And don't get me started on the way a road can have three different names in the span of 3 blocks. It's not quite as bad as Charlotte with that really popular "Sharon" woman, but it's close.

Enough for now. Know we miss you all and do think of you often. Also, please know we'ld LOVE to have visitors! Please drop us a note of add a comment to the blog.