July - a great month

July was a great and very busy month. First, Polly's parents concluded their Australia visit with us, and they and Polly went and did a tour of New Zealand. They had a wonderful tour of both the North and South Island, hitting places like Auckland, Rotorua, Milford Sound, Queenstown, and Christchurch. They had a great time, and here are a few pictures. Polly said the pictures will never do the beautiful landscape justice.

A "sheep show", where they sheared a sheep!


A tour by boat of the Milford Sound


They call this the Mirror Lakes


Beautiful scenery


Polly Mother Joan in the SNOW!


Finally, Polly took a great picture of Sydney when flying back home.




Polly came back and started her new job as "Sailing & Education Manager" at Getaway Sailing. She has really jumped right in and has put a lot of time in getting up to speed and so far seems to really enjoy it. It's about 2 miles from our apartment, so there is no commute which is nice. The company has excellent sailing courses as well as adventure sailing trips that hopefully she'll be able to enjoy as a benefit.

Funny story - we mentioned when we move here we bought basically everything from a couple's apartment who were moving back to the US. Well, some of the stuff we didn't need we sold, and funny thing was, it was to some fellow Americans. :)

Polly's brother Joe and bride to be Sara Boyne have set their wedding date for May 3rd, 2008 in Atlanta! We'll soon go ahead and try to get our airline tickets back to the US, and we hope to spend at least 2 weeks visiting friends and family.

I had a great adventure, as I got to sail in the Audi Gold Coast Race, a 400 mile race from Sydney North up the coast to Southport (just below Brisbane). We had a great race, great weather, and a bit of a wild ride our first night where we hit 19 knots of boat speed in a Sydney 38 yacht. It was great fun, and while not as cool as the Brown Eyed Girl crew, a great bunch of people to sail with.

That's me in the back right stuffing my face (go figure):

Tony and the "Love Byte" crew:

8.5 knots in a gentle downwind breeze pursuing other yacht in distance.


Beautiful Sunset off of Byron Bay on Eastern Australia Coast:





That's all for this month. Please drop us a note or leave a comment. We miss you all!

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.

May 2007 - Slow Down!

Unfortunately, I feel time is starting to go by faster. I have a theory, which Polly disagrees with, but I'll share it anyway. The 4 months before we left home to come to Australia really went slowly. I was as busy as humanly possible, but everything was out of our routine and new. Our first month here felt like several months back home. Literally *everything* was new - the foods, the shopping, the roads, the driving, the job, the views, the people. I felt like a kid where your eyes are just wide open. Just grocery shopping takes more time, as very few of the brand names are the same. Sure, sometimes it is frustrating (like moving your money over, having to find a new dentist, or finding an actual street sign in Sydney), but it's all new and part of the adventure.

Polly has been working 2-3 days a week at Chapman Marine Group, who sells Chris Craft and other motor yachts. She got to Brisbane at the Gold Coast and work the Sanctuary Cove Boat Show for 4 days and had a blast! As we all know, she's definitely in her element conversing with strangers, especially about boats!

Polly at boat show modeling a 33' Chris Craft. Can be yours for ony $500,000 (aud). Sorry, the babe on the boat is NOT included!

Our sailboat racing is in full tilt. Thanks to Daylight Saving Time, it's dark when I get home, so it's just weekend racing now. While Polly works on Saturdays, I do the RANSA Saturday races, doing bow on a Sydney 38. We're doing quite well, and I am doing my favorite position and digging it. There's great comradarie on the boat, but while I'm very hopeful, I seriously doubt I'll ever find a crew like the BEG crew in New Bern! Miss you guys! Thought you'ld be proud - I've yet to set a spinnaker sideways like I did on BEG ("but we're going 9 knots!"). On Sundays, we both race on the 60' yacht You're Hired in the very competitive CYCA Audi Winter Series. This is a part of the training to go to Hamilton Island Race Week I mentioned earlier. I'm currently one of the TWO mast-men. Yes, TWO are required to hoist the sails on this thing, as the spinnakers are HUGE. Almost everyone's role is quite a bit less when there are15-18 people on board, so while it's awesome to be on a boat that size with such great sailors, I don't enjoy it as much as doing bow. I'm learning tons though, and that's part of the fun and purpose. The Hamilton Island Race Week will make it all worthwhile.

My back has been bothering me quite a bit, including a bit of nerve pain on the right side. I went to a chiropractor here, but wasn't too happy with the results or the outlook. So, I joined a gym and for over a month now have been religiously sticking to it and I am pleased to report I can definitely see improvement. Jack K - I still use my foam roller daily! What would it take me to get you to come visit? :)

I got sick the last week of May with bronchitis. Knocked me out for 4 days and even had to miss a day of sailing! :( I encountered something I thought very interesting; it's typical for Australian companies to require you to get a "Medical Certificate" from a doctor if you miss more than one consecutive day of work. I guess to prove you didn't play hooky and skip to the Gold Coast? Also, I hear some companies require this if you miss a SINGLE day if it happens to be a Friday or a Monday. Geez...not much trust in the labor force, huh?

I can't say enough about how often we think and talk about our friends and family back home. Even just the quick "hi" around SAS campus, the birthday dinners, the occasional "how's it going" emails, Birthday Bonanza, the incredible sailing weekends at Blackbeard Sailing Club, the pop-in visits by Owen and neighbors, the poker nights, etc. all are very much missed. We've been blessed with some great friends & family! We look at the awesome picture book Stephanie put together often!

April 07 - a little travel!

We have great news from back home! Polly's younger brother Joe has gotten engaged to Sara! We're so excited for them. The have quite a few busy months ahead of them while they change jobs, move to Marietta, buy a house, Joe find a job, and figure out how to live together. :) I thought only Polly and I would ever try to cram so much in short periods of time. Best of luck you two! Congratulations!

I love April. Perfect weather, and lots of public Holidays. Australia still celebrates Good Friday and Easter Monday as Holidays. Also, April 25th is Anzac Day, marking the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. ANZAC stands for the Australia and New Zealand Army Corp. There are lots of symbols of Anzac here, there's an amazing bridge that we use to get into the city, as well as Anzac cookies!

We took advantage of the Easter Holidays and went north to Port MacQuarie for a wonderful long weekend. It was about 5 hour drive, and it was a very chilled beach town with simply amazing beaches. The water was warm so we swam, did a long afternoon canoe, and just walked around the town.


We also went to see a Koala Hospital, as well as the Billabong Nature park where we got to pet the Koalas as well as feed and pet the kangaroos. They are so cute! Polly digs the Koala lifestyle...they sleep like 18 hours a day!



We wrapped up April with a weekend trip to the Blue Mountains, about a 1.5 hour drive to the West. They are absolutely beautiful, and are named the "blue" mountains due to the hue of blue from the eucalyptus trees. We took a few nice hikes, and did a few touristy things as well. A group of 11 of us rented a house just a short walk from one of the nice trails that had cliffside views. Pete, thanks for organizing!


Blue Mountains:

View of the famous "3 Sisters", and of course, a shot for Stephanie:




On our way back to Sydney, Polly and I stopped at Featherdale Nature Center and got to play with more animals. I think it was the first time I've seen a Bald Eagle up close. What magnificent animals they are!

Bald Eagle, and Polly with her favorite Australian animal:

Happy Feet, and a sign I'm sure just to tease the Americans:

Look closely and you can see a little Joey peeking out!

This guy needs to talk to Jenny Craig.

Polly's work deals are working out great. Between the 5 different employers, she works full time. She's had a few offers for full time work, but in the boating industry, that means a lot of weekends, and she in my opinion wisely has stayed away from that. She's been working Saturdays as well to save up, as she plans not to work while her parents are here in June. After her parents' visit, she may look into something fulltime. We are very much looking forward to their visit.

March 2007

We have been very fortunate to meet some wonderful "Uni" girls who live in our apartment building who are attending a local music & arts college. They are a lot of fun, but make us feel old when they call us "Mum & Dad". They joined us to do the Bridge Walk to celebrate the Sydney Harbour Bridge's 75th anniversary event. What a fun time, as they closed the bridge off all day and had music in different sections highlight the different time eras. We walked at sunset, and you can see the dorky orange hats with the little lights on them. Afterwards, Kristy and Cami took us to "Pancakes on the Rocks" for a dinner. Let me tell you - Waffle House & IHOP has nothing on this place. Pancakes with carmel and ice cream and chocolate sauce? Yum. I made myself swim laps in our pool the next day.



Pancakes for Dinner!


SAS sponsored a volleyball team in the Corporate Games, so Polly and I played in that. We made it to the playoffs, but lost to a pretty stacked team. Still, was a good time. Thanks Graham & Erin for organizing it.

We raced in our biggest weekend Regatta to date in Australia - the Audi Sydney Harbour Regatta on "You're Hired". We had a lackluster performance on Saturday, and unfortunately, Sunday's race was abandoned due to lack of wind. That was a first abondonment so far for us.
Afterwards on that Saturday, Sydney closed lots of its streets for the Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras festival. Polly and I walked downtown and watched the parade. Can't say I've ever seen anything quite like that before. It was a lot of fun, including the dikes on bikes, where Lesbian bikers rode the Harley's dressed like...umm...well...I guess how dikes on bikes are supposed to dress! They were followed by several floats and exhibits, some of which I can't say I care to see again. Some of the floats, costumes, and displays were amazing and a lot of effort was put into them. It was a fun experience to watch.

Feb 2007 - time for playing!

February was a great month. We got the rest of the stuff from Nick & Peggy (they kindly gave us a "care package" of stuff to use before we got the final shipment when they left. Also, in mid-February, we got our stuff from the movers! We had been living for 2 months with just what we brought in 2 suitcases each, so it was nice to get the rest of our things. I spent a lot of time on eBay, and bought a tv, dvd player, entertainment center, better washing machine, dining room set, artwork, a/v receiver, computer desk, etc and we made several trips to Ikea, Target, and other stores and got pictures, computer chair, blender, etc. It really started feeling like we really lived here now instead of something temporary. Here's me unpacking things and estatic about finding my gum!



Jason has his uneventful 38th bday. 38 is just plain uneventful...but does have a different feel to it. I guess because it's closer to 40 than 35? Had a great "Jason" type of day, worked, then went sailing, then got to play a little volleyball in a local league. I certainly miss the volleyball crowd from back home.

Polly started working a few misc. jobs. She was detailing yachts, and found an awesome gig working at the Water Taxi company at Darling Harbour. Darling Harbour is like the tourism hub in downtown Sydney. Absolutely beautiful area, and tons of activities and tourists. If you know Polly, she loves meeting people and has a wonderful way of making friends instantly. She really seems to enjoy this job. Here's some pics of her "office":


A coworker (Pete) was kind enough to invite us up the coast about 1.5 hours to his family's little beach house at a place called "The Entrance". Amanda was able to join us too. Sydney's beaches are awesome, and they'll often have rocky cliffs and then a beach, separated by more rocks. At The Entrance, it's more like North Carolina beaches. Flat and beach as far as you can see. We had a really nice weekend up there with Peter and a group of co-workers from SAS. They have been really great to Polly and me and have included us in some fun events.

Speaking of people from SAS, Mike & Karyn Long came "home" to visit Karyn's parents. We were lucky enough to get an invite to spend the weekend with them about 1.5 hours up the coast where they live on an actual island called St. Huberts Island. Karyn's parents are retired and have an incredible house right on the water with a stunning view. What incredibly nice people! I must warn you about the man-eating Pelicans there though. They are HUGE (see video 8mb. A huge thanks to Karyn and her family for a wonderful visit.

Lunch, Mike keeping us posted on ACC tournament results. Blackberries are good for something. :)

Karyn's Dad feeding the attack Pelicans

Beautiful Rainbow Lorikeet

Polly and I go on a hike nearby and look South over Pittwater Sound and Palm Beach

For Stephanie



I gotta talk more about the sailing here. I mentioned CYCA. I remember my buddy Ed Doughty from our sailing club in New Bern telling me before I left - "Don't just get on the first boat you can - be selective and try to play with the big boys." Ed...thanks for your advice. Polly and I started hanging out at the club on their Monday and Wednesday night twilight races and always found our way onto a boat. Monday evenings are the serious spinnaker races, and Wednesday were non-spinnaker but still competitive. (A spinnaker is the big, colorful sail you always see in the pictures that requires a much higher level of skilled crewwork). We were lucky enough to meet some great people, and some incredible sailors, and even get invited back. We have settled in with a 60 foot yacht called "You're Hired", named after two yacht owners' recruitment company. This crew has been sailing together for years, and are captained by a professional skipper who is an Olympic caliber sailor. We'll be joining them in August at the Hamilton Island Race Week, which has been touted as the biggest race in the Southern Hemisphere.

Jan 2007 - Getting settled

We started 2007 off in an incredible way, watching the fireworks at a park with thousands and thousands of people. We got lucky and found an incredible seat on some rocks right on the Harbor edge and had a view of the Opera House and the Sydney Harbor bridge in the background. They shot fireworks from several different locations *in* the harbor, so the views were so good in front of us we often didn't know which way to look. I can't hold my camera still enough to photograph them well, so here's the best I could do. If you have the time though, I think the videos are really good (they are big, be patient).



Our first place to live was a very nice furnished little 1 bedroom apartment. It was perfect. However, that was only for 28 days, and since everything shuts down over Christmas until like Jan 7th and sometimes 14th, we had little time to find an apartment after that expired. Thank GOD for the internet. Just how did we survive before the internet? The apartment game here is mad...you can't just call them and stop by and look at it; you have to show up at their one 15 minute time showing on Saturday. Of course, all of the other available apartments are also showing, so you either split up, or do your best to string together as many as possible. Of course, when you don't know the area or roads, it can be quite crazy. I think we set a U-turn record the first Saturday. :) Fortunately, we got a great little apartment right on the water in Drummoyne starting Jan 21. It's been nicely refurbished and we love it. See where we are on Google Maps (click on satellite view to get a really cool look). Here is the view from our apartment balcony:

My job at SAS started January 2nd, and Polly didn't work in January. Well, let me rephrase: Polly didn't get paid in January. She definitely had a full time job every day of doing all of the little things to arrange our life. Things that we all take for granted like that you need: cell phones, finding a car, getting an e-Tag (electronic device for tolls), car insurance, renters insurance, bank accounts, credit card, cable, internet, utilities, etc. She did an amazing job. As the list winded down, she began looking for employment. Funny thing was, she was so busy that she wasn't responding to many emails, and people kept asking me if she stayed in Hawaii!

We were very fortunate to have our very first (and only so far) visitor so soon in January. Polly's cousin Amanda had been traveling in Thailand and came over and stayed with us for a few weeks. We had a wonderful time, and I'm so happy for and impressed with Amanda going out and seeing the world as she has. Amanda, I hope you can make it back to see us. Our furnishings were quite scarce at the time, as we had just moved in from a furnished apartment to an unfurnished one. Amanda, sorry we couldn't provide more comfortable accommodations, but please come back as now we even have things like a table to eat on and stuff. :)

We bought a car...it's both weird and cool only having just one car. We went the practical route, and bought a 2004 Toyota Corolla Wagon. I'ld like to think of it as a "Sports Wagon", but really that just helps me to feel better about myself. It does have roof racks though. :) Got a whopping 1.8 liter engine! Of course, at $1.25/liter, which equates to about $4.75/gallon, we wanted something fuel efficient.


Gotta take a moment to talk about driving in Sydney. While in Ireland in 2000?, I drove for 4 days and covered almost half the country, so I wasn't worried too much about the driving on the other side of the road. However, I've been driving on the right-hand side of the road for over 20 years, and am used to the turn signal being on the LEFT side of the steering column. Well, guess what. Just for giggles, they put the turn signal on the right-hand side of the steering column here. So, for the first 6 weeks, when we'ld go to turn, we'ld turn on our windshield wipers! People sure could spot these Americans coming on a sunny day from quite some distance!

I must say to date the most frustrating thing to date for me has been moving our money over. I tried to be smart (I know, never worked before) and I put cash we saved in an HSBC online savings account. HSBC is a huge international bank, and their slogan and even phone message says "Welcome to the World's Local Bank". They had free bank to bank transfers. So cool, when I get over and get a local account, transfer the money over when the exchange rate looks decent. Well, NOT SO EASY. Come to find out they only allow transfer to and from US banks! What a load of CRAP. And, I couldn't write a check, as it would take 4-6 WEEKS to clear. I exhausted a gazillion other options, and finally went through a service called OzForEx, which actually worked out quite well. So while we had put a down payment on our car, we actually had it sit there for about a week before we could get our money over. UGH.

We did get furniture and other necessities. We got pretty lucky and found a posting on Craig's List from a wonderful couple Nick & Peggy who were moving back to the US and were looking for someone to buy "everything" in one lot. Turns out to be just what we needed, as it had a frig, washing machine, bed, futon, dishes, towels, boogie board, desk, etc. Certainly helped us get started, and then we could replace stuff as we made time to (Nick & Peggy, if you are reading this - the couch was quickly & lovingly adopted by our neighboring Univ girls). By the way, if you want to see what a real blog looks like, check theirs out at http://www.oz-blog.com/. Nick is a great writer.

Nick & Peggy also kindly invited us to a bar to watch the Super Bowl, and low and behold, there were more Americans. I must say, taking a lunch break on MONDAY to watch the Super Bowl live does loose some of the effect. Not to mention, they didn't show any of the commercials.

Sailing. Wow. What can I say. January started out pretty good, as we met some wonderful people at two sailing clubs nearby where we live, and would race every Tuesday and Friday nights with them, and then have drinks/dinner afterwards at the clubs. The Drummoyne Sailing Club is beautiful, with a restaurant, bars, incredible view, etc. We joined this one and enjoyed it for a bit. The twilight races were fun, but I was looking for more. I kept hearing about the "big boats" at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) who hosts the famous Sydney to Hobart race. We went to check it out, and a walk on the docks and I had to pick my jaw up. Wow...these are some serious boats, both racing and cruising. We immediately got on the crew list. More to come on that.

Sydney life. January, while it can be hot during the day, is amazing. I've been told it was a mild summer, and I found it perfect. Fairly low humidity which made wonderful nights where you would always have your doors and windows open. We took some great walks after work if we weren't sailing, including the Bay Walk, and others:

Cremorne Point


Bondi to Coogee (very popular beaches), including a cliff shot for Stephanie!


South Head (Watson's Bay, the southern cliff bounding the entrance into the Sydney Harbor):

Amanda & Polly


Shot for Poker guys - yes, they have nude beaches here:

Another cliff shot for Stephanie:

Cruise ship leaving Harbor


Palm Beach


Manly Beach


You know us; we love water, and water is EVERYWHERE in Sydney. I think it really helps the city feel spread out a bit more. I have to go over 3 bridges to get to work, and the office balcony even has a view of the water!