Australia- The Land of Oz

It's been a year now, since we flew to Australia. We were reminiscing this weekend, because we did what is now an "annual tradition" of purging out our closets before we left, this Memorial Day weekend. I don't know if we'll ever go back to Australia, but I miss it a lot, too bad I never blogged about it to capture specific things we liked. Metropolitan Melbourne was fun to see. Los got really into watching AFL (Aussie Rules Football) which is an awesome sport, more fast-paced and athletic than US Football. It would've been fun to see it, or cricket, live. By the University and St. Kilda Beach were fun places to wander around, and the public transportation was great. If we'd had more time, we would have liked to do the PCH-esque Great Ocean Road down to the 12 Apostles rock formation.

Cosmopolitan Sydney was a fun place to explore. We met up with Steph (a senior Theta in my Core Group at UW) who was studying abroad and she showed us all around. Bondi Beach was beautiful, the harbor with it's sparkling water and myriad sailboats was a great place to picnic. We ate lunch one day at their fish market, and even tried things like mini octopus that I would never have otherwise. I was excited to see the Ian Thorpe (Thorpedo) Aquatic Center. He wasn't there, though:(

Going to the Opera House, for a Handel performance was a memory I'll never forget. We also took a day hike in the local Blue Mountains, gorgeous, and rode up the World's Steepest Railway (so scary, but fun!) We went to church at Hillsong, one of the world's biggest and most influential churches, that was an interesting experience. We had Kangaroo pizza by the Harbor Bridge one night, but our favorite meal, by far, was downtown at a restaurant called Selah. I painted that word on a canvas for our living room, so we spoke with the owner and asked him about the name; he was a Christian as well, and we came back the next night for dinner. Australians don't eat until super late, so at 7, we had the place to ourselves. Every single bite, from my vegetarian entree to the last scrape of dessert plate, was sumptuous and delectable. Because we didn't have the chance to visit all the fabulous local wine regions, the sommelier educated us and let us sample regional specialties. We're not really sweet wine people, but for dessert, he poured us the award-winning Margan Botrytis Semillon which was like heaven in a glass. We definitely brought a bottle home with us.

Of everything we experienced, I crave the simplicity and beauty of Queensland the most. Even in the "winter" there, it is fabulous weather. The "biggest" city, Cairns, is only 100,000 people... We stayed in a boutique hotel that was like apartments, and you could walk pretty much everywhere you needed too- I love that kind of life. They had a great public park with a lagoon that all kinds of people were playing in, and a miles-long boarkwalk and selection of restaurants and nightlife along the water. We met an ex-pat on the boardwalk, early one morning. I forget her name, but she was probably in her late 60s, and from Ohio. She lived in a high-rise condo across the street from the ocean, retiring there. She had multiple kids and grandkids spread across the US, but she was just doin her thing in Australia. I thought maybe she'd be lonely or sad, but no, she was full of life and had lots of community; and flies back yearly to see the grandkids. Interesting character. But what an unbelievable place to retire- it is so peaceful there and has mountains, ocean and tropical beauty everywhere you look!

The coastline was just like California and Hawai'i, except without the people and development, it was amazing. The Great Barrier Reef was the singular BEST thing I have ever seen or done in my life. I was so full of joy and astounded by the brilliant rainbow of aquatic life there. I loved quaint and sleepy Port Douglas and the Animal Preserve we went to there... Petting koalas and kangaroos was too cool- a definite life goal of mine checked off the Bucket List. We went to an aboriginal village, but it was too commercialized (hey, everyone's trying to make a buck, I get it) for our taste, however, just the drive up there was so great. I made Carlos drive most of the time. In the States, I drive us a lot, but I didn't feel comfortable driving on the other side of the car, on the other side of the road, it was too disorienting. After I took us down the wrong way on a one way street, I was traumatized. Luckily Los had driven in Japan before and it was kind of normal to him. Let's just say that I'm glad we're not getting a car in London:)

So unless for some reason, we ever go back to the Land of Oz, these memories and photos will sustain me:) Thanks for reading of our adventure:)