Happy New Year, bummer about dead camera battery

Happy New Year!!  Ben and I are very fortunate to have an apartment in a fab-u-lous location (just luck, though I would love to take credit).  We're in the "civic" area and in the place where the New Year's Eve fireworks were launched.  So, we had a great view from our balcony.  Unfortunately, my camera battery was dead.  I guess Nikon is serious when they say not to leave the camera in "on" position.  Bummer.  We celebrated with a marathon game of Monopoly - Australia Edition, New Zealand champagne, proscuitto wrapped goat cheese and oregano (no, not vegetarian, gave it up for Australia), hummus/water crackers, yummy gouda cheese.  Good times, but no photos.
Regardless...

Happy New Year and G'day from Ben and Amy Down Under.

Fun Times in Sydney

Ben and I spent a couple of days in Sydney this week.  Fun but crowded - a good place to visit but not to live was our general consensus.  We either walked, took ferries, or rode the monorail everywhere (with ferries being the hands-down favorite).  We did all of the traditional touristy things:  saw the opera house, went to the zoo (loved the koalas and lions), went to Sydney Aquarium and Wildlife World where we saw "one of the world's largest crocs," China Town (yummmmmm dumplings), had the most delicious sushi (no photo, but Ben drew it in his journal), and had brunch at the top of the Sydney Tower.  All of you who know me even fairly well, know what a difficult time that was for me - just look at the photos.  The Tower almost fell over, but didn't, fortunately (probably next time).  I know, it's an irrational fear.

Ben must be getting used to the Australian accent because he said that no one in Sydney had an accent.  Of course they did, he's just not hearing it as much.

Ben was so exhausted in the evening that he didn't even mind that I worked on my experimental design.  I am working here, you know.  Today is a "boring day" (Ben's words).  I'm working while he plays Wii and swims.  I am quite convinced now that on the 8th day, God created Wii.

A Very Aussie Christmas (or..."that tea thing is for real men too")

Ben and I celebrated our Christmas down under yesterday in what appeared to be a very Aussie-like celebration.  We opened our presents at our apartment - the Mario Brothers Brawl was a big success and will probably be nice to have for the remaining six weeks of our stay.  Ben also received Monopoly - Australia Edition (will also be nice to have a game here - especially one that can take days to win - sorta like cricket, as I now know).

After presents, we went to Yass to have brunch with Amy and Matt.  They made a fabulous brunch, with Amy's 3-Day sticky rolls and eggs benedict with balmain bugs and lobster.  Don't let the name fool you; balmain bugs are great.  They're like a cross between lobster and crawfish (though much bigger than crawfish).  Amy also made a macaroon tree, which was having a tough time staying on the plate until Matt brought out the caulking guy (i guess caulking is Australian for glue).  Ben and I made mohitos and fruit salad.

After Amy and Matt's, we went to Alec and Fanny's (Alec is also faculty at UNSW).  Bigger group there.  One of their friends, Nick, brought his cricket set and taught us all how to play cricket, which we did until storms moved in.  You'll notice below that our "wicket" is actually a trash can (sorry...this is Australia, it's a rubbish bin) - that was to give all of us newbies a fighting chance to actually hit the wicket.  Nick was a great coach and instructor, but grew more and more exasperated with every time he yelled "it's not PITCHING it's BOWLING."  

I now understand cricket much better and the reason why one of the three forms lasts for days - literally.  Though I question (aloud, much to Nick's frustration), whether cricket can really be considered a sport, due to all of the "tea breaks."  Still confounding...

Ben had a great time with cricket, the two dogs (boxers I think) and the alpacas.  

Merry Christmas

Tacky Christmas Alive and Well Down Under

Should you think that the US has a monopoly on tacky Christmas, well...don't think so fast.  Now to be sure, the US definitely has a leg-up on quantity of tackiness, but the Aussies have a gift for the quality of tackiness.  Not surprising, artificial trees are the norm here (not a lot of noble firs grown down under).  So, the day after Ben and I arrived, we set-out to find a Christmas tree.  We went to the largest shopping center in Canberra (lucky for us the anchor stores are Target and Walmart - I know with all of the great American stores from which to choose, they go for those two).  Anyway, both stores had an assortment of artificial Christmas trees.  We decided to go with what seemed to be the most popular - or perhaps the only style left after everyone else had chosen the not-so tacky.  Our tree (pictured below) is a 4' silver fiber optic tree (we get a cycle of different colors).  Awesome!  Fortunately, I brought three craft sets for making equally tacky ornaments.  We finally finished making all of the ornaments and decorated last night (Christmas Eve).

After decorating was finished, we looked for Christmas shows on TV and found a fantastic Aussie Christmas special.  Check-out the photos from the TV (I know quality not so good):  Santa playing Waltzing Matilda, Santa in the outback with a crocodile, platypus, koala, and kangaroo.  It was great!

Ben's First Equestrian Show (in Australia)

Ben and I both agree that his Equestrian camp shows are much better here than at the camps in Oregon.  He and his class did two shows yesterday - about 90 minutes each.  They demonstrated many of the skills they have learned in classes through the week, such as cantering, controlling in canter and trot, fine/precise movement, going over poles...  Very fun to watch.  I will be excited to see what a great horseman he will become at the end of 5 more weeks of all-day lessons!!  Some photos of Ben and Chief (his horse):

The Joy of Shoveling Poo

Ben has been thoroughly enjoying equestrian camp.  I've been hearing about how well he gets along with his horse and how nice all of the kids and teachers are.  The kids (about 15) are broken into small groups, each with their own counselor.  This grouping allows kids at different skill levels to work on more advanced (or easy) riding.  Ben was "moved up." Very exciting.  So, I showed up to camp early yesterday (hours are 9am - 4pm).  When I arrived he was cleaning out his horse's stall - which is apparently what he does at the end of each day.  Cleaning the stall involves shoveling all of the horse poo into a wheelbarrow and dumping it into a huge pile of poo (which is picked up a couple of times per week).  I asked him if this was a very gross job (it's hot, stinky, and lots of flies around).  No...he said he loved cleaning the stall.  

So, that's the way it is.  I cannot get him to clean the kitchen without lip, but he LOVES shoveling his horses poo.  Great.

Taking a Taxi When I have a Rental Car

Think of the possible reasons why one would need to take a taxi when they have a rental car...
An obvious answer is that you locked your keys in the car.  But not so fast!  Here's what happened.  I returned from shopping, thought I would be productive and clean the kitchen before picking Ben up from Equestrian camp.  Thirty minutes prior to pick-up time, thought I would be responsible and give myself plenty of time (still wrestling with the left side of the road).  And what did I realize...yes, you guessed...no keys.  Checked the entire apartment (not much stuff).  No keys.  Went to look in the car, but the parking garage is dark, so I couldn't see in.  Here's the tricky thing, how did I lock the car without the keys.

Getting panicked.  Called locksmith; made reservation for 6:30.  Ben needs to be picked-up at 4pm.  So...called taxi.  Taxi arrives immediately.  HA...first day of equestrian camp and Ben is picked-up in a taxi.  Was afraid he would be mortified.  So, I asked taxi to park close and I walked over to get Ben.

Got home and thought it was a very good time to open that south Australian shiraz I just bought shopping (recall shopping is what I had just done before coming back to apartment).  Reached for wine...KEYS.

The adventure continues.

The Left Side Just Isn't Working

We made it - Living in a Land Down Under.  We arrived yesterday morning (Friday), about 6:30am (australia time).  I think that's 11:30am PST (Thursday).  Made it through customs (they even let me keep my popcorn, SMCRLs be happy about that).  Rented our car - LOVE the car.  It's tiny, so it makes me feel tall.  But, then I actually had to drive the car.  Won't lie - it was UGLY getting out of the Sydney airport and onto the first real road (because that required a right turn, but remember i'm driving on the left side).  Felt a bit better when we were on the highway.  But, from the back seat I kept hearing: "mom what's that noise?"  Well, the noise was me driving on the bumps that warn you when you're driving off the highway. Seems that even though I knew logically where I was supposed to be in the lane, I kept trying to position myself on the left side of the lane (i.e. when driving NORMALLY).
Made our way to Canberra - and in city driving again.  Again, kept hearing driving-related banter from the back seat.  This time (and every time I turned), it was "just follow that car in front of you mom, then you'll turn correctly).

Today is better.  Driving home from shopping (next post will include a photo of our nifty silver 4' Christmas tree) I heard: "you're getting better at the driving mom."  Success!!

Going swimming now and then opening a nice south Australian Shiraz.

Success to SFO

Normally, flying to SFO is not so much of an accomplishment (unless you're actually flying, I suppose). We are feeling a great victory and celebrating in the Red Carpet Club (OK, mom is celebrating). Two more legs!

A Day Late and a Final Flush

So far this trip is more a Seinfeld episode than international travel.  Weather delay in SFO pushed us back by a day.  Will try again soon.

One last toilet flush (just to check for the nth time the direction of the water flow), and Ben is ready to go!