Well, the past few days have been a bit busy. I'm finally over my jet lag and have managed to make it through the grocery store twice now without running over anyone with the trolley. Probably because Darren was driving it, not me :-p
Saturday night Darren's parents wanted to take us out to dinner and meet me, so they came over about 5:30 or so to get us. I was extremely nervous beforehand, it's a rather big deal to meet the family you know? Darren's mum even told him ahead of time that she remembered being nervous meeting his dad's parents, and that I shouldn't be nervous because we're all just regular people. I thought that was very sweet, that she realized that, and I think they were a bit nervous as well. :) But everything went really well and we all had a great time. :)
Darren's dad is a bit of a jokester, a very funny man :) He is always telling jokes and stories, and you can't help but laugh. His mum is a very lovely woman with whom I hit it off with right away.
We started off with a beer here at the house before going out, while Darren and his dad watched a bit of footy and his mum and I chatted. After a while we called a taxi to take us to the Chinese restaurant we were going to. It didn't appear that busy, but apparently they were all booked out for the night, however Darren's dad sweet talked the hostess into seating us anyway :) The food was really good! Darren ordered an appetizer (called an entree here) of Boxing Chicken, which is deep fried chicken legs in a very sweet sauce with rice noodles. Was very yummy, a bit spicey but I liked it. His dad had gone and bought us all drinks (not sure if it's the same in all Aussie restaurants, but you bring your own drinks. So if you want wine, you bring wine, if you want beer, you bring beer, etc. You can still buy water and soda and such, but most people bring their own.) and I was drinking something called a Cruiser. It was vodka with melon flavor and it was bright green. VERY yummy! :) I think that's my new favorite drink, at least over here. Have never heard of them back home.
Anyway, we all had ordered and were just chatting away while we waited for the food. They put the plates all in the middle and we just shared and took what we wanted, that way everyone got to try a bit of everything if they wanted. There was Prawn (shrimp) Fried Rice (which I did not try, being as I don't eat seafood ;) ) and Beef Hokkein noodles (not sure if I spelled that right,) Chicken Satay, American Spare Ribs, and Chicken with Cashews. Can you guess which one I ordered? Hint: It wasn't the American one ;)
The beef and noodles were very good, with big, fat noodles like lo-mein I think. The Chicken Satay was in a peanut sauce, which was pretty good but very rich, and no one could eat much of that. The ribs were good, deep fried and in a wonderfully sweet bbq sauce. And the Chicken with Cashews (which if you didn't guess, is what I ordered) was very mild but good, and you could really taste the flavor of the cashews. A very good meal :)
Afterwards, we decided to walk across the street to the pub for a drink. Darren and I started ahead of his parents while they were taking care of the bill, and of course I need Darren to watch out for me when crossing the streets so that I don't get hit by a car. I do look both ways, but it's hard to remember which way the cars are coming from, and I feel safer having help and remaining in one piece as to becoming roadkill, thanks :-p We went to a pub called Judds. It was quite large inside, with the footy game on one TV and music videos on another. There were pool tables and little set ups where people could sit in groups. We ordered our drinks and went outside to the beer garden, where you can smoke and have a drink at the same time since you can't smoke inside. (I did not smoke, no worries!) There was also a large platform with pillows where people can hang out when it gets crowded and they've had a bit to drink ;)
They didn't have cruisers at the pub, so Darren ordered me a Smirnoff Ice, which is similar to what we have back in the states, although it tasted a bit more puckery to me, but nice. His parents joined us, and we found out that some fellow at the chinese restaurant had paid for our meal! We were all quite amazed. After a drink we were invited back to Darren's parent's house for another drink and to visit for a bit, so we left the pub after not very long, which was alright with me :)
We walked down the street a short way and grabbed a taxi back to the house, with a stop on the way at the liquor store (called the bottle shop or a similar term with the word 'bottle' in it ;) ) Darren's dad had us all in stitches in the back seat laughing when he ordered some "Smirkoffs" from the gal instead of Smirnoffs, but she seemed to understand him alright and he went inside to get the rest of the order while Darren's mum and I laughed our asses off in the back seat of the cab. I was in tears, literally!!! Good times :) I'll never be able to call it by anything else forever more ;)
Getting to Darren's parent's house, I got to meet the two other members of the family, Bill and Matilda. They are Shitzu-Maltese mix dogs; Bill is a light cream/whitish color and Matilda is dark black/gray color. Matilda was happy to jump right up onto my lap for a rub, but Bill only really had eyes for Darren. ;) We sat and had another drink in front of the fireplace, and it was quite warm and pleasant, making us both sleepy and we decided that it was time to head home before we took to snoozing on the couch :) It also goes to show that I've acclimated to the cooler weather, because even as cold as I've been, sitting in front of the fire for a longer period of time was too much for even me :) We called for a taxi and went in the front yard to cool off a bit while we waited. When the taxi did come, we hopped inside and there was some random guy trying to get in the car with us, or wanting a ride or something, but we just had the driver leave because it was a bit creepy. Get your own taxi, buddy! :-p
Apparently, I made a good enough of an impression that we were called the next day and invited over for a BBQ with the parents and cousins as well. :) I really did have a good time, and was looking forward to spending more time with Darren's family. We headed over about 3:30 or so, and Darren's mum had gone all out with all kinds of food set to be BBQ'd. Sausages, steaks, meat patties, and all sorts of ribs and things. Of course, I'm not a butcher and didn't know what I was looking at, but it was a ton of food :) Darren's cousin Jason and his wife Christy and her son Ethan came over shortly after we arrived. We had rolls with butter and meatballs in a very delicious sauce as we were chatting. After a bit, the men decided to head out to check on the bets Jason had placed at the pub, leaving us girls there to chat a bit. It was really very nice, and we talked about all kinds of things, from schools, to kids to food :) Mum and Christy had a giggle when I told them that all Braden would eat was peanut butter and jelly. :-p Over here, jelly means jello. They were curious as to what I meant by jelly, thinking that there was no way you could keep the jelly on the bread if it was the one they were thinking of! :)
We got onto the topic of where I was from, and it's funny that people have misconceptions about the US the same as they do about Australia. People always wonder if Aussies ride kangaroos to work and all such nonsense (well a common sense person knows that's nonsense!) but they wonder about the US too... if living in the wild west like Arizona means there's gunfights and indians everywhere :-p We all know that it's from what the TV shows, but it's interesting the same. I was telling them about Tombstone. Christy told me that it happened to be one of Ethan's favorite movies, and that he loved talking and learning about other places. Sure enough, when the guys came back, I mentioned the word Tombstone, and Ethan's head shot around like a rocket at the word :-p He was a pretty good kid, 11 1/2 and being the only kid he did pretty well entertaining himself and staying out of trouble ;)
So when the guys came back, the food went onto the BBQ and we were in business. There was so much food, I ate until I was stuffed and there was still so much left over :) And it was very delicious... all the meats, plus potato bake (double yum!!) and veggie bake, as well as salad and my mom's favorite, beets ;) You'd love it mom, they have beets with everything :) I thought of you ;)
After we all ate until we were stuffed, we sat around the table outside and chatted about all sorts of things. One of the topics was poisonous creatures. I was telling them about all the warnings I got from my friends about the venomous animals in Australia, but when we compared, we have almost as many in Arizona as they do here :-p I was explaining to them about Gila monsters and scorpions and rattlesnakes. Christie was most concerned with the tarantulas, although I told her that they don't bite. Most people seem to be afraid of spiders, regardless of the bite, myself included xD
I had a really great time, and I really like Darren's family. They are very fun and lovely people. And I really had a blast at the BBQ... it's like our holiday BBQs, but you don't need a holiday to do it ;) All in all the weekend was a success :D
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Arrival and the First few days...
Well, I've finally made it safely to my destination, although it was a bit hairy for a bit. My plane out of LA was delayed for an hour and a half, and since I only had a 2 hour window to get through customs and change terminals in Brissie, I obviously didn't make it :-p Sucky thing is they held the plane in LA for a passenger from NY who never even got on his plane there. You think they would have had the whole flight to figure out he wasn't there, but no, they held us up for one person. And even though there were 15 people missing their Perth connection in Brissie by about 30 minutes or so, they didn't hold that plane for us. Boogers!
I slept about 6 hours on the plane, in rather short intervals, even with the help of my friend Xanax. There was a lovely Aussie lady next to me on the plane and no one in between us so we were able to spread out a bit to sleep. We had a nice chat and she was very sweet to reassure me that I'd make a connecting flight and get where I needed to go. She was visiting her daughter in Washington DC and was on her way home from that. The people in front of us were going on to Perth with me, and we ended up on the same re-booked flight after we missed the original one. They were nice too, told me that I could get a voucher for some food at the Qantas booth because we had missed the flight. :)
It was raining when we landed in Brissie on Saturday morning local time, and I was wearing flip-flops and trying to lug my multitudes of luggage I kept tipping things over, but everyone was very nice helping me make it through the customs. The man at the check through was very fatherly and chided me for wearing my 'thongs' in such weather, and asked me why I didn't grab one of the trolleys to help me with my luggage :-p To be honest, I hadn't even seen them, I was so tired at that point.
Anyway, all in all everyone was very nice in getting us rescheduled onto the next flight out, which put me into Perth about 4 hours after my original arrival time, making my total travel time something like 34 hours instead of 30.I was rather beat when I finally got there. I think that last 5 hour flight to Perth was the longest 5 hours of my life :-p Thankfully, I was able to call Darren from a payphone in Brissie and let him know I had missed my flight (I had also texted him while we were sitting in LA waiting) and he put my reservation numbers into the computer and got it all sorted as to when I was getting there :) My family, however, was freaking out, even though I had told them if they didn't hear from me that I had missed my connection. I probably should have texted them right away when I got in, but it was after midnight their time and I thought I'd let them sleep. Won't make that mistake again! :-p
It's funny how security and customs in Australia is so much different than in the US. They didn't check my bags, just had a dog sniff them :-p And I didn't have to take my shoes off to go through the security, or take my liquids out and place them separately. And Darren was able to meet me at the gate, he didn't have to show a ticket or anything to go through the security line and wait for me when I got off the plane :) I had tried to freshen up on the plane as we were getting ready to land, but I had hoped for a minute or two to finish :-p Thankfully, he loves me the way I am, gross from the plane and all xD
So, once I got there, we waited for my multitude of bags to get off the plane and I had my first experience riding in a car going the totally opposite way from what I am used to :-p Those taxi drivers are INSANE!!! And they drive very fast. And there are few stoplights, just roundabouts everywhere. I admit i was a bit queasy about it by the time we got to the hotel about 10 minutes later :-p Thankfully, Darren had already checked in, so we took the elevator up to the 5th floor (the top floor) to the spa suite that we had for the next two nights. It had a little balcony that overlooked Perth, but the view wasn't that great (mostly buildings and such, with the river peeking out between) that I didn't take a picture, although I wish I had.
First order of business was a shower because I felt disgusting :-p Then we went and walked down the street a bit to a pizza place. They make pizza weird here, but not in all places. This place was different though. The sauce is BBQ sauce. But they put it on very lightly, so that it adds taste but doesn't overwhelm. I actually liked it quite a bit :) We grabbed some sodas and some milk for the tea (which is THE drink here!) and went back to the room. I think I crashed out at like 7 pm and that was as late as I could make it xD
Of course, that meant that I was up at 3 the next morning (Sunday.) The bed was horribly uncomfortable for some reason, and my back was hurting so we got up a bit early. We just took it easy that day. I learned all about Aussie Footy and how it's played and who is who and the rules and all that. It was actually pretty cool, although you know that I am not a sports nut by any means. My jet lag was in full swing so we just lay low and I think I crashed out by 7pm again. The next day (Monday) we left Perth for Kalgoorlie.
The airport was packed when we arrived there, although we got there 2 hours early. It was nice though, because as we waited in line, they had 2 separate lines where they would call out for people flying on certain flights so they could get out of line and go check in faster to make their flights. So while we waited in line, our flight was called and we were able to go check in over there. The lady behind the counter was not too bright though, because even though it was obvious that Darren and I were travelling together, she put us in seats that were in separate rows from each other. And even though people saw us talking to each other, not a one offered to switch. The guy next to Darren slept the whole way, he could have slept anywhere and we could have sat together. But... it was only an hour flight so it wasn't unbearable. He just hates to fly and I wanted to sit by him for moral support.
The guy who ended up sitting next to me was HUGE! He had to keep his arms crossed over his chest in order to keep his body in the allotted seat area. He was nice though, he pointed out things to me out the window once he realized that I wasn't from around there. Craziest thing was, that the flight was only an hour long and they served lunch! A sandwich, some dried fruit, a brownie and tea :) So by the time you got your food, ate it and they cleared away, it was time to land. Poor Darren didn't eat though, he was too nervous :(
From the air, Kalgoorlie looks a bit like Sedona, at least by the color of it. The dirt ranges from deep oranges and reds to lighter brown colors. You can see the Superpit from the air, it's enormous! I think it actually can be seen from space as well. Very cool! The airport is so small that when the planes land, they wheel the steps up to the plane and you step off directly onto the tarmac. Just like Tucson used to be when I was little. :) There's only one little desk inside the airport, and one baggage claim belt, and the airport has only 2 runways. Darren was able to park his car in the very first row just outside the entrance so we gathered the bags and loaded them up in the trunk and back seat and we were off!
On the way from the airport, Darren gave me an impromptu tour of the town. First we stopped at the Superpit lookout. It's even more immense from that view! The giant trucks looked like matchbox cars, and the smaller utes almost like insects. They were plugging the ground with explosives to be set off later. He said you can hear the blasts anywhere in town, and feel the vibrations, but I have yet to. Maybe I just am not in tune with what I'm supposed to be feeling/hearing. My camera was buried in my bag so I will be going back to take pictures sometime soon. Maybe I'm a science geek, but I really think it was fascinating :)
We ended up driving around for about 30 minutes, and I got to see a whirlwind tour of the town :-p We came home and dropped off the luggage before heading back out and hitting the grocery store to stock up on food, as Darren's fridge is the typical bachelor fridge, minus the beer. Meaning all he had in it was cheese. And vegemite. Literally :-p
We drove down to a store called Woolworths, which everyone call's Woolies. (Aussies do that, abbreviate ANYTHING that they can into something shorter! Examples to follow ... ;) ) I'd already been warned about the carts (called Trolleys here) and how the wheels go all different ways and are not fixed in place like the ones in the states. So I made Darren drive the cart so I wouldn't inadvertantly run anyone over :-p In many ways, the set up is very much like the stores in the states. Things just have different names or may be grouped together differently. I had decided I was going to make French Toast for breakfast the next morning (because really, how can you mess that up right?) so we bought bread and then went on a hunt for vanilla extract and cinnamon. And maple syrup. We also found a kit by Old El Paso that had tortillas and seasoning for fajitas, so we bought a couple of steaks, onions and bell peppers (called capsicum here, I still can't seem to say it right!) We bought bacon for omlettes and a couple of other things and we were good to go. At a cost of over 100 dollars! I couldn't believe how expensive things were! Cheaper than eating out, but still much pricier than what I am accustomed to.
Some things I learned from this experience:
* Eggs are not in the refrigerator, they are on a regular shelf.
* Maple syrup is hard to find, expensive, and even though it says it's 100% pure maple syrup, it doesn't taste like maple at all. More like just concentrated sugar with sugar added for flavor :-p
* Bacon is not bacon like we know it. It doesn't get crispy unless it's burned black :-p It's more like ham, or Canadian bacon. Still yummy in an omlette though :)
* They have a cheese here that's called "Tasty Cheese" which is the most common and popular cheese around. I like tasty cheese, although I don't think it would be good for all the things that I'd use regular cheddar for at home. It's very sharp. It's aged longer, and is hard and a bit crumbly. It reminds me of a mix between sharp cheddar and asiago or parmesean maybe. Yummy for sure, but doubt it would be good to make mac and cheese.
* Pure Vanilla extract is also more like a syrup, and is very sweet. Might go for the imitation stuff next time :-p
* I like the fajita flavoring here better than what I usually use in the states :) This meal was definitely a hit :)
* The yogurt here is to DIE for! It's thicker, and not as sweet... has a bit of a tangy bite to it. When mixed with blueberries (like pie filling that was swirled into the yogurt) it was heaven in a container. Which I ate in approximately 2 days flat. Must get more!!!
After the grocery store, we came home to unpack the food and then Darren took me to his favorite pizza place, Eagle Boys Pizza. It was really good! For one, they used actual marinara sauce on their pizza. And they use it sparingly, just like I like it :) I always have to ask for it light at home because they put on too much! Darren ordered the Aussie pizza, which has bacon, onion and egg on it. Egg!?!?!?!? It's not what you think. Believe me, I was a bit apprehensive at first. But the egg is mixed with the cheese before they put it on the pizza, so it just makes the cheese richer somewhat, and gives it a good flavor. I think I liked it best of all the pizzas (we got 3, they were on special) that we tried, including Hawaiian (my usual fav) and a supreme, which had most everything except for anchovies and olives.
At this point, I was still jet lagged, so we crashed out early with plans to run the rest of our errands the following day, which was Tuesday. Again, I was up at 4 am! It was taking longer than I thought to adjust to the difference in time. I made us breakfast (was supposed to be an omlette, but without a spatula, it ended up being scrambled eggs, with bacon, onion and cheese. Was quite yummy!) and then we headed into 'town.' First stop was the Telstra store, which is the local phone store. I bought a pre-paid SIM card for my phone and some credit to put on it, with instructions to call and add the credit later in the day. Sadly, we couldn't get it to work, so today we are going back to have it fixed or to get a cheap phone that will work here. I can get calls, but can't make them. Which is a waste of my credits so I need that fixed ;)
After the phone store, we went to have tea at the cafe down the street. Food's more expensive, but you also don't tip, so it works out okay in the end. I had wedges with sour cream, which is a big thing here. Basically potato wedges that have been dipped in a batter or coating of some sort and then you dip them in sour cream. Very yummy :)
Following our snack, I got a quick foot tour of the main street, or at least the area we were in. We went to K-Mart (which is pretty similar to the ones at home) and got a spatula, a cheese grater, some kitchen towels (called tea towels here) and a couple of other things that we needed. His kitchen is not fully stocked, but unless we need it, we aren't buying it because most of it he probably won't even use after I leave. So I am learning to make do with alternate ways of doing things :-p
We went into a little shop that had a bunch of touristy things in it, and I plan on going back and getting gifts for the boys and people who have supported me and helped me make this trip possible. :) They had a lot of really cool things there but I want to make sure I see everything before I buy so I can get the right things :)
After heading back to the car, Darren took me for a drive in search of kangaroos, since he knew that I wanted to see them :-p He said they usually hang out on the golf course, but we didn't find any there, so he took me to a really cool park called Hammond Park (I think?). It is surrounded by native trees and a fence, and inside there are kangaroos and emus in a fenced off area. There are also cages around with various types of birds, like cockatoos and budgies (really huge parakeets!) and lorakeets. It was almost like a park mixed with a zoo and it was free to get in :) There was water and ducks, swans and cassowary... which is Aussie for peacock. I took a couple of pictures with my phone, but they are hard to get off and onto the computer, so we are going to go back so I can get pictures on the regular camera for upload :) It was really a very beautiful place, and there were a bunch of school children on excursion there, with their uniforms and hats all matching. :) Made me extra glad that I'm on vacation :-p
Being that it's winter here, I am freezing my butt off!!! 66F doesn't sound like it's that cold really, but the houses hold on to the cold for some reason, and unless you get outside and get some sun, you can stay cold all day long. I'm adjusting a little bit better, I don't feel quite as cold as I did at first, but it's a change to go from 100 degree weather to this :) The lows have been in the low 40s at night, and when the sun goes down, whatever heat was here goes with it. I'm wishing I had brought more long sleeve shirts, but I'm sure I can pick up a couple here if I need to. As a consequence of the cold, I've been drinking more tea than I've ever drank before... thankfully I love tea and it's everywhere here. Even on the plane, they don't offer you a soft drink, they offer tea or coffee ;)
On Wednesday, Darren had to return to work, and I got to stay home and learn to function on my own :-p I spent the morning chatting with friends on FB, and trying to get my phone to work, sadly to no avail. We are going today on his lunch break to see if the Telstra store can get it fixed and running. Starting next week I'll be working on my curriculum for biology, but I wanted to take at least a week off from work before I started up again. Monday is a public holiday, so we will be able to spend the day together on that day, which I am looking forward too :)
This morning, at 5 am, my phone rang and it was Cody calling me :) I had sent him my number on FB, but I had thought that he would check with Mike before calling me. Apparently he didn't, and so he called from his own cell phone without informing his dad :-p And because he didn't know the time difference, woke us up at 5 am with his call. I haven't heard my phone ring in days so I didn't even know what the sound was at first, but I ran out to the lounge and answered it as soon as I could. It was so good to hear his voice, I miss my boys so much. They are the only thing missing from here that I would want. Thankfully, they are amazing kids and understand why I am here and how important it is. I talked to him for about 6 minutes before telling him that he probably needed to check with Mike before calling me, and letting him know what time was good to call and not wake anyone up. Hopefully next time we can talk longer, and I can talk to Braden as well. :)
Okay, my fingers are about to fall off from typing this novel... so I shall go for now and write more as things go from here :)
Smoochies!!!
Jen
I slept about 6 hours on the plane, in rather short intervals, even with the help of my friend Xanax. There was a lovely Aussie lady next to me on the plane and no one in between us so we were able to spread out a bit to sleep. We had a nice chat and she was very sweet to reassure me that I'd make a connecting flight and get where I needed to go. She was visiting her daughter in Washington DC and was on her way home from that. The people in front of us were going on to Perth with me, and we ended up on the same re-booked flight after we missed the original one. They were nice too, told me that I could get a voucher for some food at the Qantas booth because we had missed the flight. :)
It was raining when we landed in Brissie on Saturday morning local time, and I was wearing flip-flops and trying to lug my multitudes of luggage I kept tipping things over, but everyone was very nice helping me make it through the customs. The man at the check through was very fatherly and chided me for wearing my 'thongs' in such weather, and asked me why I didn't grab one of the trolleys to help me with my luggage :-p To be honest, I hadn't even seen them, I was so tired at that point.
Anyway, all in all everyone was very nice in getting us rescheduled onto the next flight out, which put me into Perth about 4 hours after my original arrival time, making my total travel time something like 34 hours instead of 30.I was rather beat when I finally got there. I think that last 5 hour flight to Perth was the longest 5 hours of my life :-p Thankfully, I was able to call Darren from a payphone in Brissie and let him know I had missed my flight (I had also texted him while we were sitting in LA waiting) and he put my reservation numbers into the computer and got it all sorted as to when I was getting there :) My family, however, was freaking out, even though I had told them if they didn't hear from me that I had missed my connection. I probably should have texted them right away when I got in, but it was after midnight their time and I thought I'd let them sleep. Won't make that mistake again! :-p
It's funny how security and customs in Australia is so much different than in the US. They didn't check my bags, just had a dog sniff them :-p And I didn't have to take my shoes off to go through the security, or take my liquids out and place them separately. And Darren was able to meet me at the gate, he didn't have to show a ticket or anything to go through the security line and wait for me when I got off the plane :) I had tried to freshen up on the plane as we were getting ready to land, but I had hoped for a minute or two to finish :-p Thankfully, he loves me the way I am, gross from the plane and all xD
So, once I got there, we waited for my multitude of bags to get off the plane and I had my first experience riding in a car going the totally opposite way from what I am used to :-p Those taxi drivers are INSANE!!! And they drive very fast. And there are few stoplights, just roundabouts everywhere. I admit i was a bit queasy about it by the time we got to the hotel about 10 minutes later :-p Thankfully, Darren had already checked in, so we took the elevator up to the 5th floor (the top floor) to the spa suite that we had for the next two nights. It had a little balcony that overlooked Perth, but the view wasn't that great (mostly buildings and such, with the river peeking out between) that I didn't take a picture, although I wish I had.
First order of business was a shower because I felt disgusting :-p Then we went and walked down the street a bit to a pizza place. They make pizza weird here, but not in all places. This place was different though. The sauce is BBQ sauce. But they put it on very lightly, so that it adds taste but doesn't overwhelm. I actually liked it quite a bit :) We grabbed some sodas and some milk for the tea (which is THE drink here!) and went back to the room. I think I crashed out at like 7 pm and that was as late as I could make it xD
Of course, that meant that I was up at 3 the next morning (Sunday.) The bed was horribly uncomfortable for some reason, and my back was hurting so we got up a bit early. We just took it easy that day. I learned all about Aussie Footy and how it's played and who is who and the rules and all that. It was actually pretty cool, although you know that I am not a sports nut by any means. My jet lag was in full swing so we just lay low and I think I crashed out by 7pm again. The next day (Monday) we left Perth for Kalgoorlie.
The airport was packed when we arrived there, although we got there 2 hours early. It was nice though, because as we waited in line, they had 2 separate lines where they would call out for people flying on certain flights so they could get out of line and go check in faster to make their flights. So while we waited in line, our flight was called and we were able to go check in over there. The lady behind the counter was not too bright though, because even though it was obvious that Darren and I were travelling together, she put us in seats that were in separate rows from each other. And even though people saw us talking to each other, not a one offered to switch. The guy next to Darren slept the whole way, he could have slept anywhere and we could have sat together. But... it was only an hour flight so it wasn't unbearable. He just hates to fly and I wanted to sit by him for moral support.
The guy who ended up sitting next to me was HUGE! He had to keep his arms crossed over his chest in order to keep his body in the allotted seat area. He was nice though, he pointed out things to me out the window once he realized that I wasn't from around there. Craziest thing was, that the flight was only an hour long and they served lunch! A sandwich, some dried fruit, a brownie and tea :) So by the time you got your food, ate it and they cleared away, it was time to land. Poor Darren didn't eat though, he was too nervous :(
From the air, Kalgoorlie looks a bit like Sedona, at least by the color of it. The dirt ranges from deep oranges and reds to lighter brown colors. You can see the Superpit from the air, it's enormous! I think it actually can be seen from space as well. Very cool! The airport is so small that when the planes land, they wheel the steps up to the plane and you step off directly onto the tarmac. Just like Tucson used to be when I was little. :) There's only one little desk inside the airport, and one baggage claim belt, and the airport has only 2 runways. Darren was able to park his car in the very first row just outside the entrance so we gathered the bags and loaded them up in the trunk and back seat and we were off!
On the way from the airport, Darren gave me an impromptu tour of the town. First we stopped at the Superpit lookout. It's even more immense from that view! The giant trucks looked like matchbox cars, and the smaller utes almost like insects. They were plugging the ground with explosives to be set off later. He said you can hear the blasts anywhere in town, and feel the vibrations, but I have yet to. Maybe I just am not in tune with what I'm supposed to be feeling/hearing. My camera was buried in my bag so I will be going back to take pictures sometime soon. Maybe I'm a science geek, but I really think it was fascinating :)
We ended up driving around for about 30 minutes, and I got to see a whirlwind tour of the town :-p We came home and dropped off the luggage before heading back out and hitting the grocery store to stock up on food, as Darren's fridge is the typical bachelor fridge, minus the beer. Meaning all he had in it was cheese. And vegemite. Literally :-p
We drove down to a store called Woolworths, which everyone call's Woolies. (Aussies do that, abbreviate ANYTHING that they can into something shorter! Examples to follow ... ;) ) I'd already been warned about the carts (called Trolleys here) and how the wheels go all different ways and are not fixed in place like the ones in the states. So I made Darren drive the cart so I wouldn't inadvertantly run anyone over :-p In many ways, the set up is very much like the stores in the states. Things just have different names or may be grouped together differently. I had decided I was going to make French Toast for breakfast the next morning (because really, how can you mess that up right?) so we bought bread and then went on a hunt for vanilla extract and cinnamon. And maple syrup. We also found a kit by Old El Paso that had tortillas and seasoning for fajitas, so we bought a couple of steaks, onions and bell peppers (called capsicum here, I still can't seem to say it right!) We bought bacon for omlettes and a couple of other things and we were good to go. At a cost of over 100 dollars! I couldn't believe how expensive things were! Cheaper than eating out, but still much pricier than what I am accustomed to.
Some things I learned from this experience:
* Eggs are not in the refrigerator, they are on a regular shelf.
* Maple syrup is hard to find, expensive, and even though it says it's 100% pure maple syrup, it doesn't taste like maple at all. More like just concentrated sugar with sugar added for flavor :-p
* Bacon is not bacon like we know it. It doesn't get crispy unless it's burned black :-p It's more like ham, or Canadian bacon. Still yummy in an omlette though :)
* They have a cheese here that's called "Tasty Cheese" which is the most common and popular cheese around. I like tasty cheese, although I don't think it would be good for all the things that I'd use regular cheddar for at home. It's very sharp. It's aged longer, and is hard and a bit crumbly. It reminds me of a mix between sharp cheddar and asiago or parmesean maybe. Yummy for sure, but doubt it would be good to make mac and cheese.
* Pure Vanilla extract is also more like a syrup, and is very sweet. Might go for the imitation stuff next time :-p
* I like the fajita flavoring here better than what I usually use in the states :) This meal was definitely a hit :)
* The yogurt here is to DIE for! It's thicker, and not as sweet... has a bit of a tangy bite to it. When mixed with blueberries (like pie filling that was swirled into the yogurt) it was heaven in a container. Which I ate in approximately 2 days flat. Must get more!!!
After the grocery store, we came home to unpack the food and then Darren took me to his favorite pizza place, Eagle Boys Pizza. It was really good! For one, they used actual marinara sauce on their pizza. And they use it sparingly, just like I like it :) I always have to ask for it light at home because they put on too much! Darren ordered the Aussie pizza, which has bacon, onion and egg on it. Egg!?!?!?!? It's not what you think. Believe me, I was a bit apprehensive at first. But the egg is mixed with the cheese before they put it on the pizza, so it just makes the cheese richer somewhat, and gives it a good flavor. I think I liked it best of all the pizzas (we got 3, they were on special) that we tried, including Hawaiian (my usual fav) and a supreme, which had most everything except for anchovies and olives.
At this point, I was still jet lagged, so we crashed out early with plans to run the rest of our errands the following day, which was Tuesday. Again, I was up at 4 am! It was taking longer than I thought to adjust to the difference in time. I made us breakfast (was supposed to be an omlette, but without a spatula, it ended up being scrambled eggs, with bacon, onion and cheese. Was quite yummy!) and then we headed into 'town.' First stop was the Telstra store, which is the local phone store. I bought a pre-paid SIM card for my phone and some credit to put on it, with instructions to call and add the credit later in the day. Sadly, we couldn't get it to work, so today we are going back to have it fixed or to get a cheap phone that will work here. I can get calls, but can't make them. Which is a waste of my credits so I need that fixed ;)
After the phone store, we went to have tea at the cafe down the street. Food's more expensive, but you also don't tip, so it works out okay in the end. I had wedges with sour cream, which is a big thing here. Basically potato wedges that have been dipped in a batter or coating of some sort and then you dip them in sour cream. Very yummy :)
Following our snack, I got a quick foot tour of the main street, or at least the area we were in. We went to K-Mart (which is pretty similar to the ones at home) and got a spatula, a cheese grater, some kitchen towels (called tea towels here) and a couple of other things that we needed. His kitchen is not fully stocked, but unless we need it, we aren't buying it because most of it he probably won't even use after I leave. So I am learning to make do with alternate ways of doing things :-p
We went into a little shop that had a bunch of touristy things in it, and I plan on going back and getting gifts for the boys and people who have supported me and helped me make this trip possible. :) They had a lot of really cool things there but I want to make sure I see everything before I buy so I can get the right things :)
After heading back to the car, Darren took me for a drive in search of kangaroos, since he knew that I wanted to see them :-p He said they usually hang out on the golf course, but we didn't find any there, so he took me to a really cool park called Hammond Park (I think?). It is surrounded by native trees and a fence, and inside there are kangaroos and emus in a fenced off area. There are also cages around with various types of birds, like cockatoos and budgies (really huge parakeets!) and lorakeets. It was almost like a park mixed with a zoo and it was free to get in :) There was water and ducks, swans and cassowary... which is Aussie for peacock. I took a couple of pictures with my phone, but they are hard to get off and onto the computer, so we are going to go back so I can get pictures on the regular camera for upload :) It was really a very beautiful place, and there were a bunch of school children on excursion there, with their uniforms and hats all matching. :) Made me extra glad that I'm on vacation :-p
Being that it's winter here, I am freezing my butt off!!! 66F doesn't sound like it's that cold really, but the houses hold on to the cold for some reason, and unless you get outside and get some sun, you can stay cold all day long. I'm adjusting a little bit better, I don't feel quite as cold as I did at first, but it's a change to go from 100 degree weather to this :) The lows have been in the low 40s at night, and when the sun goes down, whatever heat was here goes with it. I'm wishing I had brought more long sleeve shirts, but I'm sure I can pick up a couple here if I need to. As a consequence of the cold, I've been drinking more tea than I've ever drank before... thankfully I love tea and it's everywhere here. Even on the plane, they don't offer you a soft drink, they offer tea or coffee ;)
On Wednesday, Darren had to return to work, and I got to stay home and learn to function on my own :-p I spent the morning chatting with friends on FB, and trying to get my phone to work, sadly to no avail. We are going today on his lunch break to see if the Telstra store can get it fixed and running. Starting next week I'll be working on my curriculum for biology, but I wanted to take at least a week off from work before I started up again. Monday is a public holiday, so we will be able to spend the day together on that day, which I am looking forward too :)
This morning, at 5 am, my phone rang and it was Cody calling me :) I had sent him my number on FB, but I had thought that he would check with Mike before calling me. Apparently he didn't, and so he called from his own cell phone without informing his dad :-p And because he didn't know the time difference, woke us up at 5 am with his call. I haven't heard my phone ring in days so I didn't even know what the sound was at first, but I ran out to the lounge and answered it as soon as I could. It was so good to hear his voice, I miss my boys so much. They are the only thing missing from here that I would want. Thankfully, they are amazing kids and understand why I am here and how important it is. I talked to him for about 6 minutes before telling him that he probably needed to check with Mike before calling me, and letting him know what time was good to call and not wake anyone up. Hopefully next time we can talk longer, and I can talk to Braden as well. :)
Okay, my fingers are about to fall off from typing this novel... so I shall go for now and write more as things go from here :)
Smoochies!!!
Jen
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