Ten Things We Learned This Week...

1. It’s not always sunny in Sydney…
Sooo, we learned that our first two weeks here were not a precursor to the perfect weather report we had started to think was the norm. In fact it does rain, thus the beautiful lush greenery everywhere…kind of makes sense when we think about it! Also, we have definitely lost some sleep as a result of the insane windstorms that blew our way this past week. Perhaps the elevation and corner location of our apartment added to the intensity of the noises that woke us up to the fear that we were not only in Oz (word often used to refer to Australia), but actually part of the Wizard of Oz tornados. Luckily, the rain and wind have stopped for the time being and sunny days are back in the forecast.

2. We are magnets for dog towns & dog stores…
For those of you who knew Old Town, where we used to live, it was quite the dog town – with everything from “yappy hour” to dog boutiques and bakeries, and even the Old Town School for Dogs, which we frequented often with Maddie since it was conveniently right across the street. Alas, we are living in another dog mecca, much to our chagrin, since we are missing Maddie so much. Also of note under this point, no one uses leashes! The dogs just follow along side or behind their owners on the sidewalks, across the streets, and into stores. Pretty impressive training if you see it! And finally, they are in the process of putting in “Paws Point” in the ground floor of our building – a dog boutique inconveniently located for our sadly unpoochified lives.

3. Free to air tv is quite good considering…
So, once again we have opted to not pay the $100+ it is for digital cable these days. The Australian “Free to Air” tv is not all that bad though. As soon as we got the channels scanned for what we could watch on the new tv, it stopped right on our old DC newscasting friends discussing the much loved/hated Hillary Clinton (this household does lean a certain way, but we have decided no politics on the blog…for now anyhow…). Needless to say, we had to watch. You can take us out of D.C., but guess you can’t take the D.C. out of us….

4. Carey’s got a groovy name for her coffee drink…
As mentioned before, a big influence/feel in our neighborhood is that of Europe. And resultantly, these people LOVE their coffee drinks and they make some “fab” lattés. The menu for coffee drinks is about as extensive as the wine lists - and about as puzzling (for the non-wine / coffee connoisseur that is). For the past three years, Carey has been ordering a tall skim latté with no foam. She stuck to just the skim lattee so as to not be difficult until she finally went from tourist to resident and decided to step it up and get what she truly wanted. Much to her surprise, when for the first time she tried to order the more complicated drink, she was informed her signature drink in the States was actually called a tall skinny flat here. That little insight into the incomprehensible coffee menus clearly made her day/week/and the blog!

5. Parakeets contribute greatly to the pollution problem…
Noise pollution, that is. They are loud, shrieking, bizarre creatures that are clearly tone deaf and incapable of “singing” birds. And, unfortunately, they also call the high rises above Winter Garden Park their home – their trees to our apartment.

6. Life without a car has been….just that.
As one would expect, not having a car is quite the challenge, especially when you are moving into a new apartment and buying things for it. When Greg wanted to put this one on the list, Carey made the comment that it really hasn’t bothered her too much. Of course it hasn’t, Greg kindly smiled at her and reminded her of the following:

-his 1.5 mile walk in the blazing sun carrying the propane tank for their barbeque, and we must not forget the 100 stairs that were a large part of that track – up hill.

-the 30 minute walk he makes in the summer heat in a full suit – to and from work

-the coolers and ice he had to lug home to save the refrigerated goods when the fridge went caput.

Not only are we being more environmentally friendly sans car, we are also saving a bundle for the traveling we are so excited to do (more to come on our next trip!!!) But, seriously, it has been ok, as long as life in 410 Macleay is ok! If not, Greg can always try his hand at the driving thing again. He succeeded last time…

7. Pinecones grow in the opposite direction.

8. Cricket is the sport of Sydneysiders and quite the puzzle for C&G…
So, after a couple of beers (Carey) and several snacks at the local pub, neither Carey nor Greg were able to come any closer to understanding the game of Cricket. There are wickets, runs, long interesting/strange running approaches for the pitching, and the games are called “tests” and can last up to 5 days….other than that, we realized we need to do some research...

9. Wine, wine, everywhere…
It’s pretty common knowledge that Australia is a major producer of wine – another trip we must take (Hunter Valley – the wine country). But, the amazing selections and new varietals have been educating and enjoyable for Carey’s pallet. Most notably obvious were the large number of sauvignon blancs on the lists (yay) and the little to no pinot grigios. A new fave is the semillion sauvignon blac. Excellent.

10. Somethings never change…
If you have made it this far and stuck with reading our ramblings, you are in for a real treat.
We say some things never change because in fact the “near fatal (according to Carey)” accident that happened at the apartment on Tuesday night was not the first time such an unfortunate incident has unfortunately been part of our lives. So, where to start? Let’s start at the beginning. Carey is interviewing this week. Trying to look her best, she was quickly getting ready for her first set of interviews Tuesday morning. In an effort to get the camisole that she “had” to wear, she sucked in her stomach attempting to make her self as light as a feather in order to stand on the bottom closet shelf and reach the top. Not surprisingly, there was a huge crash and under all of our clothes on the floor laid Carey – big scratch and bruise on her arm and a bruise on her knee that went perfectly with the skirt she was wearing. Day one of interviewing = gash on arm and bruise on knee.

That evening, we grilled out. Carey was standing with Greg checking out the view when she remembered she had stuff cooking on the stove and took off in a mad sprint from the balcony to get into the kitchen. Needless to say, the glass door that stood in her way got the best of her and was not very forgiving. Carey laid on the ground in a grand dramatic act resulting from sheer shock and embarrassment. It was quite a ridiculously loud crash and a hilarious scene that we are sure our neighbors (several of who were also grilling out at the time) had the pleasure of witnessing. Carey was certainly not amused and was even more upset about her nose that was seriously smashed as a result of her engagement with the glass door, that still proudly bares the smear mark of her entire face. We have a feeling that will not be the last time this happens, since some people have the pleasure of knowing it certainly isn’t the first time she has done such a thing!
Day two of interviewing=gash on arm, bruised knee, bruised forehead, teeth cut lips, bruised nose, and a wickedly bruised ego.