C&G Road Trip, Destination: Queensland

For our first big trip here in Oz we decided to explore Queensland, the state just to the north of New South Wales (which is where we live). Queensland is known for its tropical weather, beautiful coastline, lush rain forests, deadly animals, and Steve Irwin. Also, it’s the home of the Great Barrier Reef. We had been planning this trip since before we arrived in Australia, and as an indication of just how excited we were, when we got off the place we ran straight to the rental car office, picked up our keys, jumped in the car and then realized we had forgotten to pick up our bags from baggage claim!

Gold Coast

We started our trip on the southern end of Queensland, in a town called Surfers Paradise. This was a perfect little beach town. Outdoor cafes, restaurants, bars, and shops all within walking distance to the beach. Also, the streets were lined with bronze sculptures of surfboards, as if the name of the town itself didn’t pay enough homage to the sport. Greg decided to see what the hype was all about and signed up for a surf lesson. And believe it or not, after a couple hours of not so glorious attempts, he was able to stand up and ride few waves. And what may be even harder to believe is that he didn’t look too awkward riding the waves – maybe a natural?

After a night in Surfers Paradise, we loaded up the car for the next leg of our trip, the drive up through the Gold Coast onto the Sunshine Coast (one thing the Aussies are not- is creative with the names of their towns).

Australia Zoo

On the way to the Sunshine Coast we passed the Australia Zoo, which was the zoo founded and owned by Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter himself. Having spent many nights watching Animal Planet programs, Greg and Carey were very excited to visit the home of the world’s most famous animal conservationist. The zoo definitely lived up to our expectations. It really wasn’t a Zoo in the normal definition of the word. It was more of an animal park. The koalas, kangaroos, lizards, camels, wallabies, and wombats were all free to roam around the park – as were the people. Wisely, however, the crocodiles were kept within enclosed walls. After spending some time playing with the koalas, Carey had her mind set on bringing one home with her. She thought it would make a perfect playmate for little Maddie.

Unfortunately, we don’t think we would be able to sustain enough eucalyptus trees to keep the koala fed. However, after learning that the next part of our drive up the Queensland Coast would be through the natural habitats of the kangaroos and koalas, we were now even more excited for the upcoming bit of our road trip.

Queensland Countryside

The drive from the Australia Zoo (just north of Brisbane) to Fraser Island (our next destination) was without a doubt one of the most scenic and unique drives either of us has ever experienced. We first drove through the Glasshouse Mountains, which were giant stone mountains jutting out of the lush green hillsides. From there we passed through the small Queensland country towns of Malaney and Montville – both very cute and quaint towns which we would have liked to spend more time in. We did manage to hop out of the car on the way from Montville to Noosa to grab a picture with the giant pineapple (which apparently is a famous Australian tourist attraction) in Nambour – where Kevin Rudd, the Prime Minister is from. The drive through the mountains back down to the coast offered some of the most spectacular views we saw on the trip. After eating lunch in the unbelievably perfect beach town of Noosa, we headed north back through the bush up towards Rainbow Beach (which was our launching point for Fraser Island). And when we say back through the bush, we literally mean back through the bush – no houses, no stores, no street lights, no sidewalks, no gas stations, no other cars, and no lines on the road – which were DIRT. At one point our directions stopped making sense and our map didn’t show any more streets heading in the direction we needed to be going. We thought we would go with our gut and just head north but before we knew it we were back in the same spot we had been about two hours ago. Strangely, we didn’t freak out or panic and we both actually secretly glad we had just gotten lost for two hours because the drive we just took was through some of the most amazing rolling green hills we have ever seen.

We soon realized that the reason our directions stopped working wasn’t because they stopped making sense, but rather because we assumed the roads we were supposed to take were actual roads, rather then dirt driveway looking paths. When we were finally able to wave down a group of Queenslanders enjoying a case of beer (yes, everyone in the car – driver included) on a Sunday afternoon drive they informed us that our directions were right, and in fact the only way to Rainbow Beach was via the dirt path. Hmmm, this seemed odd but apparently as we later learned from the hotel manager at Rainbow Beach, “in Queensland, some of the roads are sealed, some of them are not.” Fair enough.

And although the roads weren’t paved, or maybe because the roads weren’t paved, this part of the drive made for some of the fantastic wildlife viewing. It was during this two hour stretch on the dirt path that we spotted our first koala, kangaroo, and dingo in the wild. The dingo was actually one of the more surprising spottings. Apparently it’s pretty rare to see one in the wild these days, and one just happened to cross the road right in front of us – even stopping to give us a quick stare. And by the time both of us had had enough of the constant bumping up and down of the dirt roads (3.5 hours), we arrived at our destination – Rainbow Beach.

Fraser Island

Although our destination technically was Rainbow Beach, the reason we spent two nights here was to take a day trip over to Fraser Island. Rainbow Beach itself is not exactly a bustling tourist spot. While although it does have a few nice sites (namely the massive sand blow that has formed in the southern edge of the town, creating a desert like span of land in the middle of the forest), the whole town consists of about a 100 yard stretch of restaurants and shops, none of which were open when we arrived Sunday night. However, its beach is one of the departure points for Fraser Island. Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world stretching 123 km long and covering an area of 166,038 hectares. There are no roads on the island, only sandy beaches and paths through its interior forest. It’s only accessible via boat, has no roads other than sand paths, and only heavy four wheel drive vehicles are allowed to drive on the sandy beaches, for obvious reasons. At low tide, the vehicles actually have to cross through the incoming sea waters to get through to certain sections of the island.

One of the main attractions on Fraser Island is the fresh water lakes that have formed in the massive sand dunes on the center of the island. The water is so clean and clear that the contrast of blues against the sandy beaches and surroundings forests is spectacular. The water is also extremely warm and due to the low ph levels does not sustain any wildlife, which makes it perfect for swimming. The fine sand mixed with the clean water also is perfect for cleaning not only skin but jewelry as well. In fact, everyone sat on beach and exfoliated themselves and then jumped into the lake-the sand granulation perfect for exfoliating the skin and the ph in the water perfect for adding health benefits to the newly smoothed and refined skin. We visited Lake McKenzie, which was located in the southern end of the island in the middle of the rain forest. The rain forest itself is something of a unique place. There are not many (only three in fact) such rain forests growing in sand rather than soil. The combination of the immaculately clean fresh water lakes and the sand grown rain forests has lead to Fraser Islands’ World Heritage listing status. And although the island is one large beach, there is not much swimming in the surrounding ocean, which is infested with Tiger Sharks!

From Rainbow Beach and Fraser Island, we then drove through some more Queensland country towns on the way to our next destination, the Great Barrier Reef.

Great Barrier Reef

We took off for the Great Barrier Reef from a small port town called Gladstone, about six hours north of Rainbow Beach. The drive there was not quite as interesting as the drive up the Sunshine Coast. In fact, there were numerous signs posted along the only road from Rainbow Beach to Gladstone reminding drivers to stay awake and encouraging them to rest if tired. It was actually quite amusing. One of the signs actually read, “Heavy Fatigue Zone.” The endless fields of eucalyptus trees tend to get a little redundant and hypnotizing (for Carey who got sucked into staring into all the trees looking for koala bears) after a few hours.

However, we arrived safe and sound in Gladstone on Tuesday evening ready to get some rest for our Wednesday morning departure to the Great Barrier Reef. And one night in Gladstone was plenty. The town slogan is “Some people actually love our city.” Key words being “some” and “actually.”

We opted for the boat ride from Gladstone as our mode of transportation to the Great Barrier Reef. Anyone who has experienced the joy of riding in a boat with Greg for a long enough time understands this was a risky endeavor. Surprisingly, and probably due to the herbal pills the staff handed out prior to departure, Greg survived the two and half hour ride through the Coral Sea without sharing his breakfast with the fishes. In fact, Carey fared worse than Greg however she too was able to keep her breakfast to herself.

Upon arrival at Heron Island any thoughts of sea sickness were immediately forgotten. Heron Island is a true coral cay located right on the Great Barrier Reef. Its one of the few islands off the coast of Australia that actually is a part of the Reef. It’s a tiny island without any roads or any buildings above the tree line. A walk around the entire perimeter of the island takes about 30 minutes. But the true beauty of the island isn’t the island itself, but rather the surrounding coral filled ocean. The waters are so clear that standing from the beach or on the dock you can see straight through to the bottom. This means that you can also see all the sharks, rays, fish, turtles, and eels swimming right off the coast. Quite an intimidating site for two American’s used to swimming in the lifeless waters of the Northeastern shores of the US. However, after we were assured by every staff member working on the island that the reef sharks, although some reached six or seven feet in length, are not interested in eating humans we decided to brave the waters (and yes, we actually may have asked every staff member on the island). The snorkeling was amazing. Exotic fish, colorful coral, starfish, giant clams, eels, sting rays, manta rays, reef sharks, and sea turtles were all literally right off the coast. In fact one of our favorite activities was standing in knee deep water watching sharks swim right past our feet. We even spotted what we thought was a new species of shark, but apparently it was what is called a ray shark and the marine center were already well aware of its existence – we checked. In fact, it wasn’t a shark at all but a species of ray whose defense is scaring off other predators by appearing like a shark. It sure worked, because it scared the hell out of us.

The one downside of the island was that while it is a haven for nesting turtles (the upside), it is also a haven for countless species of birds. This made for some strange noises throughout the night and the constant threat of being the target of bird bombings. And there were also geckos and spiders in our room, which after our moth experience in the Blue Mountains confirmed our suspicion that the Aussies don’t mind having wildlife in their living quarters. Luckily the Geico commercials have made us more comfortable with geckos and we were able to manage.

After four amazing days on the island it was time to depart. After the stomach churning torture on the boat ride over we opted for the helicopter departure back to Gladstone. And it was well worth the extra cost. We were lucky enough to be the only ones on our helicopter which meant we both had unbelievable views and a private “heli” ride. As we ascended into the sky it became clear how Heron Island fit into the bigger picture of the Great Barrier Reef. It looked like a maze of blue and green waters dotted with brown and yellow coral clusters. We could even make out a few wading turtles as we flew over the reef. It was the perfect ending to a perfect trip.

We tried to put up as many pictures on the blog as possible, but if you have time it’s definitely worth checking out the photo link for a complete photo album of the Queensland trip. The picture below was the sun setting to close the trip of a lifetime.

We decided to do a FAQ post to help answer some of those frequently asked questions.

Q: What do you miss most about the States?

A: Maddie (all right, all right..and all of you)

Q: What is the most different thing about Australia ?

A: Accent and sides of the road/sidewalk for driving/walking

Q: What is the water temperature at the beaches (not sure why this is such a popular question, but it is)?

A: Mid 70’s

Q: How is the food?

A: Excellent, lots of variety, very fresh

Q: What are things they don’t have that you miss?

A: Dyer sheets, graham crackers, teddy grahams, Cosi, pounds, gallons, inches, feet, normal ice cream and soft serve (don’t worry –there’s lots of gelato), dill pickles, queso, ground turkey, ridiculously massive serving sizes, free refills, WAWA

Q: What do you like that’s different?

A: What the price is marked as is what you pay – no added sales tax, no tipping, the amount people travel and the fact that most use up all their vacation and are fine with taking leave without pay to travel, the weather, fresh fresh food everywhere, living so close to the coast- lots of water, bays, beaches, and the harbor, being surrounded by people who love where they live and consider the beaches their greatest luxury in life

Q: Is Sydney very different from DC?

A: Besides the beaches, warmer weather, so many internationals living here, and a slightly more relaxed attitude, not too much.

Q: Is it hard understanding the Australian slang?

A: Not as hard as understanding the British slang!

Q: Does it get cold in winter?

A: Not sure, we'll tell you in six months.

Q: How's the tv in Sydney?

A: Not so great, but they do show Lost, so it could be worse

Q: Who writes the blog entries?

A: We both do! Actually, we split the duties. Whoever isn't writing is in charge of editing.

*We are flying up north for Surfer's Paradise, Brisbane, Gladstone, & The Great Barrier Reef on Saturday, so we won't be posting until we return, but promise a great post as soon as we get back!

Mardi Gras 2008

So we realize it’s been a couple weeks since we posted to the blog. Unfortunately, Carey’s been a little under the weather recently; she seems to have caught a nasty Australian bug. We did, however, manage to get out and about this past weekend for a night on the town. It just didn’t seem right for us to let Mardi Gras pass by without attending Sydney’s most famous parade. We had heard and read about the parade before we arrived in Sydney, and from everything we had gathered it was sure to be quite a spectacle. And in that regard, it definitely didn’t disappoint.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the theme of Sydney’s Mardi Gras parade, it is known as the world’s largest gay & lesbian parade. Its famous for the crazy, flamboyant, over the top, everything goes costumes worn not only by the parade participants but also by most of the observers. Fortunately for the blog readers, we didn’t take any pictures of the many assless chaps we saw, however we did manage to snap a shot of this lady displaying one of her prized possessions.
Our plan was to meet up with some friends at a pub right on Oxford street (the heart of the parade route) about an hour before the festivities started. By the time we arrived, the streets were already lined with people of all ages dressed in all sorts of crazy attire. We must admit we were a little hesitant and unsure of what to expect (read: Greg was a little unsure if he wanted to attend the parade at all). However, it turned out to be one hell of a party. No one can say the gays don’t know how to have a good time. Lots of booze and a constant loop of Madonna’s greatest hits seem to be their formula for a first-rate party.

And although we opted to head to a local Vietnamese restaurant to grab some dinner with friends before the three hour parade concluded, we can now say we experienced the unique celebrations of Sydney’s gay and lesbian community.

Happy Mardi Gras!

Blue Mountain Trip

Ah, the Blue Mountains – a perfect little get away, break from the big city, and relaxing and romantic retreat….unless of course, you are going with C&G Schuster. Dare we do anything without a little entertainment, amusement, drama, or stories to tell? Alas, we deliver as usual. The question is – where to start? Since this is a written dialogue, it’s probably easiest to start…at the beginning.
We planned to leave Central Station on the 6:10 p.m. train. Carey dragged the little suitcase all the way to work (in addition to 2 last minute bags), while Greg was smartly manned with the backpack. Leaving work a few minutes early, Carey wheeled and sprinted to get to the station in time to meet Greg and get tickets. Unfortunately, Greg was stuck in a meeting and wasn’t able to get to the train station in time to catch the 6:10 train. We finally got on the 7:10 train and after rearranging dinner reservations and letting the bed & breakfast know we would be arriving a little later than planned we arrived in the Blue Mountains.
After a lovely dinner, we attempted to get settled into our room for the night. This attempt took a bit more effort than we anticipated. Aside from Greg refusing to remove his flip-flops (let’s be honest, he does that in our apartment still) and dressing for bed in head to toe clothes (again, he does this even at the nicest hotels we’ve ever stayed in), we were faced with bigger issues. Those would be the giant moths that were hell bent on spending the night with us. And neither of us is very keen on the camping thing, nor are we into sleeping in a bedroom smaller than a closet closed up with moths flying around. Please refer to the pictures in the latest album to see our roommates and the rather hysterically funny adventure of attempting to scoot the moths out of the room by switching various lights on and off to finally resorting to killing them after they flew into Carey every time she had the task of turning on the decoy light and was bruised from screaming and diving out of the moths altered flight path (all of this taking place at midnight with people attempting to sleep in the surrounding bedrooms). A restless night indeed followed.

Up early and out the door, we headed to the town of Katoomba for some “brekky” (that’s Australian for breakfast) – since we clearly agreed breakfast at the “guesthouse” where we were staying was out of the question. We had a great meal and headed out to the first hike of the day. We decided to do the “Great Stairs” hike to the Federal Pass and on to Katoomba Falls. All in all, it was estimated to be a 3 hour hike. In the end, it was Greg’s worst nightmare and Carey’s most entertaining part of the trip! Let’s just warn you all now, if you have any, even miniscule fear of heights – DO NOT TAKE THE GREAT STAIRS (mom schu – this means you). As many of you know, Greg hates heights. Sooooo, the stairs that literally went straight off the cliff and were completely open between stairs so one could see straight down were more than terrifying for Greg who death gripped both the stone sides of the mountain and the one hand rail! It was more than 900 stairs of death defying accomplishment for our mountain man, Greg.
After earning ourselves quite the sore legs from hiking for over 4 hours that day, we were awarded with the most amazing meal and view we could have ever asked for. We chatted with a lovely couple, who invited us to the horse races with them (we may go)! We also sat by a fire, sipping wine (Carey) and Diet Coke (Greg) and listened to the piano player play Billy Joel’s Piano Man – a perfect end to an interesting weekend.
Then we came home to some pretty exciting news. Someone kindly spent all of the money in our bank account! Apparently, the taxi driver Greg used on Valentine’s Day stole our card number and had a grand time spending all of our money at Kmart and the liquor store! Bottoms up cab driver! And, cheers to another adventure down under!

Happy Birthday Greg! Happy Valentine's Day All!

So, we are just finishing up 7 weeks down under. As expected things have gotten busier and busier with work and life in general, but we are still making time to enjoy the city and planning trips for the upcoming months.

Last weekend, we hiked the Coogee to Bondi coastal trail, which ended up being a bit longer than we thought! Though, it was beautiful and well worth the effort. Carey had lost her grandmother earlier in the week, which was very difficult for her and even more so being so far from the family. So we took this time to reflect on her gram's life, the amazing person she was, and her legacy that shall always live on. It was a great experience to help with the healing process.

Since we have had many inquiries into upcoming trips, here is a quick synopsis of those that are planned. To celebrate birthdays, we are taking “birthday trips,” as our presents. So, in honor of Greg’s birthday, we are heading to the Blue Mountains for the weekend. We catch the train Friday after work and will be staying in a cute bed & breakfast for the weekend and have dinner reservations at some highly recommended restaurants in the mountains. We will be sure to have some great pics to post from this trip! Here is a link to the area: http://www.bluemts.com.au/

Then in April, we are flying down to Melbourne for Carey’s birthday trip. We are looking forward to having a long weekend with the Anzac holiday falling on Friday, April 25. Then we are headed back to stateside twice – for Kelly’s wedding in July and Alison’s wedding in November! We will be stopping in Fiji for a few days on our way home in November, which we are very excited about!

Our next big trip will be up to the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Surfer’s Paradise, Fraser Island, and then out to stay on the Great Barrier Reef for Easter. This will be the biggest trip (hate to call it a vacation as we somehow manage to pack so much in that we really aren’t relaxing and properly “vacationing”) and most time we’ve had off of work since our honeymoon, so we are very much looking forward to a longer trip that will be a good mixture of sight seeing, snorkeling and relaxing out on an island in the reef!

To close out a big year of travels, we are looking forward to a trip to New Zealand over Christmas. In the meantime, we are also soliciting you to plan a trip as well – to come visit us! We heard about the crazy weather the north east is having. It’s a lovely and sunny 75-80 degrees here. Tempting?

Beach Hopping

We’re coming to realize that Sydney might have more beaches then the entire east coast of the United States. As we meet more and more people we find out about beaches we had never heard of. We try to write everything down in an attempt to keep a list going of places we need to visit on the weekends. The number of beaches that we need to visit is getting so extensive that we decided one a day just wasn’t cutting it. So this past Sunday we hit up three. The first was a harbour beach. Harbour beaches tend to be a little less crowded and with a little less surf. However, they are often have spectacular sights, are surrounded by lively little towns, and are great for swimming as a result of the lack of surfers. Balmoral Beach was referred to us by a new friend in the running club – we had to check it out since he said it is where he would want to get married. It was definitely beautiful and the swimming was great. In fact, Greg was enjoying the water so much that when he finally got out, he realized that his wedding ring had fallen off. He attempted to borrow someone’s goggles to scour the ocean floor; however we are sad to report that the ring is gone for good. No worries, we’re either going to buy a new one here in Sydney or there is a popular tattoo parlor down the street. We’re thinking that might be a better route to go, then we won’t have to worry about the ring getting lost again (unless a shark decides that the fingers look tasty, which here in Australia is always a possibility).

After Balmoral, we head further up north to a beach on the Northern Shore called Curl Curl. Being up north, the beach was much less developed and also much larger than any of the previous Sydney beaches we have visited. It was also extremely beautiful and the water was the perfect temperature for a swim. And while missing Maddie is an often discussed topic between Carey and Greg, the lagoon on the beach where all the people brought their dogs for a swim didn’t help matters on that front. Sydney is definitely a dog friendly city, no doubt about that.
As if we didn’t have enough of the beaches for one day, we decided to meet up with some friends down in Coogee Beach later that night for some outstanding outdoor bars. The beaches seem to be the place to frequent during Sydney summers, and it’s pretty obvious why.

Australia Day Celebrations

People often enjoy taking pride in their country. And let us be the first to tell you that Australians are no exception. In fact, Australians are very open and exuberant about their national pride. And it is in full effect on Australia Day. According to the government's Australia Day website, "Australia Day, January 26, is the biggest day of celebration in the country and is observed as a public holiday in all states and territories. On Australia Day we come together as a nation to celebrate what's great about Australia and being Australian. It's the day to reflect on what we have achieved and what we can be proud of in our great nation." It actually marks the day that the prisoners arrived in the Sydney Harbour, or more P.C. it commemorates the establishment of the first European settlement on the continent of Australia.

We were actually lucky enough to have been invited by some new friends to spend the first day of the long weekend water skiing up north on the Hawkesbury River. We started the morning early, and while we were getting on the train we noticed an unusually large crowd of people on the subway for 8:00 on a Saturday morning. People of all ages were decked out wearing the Australian colors and the majority of them were most likely heading down to the Circular Quay to enjoy the festivities that the city had put together to celebrate the holiday. We met up with our friends in North Sydney and they took us for a beautiful drive into the northern countryside of Sydney to the river. The drive was gorgeous with amazing views of the Blue Mountains. When we arrived at the river we must admit, we were a little nervous about the skiing. Having both been skiing only a couple of times (and without too much luck with it at that) we weren’t sure how rusty we were going to be. And while by no means were we tearing up the water or impressing any of the Aussies with our moves, we did both manage to get upright and enjoy a nice ski on the river. But even if we hadn’t had any luck on the skis, just hanging out on the river learning about the history of Australia Day and sharing stories with the group would have been enough fun for us.


And of course it wouldn’t be a proper blog entry without an entertaining story about either Carey or Greg – and Carey appears to be the lucky winner this time around. The whole day she was a little hesitant about getting behind the boat on the skis. She didn’t know if she would be able to get up and if she did end up skiing ok, she was a little worried about how she was going to stop. Well sure enough, her first attempt wasn’t too pretty. Legs were flailing, skis were flying, and body parts were moving in directions that body parts don’t normally move. To her credit, she gave another go at it and was able to put together a quality ski session. However, when we she attempted to get back on the boat she realized that her back wasn’t quite right. In fact, she probably pulled/strained more than a few muscles and was in quite a bit of pain the rest of the evening. However, she quickly found out that Australian pain killers work extremely well. Especially when washed down with a glass of wine. No worries though, all is better now and she’s back up and running, almost good as new. Our first Australia Day weekend was quite a success and we are looking to celebrating again next year! Special thanks to the Martin’s for inviting us out with them and especially for not laughing (too hard) at our water skiing skills. Happy Australia Day!

Sydney Sunday

We decided to take a Sunday ride up to the South Head of the Sydney Harbour. Not knowing exactly what to expect when we arrived, and crossing our fingers that the rain would hold off at least for another couple hours, the day turned out to be full of outstanding surprises. The bus ride alone offered some spectacular views back towards the city and we passed through the upper class suburbs of Rose Bay, Vaucluse, and Watsons Bay, which was a nice treat for the designer in the family. When we arrived it was a bit overcast, which ended up making our hike through the parks nice and cool. The South Head is home to various parks, including Sydney Harbour National Park, The Gap Park, Camp Cove, Laings Point Reserve, and Victoria Wharf Reserve. We spent a good three hours hiking around and enjoying the various views. To the west were great panoramic views of the Central Business District, the Opera House, and the Harbour Bridge, to the north were picturesque views of the North Head, Manly, and the Grotto Point Reserve, and to east was the Pacific Ocean (which was quite rough that day), and to the south was the rugged coastline stretching down towards Bondi Beach.


A few highlights of the hike were the massive Hornby Lighthouse, the wide variety of fauna and foliage, and a few hidden harbour beaches which we’ll have to keep in mind for future beach days. The big surprise of the trip, which was both completely unexpected and unwelcome, was Lady Bay Beach, on which about ten to fifteen middle age men were enjoying the afternoon in there birthday suits. Apparently, as we later found out, Lady Bay Beach was officially designated by the city of Sydney as a nudist beach sometime back in the 70s. We decided to spare everyone any pictures of the beach, we only thought we’d mention it as a warning for all you who decide to visit (wish someone had warned us beforehand).


Overall though, the afternoon was a success. Except for a quick drizzle, the rain held off and the sun even peaked out of the clouds for a bit. If you’re looking for a good outdoor afternoon activity while visiting Sydney, South Head is definitely a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the city. As we hiked around the cliffs and took in the fabulous views on a random Sunday, we realized how lucky we are to live in a place where we can escape our daily life and feel like we are on a vacation far from civilization that is full of some of the most beautiful experiences and sights we have ever encountered.


PS - Typically, we upload new photo albums with new postings - check the link on the right for full photo albums.

Carey got a job!

After a brief week and a half of interviewing and job hunting, Carey landed herself a job with an interior design company. It seems to be the perfect position for her now and for her long term career goals. She will be involved in all the many facets of the design industry and is looking forward to starting her new post on Tuesday! Without a doubt, she will be very busy as the company is quite successful and continuing to grow. She is excited about the opportunities and responsibilities she will be given, but is a little unsure about being back to the 9-5 routine!

Also, Carey (and hopefully Greg) joined a running club. They meet every Thursday for a run and then head to a local pub for dinner and drinks following. Tonight will be the first run, so more to come on that front!

Monday we are off for a nice long weekend in honor of Australia Day - national holiday. In addition to many events around the city, the Australia Open festivities, and parties, we were invited to go water skiing on a lake just north of Sydney. Certainly, there will be more on that adventure!

Cheers and Happy Australia Day weekend!

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.

From Vacationing Tourists to Working Residents...

So the last few days have been rather hectic, at least compared to the first two weeks. First of all, apartment shopping in Sydney is quite an adventure. The real estate agents show the apartments normally once a week and for only 15 minutes! Literally, people are rushing to get into the apartment before anyone else and if you are seriously interested in renting the apartment of your choice you better have the first week’s rent in your hand with you when you go to see the place. So, after a few busts we finally singled out the apartment we wanted and after various emails and phone calls with the agent we determined when the showing would be. We arrived about ten minutes early and were the first ones there. While waiting in the lobby, we actually thought no one else would show up, but in no time about 20 other people happily showed up to burst our bubble. Keep in mind the renting market is extremely stressful, chaotic and competitive. If you want it, go for it. The first one to hand the agent the money gets first dibs, but no one can give the agent money until they have seen the property and once the agents receives a deposit, they cannot take another. No worries, we had our game faces on and a plan in motion – across the threshold, a quick yes/no sign to each other and if it was a “yes,” Greg was to stuff the money in the agent’s hand and knock anyone else aside! So, onto the elevator went the whole crowd of people vying for the apartment. And wouldn’t you know it, upon the dramatic arrival (nerves were on edge the entire walk down the hall) at the door the agent realized she forgot the key to the place. And she wouldn’t be able to get the key for at least three hours. Not sure what to do, we decided to grab a bite to eat and wait. Once the agent returned we followed her into the building, and luckily for us this time there were only about 10 other people. When we walked into the door and had a quick look around we saw the enormous balcony overlooking a beautiful park and all of the town, we knew this was the place. As planned, we handed over the money and a few days later found out we had gotten ourselves an apartment.

This was actually the easy part. After finding a place to live we had to find furniture and the million other necessities for living. This involved lots of trips to the local department stores, furniture outlets, boutiques, and every other kind of store you can think of. And our main mode of transportation was the bright white mini van we rented to haul everything back. And yes, they drive on the other side of road here, and yes Greg drove on the passenger’s side and Carey navigated in the driver’s side (at least to those in the US). While Carey was quite concerned and uneasy about Greg driving here in Australia (those who have had the pleasure of riding with him the States can certainly understand), surprisingly everything went smoothly with the exception of one unhappy Australian who cursed Greg out while he was trying to park in front of the real estate office where we went to sign the lease. Of course, the horn honking, swearing drama unfolded perfectly in front of Carey and the real estate agents waiting on Greg.

In the midst of all the apartment hunting and furniture shopping we did manage to slip in some beach time and some site seeing. We decided that Coogee Beach would be the next beach to visit. And we may have a second favorite beach (Manly still reigns as number one). Not only is it extremely convenient to get to, it is large, beautiful, and great for swimming. The water is the clearest and warmest we have seen in Sydney and the crowds aren’t quite as large as Bondi, which is much more touristy. After spending a few hours on the beach, we hopped on the train and visited one of the more affluent Sydney suburbs, Double Bay. Double Bay is the location of some of the better views in the city. Many homes rest up on hilltops with views that stretch all the way to the central business district, the Sydney Harbour, and even across the water to North Sydney. Also, it is one of the prime shopping districts of Sydney. For all you DC area people, think Bethesda but on the water. We definitely recommend spending an evening here if you come to visit.

And then it was time for the big move. We said goodbye to our hotel in the Central Business District and hauled all eight of our bags of luggage over to our new home in Potts Point. So far, the neighborhood has been everything we could have hoped for and more - tons of fantastic restaurants and cafes, a great nightlife, awesome markets, and fruit stands, just enough boutiques to keep Carey happy, and to top it off on the way to our first trip to the grocery store we spotted our first celebrity sighting right in front of our building…Adrian Brody! Yes, that’s right Seth Cohen from the OC!

And now that we’re all settled into our new home its time to get back to business, literally. Greg started work Monday and Carey has interviews lined up throughout the week. Hopefully the next phase of our Sydney adventure works out as well as the first phase has. And, of course, we can’t help but look forward to our next holiday time – when we fly off to Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Great Barrier Reef. Until then…we have officially transitioned from vacationing tourists to working residents. Cheers!
PS - as usual, there is a new album posted in our photo link

Manly and more...

At the close of our first full week here, we are totally falling in love with the city. After exploring the neighborhoods, visiting Bondi Beach, and celebrating New Years, aka “NYE” to Sydneysiders, we spent the rest of the week apartment shopping in our favorite neighborhood - Potts Point. When we first visited Potts Point we knew it was where we wanted to set up house. It’s considered Sydney’s SOHO/Village with tons of outdoor cafes, open air fruit stands, funky boutiques, and trendy restaurants and pubs. Think SoHo with a European flare – but with the beauty of being fantastically placed between two beautiful bays – Elizabeth & Rushcutters. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that we find a place this week, more to come on this topic soon…

Between apartment viewings, we squeezed in some time during the later part of the week to have some more fun. We thought we would take the ferry up through the harbor to one of the more popular northern beaches - Manly. Wow. Best beach town either of us has ever experienced. Everything that makes a beach town awesome Manly has to offer - a larger than normal downtown area where the streets are lined with surf shops, fish markets, pubs, clothing boutiques, cafes, restaurants, clubs, etc. The beach itself was gorgeous and lively. Manly is a little larger than Bondi and definitely less crowded, plus the sand and the street are separated by a row of pine trees – yes that’s right pine trees in the middle of Sydney, who knew? The smaller crowd probably had to do with the extremely strong rips that caused the beach patrol to advice against swimming in the water. Though that didn’t stop the surfers who seemed to be taking full advantage of the active ocean. We did venture in for a quick dip, we might note - that was before we learned that the previous day the beach had been closed due to a great white shark sighting just off shore! Everyone seemed to know but us. Shark attacks or no shark attacks, Manly beach is amazing and our favorite thus far.

All Sydneysiders have a favorite beach that they call their own – Manly is certainly in the top running to be “our” beach. And would be a consideration for living if not for the fact that the commute to the central business district would consist of a 30 minute ferry ride, which as you probably know isn’t the best form of transportation for Greg’s sometimes iffy stomach. The ferry ride, however, is quite spectacular and would certainly be a surreal commute to work! There are some pretty unbelievable views plus you get to check out all the sailboats, yachts, and other nautical activities that Sydney is so famous for. Bottom line, Manly is now tops in the running for our weekly beach of choice and a definite spot to hit for those of you planning to visit!

In addition to the trip to Manly, we also ventured to the Sydney Botanical Gardens. Going in with so-so expectations (neither of us are exactly green thumbs) we were pleasantly surprised with the wide array of fauna the Gardens showcased. And weren't we surprised when we looked up into the trees to discover hordes of massive, hairy, ugly bats hanging from the trees. This was quite a contrast when compared to the colorful water birds that occupied the rest of the Gardens. Another surprise were the eels that were swimming throughout the ponds - both “gross” in Carey’s opinion. Another bonus of our trip to the Gardens was that we discovered some of the most beautiful running trails that Sydney has to offer. Carey is already planning to train for a run…and attempting to convince Greg there is no better time start!

Overall, our first week has been spectacular. With so many sites to see, we tried to fit in as much as we could before we have to start putting together our new home and getting back to work.

Note - we added a link to all our photo albums on the top right side of the page - two albums so far for your viewing pleasure! It's best to just click on the picture to make it bigger and then use the blue arrow button above to scroll through them (we have some less tech savvy people using this application). And, these are the LAST pictures of the Opera House - we promise!

Also - we have updated our phone numbers below the New Year's entry.

And now we’re just about ready to transition from tourist mode to resident life. All that’s left is to find that perfect place to call home…

Happy New Year!

We're here! After years of talking, months of planning, and a long journey around the world, we finally arrived and have begun our adventure. And actually, the trip over here was quite the adventure in and of itself. Snow storms in Chicago some how ended up causing delays in Philly, which was the last thing we needed since our connection in LA was already tight (45 mins). After it became apparent that we weren't going to have any chance of making our connection at LAX, United bumped us off their flight to Sydney and put us on the later Qantas flight (Australia's airline). The only problem was that due to the delay, the Qantas flight now had a shorter layover then the original United flight (only 30 mins!). However, after some serious sprinting through LAX, outside and then back through security we ended up just making the connection (if you were wondering, Carey beat Greg to the gate by about ten minutes). Only problem was that our bags didn't make it with us. No worries though, Qantas delivered the bags directly to our hotel room the next day – and they gave us $200 in case we needed to buy any clothes to hold us over until our bags arrived. I guess it’s like the Australian guy sitting next to us on our plane to Sydney said, “When you’re in Australia, everything just seems to work out.”

We spent our first two days in our new hometown walking around the neighborhoods, getting a feel for the layout of the city and enjoying some of the amazing sites. And there definitely are many amazing sites. Darling Harbour, the Sydney Opera House, and the Harbour Bridge are all spectacular and were actually in and of themselves well worth the day’s journey to see. We haven’t wasted any time here, honestly we must have walked about 20 miles over the course of the past few days because we don’t have a car and are avoiding really devoting anytime to learning the public transportation system (that will soon change now that we both have seriously sore legs and feet).

Luckily for us, our second night in town just happened to be New Year’s Eve, which in Sydney is a major event with all day festivities capped off with an amazingly orchestrated fireworks display, which we were lucky enough to experience from a penthouse apartment with all windows that has to have one of the best views in the entire city. We also hit up another party, which was also really fun and was on a rooftop terrace with great music and great people. After a night of partying and ringing in the New Year with some of our new friends we decided that rather then dealing with the massive crowds on the trains and buses we would walk back to our hotel (our new favorite thing to do – walk). Well about a thousand or so other people must have had the same idea so we ended up trekking over the Harbour Bridge and through the central business district while maneuvering our way around some of the largest crowds we’ve ever seen. This city sure does know how to throw a party and the laws for drinking and pubic drunkenness are much more lax here, so you can imagine...

After sleeping in a little bit (definitely not enough!) on New Year’s Day, we decided to check out Paddington as a potential neighborhood for living – again ended up walking b/c we couldn’t figure out the bus situation! Then off to Bondi Beach for the day. Our first Australian beach experience was everything we expected and more. Beautiful views, enormous waves, tons of surfers, and unbelievable weather. And of course Greg got sunburned.

Now we’re off to find a place to live and get ourselves all situated down under. Hopefully we’ll be able to fit in some more site seeing and beach time before we have to start work. We’ll be sure to post again soon. Hope all is well back in the States. Happy New Year!