Day 6, 7, 8

So it's been a few days since my last post. Life has been too gorgeous to spend time with iPad. I am finally kicking my technology addiction. All it takes is fantastic friends and wonderful weather.

On Sunday, Isla and I strolled around Bondi beach area and found a great little breakfast spot. I had some kind of portobello brioche with poached eggs and cured smoked salmon, topped with lemon butter sauce. I am working with the assumption that hangovers from decadent evenings of too much champagne can only be cured by equally decadent breakfasts. It's my favourite assumption.

After breakfast we went to Icebergs, which is a swimming pool right next to the ocean. Big waves that break on the wall of the pool and splash over the sides. It was nice to be able to swim without fighting the waves and sand and jellyfish. Isla and I got a great spot, and sat there all day reading books, swimming the occasional lap, and watching all the adorable little Australian toddlers run around like baby hobbitses. They all have such cute little sunbleached curls in their hair! It kills me!

After a full day at the pool, Isla and Matthew treated me to a fantastic dinner at the Icebergs restaurant, up a few storeys, overlooking the pool and the ocean. It was my last dinner in Sydney, and Isla really pulled out all the stops. Amazing wine, superb food, gorgeous view of the sunset. I am the luckiest house guest! It's official. The medal comes in the form of raspberry ricotta cannoli, and I ate it all, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

Monday morning, Isla and I once again when out for delicious breakfast, and afterwards I packed up my bags. Once Matthew got home, we went to have one last evening at the beach, picking up chicken sandwiches and some cider beers on the way. The water was clear and calm and warm, and the sunset over the skyline was, once again, epic. Then it was off to the airport, with saltwater still in my hair and my skin warm from absorbed sunshine I saved up from the day. I hopped on a 1.5 hr flight to Melbourne, where I had a whole row all to myself (awesome! Where was this luck on my 12+hr flights??) .

Having read about my supermodel BMW convertible airport pickup in Sydney, my best pal Steve wanted to make his own special impression, and picked me up from the Melbourne airport barefoot, in a T-shirt and shorts, driving an adorably beat up "ute" (one of those cars with the pickup truck back) from the 80s. Full spectrum, Australia! Welcome to Melbourne! No one has ever greeted me at baggage claim barefoot before. I heart Steve. What a guy.

We arrived back at his and Ruby's place around midnight, and sat out on the patio catching up and drinking beers until 3am. This morning their adorable 2 yr old munchkin Casper woke me up with his gentle chatter in the other room, which was the most pleasant noise to wake up to, especially compared to the menagerie of Bondi Beach. Caspar's mom Ruby and I took him to the park this morning, and grabbed some coffees and pastries. Then this afternoon we all piled in the car - dog, toddler and all - and drove off to a swimming hole kind of in the middle on nowhere, along an isolated rocky river bank, for an evening swim. There was one other group there, celebrating a birthday, and they came over and offered us leftover homemade chocolate cake (which baby Casper promptly rubbed all over his face in ecstasy). It was an absolutely amazing spot. The dog went crazy and fetched a million sticks from the water, Steve and i crawled around on some rocky outlook points, ruby got in a ruby dingy and pattled around with the dog chasing the boat.

Best of all - On the way back, we saw a herd of kangaroos! Herd? Gaggle? Bonanza? There must be a hilarious term for a group of kangaroos. They are hilarious. I got out of the car and jumped up and down as they bounced away. What an absurd animal!! Bouncing is its primary method of transportation! Hahahaha. I really lost my shit. So funny.

Now Ruby is putting Casper to bed. Ruby's dad is over, who is an artist and is about to show me his work. He recently bought 5 acres of land outside the city and is planning on building a house with his own two hands. Ruby tells me he has also been a magician and a ventriloquist. He's amazing talk to and very friendly.

Anyway, i better get back in there, as the pizzas are ordered, and there are a number of bottles of wine that I'm sure they need my help with. Photos of the past few days should illustrate why I haven't posted lately. Been busy having the time of my life!


Sunday breakfast:



Icebergs pool (great name....nothing iceberg about it!):




Last beach day in Sydney.




Ruby and Steve's amazing house!





Family photo:




Baby Casper being baby Casper:



The river swim:




Kangaroos!!


I suggest everyone go watch a YouTube video of kangaroos bouncing, and really appreciate how hilarious they are.

Until next time,
Jessica

Location:Sydney / Melbourne

Day 5

Once again it's almost 2am, I'm in bed and trying to write this while fighting an intense urge to pass the hell right out, immediately. My mad iPad skillz will hopefully outlast the overwhelming joy of laying down, along with its concomitant excitement about imminent sleep. I'm giving it my best shot. Here we go!

When i woke up this morning, Isla was about to go run some errands, and not wanting to miss out on the local streets and shops I threw on a dress and followed her out the door. We walked around Bondi beach area a bit. It's a beautiful area! The greenery still impresses me, so much so that after a mere five days I feel like I've completely blocked Canadian winters out of my memory (thank god). The fact that these trees and plants and attitudes and summer outfits could exist on some plane of reality that cohabits with Canadian winters is borderline unfathomable. This area is full of tons of trendy little cafes and restaurants everywhere and people walking around in bathing suits. That being said, I tried to order an iced coffee, and it took 3 tries for the espresso bar to make me something resembling what I tried to order. An iced coffee! How do they not have those here? I am tempted to open an iced coffee shop and make a million dollars and never leave.

Isla's Matthew was out golfing for most of the morning, because he's a doctor. With all the sun Isla and I have been getting lately, once we got home from our stroll we elected to stay in this morning and eat delicious snacks and organize our lives a bit. I miss Computer. My best brother Joel is keeping it safe and happy I hope, but when I needed to try and get some bizness done on the iPad, I realized I wasn't in Kansas anymore, so to speak. Kind of nice, actually. "Oh no, I can't do any work... what a disaster"!?...anyway I watched a couple of episodes of Southpark on cable and realized I was still part of society. Hahaha. But seriously.

Matthew eventually got home, in an excellent mood having won some sort of golf tournament. We piled in the car with some champagne and grabbed some delicious snacks on the way and made our way to a tiny isolated beach looking onto the harbour. We walked down a little rock/wooden pathway, and made our way to a small cove where there were only about 2 or 3 other couples. I went for a swim, and thought I saw a stingray, but then told myself it was nothing and I was just being a paranoid tourist, until a boat pulled up and a family started pointing and shouting about a stingray. It is possible I swam with a stingray! WTF!

We ate our incredibly delicious picnic lunch / dinner on the beach and drank some champagne. The produce here is glorious. avocados the size if your fist (if you have unusually large and delicious fists)! Also very tasty olives and hummus, much better than back home, where these are some of my favourite foods. Eventually the sun set, and I took it upon myself to build a beach fire so that we wouldn't have to leave our little cove just because of something silly like the day being over. Unfortunately the big lovely tree we were sitting under attracted MASSIVE bats once it got dark, and all the swooping and talk of snakes and scorpions eventually made me miss the BMW... So we used our handy iphone flashlights to wind our way back up the little path to the car. We drove home with the top down and watched the stars. Finished off the picnic snacks at home, had great talks, time flew, and now it's late and I'm in bed again.

Every day is more perfect than the last. Still haven't learned to surf, though I am planning on lying to you about that any now.

Here is what today looked like. Eat your heart out. Then have some delicious snacks and watch a sunset. Life lessons #8 through 11. Bring delicious snacks. Drink champagne. Watch sunsets. Make fires.













Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Sydney, Australia

Day 4

I am incredibly exhausted. It was a full day.

This morning Isla and Matthew and I loaded up the car and drove around Sydney with the top down. Sydney is a great mixture of old and new architecture, and maybe especially because its the middle of summer, greenery is everywhere. Reminds me a bit of parts of Vancouver in that respect. Anyway, I saw the harbour and the opera house and the bridge and all that, which was very exciting and i had no qualms about showing my enthusiasm even more than the dozen or so Japanese tourists who shared our lookout spot.

Then we continued on our drive to Palm Beach, which was about a half hour to 45 minutes away, a bit outside the city proper, though technically still a suburb I'm told. The drive was beautiful, parts were through a sunny forest of what I think might have been eucalyptus trees (but what do I know!). Palm Beach was great! It was a big change from Bondi yesterday in that there were way less people, and it seemed like more of a sleepy weekend suburb with a mix of extravagant newer beach houses and old character bungalows lining the roads and the beachside. We found a quiet isolated spot along the harbour, opened some beers and got some fish and chips and salads, which really hit the spot. We spent rest of the afternoon swimming and sunning and eating and drinking. Basically my favourite activities. There was a crazy ocean wind that kept us cool...and covered in sand. Still it was a perfect spot. Don't sweat the small stuff. Life lesson #6.

We drove back in then evening sun with the top down, and then ordered a pizza and hung out on the balcony for a bit. Yesterday I facebooked an old friend from high school who i havent spoken to in probably close to a decade, but who lives in Syndey now, so i thought i'd say hi. Turns out he works at the Enmore, which is one of the major music venues here. MIA was playing tonight, and he offered us comp tickets! So randomly, off we went to see MIA! Life lesson #7, get in touch with old friends. It was a pretty crazy show, and now I am exhausted as is likely obvious from the distinct lack of flare and hilarious jokes in today's posting. Sorry, maybe I will try and post before I crawl into bed, one of these days.

Here are some photos from today, which will hopefully describe the day better than I did.

My most lovely and generous hosts:



Palm Beach:




MIA!






All in all, a day that has been super fun and super exhausting. Tomorrow is the first day of the Sydney festival, and though i don't really know what that is, it sounds like i will need my rest. As such, this is me signing off!

Until next time,

Jessica


Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Sydney, Australia

Day 3 - Sejuiced

Today was my first full day in Syndey, and it was incredible. I woke up to rainbow lorikeets outside the window, and Isla and I had coffee and smoked salmon and fruit on the balcony. Australian smoked salmon is delicious. Way better than BC even. Sacrilege, I know, but hey, sometimes the truth hurts. Life lesson #4 (approximately).

The weather was so perfect that we planned to go to the beach first thing. Being the responsible adult that I am, I elected to remove the most necessary cards from my wallet before leaving the house, and discovered that I had lost my credit card somewhere along my travels (typical). Maybe in Shanghai? Maybe in a number of places... Luckily my mother knows that my responsible adulthood is fraudulent, and had pressured me into photocopying all my important cards front and back the night before I left (as I whined, "but mooooom I have plaaaans tonight!"). Kids - listen to your mothers. Life lesson #5. A quick skype call to my credit card company and everything was safe and settled, and a new card is being fedexed to me in Australia ASAP.

We strolled down to Bondi beach, which blew me away. That such a metropolitan city can exist and function in the midst of such picturesque beachscapes is borderline unfathomable. I'm starting to think the Australian accent is a tick from trying to repress spending every day at the beach. Beautiful sand, turquoise waters, nice sea breeze, beautiful carved rock coves, waves big enough to be exciting and provide that crashing ocean soundtrack. Unfortunately though, there were jellyfish all along the shoreline today. Australians call them bluebottles, because these little guys are fluorescent blue. I was too much of a candy ass to swim at first, though eventually Isla's gentle coaxing helped me work up the courage (combined with watching scores of tiny children playing in the surf like it ain't no thing). As we inched our way into the water, one wave brought in a gaggle of bluebottles around our ankles, so I obviously screamed bloody murder and ran back to the dry sand (about two and a half steps away). Immediately a lifeguard came on a loudspeaker and announced that the jellyfish were particularly bad and that "a sting could really ruin your day". We lay on the sand for awhile longer, but eventually got hot enough to risk swimming again, and the bluebottles seemed mostly gone. The water was refreshing, and I dare say worth the risk (please, lord, don't make me eat those words this week!).

With the midday sun getting hotter, we grabbed some smoothies from a place called "Sejuiced" and walked alone the rocky coastline to the next beach over (yeah, they just keep coming) where we sat a swam some more before grabbing beers and fries at a small cafe nearby. Though the cafe was off the ocean and on a city street, we basically forgot we were in bathing suits and walked around with no pants on for awhile, which is totally acceptable. Oh, Australia, how I love your sun-bleached nonchalance.

We walked home up a long set of winding rocky stairs cut into the hillside. After more smoked salmon snacks, Matthew came home from a long day at work and brought japanese takeout, and we all decided to chill out at home for the evening and watch movies with the balcony doors open and enjoy a perfectly cool evening breeze to nurse our hot skin (don't worry mom, I wore sunscreen pretty religiously today!). Had a glass of wine under the stars, which are SO BRIGHT HERE. It's truly just so beautiful. Made all the more special by the -20 something horrible it is in Montreal right now... I fully appreciate this oceanside paradise. 50 degrees warmer than Montreal winter sounds about right to me...

Tomorrow Matthew has the day off, so the plan is to go on a morning driving tour of the city in the convertible, and then head up the coast to Palm beach where apparently he intends to teach me to surf... Hahahaha. We'll see about that. I don't know what will be more embarrassing, admitting that my high school nickname was "queenie" (short for queen of uncoordination), or getting re-branded with the same nickname ten years later... I'll keep you posted on that one. Or maybe, you know, I'll just keep it to myself. If any of you know a good excuse to turn down an Australian who wants to teach you to surf, please msg me ASAP... Ok ok fine, I should just try it. I know, I know. I'll do my best. I'm sure surfing is amazing. Unfortunately I am equally convinced that learning to surf is miserable and drown-y.

Here's some promised beach photos. Live vicariously, you poor Canadian fools. Man did we colonize the total wrong side of the earth.














Until next time,
Jessica

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Bondi Beach, Sydney

Day 2- appendix

So I'm going to stick with day 2, because it feels like day 2 and I've had a lovely day and want to add to my earlier post.

Isla and I continued to hang out on the patio until her boyfriend Matthew got home this afternoon, at which point we all went for an early dinner at a lovely place called... Uhh...pop quiz... Catalina? I'm thinking Catalina, which was in a lovely harbour right on the ocean. Apparently these two (Isla and Matthew) are creatures after my own heart, and instead of ordering dinner we ordered about 6 or 7 appetizers, including the most delicious and freshest oysters I've had since I was a kid (on Vancouver island, shout out to Dad, who facilitated the best oysters I've had in my life as a child, where they were plucked out of the ocean and steamed in a bonfire of seaweed at some hippy retreat we went to one time. Let the Australians try to beat that, which they came close to today!).

Anyway, dinner reminded me of a place Joel brought me to last year in Alexandria. The restaurant was right on the water overlooking a beautiful harbour, the seafood was plentiful and fresh, and the wine was lovely. Apparently Isla and Matthew go there a lot, and the staff very friendly with us. I feel like Isla and I get extra special treatment because we have Canadian accents, which is the best because I can still understand everything but am apparently special and adorable because I pronounce the letter R, which is the easiest trick in the book if you ask me.

The weather today has been a bit cloudy and cool ( a measly 20 degrees), and both my hosts have been hilariously apologetic about the apparently sub-par weather, the goofballs. After dinner we came home and had some Australian chocolate treat called like Timmytams or something, because Australians like to name everything hilarious nicknames, and had champagne and did a fake New Years countdown with champagne and everything at 8pm because we had all spent New Years on airplanes. Matthew is an anesthesiologist with an important surgery early tomorrow, so he went to bed before me, which makes me feel like an incredible trooper because I just came of a 30 hour voyage and I'm still staying up later than normal, time adjusted Aussies! Anyway, having outlasted my hosts (yeah, I'm super badass) I am in bed now and it is so much infinitely more comfortable than a plane that I might pass out before finishing this sentence...

Phew. Made it to the end of the sentence, and on to this last paragraph. Ok, good night guys. I forgot my phone at dinner tonight so you'll have to take my word for the fact that we had the best appetizers meal since Alexandria, but here is an adorable picture of Isla, who is clearly Canadian and also clearly the best. I am going to have the best week with her.




Tomorrow. Tomorrow there will be pictures of Bondi Beach. Tune in if you are ready to be incredibly jealous.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Sydney

Day....1? 2? Crossed the date line, when am I?

After what I think was 30-something hours of airports and airplanes I've finally arrived in Sydney, Australia safe and sound!

The plane rides were a bit hellish. First a morning flight on the 31st from Edmonton to Vancouver, then a 13 hr flight from Vancouver to Shanghai. An old Indian woman was sitting behind me, and yelled and pounded on my seat every time I reclined! She even got her granddaughter to yell at me in English to put my seat up. 13 hours without a recline seemed physically impossible, so I slowly snuck my seat back, but she figured out my trick and made a huge stink, even getting the poor stewardesses involved. I'm going to have to get over some of my Canadian politeness, because man, was my entire body sore after that flight. When we arrived in Shanghai it was 5pm on January 1st. i completely skipped New Years Eve. I had a 4 hr layover in Shanghai, and met a young Australian guy and we had a few beers in the airport to celebrate missing New Years. It was nice to chat with someone, though we had next to nothing in common and it was a bit awkward, especially because I was delirious from travel and exhaustion. Apparently I can make small talk in my sleep.

My next flight was 10 hrs, from Shanghai to Sydney. Luckily the exhaustion from the previous flight came in handy and I slept through most of the flight. I arrived at 10am, and so hopefully I'm on the proper sleep schedule now! My friend Isla from law school is here. She is originally from Regina, but her fiancé lives in Bondi Beach, and I am here staying with them. Isla came to pick me up from the airport in a BMW convertible, which was the first car I've been in with the steering wheel on the wrong side. Not a bad start! Now we are a couple of prairie girls drinking gin and tonics on a beautiful patio by the beach!

Anyway, I better sign off as Isla is eagerly waiting for me to finish this post so we can go to the beach. Apparently yesterday there was a shark sighting, and they have a special airhorn and helicopter and such to warn the beach bums. Hopefully no sharks today... Maybe I'll stay on the shore for now.

Here are some pictures, first my final sunrise in Edmonton, then the hilarious Engrish movie descriptions on China Eastern Airlines. Lastly, of my beautiful pal Isla on her beautiful Bondi beach patio. Yay, summer!














Until next time,
Jessica

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Sydney, Australia

Day 0 - Departures

Hi.

I have been spreading the word that I might start a travel blog to keep friends and family updated on my travels over the next 4 months. Well here it is!

Disclaimer - as much as a like to pretend I'm fairly tech-savvy, I basically have no idea what I'm doing here. I am writing this on my brand new Christmas/graduation/travel buddy iPad. I have a feeling we will fast become best friends. Right now we are still figuring each other out, pushing each others buttons, testing each others limits. But last night we spent the night in bed together watching Netflix, which was a lovely first date. Tomorrow we fly to Sydney, Australia via Vancouver and Shanghai. I think sharing a few 10+ hr flights will help us to get to know each other. I still miss Computer, which Joel will be babysitting for the next few months before hopefully reuniting with me and iPad in London in May. I can't wait until we are all together again, one happy family. It will be nice to see Joel, too.

I've had a lovely Christmas in Edmonton. Lindsay was missed! It's strange how family dynamics just aren't the same without one missing link. I missed Lindsay and Mom's bizarro chattering and laughing while Joel and I squint and try and figure out what the heck they are going on about. We had a few Skype sessions with her though, and she's trooping around China on not enough sleep but still enough enthusiasm! That sister of mine has an attitude that could melt glaciers. Which might come in handy because apparently it is freezing cold in the Chinese concert halls she's been performing in. Bonne courage out there my favourite twin!

I'm about to go pack up my moderately-sized travel backpack with all the belongings I'll be carrying for the next 4 months. I am not generally the travelling light type, but having to carry everything on your back is turning out to be a great motivator. I'm probably going to spend the rest of the day trying to decide what shoes to bring, then run out of time, throw a few handfuls of clothing in, and call it "packed". Part of the purpose of this trip is to develop new life skills... I guess I'll start with decision-making, mixed with a good dose of making due with what's on my back.

I leave early tomorrow for a week in Sydney, where it is the middle of summer. I absolutely can't wait! I'll post picture from the beach in no time.




Talk to you soon.
Jessica

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Edmonton, AB