townsville - day 1

DAY 1 - 22 Aug

We're staying at Peter's mom Honor's house, his childhood home from age 12 on. She picked us up at the airport and we hopped in her teeny tiny turquoise Mazda 131 and chugged home to Tinglewood St, Thuringowa (two streets away from the town line for Townsville). Honor has two dogs, Trouble (she's old) and Kinky (she has a twisted tail and she's just 8 months old) - we're trying to train the puppy, haha. We're staying in P's sister Nikki's old room, which has become a guest room (I know that feeling!). It's a ranch-style house, 4 bedrooms, separate toilet and bathroom (meaning the toilet has its own room and the bath and sink are in another room!). I think maybe I saw that for the first time in the Czech Republic but I can't remember for sure. Anyway, there's a back patio, big, square turny clothesline, a little side patio which is great for watching the birds come bathe and drink at the birdbath. So we unpacked, grabbed some fruit and water and hit the beach - called The Strand. Peter tells me strand is the German word for beach. We checked out the water but it was too cold for a swim, the sun was already setting. Headed to Pro Dive and picked up my dive books - yahoo! Came back home for dinner with Honor and Nikki - crackers and cheese to start; Chicken breasts stuffed with Camembert topped with bacon slices, mashed potatoes, peas, carrots; dessert: strawberries with cream and sugar. Oh yeah, champagne too! And a bit of red wine that I had left from the flight...

Wildlife spotted:
- Straw necked and Sacred Ibis
- Red tailed black Cockatoos (m&f)
- Green ants (they bite, and taste like citrus if you eat them)
- Peaceful doves, Rainbow Lorikeets (parrots)
- Myna birds
- Mango trees
- Orange trees
- Palms (Fern, Coconut, Alexander, Foxtail, Fishtail, Lipstick, Date &...)

By the way, the birds here are gorgeous! They have brilliant colors and beautiful songs. And they're damn loud too!

flying time

Okay, so i've been a bit slack on the blog. Can you forgive? :)

LAX --> SYDNEY:

** NOTE: When you fly to Australia from the West-coast U.S., you pass the International Time Divide and end up losing an entire day - leaving the U.S. to arrive two days later in AU. Amazing...

Last I wrote we were about to board our flight in L.A. to sydney. Well, it was quite a flight - 14 hrs that passed like the snap of a finger. Each seat had its own movie screen with a remote control (what!) - we had many entertainment options: movies on demand (newest releases, premier movies, Aussie movies, international, children's, etc), radio, tv/news, video games (really cheesy, I tried one!), and even a flight tracker that shows you where you are flying over the globe, how fast you are flying, distance and time to destination, elevation, etc. (and I got to see where on the map I lost that day!) It was great. Within the first hour and a half we had dinner - chicken (which I didn't eat) with rice, black beans and corn, cole slaw, roll with butter, drink (I had a mini bottle of red wine) and this squishy-looking square of custard thingy (I was too afraid to eat it, haha). So after the meals we had hot cocoa, yum! I suppose other people had coffee, but not me! Then I threw in a kids' movie 'The Last Mimsy' and had myself a long nap afterwards. It wasn't too bad sleeping on the plane, but at one point I woke up having to pee and I was by the window... Peter and the Tennesee lady next to us were both asleep - doh! haha anyway, later on I watched an Aussie flick, 'Ten Canoes' about the Aborigines. It was good. I think I took another nap. They switched on the lights at some point and woke everyone up for breakfast - it's called brekky here. There wasn't anymore cereal so I ate the frittatta square (and gave Peter the scary looking sausage), melon salad, OJ and tea. Then just an hour or two later, WE WERE IN SYDNEY!!!

--> Now you're thinking, why would someone give us so much detail about a stupid flight when she's going to AUSTRALIA! haha Hey, you don't want to miss any details, do you? So you're getting all the nitty gritty :)

SYDNEY, AU:
Arrival around 6 am AU time. Then we picked up our checked luggage and hopped on the shuttle bus ($5 each, not free!) to our terminal for our flight to Townsville. Says Peter: we had to take the bus "because they stupidly built the terminal 5km from the international terminal" and we couldn't walk, which I had hoped we could. We went through customs and security, checking our bags once more. Security and quarantine is quite serious in AU - they scan your bags before you are allowed into the country. No one is allowed to bring in fresh food (produce, grains, etc) or animal products of any kind, save leather shoes and clothing. I got picked for the random explosives check - grr, I'm scary looking... Danger is my middle name. The lady was so friendly, she even made a joke at the end. She said we were okay to pass, especially since we weren't making bombs that day. Can you believe it? I was surprised after dealing with the uptight security guards in the U.S. Starting with the airport, I could tell that people are very friendly here. Next, we had to eat again, I was hungry! So we got a large pumpkin (actually butternut squash, but they call all squash pumpkin here), feta and pine nut salad (YUM-O!) and tried a half of a Moroccan lamb wrap. Yum-o again. We hopped on our flight to Townsville at 10:40am.

beach bums

Monday 20th Aug
Brought Niels to work this morning so we could have the car to drive around. He's got the new Dodge Magnum - that thing's a monster!!! P and I got breakfast burritos at Romano's taco stand and ate on the beach. Of course P fell alseep before the application of sunscreen and woke up an hour later just a bit red. We went for a swim, I lost my sunglasses to the wrath of the waves and then we walked along the shore for a couple of hours. As you can tell, not much on the schedule, just a beach bum kind of day! :)

We picked up Niels at 5pm in Mira Mesa, got sushi take away for P and drove to LAX. Man, what a lot of traffic!!! Got there, went through the usual routine, addressed customs issues and then got on our plane at 10:30 pm. YAHOO!

San Diego!

YESTERDAY: Saturday 18 Aug - We made it! :)

Arrived last night around 11pm, Niels picked us up at the S.D. airport. We dropped our crap at his place and then hit Romano's taco stand - beef taco for me, fish taco for P. Then we went to the Cass. St. grille and had drinks. They only serve beer and wine and choice mixed drinks. I had a raspberry cider - a bit sweet, but tasty nontheless!

I was sleepy. We came home and the boys did their "thing" (i.e. drinking and chatting late into the morning). I passed out on the couch :)

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TODAY: Sunday 19 Aug - Mark & Shoham's wedding! They're our roommates. Getting married in Cuernavaca, Mexico today. Next time I see them they'll be ball and chain.

Went surfing for the first time this morning at Pacific Beach (PB). Rode flat on the short board for a bit, practicing my balance on the white water. Then stood up (almost all the way) three times before eating it. Go me! I had a blast.

Went to brunch with Ed and Anna - friends of Niels. They're great, super friendly! Brunch was amazing, there was so much to choose from. Started with tea, then had pasta with whatever veggies and sauce I want... Fruit, a mini waffle with syrup and almond slices, buffalo chicken, seared tuna w. soy sauce and wasabi (just one piece, like sushi, had to try it!), red white and blue tortilla chips. And a mimosa that I put some sliced strawberries into. Yum-o!

After brunch we changed into our swimmers, lathered on sunscreen and hit Mission Bay in a rented Catamaran. We all took turns playing skipper. Peter was the best - he's got the most basic sailing knowledge. I just know how to sit in a little position and yell at sweaty guys. haha. I guess only some of you would get that...

Post Catamaran we hit PB again. I went by myself and fell asleep for about an hour. When I woke up these two guys said, "Hey, now that you're awake, you want a beer?" haha You can drink beer and BBQ on PB. Just no glass bottles. Pretty sweet. So I told them no, I don't like beer and they just laughed because that's all they had. We chatted for a bit and then I went in search of P and N. I found them lounging with some Tecate on the other side of the pier. I went for another swim to get the sand off of me. Niels took a nap on the boogie board. Peter drank his beer and stared off into space. I read Scientific American while Peter went for a swim. The water's about 74 degrees. It's beautiful!

Now I sit here clean and showered on Niels' porch. He lives in the See the Sea condo complex, and it's only about 62.7 feet (that's a rough estimate) from the front door to the first sand particles of the beach. Not a bad thing, eh?

We're off to Beaumont's for dinner...

the delay

well, our first day of vacation was a let down. we got to TF Greene and the Southwest gate was packed, people lined up in the hall - my first time flying with them! I had no idea that there were no assigned seats... but anyway, the plane was delayed about an hour and a half. we boarded anyway. then there was news of severe thunderstorms in the NJ area (which we were later informed that there had been fist-sized hail falling from the sky, sweet!)... so we taxied on the runway for about 2 hours, waiting for good news. luckily for Peter and I, we sat next to Gerald, a special forces employee with the Navy. he was great fun! we chatted and joked. he's also going to Oz but in Oct. for work. said that he's been traveling the globe for the Navy for about 20-some-odd years. nice guy.

okay, back to the taxiing plane... there we are, two hours in the plane and the pilot comes on saying that we don't have enough fuel. don't have enough fuel?!? so we taxied back to the gate, the pilot announced that anyone wanting to get off the flight should go now, and anyone with connecting flights had to leave - we weren't going to make our connecting flight to San Diego. if you didn't know, we had plans to spend the weekend in San Diego before we fly to Oz on monday. ahhh... so then we waited some more inside, and got rebooked for today at 5pm - exchanging planes in chicago - to arrive in san diego at 10:30 tonight. also lucky again, we had our great friend Petar to pick us up after all the hassle.

and even better - we got Sawaddee Thai take-away and rented a goofy Australian flick (Danny Deckchair) and watched it at Petar's. he has a sweet projector and big screen. like being at the movies. and a funny, awkward, really skittish cat - she's cute and soft, Bella.

the main purpose of the evening was to stay up really late so that we can sleep on both flights today and then be ready to party when we get to San Diego. Niels is a party animal... especially when he's with Peter. oh baby, San Diego here we come!!!!

GORT!

ideas for australia

Diving:

- Reef

- Yongala Wreck (deep 100ft)




Townsville:

- Billabong Santuary

- Aquarium/Museum

- Magnetic Island (couple of days)

- Paluma




North of Townsville to Cairns

- Josaphine Falls

- Hinchenbrook Island

- Innisfail (my old home town)

- Mission Beach/Green IslandCairns

- Dunk/Green Island (very touristic)

- Train to Kuranda


North of Cairns

- Port Douglas (touristic)

- Daintree area (wilderness)





South of Townsville

- Airlie Beach

- Whitsunday Islands







Perth

- Freemantle

- Vineyards

- Kids and pool




___________________

Charlie's Trousers

Ravenswood

Undara

Walaman Falls

Glencoe Falls




Kelso Reef

travelling

1 cute little cat napping next to me

2 days until Australia

3 October is Peter's birthday!

4 days hiking and camping Hinchinbrook Island

5 days diving in the Australian Pacific

6 weeks exploring the Ozzie wilds

7 weeks travelling with Peter

8 crazy nights of Chanuka (okay, I was reaching!)

9 October we return home

10 is the end.

I hope you enjoyed the show...the countdown continues :)