1st day of Winter in Australia

Here it is June 1st and the first day of winter. That's right...the first day of winter in Australia. Fall ended on the day I arrived.

So...I arrived in Sydney and I was wiped out. Bill and I both had to transfer to the domestic terminal..so we hung out together. By the way, Bill is a water specialist and Queenlsand, one of the 7 states in Australia, is having a major water shortage..so Bill is here to meet with the big wigs to guide them in conserving water. Bill is married...so just in case you guys are getting any ideas. He's real sweet and invited me to come meet him in Melbourne and he'd take me out to dinner. Not sure if I'll make it to Melbourne before June 8 though. By the way, Bill's wife is from Wrightsville Beach. He asked me if I had ever heard of the Azaelea Festival..duh...yeah.

My backpack arrived first off of the plane...proably becuase I checked in so late. At least it arrived.I watched Bill's carry on luggage while he waited for his luggage to arrive. Then, we had to go through 3 security checks, I think before we could board our next planes. Australia is serious about their security...which is great. I had to claim my 80 Reese's peanut butter cups that I brought with me to give to Anna (they don't sell them here). I was so afraid that they'd take them. They were so focused on them that they didnt' check up on my 5 Mt. Olive Pickles (individually wrapped dill ones) that I had stuffed in the bottom of my backpack. Matter of fact, when I unpacked, the juice had all but been sucked out of them due to the airpressure. good thing I double packed them in ziploc bags.

Finally, Bill and I made it through customs and we took the buttle to the domestic terminal and bid our farewell. I had 1.5 hours to kill in the airport and guess what the first thing I saw....yep, a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop. No way! In Australia. Apparently there are only a few of them in the whole country and people go ga ga over them. See mom...you are not the only one who adores these things. I'm not sure of the cost for a doughnut but a dozen was expensive. I can't recall the amount now..but I was shocked at the price...seems like it was $15 or more AUS Dollars. By the way, $1.00=.88 Aus or 1 Aus Dollar=$1.21. I can already tell that things are going to be expensive here. I saw a beer advertised in a shop at the airport for $12 (AUS D). Yikes!

My 1 hour flight to Brisbane was short...but man, my ears were so plugged up after that. Chatted with teh lady in the seat beside me the entire hour. I was supposed to meet Anna's father...but I didn't know his name or what he looked like. He had seen a photo of me and I was supposed to wear something that soaid North Carolina. I put on my NC Pickle Festival hat.So...I wandered around and tried to find someone who looked like they were looking for someone. I was about to ask this man if he was Anna's father when a lady approached me, saw my hat and siad, "Julie?" Yes..it was Anna's mother, Danute. She pointed out her hubby, Chris, who just happened to be the man who I spotted earlier. We headed to the car and drove back to their house, about 40 minutes from the airport. At the house, we had tea (hot) and chatted. Both of Anna's parents are from Poland and Anna was born in Poland. They left Poland in 1986 to get a better life. They first lived in Itlay for 2 years and then debated between Amercia or Australia. Thier son, Oliver, was born in the USA soon after their arrival. Currently, they are in a rental house as they begin to build them a new house. I have my own bedroom and the house is quite large even though they keep saying, it's such a small house. I bet their new house is going to be quite large. They will start building in July. Chris is a bricklayer and his son works with him. Danute works at the hospital...cleaning. Anna works as a tour guide/operator/travel agent.

Spent the afternoon chatting with parents and a freind of theirs who stopped by. We ate a light lunch of good ole poilsh food, sausage, cheese, veggies. It was yummy to me. I did my best to stay awake. I was exhausted...but knew I had to stay awake as long as possible so I could sleep during the night.I had more fun chatting with her parents. We laughed and luaghed and laughed. When they wen to the store, I took a shower and put on clean clothes. Yeah!When they retunred, we had a couple of beers and chatted some more.

As soon as Anna got home from work, 7:30 p.m., we ate dinner. Anna and I hugged and chatted for 2 hours. She was so excited when I gave her the 80 pb cups, a couple of t'shirts (also brought one for each of her family members), the MO pickles and a MO pickle magnet.

Went to bed at 9:30 p.m. and I was wiped out. Tried to write in  my journal..but feel asleep while writing so just went to sleep. Slept till 5 am and then had to pee (body on USA time) then back to sleep till almost 10 a.m.Showered, then spent the morning reviewing my Australia travel book to make a plan. I spent at least 2 ours talking to Oliver about USA. He had so many questions. His dream is to go to NYC.Always interesting to hear what others have to say about USA and what they read/see/hear about our country.

Tonight, when Anna gets off work, we are going to explore downtwon Brisbane. Looks like a nice city and then go to a pub and have a few drinks and catch up. Tomorrow, Anna and I will head to Gold Coast. One of her freinds is having a b'day party and they've rented a 3 bedroom condo where we'll all stay and party. Sounds like fun.We'll come home on Sunday.

On Sunday...either Anna and I will go somewhere and explore and/or her father will take me exploring. We'll see how it transpires.

So..I will probably head out on Monday or Tuesday to Perth. Anna is bringing home some travel brochures and I will book some inter Aus flights on line.I'm thinking my travels will go something like this:

Fly to Perth, do some day trips. Fly to Broome and spend time on a cattle station (ranch). That's so typcial Ozzie...and maybe find an Ozzie cowboy. Ye Haw! Fly to Darwin where I will do a 30 day bus trip to Kakadu NP, Katherine Gorge, Alice Springs, Ayers/Uluru Rock, Coober Pedy (where people live underground and there are even 2 underground hotels) and end up in Adelaide. From there, I will either  fly and meet Anna  (we are deciding if she will meet me in Melbourne or TAsmania---sometime in July). I need to make sure she brings my warm clothes with her then...as those two areas will be quite chilly. It will be hot in DArwin so I'll need my shorts and t'shirts there. So...depending on where I meet Anna (Melbourne or Tasmania), I will then explore the other area after Anna leaves. From there, I will probably do a flight to Sydney to do a few touristy things that I didn't do the last time I was here (climb Sydney Bridge, Visit Olympic Park and village, do the skywalk, see Priscilla, Queen of the Desert musical). From there, it's back to Brisbane. My goal is to have visited all 7 states in Australia (1) Western Australia--Perth and Broome, (2) Northern Territory-Darwin to Alice Springs (3) South Australia-Coober Pedy and Adelaide (4) Queensland-Cairns, Brisbane, Gold Coast (5) New South Wales-Sydney (6) Melboune, Snowy Mountains and (7) Tasmania-Hobart.

I have connections in Sydney (Yeeka Yau...a student at Mount Olive College) and Melbourne (Ashley FAye...she was  my other tour leader from last summer's journey around Eastern Euopre and she just moved to Melbourne this week). I never did track down two friends from Melbourne that I traveled around South America several years ago. But...I'm sure I will make lots of new friends on my journey.

Today...I'm going to check some airline prices on line. Anna give me the websites of cheap airlines...so we shall see. Plus, Anna, being a travel agent, is going to give me some assistance and advice. I will do a combination of tours and being indepedent. NOt sure if I will rent a car sporadically...but if I do, it will be my first expereince driving on the oppposite side of the road.

So..I will enjoy my few days of having a nice bed, clean shower, good meals and great company. It's kinda of a nice way to start off my trip...especially after a long flight. I will stay in hostels as I travel...just book them as I arrive. After all of my travels, it will be nice to end my trip with this same luxury...as my flight leaves from Brisbane back to LA.

Oh yeah..one other option is to take a week trip to New Zealand...my favorite country in the world. I really debated whehter or not to use it as a stopover enroute to Austarlia..but I didn't because I knew that I would get so wrapped up in being in NZ (like I do in Montana) that I might never leave and come to Australia. It's a good thing I know my tempations and know how to handle...at lesast most of them (dont' go there, Hussy).

So...here I am...about to head off on another one of my Julie adventures. I hope to see crocodiles, koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, and to immerse myself into the Australia culture.

I hope life  is treating you all well. Patti O, I hope Greg is recovering well from his surgery. Laura, I hope you are over your strep throat. Karen, I hope Elizabeth is enjoying her summer. Kim...have a blast on your 2 week dive trip. April...have fun at Davidson College. Michelle...good luck with your job search.

Adventue on and keep those emails coming,

Julie

p.s. I'm sorry I couldn't download my photos of Clay and I and me in front of the Hollywood sign...each time I tried, it froze up Anna's computer so I just decided to let it be.