Vegemite

Saturday 9.26.09
Brett and I have been in our apartment for three nights now and it is going really well. It is perfect for what we needed. It is big enough for our stuff. Good thing because it used to all fit in a van and it has to again when we leave. But it is also small enough that it doesn’t get too dirty and best of all it is literally a stone’s throw from the beach.

Brett is working at the beach rental place and hopefully he can do a few lessons each week. So far there has been no wind so he is sticking to renting kayaks, boogie boards, buckets and spades (which is our equivalent to buckets and shovels), wind surfing gear, catamarans and huge inner tubes. It seems he will be working there four days a week and since he likes the job and gets to be outside the whole day in his uniform of board shorts his life is pretty darn great right now! Port Douglas is treating him well!

I on the other hand have run into a bit of a road bump. The boat was working out well however I tried going on the boat one day without taking motion sickness medication and it was a no go. This was preceded by the roughest day some of the crew has seen and while I felt just ok most of the boat was not in very good shape and there were a number of barf bags used. Now correct me if I am wrong but work should not involve this kind of behavior voluntarily or regularly. I have told the company I don’t want to have to be medicated for work every day and to please find a replacement. I am going tomorrow but hopefully not much more after that. However, on a better note I have a “staff meeting” lined up on Tuesday at a cool Italian restaurant that is opening up in a week. I saw the ad today, called the guy, went in and met the guy/looked at the place and he signed me up to come and sit in on the meeting for all the people interested. It looks like it will be a cool little place with indoor and outdoor seating as well as pizza oven and coffee! Keep your fingers crossed that I like it.

So, I have a feeling we will be blogging less because we are now doing the same day to day things as we do at home. However, I will do my best to keep you updated on funny tidbits and anecdotes from the land of Oz.

Here are a couple funny things:

1. Brett eats vegemite on toast at least once a day. He loves it. I am not really sure if he actually loves the actual vegemite product or if he likes eating it because ALL the Australians do it but whatever the reason he eats it. It is just a salty brown spread that you put on toast. Nothing special but funny I guess.

2. We miss the market every day. We miss amazing cheap produce. The food here is either really expensive and really not of the best quality. I don’t know if they import everything or if the price just gets jacked up because it can but it is a lot higher in the US. We still manage to eat well but we miss the prices we know and love.

3. We dry all of our clothes on a clothes line outside the back door. Dryers are few and far between in Australia so we have joined in on routine of washing and hang drying.

4. Here in Australia we have been laughed at more than a few times. They think we talk funny, have funny rituals and have funny names for things. Case in point, we went to a BBQ with Brett's boss and upon arrival he handed Brett a beer and than proceed to ask him if he needed a stubbie cooler for his beer? What is a stubbie cooler? Ahhhh, a coozie! I think the funny differences in language is awesome!
1. Bathing suit = bathies
2. Sunglasses = sunnies
3. Rash guard = rashie
4. Cooler = cold box or esky
I have a feeling things became shortened in Australia because they are just so laid back! I think I can get on board with this!