I have returned from down undah! Carolyn and I visited every climate known to Australia, I think, and we have peeling sunburns to prove it. I don’t want to bore you all with too many details, so here are some highlights and discoveries and observations:
1. I took a lot of random photos at first, but then I stopped. I am sad about this, because I love the random photos.
2. You have to love a country that puts beets on their burgers.
3. Australians love banana-flavored things. It seemed every restaurant had banana bread, banana muffins, banana pancakes, banana ice cream, you name it. Starbucks even had a banana frappuccino. Carolyn tried it and said it tasted like banana cream pie.
4. We met Alison on our first day in Sydney, and she showed us all around (CBD, King Street, Doyle’s for fish & chips, and more). We had a wonderful time, and Alison is great, of course. She gave us this giant box of Aussie treats:
5. We also met Sydney foodblogger Clare. She took us on a drive down the coast, which was gorgeous. She also took us to a wildlife park where we got to feed the kangaroos and pet the koalas!
We were fortunate enough to meet her partner Casey, who quickly became our hero. We quoted him throughout our trip (his sayings are a tad too colorful to share on the blog). Hey Clare, we agree wholeheartedly with your parents–Casey is wonderful! He can do no wrong!
6. Everyone in Australia says “no worries.” They do not, however, according to Alison, call one another “mate” very often. They also say, “How ya goin'” a lot. Portable coolers are referred to as “eskies.”
7. Carolyn became addicted to Anzac biscuits. She also has a bit of a book-buying disorder. This is only a sampling of the books she purchased:
8. Qantas loves to feed people. Even on short flights of 90 minutes or so, Qantas gave us full meals!
9. Life-changing discoveries: eye masks and fly nets. The eye masks really did block out the light on the airplane, and the fly nets were an absolute necessity in Uluru, where black flies swarmed around us during daylight:
10. The Great Barrier Reef is like a giant aquarium. We were stupid enough to think we didn’t need to go out to the reef while in Cairns (hello, the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef), since neither of us are big water people, but we decided to take a boat trip out there anyway, mostly to kill time, and then we realized what idiots we were. We didn’t get any good fish photos, but here’s the view from the boat to Green Island, Queensland’s first island national park:
11. Why don’t they sell Solo or Lift lemon drinks in the US?
12. Neither Carolyn nor I knit one stinkin’ stitch during our vacation, but we did read (my 2 books to Carolyn’s oh, I dunno, dozen).
13. Tim Tams. Sigh. How I love them.
14. Awesome tea shop: T2 Tea.
Okay, maties, that’s it for now!
welcome back! and thank you for sharing all the wonderful goodness of your trip down under. looks like you had a great time visiting, snacking and playing….
Welcome back!!!!
I had SO MUCH FUN!!! Meeting you guys
Problems:
NOT ENOUGH PHOTOS taken by me 🙁
Didn’t get to spend enough time with you!
Reeses mini pb cups are WAY too good
Kiri thinks that toy peeps are the best new fetching devices (he found them all by hisself!)
You know that Casey will never let me forget that LOL
BTW his msnger message is one of those colourful says ehheheheheh
I AM SO GLAD I got to meet you both!!!!
i’m so jealous! i can’t wait to see you and hear all about it….when will that be????
so glad you had such a splendid time:)
Hi! I love hearing what people in other countries think of Australia. pls tell us more about your visit? how ya goin? 🙂
I am so happy to hear you had a safe and enjoyable trip. That is one destination that I hope to see before too long.
so i guess you had fun then, fair dinkum?
i’m down with it, homes.
Welcome home!
Your trip sounds great. Tell us more! Like, did you see any dingos?
Wecome back! I’ve been waiting for your post and you didn’t disappoint. Sounds like you had a lot of fun.
Thanks for the virtual vacation this morning. Maybe someday carolyn will post about it….
Great pics! I really want some Cheezels now. Just so I can say, “Hey, I’m eatin’ Cheezels.”
Man, I can’t imagine anything more fun than the two of you on a trip to Oz. Gets my travel itch going…
Welcome back! I’m so envious of your koala adventure!
So glad you had fun! I do love beets. Interesting that Australians put it on burgers.
Welcome back!
Yipeeee! Fun times in Oz! Though I’m very happy for the two of you, I’m also mighty jealous! Thanks for sharing some of the pictures and story. Even though there are only a few, you know we love the random pics too! This really solidifies my desire to head to Oz one day. I’ve promised my Aussie friends that I will visit them in the future, but unfortunately it looks like that day is so far away! 🙁
Welcome back, Mariko! The Internet missed you! 😀
Welcome back! Now my craft-blog surfing is more interesting and informative again! Where else can you catch some knitting, some sewing and some Peeps? Beets on burgers, eh? I’ll have to try that.
Wow – what an adventure! Loved reading your trip recap. and seriously, beets on burgers?
I never thought about going to Australia until I saw that Koala picture. Now, my life is changed. I must go. Thanks for the pics!
I had one of the nicest days with both of you – just delightful 🙂 Even though I said mate at one point when I said noone says that….I did say you can use it as a version of ‘idiot’. Beetroot on burgers is the only way to have a hamburger. So glad you had a good time!
oh!! welcome home and I am JEALOUS!!! (mate)
Wow! Welcome back! Sounds like you had a blast!! I want to visit the Great Barrier Reef…
Welcome home! Thanks for sharing your highlights and photos!!
Oh my goodness — that koala looks fake! That is too cool 🙂
Hiya =) I just randomly found your site =P I notice you’ve been to Sydney ^^; I live there =) And that picture ofthe donut king donuts looks like my local shopping centre in the background xDDD Wouldn’t be Macarthur Square would it? ;o Well anyway.. seeing as you have no clue who I am I’ll just go now =P Toodles ^^;
awww…..u made me miss sydney!!! 😛 hhmm….dont have lift? i thot they did, i remember having one. o well, maybe not there?
Cost Plus World Market is now reportedly selling Arnott’s biscuits (aka TIM TAMS!).
oh but we love colourful sayings and I am so jealous about that koala!!! Well that and the Tim Tams 🙂 Caramel Tim Tams are divinity!
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