Happy Australia Day!

Today is Australia day and it's a long weekend for Aussies. As we do for Canada Day, there are fireworks, BBQs and people donned in their finest flag attire and national colours (here, green and gold). Unlike in Canada, here the festivities seem to last for the entire long-weekend. They started last night with open-air concerts for The Big Day Out (gay Australia Day) and people out in the streets with painted faces and flags awaving and they will likely be at it until Sunday to squeeze every last drop of party time out of the weekend. If there's one thing that can be said about Australians it's that they work hard and play harder.

We spent our Australia day with our friend Tracey and her family. I must say, if there's one way to solidify a friendship, it's having a swimming pool on a hot day. We lounged around in the pool (until the young-uns started their very-entertaining and very painful looking dive competition - then everyone within 100 metres got wet), had the essential Aussie BBQ topped off with an awesome strawberry-chocolate pav, and enjoyed the sun with some bevvies before heading off to see the fireworks. They were amazing! We saw them at Rooty Hill and I'm sure they rivaled the ones at Harbour Bridge. There was also a parachuter with the biggest Australian flag I've ever seen - and apparently the biggest flag in the southern hemisphere! If you ask me, jumping out of a plane would be nerve wracking enough without having a huge heavy piece of unpredictable weight attached to me that could flap up and get caught in my oh-so-practical parachute. To each their own I guess and I was suitably impressed.

Even without the revelry of such an auspicious day, Sydney really is a city that seems to have it all. Great surf, great weather, mountain hikes, dangerous insects and animals to add to the coolness factor and fun, friendly people. They even have super convenient ways of doing things. You hardly ever wait longer than 2 minutes in line at the grocery store and they have this clever thing called E-tag so you don't have to stop to pay every time you go through a toll! For an efficiency nut like me, these things are like gold.

We've been getting out alot more now that Christmas is over. There is just so much to explore. I'm glad we have a couple of weeks in April to come back and see a bit more before leaving the continent, though, since there's so much we haven't had a chance to see.

The Blue Mountains are incredible. They are so called because the oil from the eucalyptus trees hangs in the air creating a blue mist. The trails are very well maintained and they have kept a good balance between making things safe, keeping things natural and protecting the ecology of the area.

We are so close to several hikes through these mountains that I can't believe we've only gotten out there once so far. We hiked the popular Echo Point trail and saw the Three Sisters - rock formations that are said to be 3 maidens trapped since the Dreamtime. Aboriginals believe that there is a magical time when spirits carve out the canyons and gorges and come to life as animals and trees. If exploring nature wasn't enough, during our hike, we found the perfect crate to keep all our gear from rattling around in the back of the truck! Just what we had been looking for. Of course, that meant lugging it around on the trail, which drew a few strange looks. It was worth it, though, for some peace and quiet while driving over bumps and around crazy turns. This hike was a pretty easy one, especially if you take the lazy way out like we did. It was just too cool to pass up though. We took an old coal train up. It's, apparently, the steepest train in the world and takes you up the slope at the crazy angle of 52 degrees!

Mulgoa Reserve is steps away from our front door. We try to run there when we can because there is always something to see, even though it's essentially a loop around the outside of a forest. Aside from the goana we saw on our first time out, we also use this old clunker as the marker for our halfway point. Some locals think that someone got "whacked" in that car and was subsequently torched. The car has clearly been set on fire but whether or not there was more than just the vandalism of an old jalopy is anyone's guess. It's got character though and the cattle don't seem to mind it. Running around the loop is also a nice way to meet the neighbours. On our first exploratory walk, we ran into Roy and his son Michael who were cycling around the reserve. After a nice chat we were invited over to their place for more conversation, some travel tips and a couple of cold ones. Honestly, I have never met a nicer bunch of people than Australians. We have been invited to stay with people from here to Melbourne, often within 15 minutes of meeting them. These people sure know a thing or two about hospitality. As you can imagine, we try to get out walking as much as possible! Who knows, maybe we'll manage to meet people in each city we get to - we're not that picky, just a nice piece of floor to curl up on suits us just fine.

One of the most recommended walks in Sydney is the coastal walk between Bondi and Coogee beaches. I can see why. The walk (which we actually doubled and did in reverse - Coogee to Bondi and back to Coogee to pick up our parked car) goes along the cliffs and beaches that line the coast. There are pools that are filled up by ocean water at high tide and beach areas that have been carved out into coves to allow for lifeguarding and safer family beach fun. There is even a swimming pool that overlooks Bondi! Very cool. I can't think of a nicer way to spend a sunny day than to wander along the coast, checking out all the crazy rock formations, stopping at little markets and cafes along the way and watching the surfers and beach goers soak up the rays - at least those who aren't sheltered under their big hats and SPF 5 million. You have to be careful out here. Australia is right under the hole in the ozone layer and you can burn a layer off your body in 15 minutes flat - yes, even if you have a "base". We've been lucky so far and haven't been caught out without sunscreen but I wouldn't want to either. You can tan through your clothes here! No joke.

Hiking isn't all there is to do here. There are really interesting neighbourhoods to explore. My favourite so far is Newtown. It's a funky little place with second-hand clothings stores, nifty local designers and yummy cafes and bakeries. It's the place to go to be seen. Particularly if you have piercings and blue hair, it seems. I have to say, though, that there is a fashion trend here that I like to call "who can wear the worst dress". It's like everyone decided that raiding their 2-year old sister's closet was really cool but that the dresses should be worn with ridiculous t-shirts underneath. I'm hoping it's a short-lived phase but I'm not too hopeful given how long "droopy drawers" have lasted. As you can see, this lady has opted out of the trend and she and Rich are celebrating this wise decision. Maybe it's just a Sydney thing. We'll be able to check it out as we tour the country - we're off in a couple of days. Yahoo! Next post will be from... who knows!?!?

The Land of Oz

The switch from Sri Lanka to Australia was immediately obvious. The differences were everywhere. Where Sri Lanka has no road signs, highways or sidewalks, Australia has thousands of kilometres of paved highways that are painted. To top it off, people actually respect the rules of the road! The elephants of Sri Lanka have been replaced by kangaroos, wombats and a plethora of exotic birds you'd normally find in a zoo, casually hanging around on your neighbour's fence. Cockatoos, rainbow lorikeets, rosellas and budgerigars watch us curiously as we go for our now regular runs.

We decided to make Sydney a temporary pit stop to prevent getting travel weary. As silly as it sounds, constantly changing cities and having all of your belongings strapped to your back can wear you down. So we chose Sydney, to spend some quality time with my sister and her family. Oddly enough, the least expensive way to stay in one city is to rent a room in a house. Hostels in Oz are costly compared to the $7.00/night gems we found in China and India. Our place is a 10 minute drive to the Blue mountains and sits on the edge of a Nature Reserve which is ideal for hiking. Yesterday, on our hike, we saw a three foot goana on a hike of his own. As I type, our gear is unpacked, my socks live in a drawer and my t-shirts don't smell like my underwear. Life is good.

For those of you killing time by sifting through our photos, Jo has spent an enormous amount of time uploading the best pics so check out Our Photo Album . Could take awhile to get up to date as blogging is way faster than photo uploads.

About ten years ago Jon (Armano) and I came to Oz and bought a 20 yr old car for $400.00 CDN and drove it 10 000 Kms while sightseeing. After the second time it broke down 200 Kms from nowhere, we said "the next time we do this, we're buying a real car". While the stories of McGyver repairs in the outback are fun to tell, not breaking down in the middle of a the desert is probably more fun. So Jo and I have picked up a snazzy looking Toyota Rav 4 in a colour we like to call "speeding ticket red". Sorry Jon, you'll have your ride in Oz after you're done with med school. Here's a picture of me wondering for the 10th time why the steering wheel is on the right.

We spent the holidays with my sister (Andrea), her husband (Kevin) and her 2 kids (Jazmine and Jack). The traditional Aussie Christmas BBQ just wouldn't be the same if Santa didn't wear flip flops. Why that'd be like having roos instead of reindeer and grassy plains instead of snow. We spent new year's eve at Manley Beach with the sound of waves lapping on the sand and watched the Harbour Bridge fireworks on TV. Maybe next time we'll see it live. Let's just say it was a very different Christmas than what we're used to.

Down at the family farm near Taralga, Kev's friends Alex and Vanessa came along for a true Aussie experience. Kev's dad, Kevin Sr., took us roo sighting in what is affectionately known as "the basher". Imagine an early 90's model, two-door Honda hatchback . Now imagine it plowing over sapplings, across dry stream beds and up 45 degree slopes while dodging fallen tree logs and massive wombat holes. Of course, this fun park ride comes fully loaded with non-stop story telling and an impressive array of little known facts which constantly emanate from Kevin Sr.'s mouth. "Naturally... when the roo got caught INSIDE the basher, he got scared and smashed his head on the front windscreen. And that's why the windscreen is cracked on the passenger side". So the stories went.

Check out this video of the mythical cow call as demonstrated by a true Aussie. Believe it or not it actually works.

After a few nights of home cooked feed, homebrew, and log fires (it was actually chilly there), we got to spend a few days at the beach in Moruya. The famous white sands and blue water Australia is famous for became the backdrop to our little sandbox. Here's a pic of Jaz kickin' up the sand while Mommy catches a few quick Z's on the beach.

After the holidays, we started being tourists in Sydney - we

had been here for several weeks and not seen a thing. Vanessa, Alex, Jo and I took the ferry into the harbour and Alex gave us an impressive tour of his home town. We saw the Botanic Gardens with views of the Harbour and Opera House, exotic trees that look like cut outs from Dr. Seuss and heaps and heaps of bats! There are hundreds of flying foxes hanging in all the trees, flying everywhere - even during the day. Creepy cool. But definitely more cool than creepy. I had possibly the best chillidog in the world at the famous Harry's Cafe de Wheels and spent the rest of the day wandering around the harbour area. The next day, Alex introduced us to something beautiful - Gold Class cinema. We don't have anything like this in Montreal. Take your average cinema screen, but replace the sticky rows of chairs with ten pairs of electronicly controlled lazy boy chairs with their own private table. Each setting of two chairs is about 10 feet away from the next so it was like being in your own living room. You can order a nice hot supper, popcorn in a bowl larger than your head and anything you'd like to drink. They even had champagne on the menu! It's like a bar / restaurant / cinema. Of course, this is all served to you in the theater at the times you specify. For example "yes, I would like my dinner and drink about half an hour into the movie with the popcorn following and a sundae about half an hour before the credits roll". It was awesome! I'm not sure we'll ever be able to watch a movie in a regular cinema again.

We have also been to the Koala Park for more up-close and personal Aussie animal experiences. We saw koalas, more kangaroos, wallabies, emus, kookaburras, wombats and echidnas. For those of you who are interested, Jaz preferred the slimy saliva of a kangaroo to the soft wool on a sheep. I'm not so sure about this kid.

We're looking forward to seeing more of Sydney and the surrounding area before we take off for the open road with our "esky in the boot" (cooler in the trunk). Until then we'll pass on the cricket craze and take in some of the scenery next door.