Australia!

Well, I'm here, and though I have been in country for a few days now, this is my first chance to really update. This first entry will be quite long, but hopefully, not boring. :)

First of all - I flew out Friday, and stopped over in San Fransisco for a few hours. Laurel and I decided to skip out of the airport and head to Chinatown for some lunch. We just made it back, about 10 minutes before they started boarding our flight. I had Beef Chow Fun at the Chinese restaurant, and ... well... it wasn't all that fun. :)

Friday night we were in Honolulu, at a cute little hotel just off Waikiki Beach. We explored the area just a little bit, walked down to the beach, which was lit by flaming torches stuck in the sand, and then went to bed, exhausted. When our plane landed in Honolulu, it was sunset, and we got to watch the sun turn the mountains and coastline all orange and pink as we descended. It was so beautiful. And oh my gosh, was it WARM! Talk about system shock! It was in the single-digits when I left MN, and in Honolulu, it was about 80 degrees, even at sunset!

Because of the international date line, we skipped a day somewhere over the Pacific, and arrived in Sydney Sunday afternoon. I got kinda lost in the airport, but eventually found my way to the little shuttle bus and to my flight gate. However, a huge HUGE storm had started, and there was so much lightning that they shut the airport down for about 2 hours. Poor Laurel, my best friend who is also teaching here in Australia, was stuck on a plane that was about halfway done boarding, just sitting there on the tarmac until the storm passed. We got in late, and I couldn't see much of Australia in the dark my first night here.
Yesterday, however, I woke up to birds singing, a warm breeze, and an adorable dog trying to climb through my window to say hello. The house I'm staying at is absolutely beautiful. When I went to the window after my morning tea, there were parrots landing in the branches just outside. I'm going to try to limit the pictures to just a few a day, because I know sometimes the internet is slow.

I had my first experience with Vegemite already, too. It's an Australian spread, used like we use jelly/jam, and they put it on toast, biscuits, and other breads/crackers. I was expecting something totally different. I won't say it's gross, but I will say it was something to take in small amounts. Maybe I'll get used to it. :) It's a salty black tar-looking paste, and it's made of yeast. I can't describe it as anything other than a salty nutty goop.

I was taken on a cruise of the countryside in a convertible yesterday, too! I saw vineyards, Kangaroo Crossing signs, and some amazing scenery. All the trees here are very strange, and though they've been in drought for years, it's still very green and alive here.

I have so much more to tell, but not a lot of time left on the computer. I'll put up some pictures for now, and save the rest for my next post. To everyone reading this - I miss you! I'm having a wonderful time, but there really is "no place like home."