My Melbourne Weekend

My Melbourne weekend was a big success. I started the adventure on Thursday after visiting our lovely venues. Molly (my co-worker from NRSI) drove me into Melbourne. After hearing countless horror stories about the location of my hotel (ie: "Oh, King Road? That's the strip club capital of Melbourne!", "Sure, I know where that is... isn't that the slums?", "Oh yeah - that's where the prison is") yeah, it was actually just fine! Molly went in with me to make sure all was right and I checked into my TINY little room shown here. It was literally just big enough for the bed but that's all I needed it for anyway.

Thursday was just getting started. I got in touch with my new swing pal, Darren, and we decided to meet up for dinner before dancing. Dinner was definitely interesting. We talked about dancing and then moved into traveling and that opened up the whole "American Aggrievances" conversation. I must have spent the entire dinner apologizing for all of the US's shortcomings. He hates the food, the government, the customs, the people and their attitudes, the US's involvement in the war and how they forced Australia to be part of it and the list went on and on! By the end of the dinner, I was SUPER ready to get to the dancing part of the night. Once we got to the club - the mood relaxed. I met up with another guy that I met on Facebook, Matt and he was super nice. Darren is on the left and Matt is on the right. Everyone at the club was really cool! It was funny - I must have been asked a dozen times "Where is that accent from?" For some reason that caught me off guard! I would say Georgia.. and I would still get blank looks sometimes. I danced a TON and had a great night. They definitely know how to dance - Everyone is tri-lingual here - Lindy, Bal and Charleston. Very impressive!

Friday I got to play tourist and actually I was on a mission that day. I had a ticket to the Footies (Australian Football which looks a lot like rugby don't tell that to an Australian) that night compliments of the paper we are working with and didn't realize it came with a dress code! I had a ticket in their suite and there were no jeans allowed! Oops - that's all I packed for the weekend! So, that was my cue to take advantage of Melbourne's famous shopping opportunities.. and there are plenty of them! I bought an entire new outfit with the help of a nice sales girl - totally in Aussie style. The biggest thing going here are these sweater dresses and yes girls... leggings. I had to do it! So, now I am officially Aussie-trendy.

That day I also had a great time taking the free trolley that runs around the entire city. It's called the City Link and even has a little recording that tells you the highlights of each stop. I definitely have to give it up for Melbourne for it's great public transport.

Later that evening it was time for the Footies! The stadium was right behind my hotel so I could walk there. A short walk past the very impressive train station and I was at the Telstrum Stadium! It was the Bulldogs vs. the Eagles (guess who I rooted for?). Our suite was really nice! We had a tasty free dinner and free drinks all night long. Yeehaw! I got a few more lessons on football (you can't have too many) and met some really cool people. Later that night a few of us continued the festivities at a club called CQ. It was really fun, really big and totally 80's! After all the that dancing it was back to hotel for some serious rest!



Saturday was another day of playing tourist. I tooled around the city for most of the day, hoping on and off the tram. I made my way over to Eureka! which is the tallest building in Australia. It's part offices, part apartments and VERY tall. You can go to the top to see all of Melbourne - so I did! It was a beautiful view - right around sunset so I hope the pictures come out! After that, I rushed over to The Docklands which is an up and coming area in the city with some funky art. First there was this bridge that was inspired by traditional fishing nets and then some strange modern art - yes, that's a cow in a tree.










Sunday was a last ditch effort to shop still I dropped so I hit the direct factory outlets for one more go! I finally made my way over to Flinders Street station to catch the train back to Dandenong! All in all, it was a great weekend get-away and opportunity to see a beautiful city!

Surfs Up!

It has been a week-long celebration of everyone's favorite Aussie - Belinda Thackray - so Thursday kicked things off when I was lucky enough to be invited to the Thackray family birthday dinner. I was really looking forward to seeing Bel's parents again so we started the night off with snacks and drinks at their house. I absolutely LOVE Bel's parents. It's so cute - her mom calls me "Pet" - it's adorable. "Would you like some more wine Pet?", "Are you warm enough Pet?". It kind of reminds me of Wallace and Gromit for some reason. Is that weird? We then headed to this great little Thai restaurant for a delicious feast. Most of the restaurants here are BYOB so Bel's dad brought some tasty wines along with one of my new favorites - sparkling shiraz. It's pretty tasty. I also got to meet Bel's Grandmother who is 92 and as bright as you or me. She was a real treat and wished me well on my stay here.

Bel's actual birthday was on Friday. After work we all headed to the Blah Blah Bar for some "drinkies" as Bel would say! This is a great little bar about 3 blocks from our office. Again, not sure if I could back there by myself but I actually did end up back there again before the weekend was over! That was a great night. I got to meet a few more of Bel's friends and family. You'll probably start hearing some names over and over so I'll point them out to you! On the left (from left to right) is Melinda, Dennis and Bel and over on the right is Bel and Mark. Dennis, Bel and Mark have been friends since they were about 15 years old! These guys are super nice and hopefully I'll be hanging out with them quite a bit. Actually, by the end of the night Dennis was nice enough to let me in on some plans for Saturday evening - there was a HUGE rugby match on - Australia vs. New Zealand - which is one of the biggest rivalries going. So Friday was a big success - good times.

On Saturday I woke up at a decent time and decided to go for a run. As I was running along the beach I decided to do a little investigating on this idea I've been toying with. I really wanted to take some surfing lessons while I was here even though it's the middle of winter. Who cares!!! Everyone else is still out there, surfing everyday so I figured I could handle it! I stopped into a surf school to check out the dates and times and before I knew it, I was signed up for a class that afternoon. It worked out perfectly, the sun was out, it was decently warm and the waves weren't out of control. I have to say, after you finally manage to get the thing on, wetsuits are pretty amazing! I couldn't believe how warm those things keep you. So, the four other students and I toted our 300 pound practice boards down to the calmest part of the beach. The practice boards are HUGE and made of this dense foam stuff. It was like hauling a dead body down the beach - so heavy! We had a quick lesson in paddling and standing up on the board on the beach and then we were off in the water. The instructor would hold the back of your board while you laid down and basically just give you a good push right as the wave approached. Then you paddled like mad and hoped you caught the wave! I managed to get up three times including my very first try. I was pretty excited! I also ate it many a time and was massacred a few times by oncoming waves. I had no idea how hard it was just to paddle out there! I definitely need to work on the upper body strength. I made the decision to go back a few more times and hone my skills before I leave. And yes, today my entire body is aching!

Later that night, I met up with Mark, Dennis and one of their friends at The Oaks which is this amazing bar in Neutral Bay (the other place I almost moved to). It is a huge converted hotel. A lot of the old sleeping rooms have been converted to private pool rooms and there were huge lounge areas everywhere. Everyone and their mom was there to watch the games. We managed to find a room with heat and a television so I got yet another lesson on rugby. I am starting understand however there are about 3 different versions of rugby going on at the same time -all with different field shapes, scoring and rules. Dennis is keeping me on my toes by constantly quizzing me on the rules and scoring. He says I'll have a written exam before I leave! Besides the 2 different types of rugby going on that night - Australia was also playing Japan in soccer so it was a sports bonanza! After watching the main rugby match, we decided to change locations and low and behold - ended back at the Blah Blah Bar! We watched most of the soccer match there before finally calling it a night.

Sunday has been a catch-up day. I ran first thing in the morning and then came back to "chore time". I cleaned the apartment, did the laundry and now have to pack for Melbourne! I am really looking forward to my first Aussie program. It's a newspaper which I am not that familiar with so it should be interesting. And then my first chance at dancing in Oz on Thursday! I can't wait!

That's all for now.
Cheers!
B.

Weekend Walking Warrior

So, I spent my first weekend walking, walking and more walking! I've never walked so much! Well, first things first though.. on Friday, I drank!

On Friday after work I met up with Bel, Rich and their friend Rick for a pint at the pub. This particular pub was part of a restaurant in Harbourd - a little suburb of Sydney. It's a great little pub with Rugby playing on every television. I got a quick rugby lesson from Rick - I think I am starting to understand. It's pretty much all that's on television right now. There is some big tourney going on and everyone is completely into it. Pretty fun!

Saturday started my walk-fest. I started it with run along the beach first thing in the morning. Then I decided to make it a Manly day. I walked around the entire town from start to finish exploring all the little back roads. There is a little open air market on Saturdays and Sundays so I made the rounds looking at all the local goodies. I managed to waste an entire day just milling around and walking up and down the beaches. I was biding my time because I knew Bel and Rich had planned a big evening for us! Partly in honor of my arrival and partly because the Aussies will look for any reason to have a party - Bel and Rich held a "Christmas in July/4th of July/Thanksgiving" dinner party for about 12 people! They prepared an entire Thanksgiving dinner including turkey (which was no small feat since turkey isn't a big dish here - thanks to Dennis who hunted two down for them) & gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes with pecans, candied carrots, sesame asparagus, dinner rolls and for dessert - creme brulee! It was amazing! They got all the recipes from Jackie Chattham (NRS peep from the States) to ensure authenticity! Since Thanksgiving isn't celebrated in Australia, everyone kept asking me if the meal was accurate and if they had all the details right. It was perfect! I think we must have gone through 8 or 9 bottles of wine by the end of the night. It was a blast! We all gave thanks for a great meal with good wine and good friends!

Sunday I slept in (hmmm, wonder why?). It was a beautiful day so I decided to start on my great 'To Do' list which everyone in the office was so kind as to help me put together on Friday. First to be checked off the list? Taking the Manly ferry into Sydney for a walk around "The Rocks". The Rocks is an cute little area in the Circular Quay (pronounced Key) where Australia pretty much got started. This is the area where all the prisoners were dropped off when it was a penal colony. Now, it's a shopping mecca with dozens of cafes, coffee shops and open markets mixed in. I spent all day walking around here until my feet were aching and decided to head back. I took the ferry back to Manly and sat on the beach for a while longer. It's so pretty I've made a point to walk the distance at least once a day. I am guessing the whole stretch is maybe 2 miles there and back.

That was pretty much my first weekend in a nutshell. I am getting ready to head off to my first program next week in Melbourne. I know there is some good dancing there so I'll keep you posted on that. Stay tuned for more adventures!

Cheers!
B.

A Night Out With NRSI

As a reward for two hard days of training, we all headed to Ripples (a really nice restaurant with GORGEOUS views of the harbor) to unwind. And unwind we did! I had my first "fish and chips" meal with some very tasty wine! They go together - trust me!



I also took a quick walk down the boardwalk to Luna Park which is this tiny little amusement park with a big scary face. I was advised that this might not be the most entertaining park of all time but I had to get a picture of the entrance. If you are afraid of clowns.. don't come here.

After lunch/dinner - we all headed to a few other pubs around town which I couldn't bring you back to if I tried. I have no clue where we were by that time! A drink or two there with the team and Bel and I headed back to Manly to help celebrate the lovely Fiona's birthday (Aussie PM). I am sure we stayed way to late b/c I have absolutely no idea what time I got home. I also went to The Boat Shed, a seedy little underground bar, with some of Fiona's friends to finish up the night!








I barely survived my first night out with the team - I was not in top form the next day by any means... I blame it on jetlag... :)

Cheers,
B.

My First Day

FINALLY!

The trip begins. The flight was one of the easiest I have ever taken. After countless trips to Singapore, I’ve become accustomed to the long plane rides but after the GA to LA trip (6 hours) and the LA to Sydney trip (13+ hours) there was no additional 7 hour trip to Singapore so I was thrilled!! I slept the entire way and didn’t get to see any of the 8 movies I had picked out in the flight entertainment book. Oh well.

I touched down in Sydney at 7:30am and got all of my luggage right away – no problem. Phew! After breezing through customs I was greeted by a cheery Bel and Rich (even though I made them wake up at the butt crack of dawn to pick me up from the airport). The sight-seeing commenced immediately as we headed to the Sydney Opera House and Harbor Bridge to have a look around. Syndey was just waking up as we strolled around and got a few morning pictures. After that we drove over to Manly Beach for some brunch by the ocean at a cozy little café call The Bower. It’s about 2 blocks from my place and right on the ocean!

After brunch we hung we took a driving tour up the coast North of Curl Curl which is where Bel and Rich live to waste time until we could move into my place. There is a path right by my apartment (where The Bower is) that runs all the way up the coast for miles and miles – I hope to get out to this path a few times to train for the 9k race Bel and I are doing in August.. gulp!

Finally we move into my apartment and it’s pretty cute. I do have a washer but no dryer and the cutest little dishwasher you’ve ever seen. There is a community dryer so I won’t have to hang-dry everything. Bel and Rich left me to shower and move in but we met up again for dinner straight afterwards. It gets dark here by 5:30pm!!! I could hardly believe it. We went out for a quick drink at a swanky little bar by my place and then out for a celebratory Thai feast! I ended up staying up until 9p with no problems at all. I don’t think I am going to get any jetlag at all. I slept all night with no problems and haven’t been tired yet to day. I love it! We did discover that the landlord gave us the wrong address so if I already passed it on to you - please note the change!

Unit 46 (not 49 like we originally thought)
69 Addison Road
Manly NSW 2095

That was my first exciting day. Don’t worry - this won’t be a day by day account of my life – just
the exciting stuff. I met the whole office today and everyone is super nice. I will start prepping for my first program in Dandenong (suburb of Melbourne) later today and then I am on my way! I’ll post pictures of the view from the office later – it’s pouring rain today so you can’t see much.

Cheers!
B.