...especially after 19 hours on planes.
It took an hour to get through customs, and there were throngs of people. When I finally got outside, it was raining (I must have brought it with me from MD, for those of you who know my karma with traveling).
The rugby World Cup was just wrapping up in Sydney (Australia vs England). England won at the last minute, literally - the pilot was giving us hourly updates during the flight. It seems the whole country has gone into mourning and the nearest pub to drown sorrows.
The pics are from the windy, empty, and perfect Soldier's Beach, about a five-minute drive from Mom and Steve's house. It 's definitely a beach town. Some houses look kind of shack-like, while others look quite modern, and there are even a few Victorian ones. Almost all of the houses have the rippled Spanish-style tiles on the roof, the ones that are very thick to keep out the heat.
I arrived without too many hitches. It was a bit bumpy from LA to Sydney, but I guess one should expect that when you're flying across the jet stream rather than with it. I was on a huge plane with two levels, but it was still cramped though. I watched Le Divorce (not a bad flick, though now I've got to go look up Saint Ursula). Amazingly, the airplane food was decent - dinner was rice pilaf with almonds, raisins, carrots, and broccoli and breakfast was grilled tomatoes, asparagus, spinach with applesauce and fruit cup (I don't trust meat or dairy in airplane food, so I always go temporarily vegan).
It took an hour to get through customs, and there were throngs of people. When I finally got outside, it was raining (I must have brought it with me from MD, for those of you who know my karma with traveling).
The rugby World Cup was just wrapping up in Sydney (Australia vs England). England won at the last minute, literally - the pilot was giving us hourly updates during the flight. It seems the whole country has gone into mourning and the nearest pub to drown sorrows.
The pics are from the windy, empty, and perfect Soldier's Beach, about a five-minute drive from Mom and Steve's house. It 's definitely a beach town. Some houses look kind of shack-like, while others look quite modern, and there are even a few Victorian ones. Almost all of the houses have the rippled Spanish-style tiles on the roof, the ones that are very thick to keep out the heat.
Dinner this evening was at Gennaro's, complete with opera-singing chef. The sign of the day was for a cafe next to Gennaro's - Coffee, Cakes, and Clairvoyants - the owner reads your tea leaves.
Tomorrow is a morning horseback ride through the park at Dooralong (I've noticed a lot of double o's in place names here). Driving on the M5 and the F3, I saw the Australian version of cherry blossom trees, but these are a bright lavender. Also, on the F3, the forest is just getting into the swing of recovery from severe fires that ran through about six years ago. I could see some still-scorched trees.
Tomorrow is a morning horseback ride through the park at Dooralong (I've noticed a lot of double o's in place names here). Driving on the M5 and the F3, I saw the Australian version of cherry blossom trees, but these are a bright lavender. Also, on the F3, the forest is just getting into the swing of recovery from severe fires that ran through about six years ago. I could see some still-scorched trees.
I thought a peek in a grocery store might be in order. I was surprised at the number of recognizable brands - Cracker Barrel (although you'll never see yellow cheddar cheese here, it's always white), Old El Paso, Kellogg's Corn Flakes. Other brands are recognizable in their packaging, but they have different names (Suave is Pears, Dannon is Danone).
The people are friendly. The Scottish neighbor next door seems to be Mom and Steve's unofficial security guard. There's also a woman down the street with way too many potted plants in her front yard, and she drives a hearse that she painted white.
More tomorrow.
