Two Wells, the country bus & the Milky Way

We’ve been out at Steve’s folks house since Tuesday, in a place called Two Wells, which is a small country town literally named after…two wells;) There’s a very small main street, and the ‘country bus’ line to Adelaide stops outside the Post Office three times a day to go into the city. We’re not any farther out of the city than where my mom lives…in fact we’re probably closer to Adelaide than she is to Chicago, yet the difference is vast. I still think Australia is very similar to the US as far as initial impressions/looks go, but it is definitely much more sparsely populated. That’s a necessary, it seems, as far as water is concerned, though. Many people here have tanks outside which catch the run off from the rain, as they’ve been in a drought for years. Showers have to be quicker and watering the lawn is a definite no. I’m not sure how people manage to have a grass lawn and keep it looking anywhere near decent.

Went into the city yesterday to register with employment agencies and open a bank account. Hopefully there’ll be work by sometime next week. In the meantime, just exploring things are being amazed by the differences, such as the stars. It took me by surprise that what I thought were thin clouds in the midst of the stars was actually…the Milky Way, visible to the naked eye!

Fort Denison

Took a day trip out to Fort Dension, which is a small island out in the harbour which was initially used as a jail & defense about 200 years back. Pics of Circular Quay also included.

So far, we have visited/seen:

• Chinatown


• Darling Harbour


• Circular Quay


• The Rocks


• Sydney Opera House


• Harbour Bridge


• Botanic Gardens


• Fort Denison


• Bondi Beach


• Manly

Bondi Beach was an experience, as we decided to walk and, ahem, weren't quite sure of exactly how to get there;) Ended up walking well over an hour in temps close to 90, I'd guess. Then, after we got there and had some lunch, it started to rain. Didn't stop us getting in the water. I'm quite convinced I've never actually been in the ocean before. Forgot it was going to be salt water until I got a big wave the face. The water was far less than calm, so I simply stayed as near to the shore as the kiddies were, but it was quite enjoyable.

Happy St. Patrick's Day, by the way. Didn't actually realise it was the day until after 2pm today. We're celebrating tomorrow, and due to the Harbour Bridge having it's 75th anniversary, there are no festivities:( I don't think we can get green beer here, but regular will do;)

A week later and pics

Well, been here slightly over a week and have managed not to burn yet. What a bother slapping sunscreen on every bit that shows before heading out every morning. The other side of that is that it feels like I'm on a tropical vacation. Despite the drought, it's very lush and green here (guess the tourists get the benefit of more water used in the city, since residents aren't even allowed to wash their cars...ever!). We've been running around like mad, seeing places and people. I think we pretty much avoided jetlag in the beginning completely, but have still been mildly tired from the activity. Good news is we're shedding out excess Chicago winter weight;)

Pics include, in no particular order at the moment as I may add more although you should be able to figure them out: the Sydney Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, the City from the Botanic Gardens, the City Centre (a street), a building on the same street as our hostel, the beach and the Botanic Gardens again.

Random facts about Australia:

• Voting and recycling are mandatory


• They have no one or two cent coins, so prices get rounded up or down. Steve told me to keep a log, as it will show me it all evens out, but I was still salty about losing my first 2 cents:<


• Sunbathing topless is legal and overall, I would guess I am the most clothed woman Steve has ever dated judging by how these women dress, or how little they dress. Please someone tell me next time I'm home if I've turned into a hoochy;)

Arrived in Australia

Just a quick note to say we've arrived in Sydney as of yesterday. Travelled for maybe 30 hours, including layovers, and still managed to stay awake all day Saturday after arriving at the hostel at 9,30am and not being able to check in until noon. Spent today hiking all over town. Sydney is a unique combination of old, European/English looking buildings as well as more modern stuff that is familiar. I can't yet get over the shock of being so far from home, but I think I will be able to get used to it here. It was in the high 70s/low 80s today, I would guess, and I feel wilted as Sydney is a bit humid. Steve kept telling me it wasn't hot and he always wore jeans out today because the sky was cloudy. I think the heat will be a long adjustment; let's just say I'm happy we didn't arrive during the middle of their summer and that winter here will be approaching soon. Will have some pictures soon, hopefully. Alright, still tired, so more later.

Last pics of Chicago

We spent about 6 hours Thursday walking all over downtown Chicago, from the loop, to Navy Pier, back to Grant Park, and on to the Art Institute for the free late night on Thursdays. Only then did we realize how our inactivity over the past two months has affected out muscles, as we limped all over yesterday:( Well worth it though...I'm quite lucky to be from one of the best cities in the world;)

Click on the photos to make them larger. Clockwise, they are: a painting on a building in the Loop, Union Station, the city from Navy Pier, somewhere in the loop, night time in the city, the Art Institute, the Bean in Millenium Park, a close up of the Bean, the El, Cultural Center, Navy Pier, and the Chicago River.

The Country Bus

Here I was all worried I wouldn't be able to get transport into the city from Steve's folks house, but lo and behold, I found...the Country Bus!

Doing the big pack

Countdown is now 13 days and it's time to organise and pack up, yet again. I've spent part of this morning cleaning my shoes and sponging off the wheels of my suititcases. The former included taking a small screwdriver and scraping out bits of muck and little pebbles from the crevices of my sandals. I'm not being anal---these are Australian environmental rules. I guess if your shoes etc have any traces of soil and whatnot, they get tossed...as would your suitcase!

Detroit & Henry Ford

Spent our V-day this year at the Henry Ford museum and factory. It was surprisingly much more interesting than I'd anticipated;) Best of all, the 300 schoolchildren who were supposed to be visiting that day were stuck at home as school was cancelled on account of the snow. For as many times as I've visited the Detroit area, I don't ever remember seeing the downtown. It seemed like a mini Chicago to me, with some fantastic architecture. Pics, going clockwise, are: the Uniroyal tire on I-96 just before Dearborn, GM headquarters, a Canadian snow plow, a description of pic 5, see pic 4, and a shot of downtown Detroit.

Arizona pics

Here's some photos from our trip to Tucson. Images are small so just double click them to open larger.

From top to bottom, going clockwise from the left-hand corner, they are:

Myself outside the Mission San Xavier del Bac
Hearse at the Bircage Theatre
Grave at Tombstone's Boothill Graveyard
Shop at Tubac
Hotel in Bisbee
Outside of shop in Tubac
Us in the mountains (near Old Tucson Studios & Saguaro National Park)
Interior of Birdcage Theatre

Steve's American experiences

Interesting-nesses:

1. Steve: "Susan, quick come down here for a second."
Susan: "What?" (upon reaching the front door)
Steve: "It's gone now."
Susan: "What's gone?"
Steve: "A rabbit!"
Susan: "Um, so...they're all over."
(I guess they don't have them in Australia. There were so many they built a fence to keep
them out, so you only see them out in boopity-bop-ville.)

2. At Dunkin Donuts one night
Steve: "What flavour is namon?"
Susan: "What?"
Steve: "Namon, see over there (pointing to the Munchkins)."
Susan: "LOL!"
Steve: "What?"
Susan: "That's Cinnamon! The first few letters are covered over by the other one."