In the Land of OZ

I decided since I've been here three months now I'd tell you all the little differences and interesting things I've noticed while in Australia.

- they don't have orange cheese here, they have white cheddar but no orange cheddar cheese, I can't find it anywhere and I'm in desperation for a piece of old cheddar.

- they don't have 'ketchup' they call in tomato sauce and it tastes very similar

- their milk comes as whole, lite or skinny (2%, 1% or skim!)

- at coffee shops you can order lattes, short blacks, long blacks, cappucinos, baby cinos etc. no just plain old coffees

- at meals if you ask for water they give you a massive bottle of cold water and glasses for free, it's great!

- no free refills, anywhere.

- Melbourne has the most cafes and restaurants per square metre than anywhere else in the world!

- Their appetizers are called entrees, entrees are called mains & then of course dessert!

- You can absolutely not find a meal for under 10$, 20$ is average, even for a burger and fries.

- Their tram system is amazing, so fast and takes you anywhere in the city, nobody pays but if you're caught the fine is 170$ +

- They call McDonalds, Mac'rs even on commercials!

- The boys wear short shorts, really short shorts.

- People say 'reckon' a lot, including profs, they'll ask your opinion by "what do you reckon?"

- Their large is = to our small size in North America

- Sushi stands, they have so many sushi places where you just walk up and pay 2$ for a pre-made roll and eat it uncut in your hand

- Everything surrounds footy, it's a huge culture for aussies. The players you'll see at the gym or yoga class and they are just respected like none other. Australia has the second largest membership and fan base for their teams in the entire world just behind Manchester United.

- They love army boots, even girls, like little lace up boots, cute - but not my style

- Birkenstocks are like Grandma shoes here

- You can never be too dressed up and heels are always an option

- Prostitution is legal here! I don't like that, but anyway - they have legal brothels all over the place and you can just see them like stores they say like "Ladies for Gentlemen" and such, so weird!

- They have this drink called lemon-lime bitters and it can be alcoholic or not and it is DELICIOUS

- THEY ARE OBSSESSED WITH PIES. What I mean by pies is little baked pastries with meat in them, sometimes veggies but those are called pasties. So like meat pies. They have them at sporting games, bakeries, grocery stores, everywhere - and now I AM OBSESSED. They are not the best thing for you but they are actually absolutely addictive. I love plain beef pastries (sorry skinny bitch!) and Ash took me to the #1 pie shop in ALL OF AUSTRALIA, Parkers Pies. They had alligator and kangaroo and other crazy pies! But I stuck to my plain beef and it was SO GOOD. You get sauce to go on top (ketchup) and it's just heaven. Ash won't let me get them anymore but now I'm craving one so bad so I may sneak one in tomorrow afternoon while he's at school haha. But our vacation is coming up so I have to run like 10k to work that off! Anyway, PIES. It's reason alone to visit/live in Australia. ALSO another point on pies, they have a cute little shop downtown called Pie Face that sells pies and I think that's my next pie venture. Anyway, I digress...

- Australians love their cargo pants. Males mostly. Ash loves his and at first I thought it was weird but now I'm digging it, all army combat ish haha.

- They use the terms bogan and feral a lot which mean like hick, slacker, lazy, gross

- they love little bathers also, the boys, like tiny ass bathing suit bottoms, but i like it!

Thats all I can think of for now! But I'll keep you updated with all the idiosyncrasies that come up!

Much Love,

Sarah

Favourite 5 in Carlton

1. Cinema Nova – distance approx. 3 mins

The movie theatre near our house is amazing. It is in the middle of a busy street on top of a little shopping centre with a brand new fancy little bar overlooking Lygon Street. You can have a cocktail or appetizers before the movie and/or bring them in with you. They are always showing documentaries and movies that wouldn’t be at the big box cinemas as well as a few popular films such as Eat, Pray, Love – which Ash and I just saw. The smaller films are in theatres that can accommodate around 10-15 people max. The theatres have two seater couches and you can snuggle in just like you were watching a movie at home. The bigger cinemas don’t have couches but they have big comfy lounge chairs. It’s also not too expensive, cheap for students. We saw a particularly disturbing film the first time we went. The Killer inside Me, my suggestion – absolutely unnecessarily violent and disgusting. I thought it’d be okay because it had Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson, but they are both just bludgeoned to death by this cruel protagonist. Don’t see it. But the theatre was lovely!

2. Carlton Gardens – distance approx. 30 seconds

Across from our house is an enormous park with running trails and fountains and massive trees. It’s the perfect place for a run because you don’t have to worry about cars mowing you down or directions. It’s a little more than 2km around and is quite hilly so you get an amazing work out as well. The grounds are just perfect for a walk or a picnic or for photographs. The other day Ash and I went for a walk and there were 4 wedding parties having pictures taken. The Exhibition centre is also on the grounds and it looks like a massive mansion/castle, it’s absolutely stunning and often has wedding shows or garden shows or food exhibitions! It’s full of beautiful trees and ponds, it’s so nice to find in the middle of a big city. Walking through the gardens is never boring and there’s always something to catch your eye. I feel so lucky to have it literally on my doorstep.

3. Carlton Chinese Noodle Cafe – distance approx. 4 minutes

Ash and I are in love with this adorable old Chinese couple who own the Chinese Noodle Cafe. They make the best noodles and stir fry’s for super cheap with such fresh ingredients. We probably go for dinner once a week. We can both get dinner for under 20$ which is a steal in Melbourne. I get Asian noodles with veggies and chicken topped with satay sauce and Ash varies it every time. I don’t like pork and this lady made me this specialty dish the first time and now she knows every time I come in what it’s going to be. It’s usually busy and I have to sit on these tall stools where my feet don’t even touch the bar it’s really humorous. We are always disappointed because she is closed on Sundays and for some reason always forget and crave noodles on Sunday nights. Anyway, we are already regulars at this delicious gem of a cafe.

4. Carlton Baths outdoor swimming pool – distance approx. 6 minutes

The YMCA gym we belong to just opened their outdoor pool. It’s beautiful to just sit in the sun or go for a swim with the sun beaming down on you. It’s a Carlton hot spot and is usually packed with people but it’s a beautiful place to swim when it’s not busy. Ash is trying to get me into more swimming but I’m not very good. I went and watched him do laps the other day after my race and just sat on a bench outside reading the paper. The pool is pristine and only a few minutes’ walk from our house – perfect for cooling off and working out!

5. Brunetti – distance approx. 2 minutes

Brunetti is the most perfect little (and by little I mean ENORMOUS) cafe about a block from our house. It is so cute but massive. It has two entrances. One side of the cafe you can get gelato and you pick up your coffees and the other is a massive and I mean MASSIVE bakery with little delicate pastries, cookies and a vast array of specialty chocolates. Ash and I usually get a tiny chocolate each when we go to treat ourselves as well as lattes, because they are ridiculously good. It is so busy you have to fight for someone to take your order. The front windows are also chock full of the most beautiful decorative cakes you’ve ever imagined. Beautiful sharp pieces of chocolate topped with candied oranges and limes and swirling pieces of marbled chocolate toppling over the top. Just crazy artistic and impressive. You pay for your treat and get a number then you go to the coffee section and wait for them to call out your number to pick up your coffees. We went after our movie at 11:30 the other night and it was booming. All of the 50+ tables outside were taken and the entire inside was filled, we had to sit at the front bench on these tiny stools, they were the only spots left at almost midnight!!! I can’t imagine the profit this place rakes in, especially with their 55$+ cakes. Tiny cakes are 50$. We need to bring Brunetti to Canada; it’d be an enormous hit. The staff all dress in maroon and white and it has just such a fancy air about it. I love it.

Run, Harvison, RUN!

It has been so long since I've written a blog! I am seriously slacking. I guess I'll address what's happened to me in recent days before back tracking. Today was one of the best days I've had yet in Melbourne. Ash and I got up at 5:30 AM to get ready for my race! We left the house at 6 and headed to the iconic MCG which is a stadium where the AFL play and cricket as well, massive! I was originally registered to do the half marathon but I haven't put in enough time to do it justice so I downgraded to the 10K. I would rather train properly and do well in a particular distance than enter a race I didn't feel confident in. It's been hard to train in Melbourne because it's a legit city and traffic goes the other way and you have to stop every two seconds and I have no idea where I'm going! So I've pretty much stuck to the gardens beside my house to run laps, it's about 2.3 km around so thats where I've trained. Ash and I spent a few weeks at his parents place in the country and I did a few runs up there. It is actually the most beautiful place to run but also really difficult. It's mostly dirt roads and crazy elevation changes. But running out there the air is just so clean and you see actual parrots and brightly colored birds just chilling in the wild. So about a week ago I did a 9.5 km run in 1:05 and my goal was to do a 10km run in under an hour, however based on this run I thought this was pretty unachievable for my race. I would have to run 500 meters more and cut some serious time. All of my K's have to be under 6 minutes to make my run under an hour.

So today at the race, I had no iPod and I chose to try to focus intently on my pace with my Garmin and run the hell out of it. My watch said I ran 10.17 and I did it in 59:46!!! Hahaha, as if - I had 15 seconds to spare. The run went through the streets of Melbourne and then ended at the MCG and you got to go in and run a lap of the ground as your big finish and everyone was taking it leisurely and just waving and appreciating the finish but I was focused so much on crossing that finish line before it struck 1hr so I just booked it around the track. Ash was able to go inside and watch the finish and he said they zoomed on my face and put me up on the big screen at the stadium as I was finishing - good, I was probably the sweatiest I have ever been. After I got my medal I went to meet Ash at our designated meeting spot and when I saw him I just had tears because I had busted my ass so hard during that race to get it under an hr and I was just exhausted - it was like pure happiness and exhaustion combined. We went home and got some sleep and then it turned into a beautiful day so Ash went to the pool for a swim at the gym we belong to. The pool is outside and it was so lovely, but I took this one out and just watched from the sidelines.

This evening as a celebration for breaking the hour Ash took me out for dinner. The street right behind our house is ridiculously amazing for food. It is pure restaurants, like over 100. Nothing but restaurants and people standing out front offering you free drinks and appetizers and whatever else. It's a huge Italian area so there's a lot of Italian restaurants but we decided to try this little Indian place. I have never had Indian before and let me tell you - it was AMAZING. We chose this banquet style where it was a pre-set menu of items for 25$ each and it was INSANE. We got fresh Naan bread and a ton of bowls of dishes like curry chicken, butter cream chicken, beef vindaloo and so much more. Ash and I both couldn't move and at this point we were the only customers and we were sitting outside and I think because it made their business look good they kept bringing us more food and it suddenly became - unlimited. BAD but so good news haha. They said we could get more of whatever we wanted, it was honestly too good to be true. We spent quite a while there and then headed home where one of my housemates had made a PAVLOVA because I had finished my race, and she is the BEST cook ever and it was beautiful with kiwi and strawberries on top and I couldn't help myself but eat a piece. I am now in a food coma. I need to run like 10, 10K's to make up for this gorge fest.

Walking home tonight I was just so happy. I love our location, I love that feeling when you finally feel like you are starting to adapt to the city you're in and that it's yours. I am just having such a good time, really loving every second I get to spend with Ash, which is pretty much 24 hours a day and I just love Melbourne. Oh, also we went to St.Kilda, this boutiquey cute beach front suburb of Melbourne on Saturday and looked around and had sushi by the beach, it was lovely! Ugh I just can't get enough of my life right now, I feel like someone has to pull me back to reality.

Miss you all,

xo

Sarah

you can take the kid out of London...

I admit it, I miss London. I didn't think this day would come, I haven't been close to homesick until I saw everyone hitting up JBRs this Wednesday and partying it up for frosh week. I miss that SO much. But it's cool. Just chilling like a villain in Australia so I shouldn't be such a whiner.

On a happier note, I went to Melbourne Fashion Week last Friday and it was phenomenal. I was severely under dressed because I thought people were all casual chic going to these shows I don't know why, but apparently they dress to the nines in Melbourne!!! Whatever, I wasn't that under dressed I major high heeled it up. And just wait until you see the two dresses I got since I've been here - mind blowingly beautiful. Melbourne fashion is to die for, it's terrible but oh so good. The fashion show was amazing they featured about 10-12 outfits per designer and they were phenomenal. I really enjoyed myself - it really made me wish I had gone into fashion. From the music to the light show to the models and outfits, I was just in love. We got gift bags when we came in on our seat with vitamin water, magazines, ads and so much more it was amazing. The show was a little under an hour. Afterwards we went for this amazing Greek dinner at a restaurant called Stalactites. It was in a cave with little sand drips off the ceiling it was really impressive. Afterwards I went back to RMIT with Hannah and Jess and prepared to go out. It started actually POURING and about 12 girls wanted to go to eurotrash this bar in the CBD of melbourne and the cabbie took us to the wrong part of town. When we got out we were in the complete wrong section of the city. So the rest of the girls decided to trek the 30 MINUTE WALK to the bar and I was soaking wet and just about ready to throw in the towel. I called Ash and he came and picked me up on the curb in the rain. I felt so fortunate to have a boyfriend in the city who could just come drive and pick me up it was great. So my wild night ended up being carried to the front door of our house shoeless, having a cup of green tea and some muesli and heading to bed - WILD! hahaha, it's been great though. I got a job at the bakery around the corner and I work the next three days so I will make some money to cover my depleting bank balance.

Miss you all much much much!!!

xo

Sarah

Weekend of Wine Tasting

Last weekend Ash and I planned a mini vacation to the Yarra Valley, the wine region of Victoria. Ash is doing a 5 week teaching placement right now so we left early Saturday morning and drove to the Yarra Valley. On the way we passed a dozen or so wineries all dotted along the highway. We went into Healesville one of the main towns in the Yarra Valley and had lunch at the Grand Hotel. We had enormous lunches, I had fish and chips and he had chicken parma- they were both unreal! We also had some really good wine to start our weekend off! Then we walked through the town, it was really cute - we looked at some shops and bakeries. We stopped at a cute little cafe for lattes and hot chocolate before heading up even further into wine country towards our Bed and Breakfast.

We drove through the woods up towards this mountain until we found the turn off for our B&B, Brentwood Guest Accommodations. When we turned in I was shocked at how beautiful it was. Up a steep driveway was a massive building. The B&B used to be a hotel that slept 64 which has now been turned into 4 beautiful self contained suites and the owners live on top. We were led to our suite and the view was magnificent. It overlooked the mountains and there were brightly coloured parrots at a bird feeder right outside our window. The inside of our suite was beautiful with a kitchen and beautiful wood table and leather couch, there was a partition and a large king size bed behind it and an attached beautiful bathroom. We had a nap and then decided to go into town. We went to a massive winery called Innocent Bystander/Giant Steps and we tasted a bunch of wines. I had a big list and I rated each wine individually. We loved the pink moscato it was SO good. Then we sat down for a glass of wine and a cheese platter. After this snack we went to this posh restaurant at The Healesville Hotel for dinner. We both had steak with truffles and oysters for an appy! On the way back to our B&B we stopped at the winery again and bought more wine and moscato!!! We finally made it back to our B&B and had our own wine party!

The next day we went to the visitor information center to find out some things to do. We went to a beautiful national park and trekked through the wildlife. Then we decided to head back to Carlton. The weekend was so much fun and I look forward to our next wine tasting adventure!! We're heading up to his parents place in 2 weekends and we're going wine tasting there, this time Ash can actually drink since he won't be driving!

Meanwhile, I got a job at the bakery next door to my house! Downside is I have to wake up at 6am tomorrow morning and work until 3:30!!! But oh well, I want to do too many things and need to make some money.

Anyway, the SAINTS made the finals and they just beat the number 1 ranked team so we have a shot at the GRAND FINAL!!! Which we placed 2nd last year so that's good news. Bad news, Reuben the big ass ram died at Ash's parents place - but I mean he did push me into the electric fence, what goes around comes around... haha no that's terrible.

Miss you all!!

xo

Sarah

Little Aussie Things

Not much exciting has been occurring in my life lately. Last week on Friday Ash and I went to RMIT (the residence all of my friends from Cairns are staying in) to celebrate one month in Australia! We had a potluck, I made a really good greek pasta salad - it was a hit!

So Ash has put me on a serious fitness regime for the half marathon I'm running in October. I ran 10.32 km this morning around Carlton Gardens. Literally right across the street from me is this massive garden with the museum in the centre and tons of paths and fountains and trees. It's a little over 2 km around and so beautiful to run through. I've been finding the first few k's of my runs really difficult but once I'm past the 5/6 k mark I feel so much better. My time hasn't been very good. I'm working on putting the k's in my legs first and then improving on time. I get scared to increase my pace too much if I'm doing a long run because I don't want to lose stamina. Ash and I watched the movie Run Fatboy Run the other night and it has served as my motivation for the race. Ash has challenged me to 30 k's by Friday and I am determined to make it. My garmin has been a lifesaver and I'm really starting to figure it out. Yesterday I uploaded all my runs to this online program and you can see your pace, distance, time, day, heartrate and everything, it's such a great training tool.

BIG problem here with running is that the cars go the other way! When I'm crossing the road I'm always looking down the wrong way, I've had a couple close calls so now I just run around the gardens to save myself any street crossing. It's funny, I've noticed it's not just the traffic on the roads that goes on the left. People walk on the left side going up the stairs, the escalators in shopping malls and department stores are on the left going down and up, it's interesting!

I'm loving our house here more and more. It's so close to little shops and restaurants and cafes. I just heard on the news that Melbourne has more cafes and restaurants per square meter than anywhere else in the world. It is also the worlds 3rd most liveable city and used to be the first. It may have dropped because of the shootings!!! News: on the street behind my house literally 30 seconds from my doorstep two men were shot to death in an arcade! Ash and I went out and saw the ambulance and the search lights but then we had coffee out on the street at a little cafe, I figured there's such a police presence it cant happen twice. So that was a little madness! I've taken a few pictures of our house/our room that I will post so you can check it out. It's cozy!

Lots of love,

Sarah

Campfire, Kangaroos & quite the shock!

This past weekend was so much fun I don't even know where to start. We went to Andy and Janina's (Ash's parents) place in Chiltern. It's three hours inland from Melbourne in the country. We arrived Thursday night after dark and I had no idea what to expect. We pulled up to this long gate and a sign that said "Jandroo's" I got out of the car to open the gate but couldn't figure it out, a good start to un-farmilar Sarah. When we went through the gate there was a beautiful long bungalow style house with pillars at the front. We parked in the car and got out to meet Janina and Andy inside. It was late but Janina still had the most amazing homemade pumpkin soup waiting for us. I'm not talking like bought the ingredients and made it herself. I'm talking like, grew the vegetables and made it herself. It was so good. The house is made entirely of exposed brick and it's beautiful with tall ceilings in the kitchen and den and a wooden stove that heats the entire house.

When we woke up the next day Ash and I had the day to explore because his parents had to go into work. I asked if his yard ended where the gate was and he laughed. No, his property is more than 3km around and ENORMOUS. They have tons of 'paddocks' and sheep and a ram and goats and chickens and doves and PEACOCKS!!! First we went out front to see the ram Reuben who is by himself or he'll have sex with all the sheep and get them pregnant too soon. Reuben was excited and was jumping up on the gate, it freaked me out, so Ash encouraged me it was fine and told me to go in the paddock with Reuben. He opened the gate and his two dogs a little guy Cranky and a big dog Boofy rushed in and surprised me and I got scared and backed up into the fence... but it was an ELECTRIC FENCE! I felt a huge shock and was so surprised. Ash felt bad but thought it was SO funny and I was laughing and crying at the same time. It was so funny but so shocking. Then we went for a walk through the bush and looked at the entire property which was beautiful.

The next day Andy and Janina took us into Beechworth, a town near their house for this special event weekend called "Ned Kelly Weekend". Ned Kelly was an Australian hero kind of like Robinson Crusoe or something. He fought against the police for Australia ect. In Beechworth they have a re-enaction with people dressed as old police officers on horses and law officials and they simulate the trial of Ned Kelly and we saw him captured in a horse drawn carriage being brought by horses to trial and he was yelling things and dressed old fashioned and it was really entertaining! Then Ash and I had sandwiches at this famous Beechworth Bakery which was amazing. We walked through the old town which is preserved just like an old mining town it's beautiful. We went to the Beechworth Honey store and they had over 25 different kinds of honey you could try. We watched a presentation on how the make the honey and then Janina bought us these amazing bubbly honey/lemon drinks, SO GOOD. Then we headed home. That evening was particular fun! We went out into the middle of the woods where there was a clearing and Ash's dad had constructed a little house out of old aluminum and wood. It had an old working stove inside and a table and little shelving unit. Outside he had built a picnic table and a swing and fire pits. We had two fires going and in the coals Ash's mom had cooked wrapped in tin foil pumpkin, squash, potatoes and mushrooms and on the other fire Ash's dad was cooking chicken, steak and sausages. Surrounding the property where these enormous rocks and it was just beautiful.

Then Ash's dad said is someone on our property can you hear that? Ash started getting annoyed because someone was riding some sort of vehicle on the property in the distance, it got closer and closer and it was his mom on a brand new four wheeler!!! Ash obviously was beyond excited and took me for the ride of my life around the property. One of the most beautiful moments was riding along the edge of his property and there are these beautiful sloping mountains, one is Mt.Pilot where Ash's brother Adam proposed to his wife Laurie. And looking as the sun was setting we saw these wild kangaroos just jumping along the horizon. It was breathtaking and something I'm sure I'll remember for the rest of my life. When we got back to the camp we ate the delicious food inside the shelter and when we came out we saw possums eating the food Andy had left out for them. The next day we had a campfire during the day at another part of the property and slow-cooked dinner which was again DELICIOUS before bringing it back and eating it at the house. Janina took care of us big time giving us homecooked meals to bring back and making us lunch for the ride home and dozens of eggs. Oh also I got to bottle feed a baby goat!!!

I had such a good weekend and it's weird to be back - but good! I was telling Ash at his parents place we are 100% kids and so spoiled and back in Melbourne we have to be adults again haha. I am just so happy, I don't think I've ever felt so just content with my life. Everything is working out so well and I'm having an amazing time. Don't worry mom, not such a good time that I don't want to come back just a genuinely great time and I'm so appreciative of the experience I'm able to have.

Miss you all but really loving Australia,

xo

Sarah

ps. The photos added are the before and after of the Reuben/Electric Fence incident!!