The rest of the MN crew's visit

It's been almost a month since Heather, Dave, Sara, and Rachelle left Oz so I figured I should finally finish the blog about their visit before I forget all the fun we had!

After New Zealand we spent 5 days in Sydney.  This was my 3rd time in Sydney but I think it was probably my favorite!  I saw lots of new things - and being surrounded by lots of my favorite people didn't hurt either!

Paddington Market
My cousin Rachel met up with Kelly and I on Saturday morning when we arrived in Sydney.  Even though it was raining we venture out to Paddington Market.  This market is great!  Its not your typical tourist market.  Tons of vendors selling cute jewelry, paintings, etc.  I didn't buy anything but I can't wait to go back!

A Night on the Rocks
The rest of the crew at our posh Marriott hotel on Saturday evening.  Kelly, Rachel and I were well rested after our afternoon nap so we were ready to go!  We all got dressed up and headed out to the Rocks.  I would post some pictures but I don't think Rachel wants her mother to see any of them :)

All in all the night was great, however we did discover a few things about going out in Sydney:
1.  The lines at the bar are HUGE, but that doesn't mean the bartenders work any faster
2.  You cannot buy shots after 12:30 (Judy - Rachel did not try to buy any shots we only heard this from fellow bar patrons)
3.  Lady security guards are ruthless....they won't let you in no matter how sober you are!

A real conversation between me and the DJ at the first club we went to:
Me:  Do you have any Ke$ha?
DJ:  (shakes his head no)
Me:  Do you have any Rhianna?
DJ:  (shakes his head no)
Me:  Do you have any Katy Perry
DJ:  (shakes his head no)
Me:  Do you have anything that people actually like?
DJ: (shakes his head no)
Me to Kelly:  We need to leave, I think I'm going to get kicked out of here

Luckily Kelly was able to sweet talk her way into the Lowenbrau Hotel.....where they actually played all our favorite songs! (and the line at the bar was much shorter!)

Easter Sunday
Having a cousin who is a local is very good for finding good places to eat.  Rachel recommended "Pancakes on the Rocks" to us, which we decided sounded like the perfect Easter brunch.  The savoury and sweet pancakes were both amazing - I'd recommend this place to everyone.

After brunch we caught the bus to Bondi.  Although it wasn't a very warm day it was at least sunny so we got a lot of great pictures of this beautiful beach.

After hanging out at the beach for a bit we decided to do the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk. I've been to Bondi before but never done this 6 km walk.  It was beautiful!!  The walk is pretty easy and there are tons of places to stop and take pictures.  As we were walking I immediately thought that my mom would definitely love this.  I'm crossing my fingers for a sunny day when my mom is in Sydney later this month.  I already told her I'm making her do this walk!

Zoo and Aquarium
Kelly and I opted out of the Sydney bridge climb on Monday morning and instead we decided to meet Belinda and the Adelaide girls at the Torango Zoo (another first for me).  This zoo definitely has the best view I've ever seen.  We took a ferry from Circular Quay to the zoo and then took a sky safari to the zoo entrance.  (I was nervous the sky safari was a chair lift but luckily it was gondolas (I have a very strange fear of chair lifts). 

Picture stolen from Katie's facebook page :)

It was great to see Belinda and her friends.  We had met Sarah, Katie, Jess, and Ezzy in Adelaide so it was fun to see them again.  We also met their friend Zoe who had recently moved to Sydney and they were visiting for the weekend!  All together these may be the funniest girls I know - I think I laughed all day!

I think he was pretty cute - until he pooped into his own hand.  I walked away after that - not sure what he did with it!

After the zoo Kelly and I met up with the rest of our group at the Sydney aquarium (another first!).  I actually don't know the last time I have been to an aquarium anywhere.  I think I need to find some more to go to...it was great!

After the zoo we decided we needed to fit in with the rest of the population and go to the pub!  It was ANZAC Day (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) which means everyone was drinking....and there were lots of men in uniform.  We found some couches at a bar on Darling Harbour and enjoyed watching other people drunkenly making foolds of themselves on the dance floor at 5 PM (I even more enjoyed that I was not one of them!)

Karoake
I can't think of many vacations with Belinda that did not involve karoake.  After our full day of animal viewing we met up with Belinda and gang again at a Ding Dong Dang karoake.  So much fun!

Belinda and I wow'ing everyone with our vocal abilities.  I think we got a perfect score

Last Day in Sydney
We completed the Sydney portion of the trip with a walk through the royal botanical garden, LOTS of pictures of the opera house and harbor bridge, and a bus tour around Sydney including stops at the fish market and Chinatown

Sydney vs. Melbourne
Kelly and I spent most of the time in Sydney comparing Sydney to Melbourne.  Here's a rundown of what we came up with:

Sydney:
1) Better beaches (seriously that coastal walk was gorgeous)
2) They played Ke$sha - Kelly has been requesting "your love is my drug" at every bar in Melbourne and the first bar to actually play it was the Lowenbrau Hotel in Sydney.  However, we have since taken this point back when a bar on Brunswick St. in Melbourne also played it for us!

Melbourne:
1) Restaurants!  You don't have to walk far in Melbourne to find a restaurant, cafe, sushi stand, etc. We were staying at the Marriott in Circular Quay and struggled to find something to eat besides the McDonald's on the corner (which we did hit up after our night in the Rocks).
2)  Public transporation - I would much rather ride a tram than a bus!  Plus I felt like the trains were so slow in Sydney
3)  Bars!  I've never been denied a shot after a certain time or been told their "scouter" spotted us walking down the street and wouldn't let us in.  Seriously - that night we were SOBER!

I know we had more but this is what happens when I wait a month to write my blog.  Overall though, Kelly and I found Melbourne to be the clear winner in the comparison.  Sydney is an awesome place to visit but I think we are both happy in our choice to live in Melbourne!

I left Sydney on Tuesday night to head back to Melbourne for a 3 day work week while the rest of the group went to Port Douglas for 5 days :(

Once everyone got to Melbourne Kelly and I both had to work so we didn't have a lot of time to show them around.  While we were working they saw the Great Ocean Road, Phillip Island, and Yarra Valley Wineries.

On Thursday night we showed them a few bars around Melbourne including the James Squire Brewhouse and the Croft

Shots from a syringe at the Croft

 Friday we did a laneways tours around the city and the went to a Melbourne Rebels rugby game.

Laneways tour

RK and I cheering on the Rebels

It was so much having our friends visit and showing them why we love Australia so much!  I think its safe to say they all had a good time - even if they spent a little too much money (Memories are priceless).  I think I was the most homesick I've been after saying goodbye to our friends, but I have more visitors to look forward to soon - and lots more of Australia to explore!

Kelly and I are sad our friends are gone :(

New Zealand

New Zealand

Most of you think I lead a pretty exciting life in Melbourne.  How is this for exciting:  It is Friday night at 9PM and I am sitting on the couch in my sweats writing this blog and watching the Notebook (yep I moved to Australia for this!).  In my defense, I am recovering from probably the worst case of tonsillitis I have ever had, it’s cold and rainy out, and I am resting up for a Yarra Valley wine tour with the newbies tomorrow.

Enough about that, I am here to update you on my recent escapades around parts of the Southern Hemisphere.  Way too much has happened since my last post so I’m going to focus on New Zealand for this post and hopefully it won’t take me too long to get to the rest.

Kelly and I flew to New Zealand on April 17 (its only a short 3.5 hour flight – I am definitely going back soon).  The best part of the trip happened just after we got through the slowest-moving customs line known to man………we were reunited with our long lost Minnesota friends!!!  Our week in New Zealand was the beginning of a 3 week vacation for our friends Rachelle (RK), Heather (HK), Dave (DK), and Sara O (I am currently searching for a guy with a last name starting with ‘K’ for Sara to marry so she fits in with the rest of the group.  Anyone who is interested please send me an email at tawnya.k.hopkins@gmail.com).  When I saw them, I may have jumped up and down and ran through the airport with two backpacks on (is it still called a backpack when I was carrying it on my front?).  It has been 6 months since I left Minnesota so it was so great to see them!

We travelled the South Island of New Zealand from Sunday to Saturday.  It was much too short of a trip.  I now understand why everyone told me we weren’t spending enough time in New Zealand.  Luckily it’s close to Australia so I definitely want to return (at least once more) while I am still living in Australia.  New Zealand was honestly too amazing for words, but I’ll give it a try.  Here is a very brief recap of our days in NZ:

Sunday

 We made our way from the airport to our hostel in Queenstown. We could see right away why everyone who had been there had such great things to say – Queenstown is beautiful!  The mountains, the lake, the autumn colors – all of it was beautiful.  Even the view from our $20/night hostel was unbeatable.  Check it out:

Our first meal in Queenstown came highly recommended – Fergburger.  It did not disappoint!

Monday

We had an early start on Monday as we boarded a bus for Milford Sound at 6:30 a.m.  As we got closer to Milford Sound the views became even more spectacular (I am struggling to find different ways to say beautiful when describing the New Zealand scenery).  Luckily there were plenty of opportunities to stop and take pictures.   After a 5 hour drive to Milford Sound we boarded a boat for a 2 hour boat ride on Milford Sound.  I won’t even try to describe it – just check out these pictures:

On the way to Milford Sound

Tuesday

Time for some extreme activities!  We started the day white water rafting – a first for DK, RK, HK, and Kelly.  Even though my feet were frozen from sitting in a puddle of water, the experience was well worth it.  Rachelle broke her oar when she didn’t pull it in far enough when we had to get down in the raft.  Luckily our guide chief had an extra.  Then we nearly lost all of our oars when we got stuck on a rock and then capsized.  We all tumbled into the water except Kelly.  The whole thing lasted only about 45 seconds however, it felt much longer.  I will never forgot the look of terror on Rachelle’s face and she was stuck in the water trying to free her legs from the raft.  Good news – we all survived and the experience led to many great laughs throughout the rest of the trip.

The only pictures we have from the rafting are actual photos and I don’t have a scanner.   But you can check out our video.  The video also has lots of generic footage.  Fast forward to 4:30  (the tunnel).  Once the music changes and speeds up you’ll see us coming towards the rapid….and then getting stuck on the rack. Keep watching – it’s so good they actually show it twice!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6NW2FvDSc0

Quote of the day (Sara to our guide, Chief): “What’s a Sheep Shagger?”

There was no time to recover from the rafting adrenaline rush before Sara and I were on to the next adventure – the world’s tallest tandem canyon swing.  The others signed up for skydiving, but I have decided that skydiving is not in the cards for me as I have tried to go skydiving 3 times and God has stopped me every time.   A girl would be insane not to listen to a sign like that!  Luckily Sara thought she would be safer doing the canyon swing so I had someone to share the experience with.

In one word, the canyon swing was TERRIFYING!  For those of you who don’t know what it is, its very similar to bungee jumping except you are in a full harness instead of just a strap around your legs and after your free fall the cord does not stretch and then bounce back.  It’s just a nice leisurely swing.

A video would probably help you understand better.  Check out this video of our jump:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E27SPxrqqxk&feature=related

The canyon swing workers really were horrible, horrible people.  They filled our heads with stories of people jumping into rocks, the cords not being able to support the weight of two people,  etc.  And they would not stop.  Even when I asked them in a very nice, high pitched frightened voice. 

I think I am done with extreme activities.

Wednesday

RK, DK, HK, and Kelly couldn’t skydive on Tuesday due to the weather so they went skydiving on Wednesday morning while Sara and I went to pick up the rental car - my first time driving on the left side of the road.  And it actually felt pretty natural!

We left Queenstown for Franz Josef.   Although the road was steep and curvier it really was not as scary as I thought (it must have been Dave’s great navigational skills or his constant “Tawnya, you are too close to the edge” comments).  The view was again AMAZING and we could have stopped a hundred times to explore (and take pictures) but we had a glacier to climb in Franz Josef!

Quote of the day (Kelly while playing catch phrase):  “San Francisco has this!…..Wait, I mean McDonald’s has these!” (answer:  Golden Arches)

Thursday

Glacier hike day!  We opted for the pricey, but highly recommended helihike.  We took a short helicopter ride to the middle of the glacier where we did a 2 hour hike.  Again…..Beautiful.  I’ll stop talking now and let the photos speak for themselves.

Friday

We left Franz Josef and drove to Greymouth where we caught the Tranz Alpine train to Christchurch.  Before the trip I read online that this was supposed to be the most scenic railway in the world.  I guess it might be the most scenic railway but it didn’t compare to the drive from Queenstown to Franz Josef.  So we opted for reading some Chelsea Handler instead.  Chelsea Handler reminds me a lot of Kelly.  I hope Kelly gets her own talk show and becomes a New York Times Bestseller.  I hope she does not refer to me as “Dumb Dumb” like Chelsea refers to one of her former roommates.

Reading Chelsea Handler on the train

Saturday

Nothing to report here – Kelly and I were up at 4:30 a.m. to get to the airport for our flight to Sydney.  But that’s a tale for another day.

The pictures of New Zealand truly are amazing (have I said that enough yet).  If you want to check out more you can visit the share site we set up:  http://nzandaustraliaapril2011.shutterfly.com

There are over 1000 pictures on the website so I hope you have a lot of free time.

After I finished writing all of this, blogspot will not let me post anything.  I had to explain this so you didn’t think I was a liar when I post it later and it is really not 9PM on a Friday night J

Everyday Life

Since I seem to have trouble writing detailed blogs, I've decided to do a blog with just a few highlights of places/events I've been enjoying around Melbourne.  Here a few things that have happened recently:

Moonlight Cinema
During the summer there is an outdoor cinema in the Royal Botanical Gardens.  I saw Breakfast at Tiffany's with Kelly, Amy, Gail, Wendy, and Katie.  Kelly couldn't believe that most of us had never seen it before!  A week later I saw The Dilemma with Graham, Steph, and Val.  Not my favorite Vince Vaughn movie but it was still fun.  Even though we got there too late and the bean bag chairs were sold out (and Val and I didn't have a blanket so we had to just sit on the cold ground!



Breakfast at Tiffany's at Moonlight Cinema


Night Market
The Queen Victoria Market has a night market every Wednesday during the summer.  Being the procrastinators that we are, we waited until the last week to go.  What a mistake!  The market was insane.  We could hardly walk through the aisles and actually shopping was almost impossible.  However, the sangria was delicious!

Trevor and Claire's housewarming
Last weekend Kelly and I went to a housewarming party in Chadstone for our friends Trevor and Claire.  I"ve mentioned Trevor and Claire before - they are two of our four Australian friends.   Their house is great!  They have a nice patio that is completely covered which was perfect for the rainy Saturday night.  The house also backs up to a park - perfect for some summer barbecues!

Kelly and I figured we would  make at least four new Australian friends by the end of the night.  We met lots of great people so hopefully we made a few new friends!  I do recall making plans to go to my first footy game (match?) and talk of camping at some point.  I also remember Justin promising to personally make sure we see everything there is to see in Victoria - so I plan on holding him to that!

Ice Lounge
Apparently I felt like I'd missed out on the freezing Minnesota winter so this Friday I went to Chill On - an ice bar in the city.  This was another one of our voucher deals - $35 for one drink, one shot, a photo, and a $25 voucher to be used for additional drinks.  The bar was -10.  I'm proud to say we survived the whole 30 minutes but most of us were pretty numb after that.  The gloves and coats provided would never cut it in Minnesota!  The Ugg boots kept my feet nice and toasty though.  I might have to invest in some of those for this winter.  Emma - do you know where I can get myself a pair???

I just got back from a day in Sorrento swimming with the dolphins and seals.  I don't have any pictures downloaded yet so I will have to share that story later.  My flight for New Zealand leaves in 10 hours.  I better finish packing and get some sleep.  One week in New Zealand and 4 days in Sydney with Kelly, Rachelle, Dave, Heather, and Sara.  I will definitely have a lot to write about when I get back!

Matt and Betsy's visit

I had very good intentions of going to the gym after work tonight.  But I knew if I did that then I would never write this blog.  So here I am - sacrificing my own health and well-being = to bring this much-anticipated blog.

My first US visitors were my best friend, Betsy and her husband, Matt (also my very good friend).   My plan was to write down everything funny thing that Betsy to put in my blog, but I would have been writing non-stop so I gave up on that pretty quickly! Hopefully a few good things come to me along the way.

Betsy arrived on a Thursday afternoon so I met her at Southern Cross station.  Completely uncharacteristic of my usual self, I was late so Betsy actually arrived before I did (It's okay, I never got around to making a welcome sign anyway).  I've found that relying on public transportation has turned from a very punctual person into someone that is always running late.  Just call me Autumn :)

Betsy had Thursday and Friday to explore Melbourne before we were on to our next adventure.  Highlights from Melbourne include:

• St. Kilda
• Coffee on Acland Street
• Dinner at Biero in the city (my first Scoopon used!)
• Betsy's day of exploring the city while I was at work - she didn't get lost and even made it back to my apartment on her own to get her suitcase which was still in LA when she arrived
• Drinks at Beer Deluxe in Federation Square with Val, Graham, Steph, Emma, Rockey, and Charlotte

One of my favorite things when visiting friends in their new home is meeting their new friends so I was really glad that Betsy got to meet some of the EY group Unforunately we had to be up at 4:30 a.m. to catch a flight the next morning so had to be responsible and cut the night short.  (I was even the one that said we needed to leave - I didn't even need Kelly dragging me home!)  At least now Betsy can put a face with a name when I talk about my EY start group.

Betsy and I on St. Kilda Pier

The Kuecker's coordinated their trip around the Labor Day weekend in Australia.  Kelly and I had Monday, March 14 off so we took off Tuesday and Wednesday also to give us extra time to visit Adelaide and Kangaro Island. I had read about Kangaroo Island in "1,000 Places to See Before You Die" and have been wanting to go for a long time. Luckily the Kuecker's let me plan part of their trip around things I wanted to see (instead of seeing the same touristy things over and over with my guests).  And the even better news was that my friend Belinda lives in Adelaide so we got to see her too!

Kelly, Betsy, and I flew to Adelaide early Saturday morning where Belinda was waiting for us (thanks for getting up early to come get us Bel!!!)  We went back to Belinda's house to drop off our bags and start the day with a sausage roll from the bakery across the street and then we were off to the Barossa Valley.  For those of you that drink any Australian wine in the states - it is probably from the Barossa Valley.  Jacob's Creek and Penfold's are a couple of names you might recognize.  We went to both of these wineries!  Our in the Barossa Valley was absolutely gorgeous!  Blue skies, perfect temperature, and AMAZING scenery!

We visited 5 wineries and had lunch in Tanunda.  Anyone that was on Facebook that day probably saw your news feed filled with Belinda checking us at each place visited.  Again a big thanks to Belinda - she planned out our route, drove us around, took pictures on my camera all day, and never had a single drink.  She really is the best!!  Here are a few pictures from the day:


Our favorite for the day - Grant Burge



Betsy and I at Grant Burge (Betsy holding our first wine purchase of the day)

Saturday night we met up with some of Belinda's friends at a bar in the city.  One of her friends was in a band so we got to be groupies - dancing up a storm in front of the stage.

Sunday we went to a wildlife park where Betsy and Kelly got to hold koalas (I sat this one out as I had already done it).  I think this was the highlight of both of their trips as I have never seen either of them smile so much!

Matt arrived Sunday evening and we we welcomed him to Australia with a delicious meal - Pizza Hut all-you-can-eat buffet (if you know Belinda at all you aren't surprised by this - she loves her Pizza Hut buffet!)

Monday morning we were up bright and early to catch a ferry to Kangaroo Island.  Kelly just told me I have to be done with my blog by 9 so here is a very brief recap of our visit:

Monday
We started the day at Seal Bay.  The seals were awesome!  We didn't pay the extra to go down on the beach with them but instead chose to watch them from the boardwalk.  The seals were still super close - one of them nearly walked right up to us and another was actually sleeping under the boardwalk!  My favorite was seeing a mother and baby seal slide down a sand dune....the baby squealing all the way down.  I wish I had a video!

Seal Bay

Next we made our way to our rented house in Vivonne Bay (voted best beach in Australia a few years ago).  Although the weather wasn't too warm we decided to check out the beach.  It was beautiful even if the water was freezing.  (Sorry everyone, I didn't bring my camera).

Monday night we attempted to go to the penguin walk in Kingscote but sadly it wasn't the right season and we only got a few glimpses of any penguins (Luckily I took Matt and Betsy to the St. Kilda Pier upon their return to Melbourne and they got to see several penguins up close!)

Tuesday
We drove to Flinders Chase National Park to see Admirals Arch and Remarkable Rocks.  Admirals Arch brought another chance for some seal viewing and the Remarkable Rocks truly were remarkable!  We had fun taking lots of pictures here - including attempting a picture holding Matt up (we did not succeed).

Group shot at Admiral's Arch

Remarkable Rocks - failed self-timer picture

After Flinders Chase we went to Little Sahara.  Sadly I don't have any pictures of this because my camera was dead and Kelly hasn't posted any pictures on facebook yet.  Little Sahara is this huge sand dune in the middle of the island where people can go to sandboard of sled.  The climb up the dune was hard work!  We had a bit of troubles with our sled (it didn't really slide, just got stuck in the sand every few feet).   Matt, Kelly, and I each attempted to sandboard.  Matt actually did really well - he made it almost to the bottom before wiping out.  I think Kelly and I made it about 8 feet and 5 feet respectively.  I don't think professional sandboarding is in our future, we better stick with auditing.

Wednesday
We checked out of our house and headed to a wildlife park in the middle of the island and then checked out another beach and one last winery before heading back to Penneshaw to catch the fairy back to Adelaide.

A few other memorable moments on KI:

• Matt's first encounter with a kangaroo occurred at about 10 PM as we were driving back from Kingscote.  That's right - Belinda hit a kangaroo!!! 
• Apparently Belinda has something against kangaroos because in addition to running one over with her car, she also left the gate open at the wildlife park and two nearly escaped.  Don't people know how to shut the gate!
• Belinda yelling "It's not my car" everytime something went wrong with the car - brakes screeching, running over kangaroos, etc.  (The car we took to Kangaroo Island is the car Belinda has been driving for two years.  One of her friends is letting her borrow the car while she is living in Adelaide).

Well, my internet allotment time for the night is almost over so I better wrap this up.  I will do my best to not wait another month before my next blog. 

To Matt and Betsy - Thank you so much for coming to visit me!  You have no idea how much it meant to me (even if it did make me a little homesick when you left)  Thank you for cooking for us on Kangaroo Island and for bringing me Diet Mountain Dew.  I love you guys!

February

Two big events have happened since my last blog:  our housewarming party and Verena's 30th birthday.

Housewarming party
Most of you know I love planning parties: party buses, pub crawls, wine parties - you know it!  Over here I am without my party planning partner in crime (Rachelle) so Kelly had some big shoes to fill (I couldn't believe she's never thrown a party before!)

We have been in our apartment since the beginning of December and my shipment arrived at the beginning of January so we have had plenty of time to decorate and get our apartment ready, but of course we waited until the very last minute which caused several unexpected problems (and lots of laughs!)

Our first problem was hanging pictures.  We haven't had anything hanging on the wall since we moved in because we couldn't figure out how to hang anything.  There were several hooks left behind on the wall when we moved in but most of them are in random places.   For example, there is a hook about 6 inches above the back of the couch.  What could the former tenant have had hanging there?  Even if she didn't have a couch here before, that hook is still in a strange place. It makes no sense!  I tried to put a nail in the wall to hang a picture calendar that my mom gave me for Christmas, and I realized that we have these strange hooks because nails do not go into the wall.  I then googled "how to hang pictures on a brick/cement wall" and the first search result was a picture of the hooks left behind on our walls.  Problem solved - I picked up some hooks at Big W and we now have pictures hanging on the wall and displayed throughout the apartment.  Amanda and Dave K - I don't want you to worry, pictures of both of you are proudly displayed in our living room!
Next problem - Ikea furniture.
It was the Friday night before the party and we still hadn't put together the TV stand we purchased.  Kelly started on the TV stand while I made the food (more on that later).   In the time I made pumpkin dip, taco dip, and pickle rolls, Kelly still only had half the TV stand together - and then realized that part of it was put together backwards.  She has much more patience that I do - I would have given up and sat on the couch way before she did!   The TV stand finally got completed Saturday morning.  Note to self - Ikea furniture with shelves and 40+ steps to complete are not easy to put together.  I think next time I'll buy one already assembled.

Problem #3 - Food.
Although I love planning parties, the food part is not my strong suit and none of my specialties include baking of any kind.  However, because we didn't have our American Thanksgiving we decided that we would make pumpkin pie.  We had to show the Aussies what pumpkin in a can tasted like.  Sadly they never got to taste the pumpkin pie.  While Kelly was putting together the TV stand I attempted to make my first pumpkin pie.  After following the recipe EXACTLY from the Libby's pumpkin pie can, I thought the mixture looked pretty runny.  Having never made pumpkin pie before I wasn't sure what it was supposed to look like, so I poured it in the pie shell and put it in the oven (after making Kelly look at it several times).  The directions use US measurements so I had to convert the oven temperature to celsius - and I know I calculated it right: google would never lie to me.  After setting the timer on my phone I went back to preparing the rest of our food.  I was so focused on making pickle rolls (and eating all the ends) that I never checked on the pie.  Suddenly it hit me that I had almost forgotten about the pie and I checked the timer to find there were two minutes left.  I opened the oven to see a half burnt pie.  What happened?  The outside was burnt and the inside was mushy.  I still have no idea what went wrong, but I knew for sure that I wouldn't be serving that pie at our party!!  We still had enough to make another pie but decided not to try again.  Instead we made pumpkin dip (thanks to my cousin Jennie for introducing me to that!).

The final problem was how to buy alcohol for a party for 30 people without having a car.  This would have taken several trips to the bottleshop on Fitzroy Street, but luckily Verena graciously volunteered to drive us to get alcohol.  We owe her big time!

Finally it was time for the party to start!  We had invited our neighbors to our party (as a courtesy since we figured it would be a bit loud and we did not want to upset them). When no one showed up to the party at 7 we were a bit nervous that the neighbors might be the first to arrive and having never really met them except passing in the hallway we were worried about having to make small talk with them until others arrived.  As it happened, none of the neighbors came and our apartment quickly filled up with friends from EY, PwC, and "the Aussies."

Our final menu included pumpkin dip, taco dip, pickle rolls, pineapple and cheese (idea stolen from the Rockey's) and crackers and cheese.  The taco dip and pickle rolls were a big hit.  I think people were not sure what to make of the pumpkin dip.  If only John Powell was here - he would have eaten it all!  Sadly we forgot to put it back in the fridge so Kelly and I couldn't even enjoy it the next day :(

I hope everyone had as much fun at the party as we did.  A few highlights of the party:

• Seeing Trevor stand by the table with Jello shots and take about 8 in a row.
• The netball book housewarming gift from Graham and Steph
• Having 30 people crammed into our apartment and realizing how many amazing people we have met in such a short amount of time!
• All the leftover drinks!!!!!



Before the party started I put my camera "somewhere safe" so I would know where it was.  Turns out I forgot where it was until near the end of the party so I only have a few pictures of the night:

Judy was so happy to have some friends to drink with!



Part of the extended EY group

Verena's Birthday
Verena was the first person in our group to have a birthday in Melbourne - and it just happened to be her 30th!!  It seems like birthdays are much bigger events here than at home.  I always hear people saying they have a 30th, 21st, etc. party to go to at the weekend.  So we wanted to make sure that Verena had a 30th birthday to remember!

The night started with dinner for 18 people at Basque on Chapel St. in Prahran.  Verena arranged all of the food and it was amazing!!  Endless tapas and paella.  We were all stuffed even before dessert.  Although Verena had ordered dessert I asked her to cancel it "because we were all so full."  Little did she know - I had actually brought a cake to the restaurant and dropped it off before everyone else arrived.  The kitchen staff decorated the cake with the 3-0 candles we brought and sparklers and the band sang happy birthday to Verena as the cake was carried out from the kitchen.  Verena was very surprised!  I can't take the credit here though - it was Emma's idea to get a cake for the birthday girl.  We also surprised Verena with a charm bracelet from Pandora.   Emma picked out two charms for Verena - one with her birthstone and a kangaroo.  As a side note - I really like these bracelets (in case anyone reading this has been searching for a present for me!)

Verena's 30th birthday cake

A big thank you to everyone who helped make these two weekends so great.  Can't wait for lots of more memorable moments!

Weekend in Sydney

Seeing that Rachel has already posted her blog about Sydney, I figured I better hurry and post mine as well.  Judy - sorry for not posting sooner. Hopefully I can provide some more details that Rachel overlooked!

To back up a bit for the rest of you:
Around the same time that I decided to move to Australia, my 19 year old cousin, Rachel, also decided to move to Australia.  Secretly I was hoping that she would pick a school in Melbourne, but instead she has decided to attend school (uni) at Macquarie University just outside of Sydney.  Being the wonderful older cousin that I am, I agreed to meet Rachel at the airport when she arrived in Sydney.  (I'm not sure my aunt would have let her on the plane otherwise).  Honestly, I loved being able to be there for Rachel's first Australia experiences and getting to show her some of the things I love about this country!

I didn't let Rachel have much time for jet lag - we had way too much to fit into 3 days!

Saturday:
Rachel arrived mid-morning and she was easy to spot wheeling out her cart full of 4 suitcases.  International arrivals at the Sydney airport is great people watching - I almost missed Rachel coming out as I was busy watching everyone else!
An $80 cab ride later, we arrived at Macquarie University and Rachel got checked in to her apartment (sadly I took no pictures of her apartment). 
To tell you that Saturday was a hot day is an understatement.  IT WAS UNBELIEVABLY HOT.  The cab dropped us off at the administration building and then we had to get all of our bags to Rachel's apartment.  Picture 2 laughing girls dragging 5 suitcases up hill (we didn't want to make two trips).  Sadly getting to Rachel's apartment did not provide any relief from the heat - no air conditioning!!! 
We spent the day going to Ikea and Big W for essentials that Rachel couldn't fit in her suitcase.   Probably not the smartest thing to do on the hottest day EVER, but we were trying to get it all done so we had the rest of the weekend to just enjoy. 
My favorite Rachel quote of the weekend:  After getting off the train on the way to Ikea there were arrows telling us where to go.  On one side there was a sign that said "Way Out" with an arrow to the left and underneath it a sign that said "Shopping Centre" also with an arrow to the left.  Rachel looks at it and says "Is the name of the shopping centre "Way Out?"   (This coming from the girl with a 4.0 in high school).

Saturday evening we headed into the city for Rachel's first view of the harbor bridge and opera house.  I visited Sydney 3 years ago, but I was glad to see that Rachel was as impressed by the views as I had been the first time. 

After exploring a bit (and walking ALOT), we found a restaurant in the Rocks where Rachel could have her first legal drink.  I think she had one sip and nearly fell asleep at the table.  She did good though - I kept her up until midnight on day one.  What a trooper!

Worst experience of the trip - 97 degrees at 4 in the morning (and probably about 112 in the room).  I took 3 showers just to attempt to cool off.  It didn't work.....

Sunday we had planned to go parasailing.  While we were in Mexico in 2006, I promised I would pay for Rachel to go parasailing as her graduation present from high school.  I finally had to pay up - but what a great experience to go parasailing in Sydney! (Much prettier than on any lake in Iowa - no offense!)
Sunday was still very hot so we were both really excited - until we found out that you need to make a booking and they were all full on Sunday.  We spent the rest of the day with my friend Charlotte walking around Darling Harbor and relaxing in her apartment.  Between the time of being at Manly Beach and getting to Charlottes serviced apartment in the city the temperate dropped by about 30 degrees.  I don't even know how that was possible but we were both freezing as we hadn't brought anything but tank tops and shorts.  I tried hard not to complain about the cooler temperatures though.  At least I would be able to sleep!
Sunday we met my friend Phil and his girlfriend at the Bavarian Bier Cafe.  I met Phil on my Contiki trip in Europe in 2004 and also stayed with him when I came to Sydney in 2007.  Phil is the 3rd person I have met up with from our Contiki Europe trip and I can't wait to see more of them (already lined up to see Belinda in March and Annie in May!)
 
Monday Rachel and I finally got to go parasailing.  Sadly it was actually a bit cool (mid-70s) so we weren't as excited about getting wet.  However - we forgot to tell the people that we didn't want to get dunked.  Waving our arms franticaly didn't help either.  Down we went into the water.  The water was actually pretty warm but sadly we still had our clothes on as we weren't planning on getting wet (the only clothes that we had to wear on the hour trip back to Macquarie).  A few parasailing pictures:

Here we go!



Just before nearly giving each other a concussion



We made it!  Who wants to go again?

 Sadly I had to leave Rachel on Monday night and head back to the wonderful world of auditing.  We were able to get Rachel's bank account set up and internet connected but she was on her own for everything else.  I'm happy to report she still seems to be doing okay - as far as I know she hasn't spent her semester's worth of money yet or ended up in a suburb on the wrong side of the city (although I doubt she would tell me).

It was so great spending the weekend with Rachel.  I can't wait until she comes to Melbourne to visit!

Just an update

Wow, it's been a long time since my last post - not for lack of important things to share with the world though!  Before I forget the events of the last few weeks I thought I would give you all an update.

A few fun events:

Kiz discovered an American dinner in Prahan - Misty's Diner. Two weeks ago Kelly, Kiz, Justin, Claire, Trevor, and I all went to Misty's for some American (aka fried) food.  The Aussies got to experience fried mushrooms, buffalo wings, fried pickles, mozzrella sticks, and corn dogs.  And best of all - Coors Light! I'm glad that Claire and Kiz liked it, even though most Aussies say that it "tastes like piss" (their words not mine!)

Kelly, Matt, Amy, and I went to the Australian Open at Melbourne Park.  We saw the men's and women's 3rd round singles.  I can't say I was really into tennis in the past but it was a fun atmosphere and made watching the rest of the Open on TV a lot more fun.

Amy, me, and Federer - BFFs

Random:

• I have 3 Diet Mountain Dew's left.  I have spent lots of time on google trying to find more and Kelly even emailed USA Foods - no luck :(
• I am still loving having furniture and a bed!  I don't think I can ever sleep on an air mattress again.
• We purchased a washing machine and it is being delivered tomorrow.  Apart from putting together our TV stand, our apartment is pretty much complete!
• I am really loving beers at lunch :)
• Thanks to Graham Reekie for showing me http://www.allthedeals.com.au/.  I am officially obsessed and wil probably be broke from all of the "bargains" I think I am getting.  I have made 5 purchases and have yet to use any of them.
• A new season of shows has finally started!
• The debate over what AFL team to cheer for is still going.  I had decided on St. Kilda because that is where I live but have been told on many occasions not to cheer for them.  Many people have said to cheer for a team with the same colors or name as my favorite team at home.  So I can go for Richmond (black and gold) or Hawthorne (the hawks).  Any thoughts on this one would be greatly appreciated!

My battery is about to die and my power cord is on the other side of the room (one of the disadvantages of accidentally ordered a non-wireless modem).  That's all for now.  Another blog coming soon - all about my upcoming weekend in Sydney with my cousin Rachel!!!