My First Play

I had a very low key weekend.  I made a deal with Florian that I would come to the Saturday Fat Burning session at the gym since I have never been.  A lot of the people are very intimidating at the gym and look like the hard core work out people you see on tv.  So, Friday I went to see the MOTW (movie of the week) which was Bad Neighbors 2 and yes--it was stupid but it was sooo funny, I was laughing out loud in the theater.  I went to bed early so I could be nice and refreshed for Saturday morning.  There were about 40 people at the gym and I did survive the session and everyone was really nice.  Florian was there and he was very happy that I came and told me that I fit right in and did an excellent job.  I was soaking wet at the end and I will say, it started my day out great.

This is everyone that attended the Fat Burning Session!  As you can see, we like to have a lot of fun:) 


I had been looking forward to Saturday evening because I signed up at work with the social club to go to a play.

It was at one of the oldest theaters in Brisbane and apparently this used to be a British show that was really funny.  There was a small group of us that went, but it was a good time and the show was funny.  I have been missing my plays back home, so this hit the spot:)

Sunday took a drive out to Manly, only about 30 minutes away.  Went to the mangroves which I had never heard of before.  In case you're wondering what mangroves are, according to the Internet, "If you've ever spent time by the sea in a tropical place, you've probably noticed distinctive trees that rise from a tangle of roots wriggling out of the mud. These are mangroves—shrub and tree species that live along shores, rivers, and estuaries in the tropics and subtropics. Mangroves are remarkably tough. Most live on muddy soil, but some also grow on sand, peat, and coral rock. They live in water up to 100 times saltier than most other plants can tolerate. They thrive despite twice-daily flooding by ocean tides; even if this water were fresh, the flooding alone would drown most trees. Growing where land and water meet, mangroves bear the brunt of ocean-borne storms and hurricanes."

There were these ledges and I thought it would be fun to walk to the end-just something random to do!

This cute little fella was trying to eat that cracker.  He kept me entertained for a while!

  

Oven Usage

As you know I like to bake so I bought a muffin tin, muffin wrapper, eggs, oil and I went to town in the kitchen.  It was time to put the muffins in the oven and this is what I saw....

WHAT IN THE HELL DO THESE SYMBOLS MEAN?!?!  I Googled the model of my oven to see if I could get some help and they had a sheet that went over the symbols for their ovens, some of which I had and others I didn't, so I had to take a wild guess which setting to use.  Man oh man...seriously, where is the simple bake option?

Felt like Mexican so went to another part of town.  I'm not giving up on my quest for good Mexican food and tasty chips and salsa. 

Ordered chips and salsa (not free) and got the same bagged chips as the first Mexican place I ever went and the salsa was comparable to chopped up tomatoes.  Better than eating tomato paste on the chips, but still--this was not worth paying for.

However, the Mexican food was absolutely delicious.  I would totally go back and get "food!"

More fun things I have found out:

-If you order a dish and it comes with chips what they really mean are fries.  Not sure if you want chips what you ask for, but you will not be getting potato chips with your meal that much I do know.
-If you order a glass of wine they will set the glass out and fill it to a line that is etched into the glass. All places have this--I guess they are serious about only giving you so much and every place being the same.
-They abbreviate everything, for example the first time I meet people and I tell them my name is Tiffany, they say well it's nice to meet you Tiff.  They do not ask if it's ok they call me this, it's just something they do, so everyone calls me Tiff and I mean everyone.  I go to the coffee shop on the 1st floor of the building I work in and they say, Good Morning Tiff--you want your regular (I must say I am impressed they know what I order as well as my name).  Not sure if this has to do with my accent that the lady says she totally loves or what, but I find it impressive!  I received an e-mail the other other day and one of the words in the e-mail was unfort, I sat there for a minute until I realized they meant unfortunately.  Sometimes reading e-mails is like reading code since everything is abbreviated.
-I've only been to one movie theater here so I can't say it's like this everywhere in Australia but the only options you get to eat and drink are popcorn, ice cream, candy, coffee or soda.  I'm used to back home where you can get anything under the sun, pretzels with cheese, chicken fingers, pizza, beer, wine and the list goes on.  OH--and here all of the seats are numbered so when you get your ticket you have an assigned seat.  You do get to pick front, middle or back, but that's about it.  One thing the local theater does is every week there is a movie of the week and it's at a very reduced rate and since I'm a member I can get that rate if I want to see the movie.  So far, every Thursday when the movie of the week comes out I go and see it.  It gives me something to do and as you know I love the movies.
-Not sure what we do different to our chocolate back home (probably the amount of sugar or type of sugar) but their candy tastes weird here.  I have gotten my two favorite things, Peanut M&M's and Twix's and I could barely eat them (ok...this is a lie, I ate them because I paid for them but I won't be buying them again) because the taste is so different.  If anyone is interested in doing a taste test let me know and I'll bring home these candies and let you taste for yourself.
-You know how fountain soda is just so much better than bottled soda and it just hits the spot?!  You drive down to QT and get a .79 soda and it fulfills your need?  Well...it's like going on a wild goose chase to find a fountain soda here.  I kid you not, the only place I have found downtown is Subway, so....sometimes I go there for supper just to get a fountain soda and pay the extra $10 for the fountain soda (ok...it's not really that much, but it's way more than the .79 you pay at QT:(

Corn on the Cob Flowers...The Truth

Remember the corn on the cob flower I showed you a picture of that I saw on one of my hikes?  Well I got to asking a local about them and I found out they are actually called Banksia.

 

Here is what they look like after they are done flowering and have fallen off of the tree.  According to the Internet, "The flower heads are made up of hundreds (sometimes thousands) of tiny individual flowers grouped together in pairs. The colour of the flower heads usually ranges from yellow to red. Many species flower over autumn and winter.  The fruits of banksias (called follicles) are hard and woody and are often grouped together to resemble cones (which they are not ­ true cones are produced only by conifers).  The fruits protect the seeds from foraging animals and from fire. In many species the fruits will not open until they have been burnt or completely dried out."

Didn't want you to continue losing sleep over the Corn on the Cob flowers and knowing the truth about them;)

Go-Carting, Oh The Memories

Friday night went to a comedy club which was something I haven't done here.  Was a bit smaller than The Funny Bone in St. Louis which I liked so that everyone could be close to the comedians.  There were about 3 openers before the main guy.  All in all they were ok, not the funniest I'd seen.  They did however make fun of Americans (2 of the comedians) which I wasn't happy about.  They made jokes about how easy it is for us to buy guns and shoot each other (I did not find this funny), but the audience sure did-ugh!  

  

Saturday morning headed off to go go-carting!  Reminded me of growing up and the go-cart that we had.  Good times:) 

This is the course we went around.  It was pretty big.  Broke my time up into two 15 min. sessions so that my arms could have a break.  I got passed quite a bit, but once I got the hang of it I started passing people! 

On the way to the go-cart track I stopped by The Evergreen Taoist Church of Australia.  I know absolutely nothing about Taoism but when I Googled it, it says Taoism is a "Chinese philosophy based on the writings of Lao-tzu, advocating humility and religious piety."

They had very interesting art and sacred things in the church.  This is a sacred bell and the note says not to ring it.  

Sunday I drove down to Byron Bay which was absolutely beautiful.  A co-worker had been talking about it so I thought I'd put it on my list of places to visit.

Gotta love this sound!!!

 

I officially went to the most easterly point of Australia:)

Hiked up to this lighthouse

Along the hike I heard something in the trees and then all of a sudden I saw something hopping and low and behold it was a  Swamp Wallaby.  He stopped and looked RIGHT at me, awww.  How cool is that?!  If you're wondering how I knew this was a Swamp Wallaby and not a kanagroo, well at first that is what I thought it was, just a little one, and then at the end of the hike there was a sign that said you might see swamp wallabies on your hike along with a picture.  So...that's how I know what this little fella was!

I'm sure you're wondering why I am showing you this picture of a plant.  Well, there was another sign on the hike that said you might see Barwan (Barrawang Palms) which were very common in pre-historic times and would have been eaten by DINOSAURS.  Did you read that right, this plant was eatin by T-Rex himself, holy cow!  This is a close tie for 1st place on the coolest thing I saw all day (you know how I love seeing furry friends on my hikes), but the fact that a dinosaur ate this very plant kinda blows my mind. 

I would definitly mark Byron Bay on my list of places to come to again.  It had beautiful beaches and scenery!

Sydney

Flew down to Sydney with a few friends for the weekend and had a blast!

The famous Sydney Opera House

Didn't get to see a show, but there's always next time.

 Rode a ferry out of the harbor and this is looking back at the city.

Further away you can see the city and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Went for a walk along the beach and looked out and saw this sailboat.

Stopped for an iced coffee (should have taken a pre picture) but they brought me out this platter with a little glass (on left) of espresso, glass of skim milk (in back), and a glass of ice.  I got to make my own iced coffee, first time for that.

Went for a ghost tour on Friday the 13th from 10pm-12am.  It was the first time they'd done a tour at that time.  This is the oldest house in Sydney, Cadmans Cottage and it's where we started the tour.  I have never been on a ghost tour so I didn't know what to expect.  We got to see a lot of neat places around the city and learn a lot of history.  I didn't see a ghost however:(  

Went to the most famous beach in Australia, Bondi Beach. 

Walked along a path to sight see other beaches and the surroundings.

Came along this beach cruiser which I thought looked pretty awesome!

Debbie and I taking a break on our walk to take a picture.

They had these pools which people were swimming in (lap swimming) that were right next to the ocean (well in the ocean actually).  It was interesting to see these.  People would take their kids to them so they could keep an eye better on them vs. letting them swim in the ocean.  My friend Brad used to swim in this exact pool as a kid!

Saturday evening I climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge (we climbed all the way to where the flags are at the top).  It was very similar to the Story Bridge in Brisbane that I climbed, just taller.  

You had to pay for your pictures (unlike at the Story Bridge) so the only proof I have is this certificate they gave me.

 We did get a group picture.  I am third from the left in the front row. 

Rode the ferry out to Watson's Bay for the day.  You can see Sydney in the background.

Had to take this picture for all of my Gap girls:)

Really pretty views from the top of a walk we went on.

Of course after we checked into the hotel I had to ask where the nearest Starbucks was so I could take a little walk down and put a big smile on my face:)

Ate at a famous restaurant called Pancakes on the Rocks.  This was called Bananarama and it was "Buttermilk pancakes with grilled banana and home made butterscotch sauce, topped with cream and vanilla ice cream."  Totally unhealthy but they were the best pancakes I have ever had!!!

If you look closely you can see white blobs under the water....those are jellyfish!

Trip to Sydney passed by so quickly it felt like we were there and then it was time to come home.   Another great weekend Down Under!