OOOOF DA!

Wow it's been a long time since I've written anything. That dastardly facebook has had my attention. I've posted a lot of my recent photos there if you're a FB 'friend' of mine you've got access. :)

First things first: HAPPY NEW YEAR! HAPPY HAPPY New Decade, thank goodness! Anyone make a resolution? Tell me! Tell me! I'm resolving ... or resoluting?? to get back in shape and see if I can find some ab muscles under the mess I have going on now. :) haha, laugh with me people, it's funny. Maybe another resolution to write more and maybe paint more... give back more. Meh, we'll see. Nothing needs to be set in stone, does it?

Weeeeelllll, just back from Australier and it. was. awesome. I spent eight days in total, six in Tregeagle/Byron Bay/Lismore with my friend Clare and her family (including Christmas) and two days in Sydney with Clare and her friends to celebrate the new year passing. It was an amazing experience and I would encourage anyone to travel there if given the opportunity. I'm this close (fingers an inch apart) to desperately searching out an Aussie husband just so I can live there. Jokes aside, it is probably the most interesting and beautiful place I've been in my life. I was in awe most of the time and proved myself to be a quiet freak. Mumbling strange phrases when asked a question. It was a lot to take in and I'm left feeling like a deserted person who began a great new adventure and was sent away. :)

Drama aside, I do feel that I didn't have enough time to see and do as much as I'd like, so that leaves me with a hope to return one day and see all that Australia has to offer. How was the food? Fresh, healthy and excellent. How was the wine? Tasty and clean. How was the scenery? Cannot even describe the beauty properly. How was the wildlife? Saw about ten wild koalas but only because we actively looked for them in the treetops. Didn't get to see kangaroos but saw and heard plenty of strange wild birds and fell in love with the not-so-wild red hens that Clare's parents keep on their macadamia farm. There are three hens and each one provides one egg per day, every day. They were endless entertainment for me and I took too many pictures of them. How was Christmas? FUN! We ate and drank all sorts of fancy drinks all- day- long. And, AND!! HAHA, they made shrimp ("they're PRAWNS, Beth") on the barbie... I had grilled veggies and salmon. TA-STY! Lots and lots and lots of cheese. If you know me, you can only imagine. He he!!! My name should be Elizabeth Brie or Elizabeth Camembert, certainly Elizabeth Anne suits me fine, though. Thanks, Mom and Dad.
*siiiigh* How was Byron Bay? (Try this, it's a few years old but does the job.) One of the most excellent places to people watch, surf watch, ocean watch and browse for a husband. Just kidding. :) LOL. Byron is a special place that many people told me I am lucky to have gone. So you all should go there, too! Plus, Jack Johnson has a house there! Also, there's a lighthouse up on a cliff that is the most easterly point of Australia... and I went there! Haha Clare and her "beyonce" Steve are considering it for their wedding sight. How was the shopping? Expensive in comparison to USA but well worth it being away from home for so long. We did make it to the Bangalow markets and I bought a bowl made from the burl of a Red Gum Eucalypt. Look that one up! It smells divine, so happy to have such a wonderful souvenir. If I had to choose a place to live in that area, it would be Bangalow. Byron is too touristy and yet close enough to get to from Bangalow for surfing (which I didn't get to try, something I do regret but we were busy during good weather and then it was just unsafe conditions, in my opinion, wink wink... SCARY!).
What were the Australians like? They're very friendly and VERY, VERY talkative. I never know what to say to keep an interesting conversation going, but it didn't really seem to matter, they can gab about anything. :) As I mentioned before, I was far too consumed with people watching and cultural observations to participate much, plus a lot of the conversations were about weddings... something I have little expertise in. I did have things to say about MN and America when asked but mostly I found that my answers were not accepted as I stated them, but reinterpreted by the listener, an interesting Aussie quality. I also did stumble on my words a bit because what you hear around you is a different form of English and I'm not used to speaking that way and didn't want to sound unintelligent when others were speaking so properly... so I fumbled along trying to make words fit together. It was funny, to me anyway. ("Is it just strange talking like that? Haha, good one.)
What was my favorite part? I honestly can't say what it was... it was just the whole thing. I loved the super SUPER scary prop-plane ride (was it really a prop plane? it was a SAAB) such a white knuckle experience that Clare helped me through with her famous humor "OOOOH BETH, only two wheels hit the runway... where's the THIRD WHEEL?? third wheeel???" whilst gripping my hands that were gripping the armrests, after which my thought was "Great! Awesome! Excellent! We didn't die!" We had to fly on Rex airlines from Sydney to Lismore... and I did enjoy the frightening thrill of both plane rides (to and fro). I heard some real horror stories about the weather conditions that some people have ridden through... ours was just a lot of wind.
I loved the landscape, the lush green rain forests and expanse of rolling hills and farms right up to unbelievable ocean views. I loved seeing all the wild animals and hearing their unfamiliar (and sometimes scary) noises... ever hear a kookaburra? They're NUTS! Click here to take a listen and then imagine sitting in a screen porch with pitch black dark outside (they live in the middle of farm country) wondering what creature is laughing at us before it pounces taking out the entire human species housed inside... Have a listen and then try not to laugh yourself. :)
I loved meeting all the generous, kind friends and family that Clare introduced me to... and enjoying such wonderful holiday events with them. A big thanks to Libby, Greg, Myra and Kirk. And especially Miss Clare. I am so grateful for your generosity, you are in my heart, thank you!!
I loved the smell of Australia. It smells goooood.
I just have to add this in there: there are hot guys just walking around, like no big deal, EVERYWHERE. (Or maybe I've just been away from large groups of Caucasians for too long??) No, I think there's something special going on in those gene pools... anyone have anything to add here?? :0)
I basically loved it all. I loved experiencing Christmas and New Year's (amaaaazing fireworks!) in another culture even though it made me extremely homesick. I'll never forget my time there. You people gotta GO!!! And take me with you. I'll just buy a one-way ticket and hope for the best.... meaning I won't get eaten or stung by some deadly creature.... because Australia has ALL of the world's most deadly this or that... no lie. Read Bill Bryson's Sunburned Country/Down Under (pronounced Down Unda, by the way).... you'll see.

Wow, yes, it was a great trip and now I feel a real unsettling sense of confusion. I'm not sure what about... I just keep having this thought "What the heck?" "What the Heck? I don't get it." ... and I'm not even sure what that would be about... really. I'm a mental case. :) I'll have to get out my journal and write, since it's my NY's resolution and all...

Would love to hear about your holidays!

Love.