Sunrise

Day 5:

Even though we aren't technically jet-lagged, I'm having a bit of trouble adapting to the time change.  I'm normally a morning person anyway, but I've been getting up at 5am or before every day.  This isn't especially great, but it does give us some unique opportunities.  This morning, we decided to get up and walk down the two kilometers to Nobbys Head at the breakwater of the port of Newcastle.  It was a great vantage point to watch the sun come up over the Pacific.  We had to hustle just a little bit to make the time, but in the end it was totally worth it.  (As I write this, the kookaburras are laughing up a storm outside.)

This was a great way to start a long day of driving from Newcastle to Port Macquarie up the coast.  We decided not to go the most direct way possible and instead stopped at a couple of places.  First, was a town called Nelson Bay.  It was a nice sleepy little holiday town and we had a very nice walk around their main shopping area and the port itself.  Incredibly we forgot to take pictures while we were there, but if we had you would have a seen a harbor with the clearest water I've ever been witness to.  The water right there next to all of the boats was as clear as any I'd ever seen in the Bahamas or elsewhere.  It was almost unnatural.

A couple more stops later and we arrived at Port Macquarie.  Even with the slow pace of our drive up the coast, we don't have nearly enough time to spend in places.  Port Macquarie is easily a town that you could spend a day or two just hanging out and walking the beach or cruising around seeing the sights.   As it was, we got in had time to lounge in the spa for a bit, got dinner and hit the sack.  In the morning, we ran down to the beach real quick just to get some picture before we headed out for the days drive.

Jill Update:

Small problems today, but nothing I can't fix.  In other words the bets don't pay out yet. ;)  I also learned something new about Jill.  No amount of wishing is going to make her into a morning person.

I'm Feeling Manly

Day 4:

Since we fell asleep so soundly the night we got off the plane, Jill and I ended up missing both lunch and dinner.  Day 4 started early with a much-needed breakfast at a street-side cafe.  While eating, I had an epiphany.  You know those scenes in TV shows and movies where the characters are at a cafe and having a conversation?  That's so fake.  Jill and I had to yell at each other just to communicate over the sounds of the city.

We then checked out of the hotel and started to head north, but decided to stop in one of the beach suburbs of Sydney, Manly.  I know of Manly because Adam (Lisa's husband) is originally from there.  After all of his stories of the place, it was good to finally see it in person.  We did a little shopping and walked along the promenade, but the weather wasn't great so we skipped the sand and water.  We do plan on going back when we get back to Sydney in January.

Once we left Manly we headed north towards our destination for the day, Newcastle.  The drive took us through the Blue Mountains which were stunning.  The weather was deteriorating so there was no real opportunity to stop, but we'd drop out of the clouds at the mountain peaks and into these river and lake valleys and the scene was just awesome.  I could definitely see doing some hiking in this area at some point in the future.

Our hotel in Newcastle was interesting as the A/C wasn't working.  Sleeping was difficult, but we only needed one night and then we were off to Port Macquarie.

Jill Update:

Another good day for us.  I learned that there are three keys to keeping Jill happy.

1. Keep her fed
   
2. Keep her hydrated
   
3. Keep her rested
   

Order of the Double Sunrise

Day 1:

Thanks the the wonderful efforts of Sally, our first day was pretty darn easy.  After work, she picked us up at the house and we all went out to dinner.  After dinner, she drove us all the way to Heathrow and made sure that we got there with plenty of time to spare.  The lines weren't too bad and the flight took off on time.

Day 2:

To be honest, I got quite a bit of sleep on the flight which made it bearable.  The first leg ended up being 13 hours and dropped us in Singapore.  I'm not sure I can claim to have ever been there, but the airport was quite nice.  Everyone was required to de-plane with all of their luggage, and then re-board.  Re-boarding involved leaving the secure area around the gate and re-entering through a miniature security setup.

Day 3:

In the early days of Qantas, people who flew the London to Sydney route were inducted into the Order of the Double Sunrise.  They don't do that anymore, but I still feel like I'm a member.  The second leg of trip was about 7 hours and once again was smooth and on-time.

The one hiccup we've had so far is the luggage.  Somehow, the airline managed to mangle our bag severely.  They've nearly ripped the pull-handle assembly off of the bag itself.  At the same time, the bag showed up on the conveyer belt, split open at the zipper.  Tomorrow is a day to find wire-ties and do a quick patch job, but I am damn glad that I got Eagle Creek with their 'No Matter What Guarantee'.

We picked up the rental car and drove into the city.  After a false start, we found the hotel and dropped off the car and luggage.  We couldn't check in for another 5 hours, so Jill and I decided to walk around a bit and headed up towards the bridge.  It was an enjoyable way to kill time and we got some nice pictures.  By around 13.00, we were both completely exhausted and jones-ing for a shower.  We got to the hotel room, took showers and promptly fell asleep.

Jill Update:

For those wondering, Jill still likes me today.  This is an improvement over our Scandinavian holiday in which she hated me before we landed.

Living in... Australia

For those who haven't heard me gloat about it yet, Jill and I are spending the entire month of December (and the first week of January) in Australia.  We're traveling up the Holiday and Gold Coasts for a week, spending a week SCUBA diving and snorkeling in Cairns, a couple of days hiking at Uluru, Christmas in Melbourne, a tour around Tasmania, and finishing with New Year's Eve and the following week in Sydney.

If it sounds exhausting we expect it will be :)  But, we also want to keep everyone in the loop about how things are going.  So for the next month, my Living in the UK blog will become a Traveling Around Australia blog.  Internet (and time) may be scarce, but I'm going to try and keep a daily travel diary and post everything when we get the time to.

And with that, on to the first couple of posts. :)

London Calling

This is a bit delayed, but after a nudge from my mother the other day, I felt like I should post about it.

When I moved to the UK, my parents were a bit lonely without me.  This was especially true for my mother who didn't like me leaving at all.  But I told them that if they really wanted to see me more often, they should come and visit.

In September, they finally came over and we spent two weeks touring southern England.  We:

• Saw the sights in London for a week
• Visited Portsmouth
• Drove across the Isle of Wight and back
• Hiked around the South Downs a bit
  
• Toured Stonehenge
• And finished off with a weekend in Bath

It went way too quickly, but I think they had a good time.  They're already talking about coming back. Yikes!  To see the complete trip, take a look at my mother's photo gallery.

Thanksgiving

It's been a while since my last post, but I've been doing a million things. I'll have a couple more post today hopefully, with some big news for those who don't know.

But first, Thanksgiving. After waiting for something approaching forever, Jill finally arrived here in the UK with me on the 20th of November. I'm so happy that she's here now, but there has been some adjustment needed between us. I've lived as a bachelor for a long time and now that she's here things are starting to change. I mean, who knew that you need to have a dining table!?

But one of the best parts of having Jill here was that I got to have Thanksgiving with someone who knew what it was all about.


After what I can only imagine was a massively stressful week of adjustment, Jill went all out and made an awesome Thanksgiving dinner for us.  She likes to claim that she's not a good cook, but I don't think I've ever had a turkey that was better than what she made that night.  That, gravy, stuffing (which is not like US stuffing...), mashed potatoes (from scratch), cranberry sauce (from a jar?), and a failed attempt at green bean casserole made one of my most memorable Thanksgivings ever.

And yes, that is an ironing board we're eating on.  I already said that I was getting a new table. :)

Who's Legal Now!?

For those of you who know my love of cars, it might be surprising to know that 10 months into my UK residence, I still don't have a car in the UK. To be truthful, it hasn't really hampered me that much. I'm a kilometer away from the grocery, work is about 13 kilometers away and I've got a bicycle that I love. One of the side effects of not having a car, is that I don't have a driver's license. I've lived here for 10 months and don't have a single piece of UK government issued ID!

But those times are changing. Now that Jill is very close to arriving (middle of November, fingers crossed) I'm going to start doing a lot more traveling. In addition, we'll need to buy a car which means some test driving. For all of these things either Jill is going to drive (over her dead body), or I'm going to have to break down to get a license.

And so I have, sort of. I've got my provisional license now which is the first step to a full driving license. In the next couple of weeks I've got to take a couple of tests and then I'll get the real thing. Then watch out Britain!