Beach Santa

Beach Santa:

And I got my haircut today (but not by her, luckily).

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope all our family and friends have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday…

Holiday?  What holiday?  As you may have guessed, Australians do not celebrate Thanksgiving.  However, we were invited to a Thanksgiving dinner last Saturday.  It had to be on Saturday since everyone is working today.  The family hosting the dinner had lived in America for a few years and wanted to continue celebrating the holiday to share a meal with family and friends and reflect on all we have to be thankful for.

It was a wonderful multinational group that shared a meal together.  The turkey was made by a Colombian and everyone brought a dish to share.  We had some traditional dishes made by the Americans in the group – cornbread dressing, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie.  There were also friends there from Germany, England, Sweden, India and of course, Australia.

What about Christmas?  They definitely celebrate Christmas here, but it’s a little different.  I actually keep forgetting that Christmas is coming but it does not feel like Christmas.  It is Spring here – absolutely no possibility of a white Christmas.  The holiday is celebrated here with cherries, picnics, beach Santas and BBQs.   Turkey is available but you may need to order it in advance.  Many people prefer seafood for the big meal rather than turkey or ham.  They do have Christmas trees, carols and decorations with snowflakes.

"Do you live in Boulder?"

It seems that much of the time when we say that we are from the United States, without specifically saying that we live in Colorado, the next question is: "Oh really, do you live or have you lived in Boulder?" When we respond that "Why yes, yes we have lived in Boulder," the typical star-struck response is "oh wow [while batting eyelashes], what was it like?" We then feel like C-3PO meeting the Ewoks at the end of Return of the Jedi. When we tell people that we now live in Fort Collins, they typically say "Never heard of it. Where is that in relationship to Boulder?" It seems that the city of Boulder is synonymous with the United States for a good portion of Australians. I guess most of the Australians we knew in Melbourne before we moved here we did meet in Boulder. Aussies also seem to have a fondness for New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, but that is about the extent of it (oh yeah, and they also watch Portlandia). This is understandable. If you ask the average American what they know about Australia, they would probably say something about kangaroos, Sydney, Men at Work, the Great Barrier Reef, and that is about it.

I'm sure these guys don't know or don't care where Fort Collins is either.

Crapman!!!!!!

Hello this is Isabel!!!!! I know I haven't blogged a lot but I am doing a blog. YAY!!!! Here is a picture of "crapman" a weird "Super Hero" that the government made up to tell people to use recycled toilet paper to reduce reforestation . Their message is "Wipe for wildlife". We took this picture at the Healesville sanctuary. After the visit to the sanctuary we actually bought some recycled toilet paper!! It's from used office paper.

         I hope I can talk more often. I am sorry for being lazy about blogging.

 

  

Catch up

This is Heather.  Most of the other blog posts are written by Eric.  It turns out I don't really like blogging.  But I thought I better start contributing more or Eric will continue to post embarrassing pictures of me (see Mambo Queen) and telling stories of bike crashes - he barely had a scratch.

So...here's a belated Halloween photo of Miss Dracula

Here are my favorite pictures from our trip down the Great Ocean Road.  We had fun exploring the sandstone cliffs and rock formations on a windy day.

Last Sunday we went to the Healesville Sanctuary where we learned more about the animals here in Australia like the Tasmanian devil and dingo.  

Dingo puppy...I wanted to take this one home.  Surely, he wouldn't eat my baby!

Mambo Queen

Look at whom we spotted on a Melbourne Street dancing to Cuban music! (not the guy in foreground). Isabel and I were munching on potato on a stick.

Bad Biking Karma

Yesterday was a bad biking day. I broke another spoke (because of the cheap wheel on my temporary bike). And then I got hit by a car! (literally). It was more of a slow-motion train wreck than a serious crash, and so I was fine. Someone turned right and crossed the bike trail without looking and bumped me off my bike. I sarcastically said "thank you," gave him a dirty look, and then continued on my way.

The bike trail I ride in on does become a bit crazy in the summer. At one end is a cruise ship dock and ferry terminal for the Tasmania ferry, and so the scene there is generally chaotic with people getting on and off ferries and Carnival Cruises. The other end in St Kilda (close to where we live) is like Venice Beach with joggers, bikers, walkers looking at iPhones, people doing yoga and kite surfing, folks strutting their stuff, and people walking around in bikinis. It takes concentration to avoid slamming into someone.

While the mornings are seemingly less populated on the trail, I find the commute in to be akin to being in the Tour de France. Each morning is like a competitive race with people riding as fast as they can, cutting people off, and scowling at motorists and other cyclists. The biking vibe is quite unlike the more friendly biking vibe in Fort Collins. I do find myself acclimating to this more aggressive biking culture. I might come back as a wiry, angry biker who wears black all day!

"My ex-man brought his new girlfriend....."

"....she's like 'Oh, my god!'". Tuesday was a city holiday in Melbourne for the Melbourne Cup, the local horse race that is equivalent to the Kentucky Derby. It is the one day of year that the Melburians put away their black clothing and don "colorful" outfits, including derby hats. It is generally scandalous to wear tan pants in this town. Nevertheless, because of the holiday weekend we took a long 4 day road trip to the Great Ocean Road. Once you leave Melbourne, "local" radio deteriorates substantially, so much so that Mom and Dad were forced to start singing along to Taylor Swift and Nicky Minaj, and Isabel had to close her ears and beg us to plug in my iPad and play the Beatles. It was a good trip, regardless. We saw the 12 Apostles, koalas running down the road (some with youngsters on their back), and Dad got burned by the sun.

We ate at an excellent pizza joint in the town of Port Fairy that had a backyard that was like post-apocalyptic Fort Collins.

We also got to spend the night in an old commuter rail car, from Sydney or Melbourne.

And how can you resist this cuteness that we came across in the bush!