The Long and Winding Road

Well, it's Monday morning, and here I am, all packed up, trying to slow down time as I face my impending return home. It's been a huge eye-opening trip for me. I've loved everything I've seen and done here, and I'll miss it severely. But I'm coming back again. Soon. The Wards say I'm always welcome at their house, and I'm making sure Jono comes to visit me in Connecticut some time. We'll deffs keep in touch.

Anyways, I'll start with Sunday night. Sunday was the aussie version of the Superbowl. The rugby faceoff between New Zealand and Australia. But instead of pretzels, chips, beer, and cheesecake, the Ward family (and apparently all aussie families) had white wine, oysters and prawns in lemon sauce. We sat screaming at the television, scooping out our oysters with our tiny forks and drinking out of our shiny wine glasses, and beheading prawns as the New Zealanders slowly took over the scoreboard. It was a tragic defeat, but we remained very classy the entire time. Danny, you would have been proud.

After the rugby game we ate crab, which was like basically picking through a maze of body caverns to find little half-bites of meat. It was actually kind of rewarding whenever you got a big piece. I felt like a cave man, hunting for my meal. After dinner we watched The Castle, an oldish (like 1980's-1990's) film that basically sums up all of Australian values into a fabulous celebration of culture. It's very funny, and because I'd been in Australia for so long, I caught on to a good deal of the jokes.

I then trecked off to bed. As I was changing, Jono got home from Hornsby Gang Show (LAME) and knocked on my door to tell me a friend was coming over. I grudgingly changed back into my clothing, then went out and met this kid named Chris. He plays guitar and bass, and is about 6'5". He was very nice, and we hung out in Jono's room and jammed a little, and talked about America and the differences between our two countries. He went home at about 1 a.m., and I went to sleep. After changing. For the second time. Hmph.

Sunday morning was a late wake-up, and I hurried into the shower and got dressed quickly because today was WE'RE GOING TO THE ROCKS DAY!!!!!! WOOOOOOOO!!!!

We took the train out to the city and walked to Sydney's main historic district, literally named The Rocks because it's on a bunch of rocks, and strolled through the Aroma Festival, a one day celebration of coffee and it's complements. Jono and I waited in line for half an hour to get into a food place named Pancaks on the Rocks. And it was well worth the wait, and the food totally made up for our bad seating arrangement (I had to suppress the urge to request a different table because we had very few options). I ordered an Aussie Sunrise, which was a sunny side up egg, bacon, pancakes, and grilled pineapple and banana. IT WAS SO GOOD. SO. GOOD. They need to open one in America. No, two: one in Middletown, and one in Lyndhurst. Yum yum yum. I want more right now, even though I already had my breakfast (toast and some weird cake with chocolate and coconut that was really tasty). After Pancakes on the Rocks we walked along the harbour and took pictures of things and tried to dangle our feet in the water (but we were too high up on the wharf) and then went back to the train station and took it home.

After that, Jono's friends and I met at a huge park and sat on blankets in the grass of a large field. His friend Tyler played guitar, but his hand has a torn ligament so it was a little muted, and we sang songs as the sun started going down. When it touched the treetops we moved into the woods and started a fire on The Rock (not to be confused with The Rocks; this was just a huge rock that jutted over a cliff), and as the sun set we sang more songs and talked about traveling and compared colloquials between Australia and America. I was also coached more on the Aussie accent, which apparently isn't that hard to replicate if you also get into the mindset (watching The Castle helped me with that part of it). We poured water on the fire and stamped it out when it got around time for church. Jono and Kate had left early because they had band rehearsal, so Hanri took me in her car. Hanri's really nice; she and I almost went to maccers but decided to keep Tyler company for a half hour or so before church started.

Tyler asked me a lot of questions about America and American customs and people and majorities, and discovered that a lot of his assumptions about American girls and even American people in general were wrong. He had assumed that no one ever went outside, that we rarely played sports or exercised, that we were nearly all Christians, and that we didn't have any healthy food whatsoever. He also assumed that we were just basically a churning cesspool of corruption and rot. Ah, media. How you poison the youth.

I met a really nice girl named Rachel who had actually just gotten back from L.A. and Minnesota (talk about polar opposites), and she talked to me a lot about how much she loved America because everything was so cheap (yeah, tell me about it). I sat with Hanri, Rachel, and a girl whose name I can't remember, during the service and the sermon was actually really nice and thought-provoking this time. I talked to the preacher afterward and he wished me good luck on my ventures in the states.

After church we went home and watched the finale of...dundundun...MASTER CHEF!!!! It was just a heart-gripping episode. Julie won!!!! It was so sweet. We had the pink ling fish for dinner (with lemon caper crumble) and potatoes and vegetables. For dessert there was MORE of Lucy's birthday cake. After dinner I watched the Tour de France and hugged Jono for about half an hour because it turned out that he had Uni in the morning so he wouldn't be able to see me off to the airport. SO SAD!!! I went to bed somewhat melodramatically, just to express the regret I felt in leaving. I'm really going to miss this place.

So here we are again. Monday morning. Hanri's coming over some time to say good bye, and Mrs. Ward and I are going to Woolworth's to pick up some dessicated coconut and Tim Tams before we leave for the airport. I have to take my superclean airplane shower before I go. I'm so sad!!!!! I DON'T WANNA GO!!!

Although it will be nice to stop hearing people fake American accents. And I want my vernacular back. I'm tired of saying "hot chips" instead of "fries" and "bin" instead of "trash can" and stuff like that. It's weird. Talking with other words makes me feel like a different person. Everyone please put up with my weird words when I come home!!!!

Love you all!

I'll see you soon! (July 20th 11:30 P.M. I get to the airport)

Love,

Janet

The Longest Post In the World

Sorry I haven't been posting lately. It's been ages, hasn't it?

SORRY!!!

Alright so, when was the last time we talked? Thursday? No, Tuesday. What happened Wednesday???

Ah, yes.

Alright, Wednesday I woke up and ate breakfast, and then Jono and I decided to go for a bike ride at the Olympic Park. It was spectacular. There were swimming pools and arenas and biking mounds and EXXXXTREME little bike trails with pavement and little dotted lines and maps and fountains and everything. I saw an ibis!! I took pictures of lots of things and we rode up a huge hill by riding around and around and around on it in circles forever. From there you could look across the entire area and see all the tiny people walking around. There were lots of construction cranes.

Lately Sydney has been involved in a crazy obsession with ripping down nice little buildings and putting up apartments. The Wards have divulged opinions on this "disgraceful" practice many times, and I completely agree. The government in Australia is rather slow on many matters of tree hugging and historic aesthetic value.

Did you know it's illegal to cut down a tree in your yard in Australia? And you have to get special permission from the council to do anything to your property. And if you pick a leaf off a gum tree in the bush you can be fined or even jailed. They're super protective of their trees and bushes and stuff.

I saw a plant that used to be called a Black Baby but now they just call them Grass Trees because apparently it's racist to call them that. Who knew.

Anyways, back to the bike ride. After the large hill we rode over to a big iron walkway that goes in a circle around the old brickmaking pit. It's now inhabited by golden frog things that apparently enjoy everything humans do besides reading and band-aids.

We finished up our ride after about 2.5 hours, and I went back and had a 40 minute run. Then I showered. And what a good shower it was. I was so clean my ears squeaked!!

After my shower we loaded into the Touareg and went to...(DUNDUNDUN) the Hornsby Gang Show. It was outrageously average. The only good part was this little girl who sang the lonely goatherd song and this one (surprisingly) funny rugby parody. The rest was...dismal. The singers were off. The dancing was okay. I started laughing at this one part that wasn't funny because they were doing a modern dance piece and it was choreographed with the song Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap. The reason it was funny was because HB always did their modern dance pieces to an Imogen Heap song. I don't know. You probably don't think it's funny. Never mind.

Anyways, I got to eat an ANACONDA at halftime...er...interlude...uhm...intermission...whatever...and I also got to try these lovely things called Maltesers. It was grrrrreat.

We went home and I think I just watched TV and the Tour de France and went to sleep.

THURSDAY!

The next morning I had asked Jono to wake me up at 8:00 so that I could shower in time to be picked up by Jono's dad's parents. We were having a fun outy day. Unfortunately, my brain alarm roused me at 8:26, just in time for me to race into the shower, yell at Jono, put clothes on, and jump out the door with toast in my hand.

Jono's grandparents took us to the Sydney Art Museum, where I looked at lots of pictures and sculptures and abstract artsy fartsy things that didn't make ANY sense WHATSOEVER. I also found an awesome asian statue in the very pretty asian wing and took a picture with it. You should check it out on my facebook. Danny will know which one I'm talking about. I think.

Anyways, after the art museum we ate in the cafeteria. I got a salmon tart (baby quiche) with fresh little fun greens salad. When I was out looking at tall buildings with his grandma, his grandpa went and bought me a gingerbread man! It was so cute and nice. I kept the little red ribbon that tied the bag.

After a nice lunch, Jono and I went to the Royal Botanical Garden, located on the King's Domain next to the harbour. We spent most of our time in the Succulent Garden. Pictures are on Facebook. The plants were very succulent. I got prickled by a scratchy plant and it was itchy for a while and kind of painful and then Jono was like "Hey, look, it's poisonous" and pointed at a sign and I freaked out for about ten minutes. But then I realized that the sign just meant you shouldn't eat it. Yay. I didn't die.

As we were going through the garden Jono got a call from his grandmother, who was waiting on Wharf 6 for us. We took a Captain Cook Cruise!! It was awesome. The wind was blowing salty sea spray all over the place and my hair was going crazy and I was wearing my still-bloody Anthropologie dress so a few times I think the entire boat got to see my Hello Kitty Christmas panties. After the first couple incidents I tied my sweatshirt around my legs, though, haha. We got lots of really good pictures of the harbour and the expensive (multimillion dollar) homes on the shore. We saw the hall where the ballroom scene in Australia was filmed (you KNOW which scene I'm talking about, mommy...you know, the one with "the look").

We got back to the shore and walked around to the Town Hall and the ye olde Customs Hall and the Sydney Mint, and the Hospital. We had coffee and bikkies at a cute little coffee place by the Nightingale building by the Hospital (named after old Flo). After coffee we walked back to the car and they drove us home.

On the way home Jono informed me that we would be going to Max Brenner's, a chocolate place about ten minutes from his house, for dinner. When we got back to his house, his mom informed him that their old old friends were coming over, with their kids Hamish and Harriet, for dinner. Jono and I stayed for half of that dinner and caught up with them. Hamish was really nice and embarrassed because it had been crazy hair day at school and his hair was in tiny little stick-outy braids and he was leaving a GREAT first impression on me, haha. I got a bad vibe from Harriet, but she acted nice and Jono said she was nice so I trusted on it. We left the house at about 8:00 and sat down at Max Brenner's at 8:15. On the way in through the door I saw two huge vats of chocolate...just sitting there, stirring, whirring, bubbling, and oozing chocolatey smell. It was at this moment that I knew that I would one day LIVE IN THE ATTIC OF THAT PLACE. This chocolate cafe was amazing. I ordered a little pot of chocolate and a cookie and a chocolate cookie shake and ate all of it and got outrageously obese but it was GREAT.

After Max Brenner's, Jono and all of his friends and I went to Wooley to buy a cheesecake and a pack of picnic spoons. We went back to Jono's house and ate cheesecake, talked, listened to somewhat unappetizing music, and...straightened Jono's hair!!! Woo!! It was so funny. He didn't actually look that bad with straight hair.

Everyone left and Jono and I watched the Tour de France, and then I decided it was time to go to bed.

FRIDAY!!!!

I woke up nice and late. Late late late. It was about 11:30. I ate 2 slices of toast for breakfast. Since it was so late, I decided to go running while waiting for Jono to wake up. I ran a bit over 7 miles, (a little under 60 minutes), then came inside and showered.

Then.

We went to see.

HARRY POTTER 6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was so good. I almost cried at this one part that I can't talk about cause Stephanie hasn't seen it yet but it wasn't when Dumbledore died, that's a hint. It was so good.

AND I DON'T CARE THAT DADDY SAID IT WAS BAD.

IT WAS GOOD.

VERY GOOD.

...There was a whole lot of Tom Felton.

After the movie we came home. Jono left for the Hornsby Gang Show. LAME. We went out for dinner. We ventured out to this great sushi place. I had lots and lots of raw fish and rice and avocado. And I had a little wasabi and I didn't die!!!!! It was great. After dinner we went to Woollworth's and bought some random stuff, and then we went back home and made sticky date pudding! It was delicious. We watched Master Chef and ate seconds on sticky date pudding, and then Jono came home and we watched music videos and the Tour de France. I finished the second half of Hannibal, which was REALLY REALLY GOOD. I would like to watch The Silence of the Lambs when I get home. But the movie of Hannibal doesn't follow the storyline at all, which is a really big shame because I'd love to see it with the guy that plays Hannibal, but I won't be watching it in any case.

So yeah, went to bed. Late, again. I might get a good night's sleep tonight, though.

SATURDAY!!! TODAY!!! FINALLY CAUGHT UP!!!

Woke up at 9:00 and showered, then left to go to Jono's aunt and uncle's house for cousin Lucy's 3rd birthday. Her party was so sweet, and she got her first bike and rode it for the first time. It was so CUUUUTE!!! We had some really good cake and champagne and they gave me a huge hunk of cake to take home (although I'll probably just eat it later).

After the party we went to the Sydney Fish Market, which was AWESOME cause it was full of dead things and asian people. We bought prawns and pacific and sydney rock oysters and blue swimmer crabs and pink ling fish. We also got to poke octopuses and mud crabs. Don't worry, I washed my hands. There was one squid that EXPLODED black ink all over everything. I loooove the fish market. We also took a drive around the south shore to look at all the pretty homes. Some of them have the coolest wrought iron; it looks like lace cause it's so ornate. It was all really nice. We just came home and we're eating the seafood right now. Jono will be back in a few hours and we'll probably watch more of the alps stages in the Tour de France, but I'm going to try to go to bed early tonight to get lots of sleep. We're getting up early to go to The Rocks (the main historic district of Sydney). We're going to the market there and doing maybe a pub crawl but probably not because I have to get on a plane on Monday.

MONDAY??!?!!? MONDAY!!!! AHHH SO SOON!!

It really will be good to hear American accents again. I said "I reckon" completely instinctively today. So scary.

Miss you guys.

Sorry about not writing in a while.

Love,

Janet

Tree or Fern? DEFINITELY a Fern.

Jono slept in and never woke me up so my brain set off its own alarm half an hour late and I had to shower at the speed of light so that we could get into the car on time to go out to the....ILLAWARA FLY!!! It's a steel walk through the top of the rainforest about 3 hours out of Sydney. I packed a banana, a sandwich, and a can of tuna with a spoon. Big mistake. It opened up the window of eating opportunity for me for the rest of the day. I ATE EVERYTHING! But anyways, back to the stuff that is important to my Australia trip.

Walking out in the treetops was amazing. It was like someone stuck a big 360 degree postcard up around me and told me that it was real life. The sea was a deep deep blue and sparkled and turned into tiny foamy waves up on the coast. Tiny towns with tiny sheep (lots of dumb sheep) meandered along green eucalypt-lined roadways, little houses clumped together on grassy knolls along the shore. Up in the birds-eye view you could literally see everything for thousands of kilometres. We had to climb down eventually, though, but Jono had more sightseeing in store for me.

We drove down to Kiama, a far southern city with a beautiful rocky coastline. Its sign post literally read "Kiama ... A Tidy Place" haha. There was a seawater blowhole that shot out water on every seventh wave, and I climbed all over the rocks right by the water (which, in hindsight, was probably really dangerous because they were steep and high up and the waves were wishy and washy and I probably should have died).

After Kiama we drove up North along the coast to another little city whose name I've forgotten, but it was even prettier!! They had three large cannons set up on a hill next to a lighthouse. I climbed MORE treacherous cliffs, another excellent murderous idea, and I think my fear of heights is going away a little bit because I climbed up a 20 foot rock face and stood on top with my arms up in the air and didn't barf off of the side of it or pass out and die. Jono got photos, I think. I hope.

After this we got food at a little side cafe that Jono said would be good because of the tacky '80s interior. Apparently if a place looks old and has no taste, it's delicious. And he was right! My hamburger had a beet root in it. Which was weird and I was going to discard it but I tried it and it was actually really good. Go figure. I also tried another caramel slice and this one was even better than the last! Hoorah! When we went back to the car, I got an ice cream cone with a candy bar in it dipped in chocolate, and Jono asked me if America has chocolate dipped cones and I kind of wanted to smack him but I just did the hand-to-forehead thing and explained very slowly that Dairy Queen had been doing it for decades before it reached Australia, most likely. Then he remembered about Dairy Queens. *sigh*.

After that we drove up over a piece of road that leans away from the hillside and drives over the ocean, up to a parking lot next to the glider runway. We took some nice photos there, and then headed back home.

At home we watched Master Chef Australia and Harry Potter 3, then we had chicken and mushrooms and tomatoes and pasta and parmesan cheese all in this bowl of wonderful tastiness and I had a glass of milk. Yay. Mrs. Ward also bought me a Caramello Koala!!!!! It was very tasty and caramelly and koally and...I don't know if those are the right adjectives at all but it was quite good. Yesterday she got me a Curly Wurly, which wasn't quite as good because I don't like hard caramel as much as I like soft caramel.

Anyways, tomorrow I'm riding out to Homebush on bikes with Jono and we're going to the Olympic Pool. I want to swim in it but I don't know if they let little people like me do that. I'm packing a swimsuit anyways.

I was very happy to be able to walk hundreds of feet in the air and climb rocks and collect seashells and see the southern east Australian coast. It was one of the prettiest places I'd ever been.

Another post soon!!

Love,

Janet

So I Was Mountain Biking in the Rainforest When All of a Sudden...

Pretty badass title, am I right? Yeah, it wasn't as cool as I'm trying to make it sound.

Well, spent most of Sunday being a normal Aussie teenager. Brad, Jono, and I woke up late, lazed around the house and watched cartoons until 2 PM, and then the sun came out so we went out bike riding. Apparently Jono thought it would be AWESOME if we took our bikes off-road in the local rainforest. I wore my helmet because apparently it's illegal if you don't and we rode down rocky hills, over sandy slippery slopes, up treacherous cliffs and past large spiky trees and poisonous insects in the underbrush. I also almost died trying to ride off a rock. Pretty neat. I was bleeding in about five places. We rode out to an overlook and sat there for a bit and just looked out at the blue mountains and talked about how much I needed to see The Castle, a movie that apparently "defines" Australia. After all this nice relaxing talk I realized that we had to go back and do the whole route again because it didn't just go in a loop, so there was more bike riding and body-killing on the way out. We also checked out a place called Hole in the Woods (really original) where there was a hole...in the woods...that you rode into and it was filled with scary jumps and tiny creeks and empty cigarette packets and the lingering scent of marijuana. We didn't spend much time back there but it was so bad that we just walked our bikes through it rather than riding through. On the way back we stopped at the corner store for ice cream and gummi killer pythons and candy and Solo drink (which is AWESOME and it's the drink of champions AND it's low fizz so you can SLAM IT DOWN! <-- television ad campaigns).

After we got home I had the opportunity to laze around for a little, and then I went to church with Jono, where the sermon was about depending on God. Afterward I met lots of very nice people and there were snacks. I got to tell everyone about "bell peppers" which they called some weird name like choomba or something. I also got more TimTams, which completed my day.

Just when I thought the awesome food was over, Jono took me home where Mrs. Ward had prepared for me... *drumroll* my first real Australian lamb. It was delicious. We had it with mint jelly, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, zucchini, broccoli, and MORE SOLO!! For dessert the Wards had gotten Mars bars because they knew I'd never had one. It was all delicious and amazing and I want more right now but we're having maple salmon tonight instead.

After dinner Jono and I watched The Biggest Loser (Australian series!) for a while until I fell asleep on the couch, and then he woke me up and I went to sleep.

I had a terrible nightmare that I was at a huge mansion and a serial killer was picking off my friends one by one and I WAS NEXT but I escaped with a backpack full of supplies and had to survive in the Chagrin Falls wilderness for weeks but I made it just because I was so RUGGED from having been in Australia before I came there.

Then I woke up, but it was very early, so I went back to sleep and dreamt that I was eating caramel kisses. Which is another name for a caramel slice. Which, incidentally, Mrs. Ward gave me the recipe to that evening. YAY! You can get most of the supplies at World Market (the ones you can't get in normal grocery stores, that is).

When I woke up, I decided to go for a run. I remembered my way to the Hole in the Woods, which was surprisingly easy to run through. It's so hilly here! And very shady. In North Sydney it's actually illegal to cut down trees unless you get special permission from the city. It's also illegal to pick flowers; even wildflowers. When I got home, Jono had finally gotten out of bed and told me that we were going to Centrepoint! Yay! I got showered and dressed, and then hopped into the car. We drove to Mackers (the word for McDonalds here - weird, yes) so that I could take cash out. Turned out my card was declined. I got the last of my money out at an ATM in the city. I'm officially 20 dollars away from broke. (HELP ME MOMMY!!!!!) We took the train from Gordon all the way to Town Hall and walked over. The tower is, duh, very high up. It was really exciting to see everything from such a vantage point, and Jono pointed all of the key landmarks out for me so that I could orient myself. He's also been testing me lately on how well I know my way around, so he asked me to show him where certain beaches and key streets were. I've been doing fairly well. I don't get lost around his neighborhood at all, and I can make my way around the city without too much trouble. I love knowing where I am halfway round the world.

After Centrepoint, Jono and I walked to Hyde Park, which was very pretty and scenic. We also visited the Sandringham Gardens (made to honor the memory of George V and George IV). After that we walked over to Darling Harbour, where I had my very first meat pie! Actually, I had my first two. As I walked out with the first one, a seagull swooped down and GRABBED IT OUT OF MY HAND!! He knocked it down and called to his seagull friends and they all came down and started devouring my lunch. I had never been more angry at a bird of flight. I ran over and stepped on one of them and almost started crying because I was so mad and flustered and migraney but then I remembered that I was a civilized American. So I stopped killing the one seagull and sniffled a little and Jono told me he'd buy me another. My second was better than the other would have been, anyways. And it was bigger. So there. Stupid seagulls.

After this large Harbor-y adventure, we decided to head home. We hopped on the train next to a very smelly Lebanese man, and spent the ride back looking at a Korean newspaper (which I grabbed for Stephanie because...well she won't be able to read it but I mean...she knows a Korean person....). We also looked at our horoscopes in the most popular free magazine in Sydney (Jono's popularity is on the rise and I'm focusing more on my family this month!)

We made it home relatively early. Jono just left for his stupid Hornsby Gang Show, which I realize I haven't properly explained yet.

He's playing trumpet for a community theatre performance of Once Upon a Time. It's rather average, as Jono would say. I'm being dragged to it on Wednesday. It's going to be terrible. Ah, well. I'll live.

Tonight Mrs. Ward is making maple glazed salmon, because she has delicious maple syrup now with which to make it. Thank you, thank you, no applause please. Yep that's pretty much all that's been going on. This entry has been extremely long because it covers two days. I thank all of you that made it to the end of it.

Ttyl!

Love,

Janet

I <3 Teapots...and Jono Shaved

So I began the day by being showered by 10:30 so that we could go to lunch at Mr. Ward's parents' house. Mr. Ward's mother is the principle of Ravenswood, the all-girls partner with HB. I also met Jono's cousin, Christopher, who recently joined the Australian navy. (As a side note...he is beautiful.) I may be going on a tour of the base at some point.

We had crepes with dismal maple syrup (Jono was SO right about the quality) and then fresh fruit and very pulpy orange juice (FINALLY a family that drinks pulp - hint hint). I ate my fill of that and then the announcement was made that we had sausage, short cuts of bacon, eggs, tomatoes, and mushrooms as well. We talked for a long while about the usual, and I told them the story of the arm wrestling librarians to emphasize a point about how great America is. It was well accepted around the table, and I obtained many favorable opinions.

After breakfast Jono decided to shave his beart...FINALLY. Buuuut he had to go to his LAME Hornsby Gang Show afterward, and so Mr. and Mrs. Ward, Bec, and I loaded into the car and drove out to....THE BLUE MOUNTAINS!

The blue mountains were awesome. I unfortunately accidentally deleted my first thirty pictures, so I have none of the excellent ones, but the mediocre ones are up on facebook. They were just the touristy google shots, though, so if you just look it up you'll find what I lost. When you first look over the ledge, though, (and I'm not trying to be cliche here) it completely takes your breath away. You get shivers. It's so huge. And blue! I learned that it looks blue because the haze of oil given off by the gum trees. Cool, right? I got to see some real wattle, the national flower of Australia. I took pictures. They were not deleted. We rode on the scenic railway and the cable car, which were both REALLY steep and scary and awesome. We walked around the rainforest for about an hour. They have the coolest plants and vines and gum and turpentine trees. And it's really wet. And actually a little cold.

We exited the cable car into the gift shop, and went over to the snack kiosk to get food for the road trip home. We got Tim Tams, which are and Aussie staple. They were AMAZING. AAAMMMMAAAAZZZZIIIIINNNNNGGGGG!! I also got peach iced tea. It was much more flavorful here than in America. I think that they water it down in America.

On the way back we stopped at the Ugg store. Like...THE original Ugg store. The one that started it all. And then the USA stole it.

We made it back fairly early, and Jono's parents and I watched a little friendly TV programming about eating habits and refacing your house. It was really funny because some of the home makeovers were hideous. Australians have little trouble making their opinions known. I love the insulting. It's so open here. You're never really judged in secret - it's all just out on the table. All the time. As in you walk past strangers on the street a friend will turn to you and say something about a person's weight or their outfit and it's GREAT. I love it. So much judging. And you know it's fair because everyone you walk past is doing it to you, too!!!

I took a nanonap before Jono got back. Brad got here before Jono came home and we watched Harry Potter 2 with Bec. Jono arrived and we rushed to the Gordon train station and hopped on to get to King's Cross - the redlight district!

We first went to Soho, a great club with very expensive drinks. We got bored with that and ran over to World Bar, where we got a teapot and jam doughnuts. Also very expensive. Come to think of it, EVERYTHING is expensive in Australia. Anyways, we finished up there and hailed a taxi home.

We hung around Jono's room when we got home (which was around 3:30 AM). We crashed at about 4:30, after I had eaten all his chocolate and a bag of weird pizza chips with the nondescript name "Shapes."

Sorry I didn't post at my normal time. I was busy partying, obviously. Haha.

Miss you guys. ONE WEEK GONE ALREADY!!!!!!

Don't know what I'm supposed to be doing today. We're watching Spongebob right now. We just finished watching the Simpsons for about an hour. Slow morning. I didn't pay money to do what I could have done back home!!! Haha. Okay. Talk to you all later.

Love,

Janet

P.S. They only have Avatar Book One out in Australia. OH THE HUMANITY!

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE DINGOES HAVE GONE BREEDING?!?!? I WANT DINGOES!!!

Well, I went to bed pretty late last night (2:30 AM approx) so I woke up later than usual (10:30 AM approx). I made my customary toast, and was startled midway through buttering it by a muffled growling noise, which turned out to be Jono waking up on the couch. Apparently he fell asleep there after saying goodbye to Sara (she left for Fiji today). I finished breakfast and decided to go for a run while Jono did some odd jobs on the computer.

The air outside was cool, so it hurt a bit, but it was moist enough that I didn't want to die. The surrounding area is very hillish, so it was quite a workout. I also got somewhat lost for a while, but Banool turned out to be relatively easy to find. I was also stopped by an older woman who asked me for directions to a shopping centre. I had to explain to her that I was, unfortunately, from quite a long ways away, and she laughed and said it was fine.

I ran back and showered quickly, and as I was dressing Jono told me that for today (instead of bike riding) we would be going to the ZOO!!!!! HOORAH!!! (I like zoos that aren't in Cleveland, just to explain why I sound excited).

Taronga zoo was amaaaazing. They have a fantastic view of the harbor from the aviary theatre, and all the animals have a lot of space to move around and great habitats. It's all very realistic and roomy. If I was going to be an animal locked into a relatively small space, I'd want to be at the Taronga zoo. Actually, no, I'd want to be at the Taronga Zoo Western Plains, which is about a six hour drive away from where we were, and it's a giant plain filled with uncaged animals, and you drive about in your car and look at them. It's like a little african safari. Very cute.

We saw tons of animals that they don't have in the Cleveland zoo, and I took lots of pictures of many of them. You can see them all on facebook, if you're curious about them. Half the photos are from Jono's camera because my camera ran out of battery halfway through.

I chased a peacock around for a while, and almost pet it but it escaped my grasp. I also almost got to pet a kangaroo but he hopped away. :( We saw some really cool snakes, lizards, turtles, and frogs. I'm mentioning this separately because I usually don't like reptiles, at least not in exhibits. But these guys were really cool. My favorite part of the exhibit was the part with all the penguins and seals and fish and other watery things. The only disappointing thing was that I saw literally no polar bears. They just didn't have them. It was tragic.

After the zoo, we went up to see a drive-by of Manly Beach, which was SO manly. The masculinity was so thick in the air that you could taste it. I'm just kidding, though; it really wasn't that spectacularly male. It was sunset, though, so it was really pretty. We also took a drive to North Head, which had a kangaroo crossing and "Look Out for Bandicoots!" signs along the road. The bandicoot one was surprising. The view was great, but sun was setting and we had to get back so that we could go to dinner.

We went out to Mrs. Ward's parents' house for her father's 75th birthday party. Her sister and brother-in-law came as well, toting along their daughters Lucy (3) and Hannah (18 mo.). Lucy was so adorable and polite and eccentric. Hanna was just beginning to take some first steps, and she was very cheerful, and had huge baby cheeks. She grabbed my hand once and she was very cute. Lucy and I played a game where we pretended to scare each other for about ten minutes. It was totally frightening, except not really, and I kind of wanted to walk away but I would have felt mean because she's such a genuine and sweet little girl.

Mrs. Ward's parents come from England. Her father recently got new hearing aids, and they've helped him spectacularly. I love the way he speaks, as I think I might have mentioned previously, but tonight I got a much bigger sample of it, and it's just really refreshing. He phrases everything so carefully and nicely and warmly, with a great English accent and everything. Her mother had a nice long conversation with me about school and life and aviation (she wanted to be a stewardess but was too tall). The whole family was great. Her sister (Amanda) was a little stressed because of having to get two small children out of the house, but she was still very nice and asked good questions and everything. Amanda's husband was great. He's very funny and loud and lively. We all talked about Obama and America and my horrible flight over here, and for a while we talked about accents, and I was told that my American accent isn't at all annoying, and that for an Ohio accent it's rather "deep." Which I'm guessing is a good? thing.

Dinner was mostly little snackies but they were very tasty and I enjoyed it all immensely. I tried spiced pear sauce with brie and crackers, and we had little italian towers consisting of tomato, basil, and not-mozarella (they don't have fresh mozarella in Australia so they just use a different type of cheese whose name I can't remember). There were little spinach puffs, and chicken wings covered in sauce that got all over everything, and tiny sausage slices. At the end of the meal we sang happy birthday and got chocolate cake.

We left and went to pick up Becky from bible study, and then went back home where I uploaded pictures and watched Princess Diaries for a bit.

I think my evening is mostly over. Jono just got home and apparently he's got Hornsby Gang Show all day tomorrow, so I think the family is going to take me to Wollongong, to Illawarra Fly. We're saving the bike ride to Homebush and the Olympic Park for the same day that he and I go to the top of Centrepoint. SO MANY THINGS TO DO HERE!

I'll catch up with you guys again later.

Love,

Janet

P.S. SOMEONE PLEASE FEED PIRATE!!! I FORGOT TO GIVE HIM FOOD BEFORE I LEFT AND I REMEMBERED AT THE ZOO TODAY WHILE LOOKING AT MICE!!!

Thanks!!

New Rule: Don't Dance at the Gordon Train Platform

Wow, tiring day. Woke up at nine, had 'brekkie' consisting of toast and milk, then called home (as you four know!!) We watched Sara do her fashion thing on the morning show, and she was fab. Mrs. Ward then got a call from her father saying that he wanted to take Jono and I to the Opera house for a performance. There was a Brahms concerto and a great Strauss piece, and the Brahms starred a young violinist I'd heard of before. I charged up my camera a bit and we drove down to the Opera house to attend. The parking garage is built in the shape of a DNA double helix. It was sweet. (You know you're gonna like some place when you love the parking garage.) We took our time walking up to the actual hall itself, taking plenty of pictures of the harbor bridge and the actual structure itself. They're starting a whole new resurfacing project of the inside of the opera house, because the interior does not match the exterior in any sort of way. The original designs were put off because the state of New South Wales was like uhmmmm we don't have the funds, sorrryyyy!!! So they've only recently begun to care that it's a structural tragedy. I mean don't get me wrong, the inside is cool. But it's all rectangles. And the exterior is all swooping and rhombuses.

Anyways, at intermission we purchased drinks and Toblerone chocolate, and went in for Strauss, which was one continuous piece; no pause for movements. I was very impressed with the crowd during Brahms. No one tried to clap between movements. Very nice.

After the performance was over, Jono and I took a bus over to Bondi beach. It was around six o'clock approximately, so the sun had begun to set, but it was still beautiful. We walked around the beach for a bit, snapping photos, and then we stopped at a place called Surfish, where I got fish and chips and a caramel slice. I also saw my first wild cockroach, and nearly peed myself in terror. Jono then revealed to me that they're EVERYWHERE including on a rare occasion his house, and that sometimes giant spiders come into my room specifically and hang on the walls. I love that kid. He's just so concerned about my mental health.

We then caught the bus to Bondi Junction, where we caught the train to Town Hall, took an escalator to Platform 2 and then another train to Gordon. I was dancing to Poker Face outside, waiting for Jono's parents to take us home (we didn't feel like walking 3 or 4 kilometres) and Jono told me that I was silly and that people in this part of North Sydney don't dance outside. "They perhaps bob their heads slightly, but rarely dance," were his words, I believe. It was really funny. I shut off my iPod anyways, and stood and pretended to be a boring person for a while.

His parents finally came and got us, and I changed out of my spectacular lovely Anthropologie dress and into more comfortable clothing in order to attend the Lovers Jump Creek concert about half an hour's drive away. The two bands at the concert were fabulous; I got a free sample CD! Whee! I met many of Jono's friends, specifically a girl named Kate. She and I are probably hanging out tomorrow night when Jono is playing trumpet for another performance. She's super sweet. She did a western accent for me and it was really funny. And then I mocked the way Jono does a midwestern accent and he made fun of my Australian accent and then we all started sounding really awkward so it stopped there.

Jono drove Kate and her friend home, and then we went home and had a bite to eat and watched the Tour de France (I did NOT fall asleep this time) and Jono went to bed when I started blogging. I should actually get going; I need some good sleep tonight. We're finally following through on the whole biking thing tomorrow, I think. Saturday night we're going to King's Cross and Sunday we're going to the market on the Rocks. SO MUCH TO DO!!

Miss everyone!!

MWAH!!

Love,

Janet