rebel and jeffrey have made it to australia. and with inferred permission [insert grin], i am putting them up for all to read. for those not in the know, R.B. stands for Rat Bastard which stands for "I love you."
[note to reb: thank you for the great email. i wish -- quite seriously -- that we were all traveling with you. you two are missed right now down to the core. i think it is only just now hitting us that you are not on a month-long vacation and coming back soon. kisses and polenta pucks, m.]
Friday, July 19 : Guess Where We Are
Okay all you little R.B.'s out there!
First, I would like to apologize to all of you for this group email thing. It is the most efficient way right now though. Second, if I have left anyone off the list that needs to be, please let me know.
We have just arrived in Sydney Australia today, 6am on the 20th of July to be exact. We lost the 19th as we crossed the international date line, we ceased to exist! The good side is that we will get two of the same dates going back, flashback to "Groundhog Day". Anyways, the flight was unbelievable just because it took six hours to cross the states, Boston to San Francisco, and another fourteen to get to Australia. The later of which was in complete darkness the entire way! We got a total of six shitty movies to watch and I was served a vegan meal which I like to call polenta pucks in pita bread, that was a little alliteration for all you smarty pants out there! (Did I spell that right? Operating on very little sleep here)
So we showed up in Sydney and were really surprised by how small the airport seemed. Podunk was what I believe my buddy Jeffrey called it! From there we took a train to Kirribilli where we had a hotel reserved. We were at home immediatly as there was a personal note with a key for our room hanging on the door of the hotel welcoming us to Sydney. The owner of the hotel, Mary, is probably going to be our mother figure for the following week, she is so great! We had a liesurly breakfast this morning and I already tried "Vegemite" which seems to be a very dense yeast mixture, it spreads like nutello and is a nasty brown color, I decided I needed to develop a taste for it because it is such a big local thing but I haven't had something so icky in a long time, flashback to polenta pucks in pita! (insert Wayne's World fuzz out)
We have been hiking around Sydney since then, it feels like it should be around 9pm now but a glance to the clock tells me that it is only nearing 3pm. Rebbie is tuckered. We have already hiked from Kirribilli, which looks across the bay to the Sydney Opera House, accross the gigantic Harbour Bridge into downtown Sydney. Through a beautiful Saturday market selling Aborigine art and photos, blown glass, roasted corn, amazing furniture made from local woods, and all the while the market reaks of yummy spices from a local vender selling whole spices.
From there we hiked to the Sydney Opera House, just a hike around though, we will try to take a tour inside in a few days. Then off to the Botanical Gardens. We actually skirted the gardens too, I think we are waiting to really be able to appreciate it after some sleep. I think we are starting to understand the layout of the city now, a lot less intimidating than the maps try to lead us to believe. Sydney seems rather smaller than we imagined. And this pleases me. I love the architecture this far. Such and eclectic mix of times and styles. Its quite yummy.
Other than that... Rebel got hungry and her pal Jeffrey desperatley grabbed for the guide book for the first time yet and led her to an amazing vegetarian chinese kitchen. First Australian food experience bad, second excellent. We are 0 for 0 folks. Looks like the little veggie will fare pretty good overall (even without the bowls of grass her pops likes to mow for her!)
Now it is time to rastle up my pal and make him take me back to the hotel so we can get some sleep. A couple of personal notes first though... Thank you all you stabbies for the icing on the cake of my California experience. It makes me start crying every time I think of that send off you gave us and all the beautiful things we have shared in the past three years. (Keep it short and sweet Rebbie!) The only way I could have really shown you all just how much you mean to me is if I tore my heart from my chest and threw it on the table for you all that evening. I love you all. To my east coast family...I miss you already. Jordan with your little yellow blanky stuffed in your mouth. Splashing with Austin the wet little seal in the water. I will see you very, very soon. Momma, Papa, my beautiful sissies, I love you. Jen try to keep those crazy pimentos away from Missy...Shawn your on my "Big S" list because Jeffrey threw your sweet little "Turner's Trash" comment at me today and he still hasn't changed out of those Massachusetts fireman shirts yet!
Now I go because I am leaking again...my love goes out to all of you...
Rebecca Leigh (A.K.A. Rat Bastard)
Sunday, July 21 : G'day
Hey there my beauties!
We are on day three of our travels here in Sydney. It is a lovely place. Jeffrey has always said that I would never survive in a city because I am always smiling and striking up conversations with strangers...this is the city for me! People here are wonderful. They look you right in the eye, offer help without being asked and are very genuine when asking how you are, and they never have something more interesting to look at as they pass you on the street. I love it.
So, day two of our travels took us into Darling Harbour after a leisurely breakfast and yummy soy lattes. We must be putting about 7 or 8 hiking miles on a day. First stop, was the Sydney aquarium. They have an exhibit on the Great Barrier Reef, it was lovely being able to touch and see all the corals, fish and jellies. Touch the corals, see the fish and jellies (please remember that everything here will kill you!) Especially the Moon Jelly which was lit with what appeared to be some kind of black light making the jellies seem eerily irridescent as they floated through the water. My favorite part, however, the sharks. You could walk through this glass tunnel, and it felt like you were in the ocean with all these menacing creatures around you. Sharks, Rays, Turtles, and these huge glass sucking creatures (can't recall what they were). It was amazing to be able to watch every inch of a monstrous shark as it cruised overhead.
After that we had some lunch and Jeff harassed a bunch of seagulls that were begging bites. Then off to meet a pal I used to work with in California, Jamie, who is also here in Sydney. We spent the better part of the afternoon listening to schwanky jazz and sipping local brews on the harbour outside of the Sydney Opera House, and what a sunset! We were told to stay out of the Harbour because it is full of sharks and that makes me wonder about the people I see kyaking in it in the mornings. I am watching very closely but haven't seen anyone go down yet!
Today hasn't been much more exciting than chore day as we are opening accounts and contacting EDAW for work, though we did have a rather pretty Ferry ride through the harbour this morning, still looking for shark fins!
So, I will leave you for now with a couple of interesting observations I have made here. Well, interesting for me (and probably my pal Marya, because she will want to put these on her beautiful website as keepers!), but then again I am my biggest fan! We noticed a car named the ka2, that makes it the ka-ka car, can't imagine that it is a very big seller. Secondly, I saw my favorite billboard, it stated..."California has issued six driving licenses to people named Jesus Christ". I don't really know what it was in reference to and honestly don't care, it's just funny!
And then....I love you all very much and hope these letters aren't going to be too much of a clog to your inboxes because they will be coming on a regular basis...and no you can't unsubscribe!
My love you all of you, Rebecca
P.s. thanks for the lovely responses, we love to hear how you are all doing on your side of the world, you know who you are!
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