New Digs

It’s been brought to our attention that we have been seriously lacking in our blog updates, so here it goes. The biggest news is of course that Erin has finally arrived!!

Below find pics of our apartment in Coogee. We are still in the midst of decorating, so if the rooms look a bit bare – we’re working on it, give us a few weeks and it’s bound to be full of knick-knacks.

The beach is only about a 15 minute walk away, so needless to say we are looking forward to some sun and warm weather ☺

Ready to Run

A few weeks back Steph and I participated in the City2Surf – Sydney’s biggest fun run.

In all honesty, when we first agreed to the race we had no idea as to its scope. When our friend Liv initially introduced us to the idea it sounded more like a pub crawl – and I quote “We’ll be walking and stopping off at some pubs to re-hydrate … it’s all about the men running in short shorts, and the refreshing alcoholic beverages afterwards! ”
Turns out that it is in fact the largest fundraiser run in the world with a forty-year history. 85,000+ people participated this year, raising nearly AUD $3 million for charity.
After seeing so many banners round the city in the weeks preceding the event, soon enough we got the correct impression that this was a full-on marathon, that people train months in advance for.

Runners tossed aside their jackets just before the start of the race, which were later collected and all donated to charity.

I look like a schoolkid with too many books ... the backpack didn't do much for my runner's cred ...

The course is a scenic 14km, beginning in the CBD and culminating at Bondi Beach. Needless to say we felt a bit out of our league. So we surprised ourselves by managing to run half of it – not including the lengthy portion of the course known as Heartbreak Hill, where we opted to speed walk.
The energy of everyone around you is sufficient motivation, from the beginning everyone takes off like a shot, and you are compelled to follow suit – lest you get stampeded. If that wasn’t enough, there were numerous music stands along the way – including a band atop The Golden Sheaf (ala Empire Records) and a Smurf City gathering.

And there was plenty of people watching to be done along the route. One contender was a man in a wheel chair who muscled his way all the way up Heartbreak Hill, and then proceeded to pass us just a few kilometers after. Later on we also ran alongside a young girl with mental disabilities whose mother completed the race, then ran back about 3 kilometers to relieve her son and encourage her daughter throughout the last leg of the course. There were also several ‘Legends’ to be found on the course – they gain Legend status for having participating in City2Surf every year since it’s genesis in 1971.

The best times were:
Men
1st Ben St Lawrence (Bullaburra, NSW) 41.05
2nd Michael Shelley (Oxenford, QLD) 41.06
3rd Jeffrey Hunt (Randwick, NSW) 41.17

Women
1st Lara Tamsett (Coogee, NSW) 46.54
2nd Cassie Fien (Sale, VIC) 47.51
3rd Jessica Trengrove (Erindale, SA) 48.26

Bondi Beach - the finish line is in sight!

If you ever find yourself in Sydney in August I definitely recommend participating, very worthwhile event.

Hitting the Open Road

To mark our first week in Oz, Steph and I were treated to the adventures of driving abroad. Our friends Mike and Fiona were headed to a German-themed dinner party and figured it was the perfect time for a test-drive on the left side of the road, since the house was “just up the hill” from their place.
This would have been an opportune time to recollect the Aussie tendency to downplay nearly everything. For example: “It’s just a bit of rain, she’ll be apples.” Translation: It’s pissing buckets out, your previous plans for the day are out of the question. “A brush-up with a bluebottle might be a bit uncomfortable.” Translation: That jellyfish sting will be followed by twenty minutes of agony, with the added possibility of an lifelong allergic reaction mark. In all fairness this tendency to simplify isn’t done to mislead, it all just seems that easy to Aussies. They are very capable people.
So when I was told the dinner party is “just up the hill”, as opposed to naively assuming this was the extent of the directions I would need, I should have known it meant a thirty minute round-trip excursion complete with numerous twists, turns and roundabouts. Instead my first indication something was amiss was when Fiona handed me the driving directions, which filled a full page – front and back.
But driving is driving, right? Except I found I couldn’t just shift into default driving mode. Coupled with the fact that everything in the car felt opposite – all instruments having swapped sides, from the indicator to the windshield wipers – it was also a dark and rainy night out.
Thankfully Mike and Fee were there to keep me on task, and on the left side of the road – entering roundabouts to the left, giving the right-away to the car on your right, treating left turns like right turns, gauging the distance of the left side of the car from those parked along the road. The most helpful advice came from Mr. Luke: no matter where you are driving you just think “I’m the driver and I have to be in the middle of the road.”

Despite the slick streets and dearth of streetlamps I appreciate that my experience was less trying than Steph’s initial go – driving in a busy car park during her semester abroad. As, no matter the country, parking lots have a tendency to be no holes barred, rules-free zones, as people desperately try for that spot one closer to the store entrance. And here it is the rule, rather than the exception, to back into a parking spot, trunk first.
After dropping off the happy couple, Steph was the indispensable navigator on the return trip. We managed to make it back without incident, and indulged in some 5 Seeds (cider) to unwind.
So all in all a successful experience. Thanks to Mike and Fee for their vote of confidence and instruction.
Who knows, maybe we’ll be practiced enough to head out for a road trip once the warmer weather starts.

Pics of our new apartment soon to come …

Notes from Down Under

G’day!

Steph and I have been Sydneysiders for just over a week now, and as promised are kicking off our blog!

First, an explanation of our title. For those of you not familiar with the wonders of Aussie soap operas Home and Away is a long-running series filmed just North of us at Palm Beach. So the name seemed not only iconic of our new locale, but also befitting of our situation.

Runners-up included: Vegemite Sandwiches, Swimming with Crocodiles, Going Walkabout … the list goes on, ’till finally we just settled for the URL that was available

Special thanks to everyone who made it to the Bon Voyage party, hope you had fun! It was wonderful to see you all before we headed overseas and it really meant a lot to both of us. Also, a great excuse for a backyard party! Scroll below for a couple photos from the shindig.

Currently we are living in Warriewood (near Mona Vale) in the Northern Beaches with our new roommate – Stevie Luke. Oh, and Mike and Fiona as well

Stevie

More updates to follow shortly. You can subscribe to the blog on the right side of the page to leave comments as well as receive updates via email, or just check back when ya like!

Cheers,
Krissy and Stephanie