Thanksgiving in the Land Down Under

Well Happy Turkey Day everyone!!!!

I had the pleasure of celebrating this day, one day before everyone else back at home :)- Blaise and I in line with the Thanksgiving day tradition took the liberty of gorging ourselves all day. First we went to the fish markets and got a platter of lobster, shrimp, oysters, scallops, and octopus, and then we made a dinner.

Blaise and I had my friend Mike over for our make-shift Thanksgiving meal. I made mashed potatoes, stuffing, and bought a rotisserie chicken. Hey I know it is not even the same bird, but it was simple and I don't really have an oven. Mike brought over a pecan tart for us. We even went around the table and said what we were thankful for. It was nice, different but nice. It was odd to not be in the company of real family, and it was odd to celebrate it on a day where it was over 90 degrees. However, in true Thanksgiving day style the end result was the same....aka super full tummy.

I hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving and I miss you all and wish I could be celebrating with you yesterday.

Surfing USA....Wait I Mean Sufing AUS

Well....it has been done, I have attempted surfing. Thankfully Blaise was here to experience it with me. Not only was it a lesson in surfing but it was also a lesson in Aussie surfer dude lifestyles. We were picked up in a rickety old van and drove an hour away from town. One of our tour guides was not wearing shoes, that was the one driving us. The other guys kept pulling up next to us, and honking his horn. We got to the beach and they taught us the moves. Our instructor kept having trouble describing things in eloquent sentences, so much so that he kept saying things like, "whats a good word, you know us surfers aren't the smartest guys, you know, so uhhhh we don't have a very big vocabulary....symmetrical, hey that's the word, pretty good for a surfer." Regardless of his vocabulary, (which did mainly consist of words such as: woah, yeah, haha, right on,) he was a good teacher and I think that every one stood up on the board at least once. Blaise and I were not too shabby, and it was fun. Here is Blaise:

And here is me:

Hooray! The wipe outs were hilarious, but the funniest part of the day was when I started talking to a one of the other girls on the trip who said she was a medic in the navy. I told her my boyfriend was in the navy too and she asked me what ship, she didn't have any connection to the ship, but a few minutes later her friend ran over to me and said, "your boyfriends on Melbourne, do you know..." I had hear the names but didn't know them. Then she asked what his name was and I told her, and the rest of the afternoon all I heard was, "I can't believe you are dating Jimmy Lawless!" What a small world.

Well Blaise and I are going to go get ready it is Thanksgiving here today and so we are going to the Fish Markets again to celebrate....mmmmm fresh sea food.

Which Way Would Water Whirl?

Since being here one of the most frequent questions I receive (only second to spiders) is about which way water goes down the drain. Until now I had not been able to answer that question and I am still not really sure if it is the right answer. First of all the toilets don't swirl flush, the way they drain is more a splash into the bowl and then the water just floods out, no swirling. I finally checked the sink the other day and it swirled down counter-clock wise. Which way does it go for you? I read a little bit and it sounds like the Coriolis affect that is supposed to happen cannot affect such small events consistently, that in fact the way the water is introduced into the bowl, the shape of the bowl and the drain are all much bigger factors in the way that water whirls. But that is not as fun to think about sooooo.....

Lets do an experiment. Everyone test this and tell me what way the water whirls down the drain and then email me. If in fact we get opposing whirling ways between hemispheres, we will call it good, and think that it is simple and neat. Let me know what you find out!

A wonderful bird is the pelican,

His bill will hold more than his belican.

He can take in his beak

Food enough for a week,

But I’m damned if I see how the helican.

When I was a little girl and I would walk near the Windsor Lake with Granny and Papa, we would look at all the pelicans out on the water. Papa would always tell me this poem. And of course I would always giggle when he would say 'helican.' I wrote Papa an email a week or so ago telling him I told Blaise this poem, he responded that it was not his poem, and that his Grandfather told it to him. As a matter of fact the poem is by Dixon Lanier Merritt. But in order to follow the now family tradition of grandfathers telling this to their grandchildren once I am a grandfather I will too tell this poem to my grandchildren.





Those pelicans at Windsor Lake have nothing on the Australian Pelican. This is one of the largest birds I have ever seen. Their beak alone is about three feet long, so I think that undoubtedly they would be able to hold more than their belican.

Unfortunately I was unable to crawl into this fence with the pelicans to show you the scale, but if I were to stand next to them they would be at least as half as tall as I am. Very large creatures with the ability to hold a very large amount of food in their flexible beaks.

The Taronga Zoo and Their Alledged Platypus

Well hello folks of yesterday and any of you joining us from today, it is nice to see you again. I have not written much for a while, and for good reason...I have been out collecting new material, so there are plenty of posts coming for the future. As I have said before Blaise is here and we have been up to crazy adventures. One of the first adventures was the Taronga Zoo.

This zoo is a set on the beautiful harbour and overlooks all of Sydney. See what I mean this is Blaise and I waiting for the bird to show and enjoying the lightening show going on in the Harbour and city.

Obviously Blaise wanted to see Australian Animals, and of course I did as well. I can never get over how those Kangaroos and Wallaby's walk on "all 5's" (aka they use their tail as well.) She also liked the Koalas, which were cute and just relaxing in the trees. My favourite were the Elephants, and they have a little baby Elephant right now...sooooooo cute.

See see see! How cute is that, I told you so :)

It was a great time but let me get to the two morals of this post:

1. Spiders love me, even despite my extreme hatred for them. Damn you Aragog, damn you!

During our day at the zoo, I was attacked by 3, yes, three spiders. There was the one that crawled on my neck during lunch and Blaise had to carefully pick it from my jugular. Then there were the two who as I was observing maps just decided to repel to my face level and pointing hands. I just imagine Aragog sending his soldiers out and laughing while he watches them torture me. Maybe I just need to start liking spiders so that they leave me alone!

2. I think that the Taronga Zoo only has an alleged Platypus.

I have now been to the Taronga Zoo two times since being in Sydney, and both times I have made it my own mission to see they platypus. They have to be the oddest creatures in the world, and I want to see one. Plus the logo for the zoo even has one see:

Now because their logo incorporates the animal and they have about 10 different viewing zones for this animal, it is logical to think that one might actually see a Platypus while at the zoo. After the first time of not seeing Mr. Platypus I vowed that, "one day I shall get you Mr. Platypus." But after this trip to the zoo I have had a revelation.....I don't really think there is a platypus. At every single one of their many "platypus" viewing stations there is also a sign that says something like, "Don't see the platypus? They are shy, they may be somewhere else with less people, or hiding in shady waters." So I figure they don't actually have one and they are covering themselves by telling everyone it is somewhere else than where they are, "oh, dang you just missed him." Yeah, well this is not as easy as pulling the, "oh no I killed my roommates beta fish, I better replace it trick." I will see a platypus there...or else!...or else what, I have not figured it out, however, I am determined to get some answers.

Well Blaise and I are exhausted from our other adventures check back tomorrow for some more, well actually today, but your tomorrow, oh well you get the point.