Best of South Africa (part 2)

Visiting Mandela's South Africa
Needless to say, visiting Madiba's homeland so soon after his death made all of the tours and museum visits even more meaningful. We saw both of Mandela's homes: where he was living when he was arrested in 1962 and where he moved once he was released. Both places were packed.

Mandela's home after his release. Reminiscent of Kensington Palace after Diana died.

Reverand Jesse Jackson outside Mandel's Soweto home. Peeps went cray.

While we were in Cape Town we also went to Robben Island, the prison where Mandela was held for 18 years of his 27 years in prison. It looked very similar to what was shown in Long Walk to Freedom (they used parts of the island as a set) but the most interesting thing to me was how visible Cape Town was, how close it seemed. To be on that island for almost 20 years, knowing the world was continuing on without you, and yet come out of it as strong and peaceful as he did. Amazing. Big time Mandela fan after this trip.

Mandela's cell. Excuse the poor quality. Lots of peeps. Had to make my viewing snappy.

Stunning views of Cape Town from Robben Island. Table Mountain is in the background with its cloud 'tablecloth'

Touring Soweto Township

On our second day in Johannesburg we took a tour of Soweto, the township where Mandela lived before his arrest and the area at the epicenter of the anti-apartheid movement.  It is also one of Joburg's poorest areas. No running water or electricity and most of the residents lived in small shacks. (Is it appropriate to say shack? Not sure but I feel it is the most descriptive option.) We had the chance to go inside one of the homes with our tour guide and it literally felt like we were being roasted alive. So. Hot. And just so...confronting. I could go on for days about my thoughts on the social/economic/historical situation that I know very little about so I will refrain. Let me know if you would like a Skype overview instead :)

A house in Soweto with rocks holding down the roof tarp for rain protection

Wine Tasting in Stellenbosch

Love me some wine. Seriously love me some South African wine. We spent our last day in Cape Town drinking our way through the beautiful wine region there. Secured ourselves 6 delicious bottles of wine that made packing for our trip home pretty interesting. Wine + blue skies + green vineyards = excellent end to our trip.

Beautiful Stellenbosch

Hope you enjoyed my insanely long review. Happy to provide detailed stories when you come visit :) Happy New Year everyone!

A very South African Christmas

I have to say, a hot Christmas weirds me out. It lacks the cozy sweaters, crisp air and warm Starbucks drinks that I look forward to every year. Alas, I've decided that hot Christmas in South Africa > normal Christmas spent in most other places (except of course for my beloveds: San Diego and London). Needless to say, the trip was amazing and will be quite hard to top in the future.

In an attempt to summarize/summarise some of the amazingness, here are some South African highlights:

Safari through Kruger National Park
Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Ok well no bears per se but man did we see some quality animals. And by 'see' I mean 'almost touch because they were so freaking close.' During our trip to Kruger National Park, we saw 4 of Africa's 'Big 5': elephant, buffalo, leopard & rhino. Sadly Simba and his lion pals eluded us but we saw some beauties up close at a lion park the day before. So it's cool, Kruger lions. I forgive yous.

I have elevendybillion elephant photos. They were my faves. Especially the wittle babies!

Coastal Cape Town

So you know how beaches and the ocean are--without fail--gorgeous? Well. The Western Cape in Cape Town is gorgeous (sand, water, yada yada) but I think the best word to describe it is dramatic. As in waves crashing into huge boulders on the coast. Sharps cliffs diving straight into the sea. And windy roads that hug those cliffs like scary status. It's just plain stunning.

Capturing the coastal drama proved difficult so you get a photo of us on Christmas Day instead.

Note: I am writing this at 3am because jet lag ruins my life. Bob says I need to go back to sleep now. More highlights to follow tomorrow.

This time for Africa!

Well slap a hula skirt on me and call me Shakira because I can't stop singing that Waka song. Yes, it's about soccer and no, I won't actually be watching soccer but...I'm going to Africa!

South Africa, to be exact. Bob, his parents and I leave tonight for 17 days of South African goodness, starting in Johannesburg and then heading to Cape Town. We are going on a mini-safari, seeing the Robben Island museum & doing loads of wine tasting. Should definitely be an interesting time to be in Madiba's homeland and to be a part of the local celebrations/memorials that are still going on.

I promise to post an annoying number of pictures when we are back. For now, I leave you with Waka Waka herself!

It's highly likely I will be recreating these sweet moves in the airport. Sorry bout it Voss Fam.

Little Man Loves His 'Roos

It seems I am not the only one to have fully embraced Australia. My very own favorite Jamoney is sporting some quality 'Roo-wear, courtesy of yours truly, and is clearly loving it.

Now if only his mommy & daddy would get on board and plan a visit...the kid is ready!

I Say 'Toilet' Now

Made a sad realization today: I've started saying 'toilet' instead of restroom or bathroom. All through my time in the UK I held strong to my aversion to using toilet as a stand-alone word for bathroom but somehow Australia has crept in and settled in my vocabulary. Behold, other words I have also started using:

• mozzies (mosquitoes) 
• prezzies (presents)
• bin bag (trash bag)
• mobile (cell phone)
• coriander (cilantro)
• good on ya (well done)

The list goes on. I am shamed--'losing' my American-ness has started much sooner than I thought. Turns out life is just easier when people can understand you. But I promise the BIGGEST of promises to never develop a quasi-Australian accent a la British Madonna. It.Will.Not.Happen.

Bringing the Pilgrims to Oz

When you live in a foreign country, celebrating American holidays can help make you feel closer to home. After a successful Thanksgiving-esque celebration in London 2 years ago (that technically involved more international folk than actual Americans...) I decided to bring the tradition to Oz. Well. Easier said than done. Here is a partial account of my attempts to acquire ingredients. Australian pronunciations included for accuracy. 

Grocery store example #1:

Me: "Do you have any whole turkeys?"

Clerk: "Tehrkey? Ya we'vegotem, ma'am (ma'am?!!). Over thehr."

Me: "Oh yeah I saw those but they only seem to be about 2kilos (aka 4lbs) and I need something a bit bigger."

Clerk: "Nah. Don't harv anything biggah. You American? You guys eat a lot of tehrkey."

Me: "Um I guess?"

Grocery store example #2:

Me: "Do you have any fresh cranberries?"

Clerk: Weird look "Nope."

Me: "How about frozen ones?"

Clerk: "Umm we harv strorberries?"

Me: "Hmm don't think those will work but thank you."

Fancy butcher example #3:

Me: "Do you have any whole turkeys? Bigger than 6kilos?"

Clerk: "Yeah we do. Last one actually."

Me: "Oh that's awesome! I'll take it!"

Clerk: "Ok that will be $96."

Me: FML

Despite these minor setbacks, Bob & I successfully hosted 10 people last night for a slightly belated Thanksgiving. There were sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts and everything in between. I even made everyone go around and say what they were thankful for. Feelings for the win!

 This is not a fake picture. I really did cook things. And they were delicious. 

I take full responsibility for encouraging over-eating amongst Aussies. 

Beachside Recovery

We celebrated a friend's birthday on Saturday night. The theme was 1920s Great Gatsby and naturally I forced Bob to dress up. A pair of braces (aka suspenders) and a gangster hat later, he did me proud:

Post-festivities this morning, we were both feeling a bit rough so we opted for some coffee-fueled recovery at our favorite spot overlooking our neighborhood beach, Trigg. It was sunny and refreshing and just plain gorgeous.

To document our beautiful morning, I used my newly-discovered iPhone app called RoadMovies that allows you to take short 3 second video clips and then mash them all together to create a 24-second clip with music. Basically the idiot's answer to actually editing a video. I kind of love it and even Bob is becoming a fan (slowly).

I've uploaded the clip I made to an unlisted YouTube link here. As my beloved is a bit shy (I was limited to only two shots of him), let's keep this video between friends :)

And just in case the video doesn't work, here are some plain old pictures to lure you all for a visit!

That One Time I Got Breathalyzed...

• Turns out breathalyzing is a regular thing here in Oz. They set up road blocks and just pull people over at will to check for drunk drivers (or 'drink drivers' as they weirdly call them here). These stops are colloquially called 'booze buses' which is hilarious because that's what we called the buses on which we consumed copious amounts of alcohol during college. But, I digress.
• It was Friday afternoon about 3pm and I was driving back to the office after being out with a corporate group of volunteers. I had not had anything to drink that day (despite a raging desire for a nice wine spritzer to combat the 95 degree heat...) but I still went all gooey inside when I spotted the cops. Needless to say, I was fine and was told to continue on my way. I felt this was a bizarre thing to have happen at 3pm in the afternoon.
• WELL the next night (Saturday), Bob and I were on our way to a friend's birthday party in full 1920s/gangster attire (pictures to follow) and what do we encounter but ANOTHER booze bus! Again, not a worry because Bob is a responsible folk and only had 1 drink with dinner knowing he would be driving. Such a good Bubbles.
• The poor bloke in front of us? Not so lucky. Got taken out of his car and a cop drove the car away to add it to the bay of other seized cars. Eeeesh buddy. Not your day. Sadly, I did not get a picture of the guy (even I'm not that awkward) BUT I did get a shot of the whole procedure:

At this point, the guy in the station wagon ahead of us was probably dying a little on the inside.

• It was all very exciting for me and I felt very special. Bob thought I was ridiculous because random stops are so common here and promptly told me that I am special but not for the reasons I think. Cheeky one, Voss.                                                                                     

Off to the Races!

• Horse racing is a pretty big deal here. One such race, the Melbourne Cup, is held in Sydney each year. (Just jokes! It's held in Melbourne. Duh.) Australians call it "The Day that Stops the Nation"--and it does. At 12pm Perth time on the first Tuesday of November, offices across the country stop what they're doing and tune in to watch the race. Women wear colorful dresses and fascinating fascinators. It's all very fancy but for boring reasons, Bob & I both missed out on festivities this year.

• So we went for the budget option: discount tickets to Perth's Ascot Racetrack. No Melbourne. No fancy office parties. Lots of tattooed bogans. We only do classy, folks.

• I joke, I joke. Kind of. About 4 out of 10 people clearly left the house without employing the guidance of a mirror but the rest were quite posh and put my best maxi dress to shame. Boy was that fun people watching. Believe me, if I could have snapped a few shots of the Skyy Vodka reps' sparkly sparkly dresses and/or some of the poor spray tan choices I would have. Next time, my friends, next time.

• For now, hopefully a picture of our sweaty selves taken after the final loss of our 0 bet on the wrong horse. Damn you, Brindle Rose. Damn you.

Hello and welcome to the hottest place on Earth. Complete with horse poop. And flies. Yay Perth.

Picture of our horse of choice...losing.

Flies Ruin My Life

So it's been said by many (including myself) that Perth is uncannily similar to San Diego and I'd have to say it's true. For the most part. The people are definitely warm and friendly in both places. There is a big beach culture and palm trees line many streets. There's a lot of native brush (that, sadly, burns quite easily leading to huge brush/bush fires) and locals really like the outdoors. The list goes on.

There are also, however, large differences aside from the obvious driving on the wrong side of the road and using plasticpaper money. The flies, for one, are not my friends here. They invade Perth during the spring to such an extent that scientists have brought in African dung beetles to help cutdown on the fly population. Despite their origin in, well, dung, I welcome these beetles with open arms. In fact, I would probably carry a few around with me if it meant a reduction of flies. There's also this option:

But I'd probably rather become a hermit than cruise around in one of those. So...yeah. That leaves me and the dung beetles. But why would I carry around small poo-insects with me just to brave the outdoors, you ask? Well that brings me to another difference between San Diego and Perth: their beaches. Yes, both cities have beaches but only one has no seaweed, water like the Caribbean, and sand that's like buttah.

Behold: City Beach Beach and the impetus for my sudden interest in dung beetles. We went for breakfast at a cafe overlooking the beach this morning and were literally attacked by every fly in the southern hemisphere. Bob has advised that the flies aren't usually this bad and I just need to "wait it out." I, however, refuse to give in to these creatures and will instead be obtaining some beetles and heading back to the beach pronto. Of course, Bob will be in charge of carrying the poo-beasts as they are Australian flies after all and therefore entirely his fault.

And Internet Makes it Official!

We finally have internet in the new house so I guess that means we have officially moved in! So many exciting things have happened in the past few weeks that it's hard to summarize it all in one post but I will do my best :)

• We had our first BBQ! Sadly, there were no shrimps on the barbie. Apparently this isn't actually a 'thing' here. Boo. We did, however, have a few friends over for some delicious steaks & hot dogs/sausages. Of course, Eric (Bob's brother, see below) manned the massive grill because neither of us actually know how to use it...manuals are for dummies!

• We got some furniture! Everything is still looking pretty empty but we do have the beginnings of a living room, dining room and one bedroom. More pictures on those as they develop (slowly) but for now please enjoy our chocolate brown leather couches that make you all want to come visit to lay on them!

• Bob did the dishes! We/I have attempted to develop a system in which whomever makes dinner does not have to do the dishes. This is typically observed 1-2 times/week but it's a fantastic rule I hope to extend to all times. Please all be sure to tell Bob how good he looks in the kitchen...

• We went for walks! A major highlight of Perth is that there are tons of parks and preserves dotted throughout the city. We have walked around our area and tried to investigate some of these places. Here is a shot from the hill behind/across from our house:

• We are coming to the US! Flights have been booked and bank accounts have been emptied--we're coming to the USofA! If anyone is going to in or around LA or San Diego 27 March - 4 April 2013 please let me know because we'd love to see you! Also, SoCal should probably start stock-piling Mexican food immediately.

Vocabulary Lesson

After I made the brilliant suggestion that we provide our corporate volunteers with "fanny packs" during a staff meeting today, I felt this was an appropriate time to give a run-down of (some of) the strange-yet-cute vocab I have encountered thus far in my Australian adventures:

fanny - downtown lady parts (Learned this England and unfortunately for me, thought it only applied there)
bogan - redneck
CUB - cashed up bogan (i.e. Duck Dynasty/Honey Boo Boo)
ute - Aussie attempt at a pick up truck except it's short and weird looking
arvo - afternoon
brelly - umbrella
esky - cooler
chips - french fries
crisps - chips
Zed - the letter Z (They even called Brad Pitt's recent movie "World War Zed". Weird.)
Good on ya mate - Good for you/Well done friend
pram - stroller
fortnight - 2 weeks
cheers - Thank you
trading hours - business hours
lift - elevator
sunnies - sunglasses
goon - cheap wine
ranga - redhead (i.e. orangutang...couldn't make this stuff up if I tried)
thongs - flip flops
tomato sauce - ketchup
jumper - sweater
chemist - pharmacy
prezzies - gifts
starched - tired/exhausted (Bob's most used phrase: "Man I'm staaaaaaaahhhhched")

So you can see how my genius suggestion of adding purposeful and efficient waist bags to our arsenal of corporate supplies was received with...awkward laughter. But what I've come to realize is that aside from some of the stranger words (arvo?!) it's basically just a matter of abbreviating everything and then adding -ie or -y. It also helps that I got used to the Queen's English and its misuse of -s and -ou while in England. Don't think I'll ever really get used to "organise" and "colour" though. Sorry bout it, Liz.

Oh yeah...and it's officially Under Offer!

We drove by the house yesterday and saw an exciting development...the Under Offer sign! We'll have to be satisfied with that until the official SOLD sign is put up in October. Squeee!

Our New Home!

• Sooo...we bought a house. Well technically Bob bought the house but I am the owner of aesthetics, ensuring things are more "refined shabby chic" versus "bogan bachelor pad". Either way though, we have a pretty good foundation to work with :) (FYI: We haven't moved in yet so all the furniture are display items from the selling process!)

• This is the kitchen in which I plan to finally unveil my secret/hidden cooking abilities. This will be a shock to everyone (possibly including myself) but I have many cookbooks and Pinterest boards for inspiration. We'll see how that goes...

The biggest thing that we wanted in a house was an open floor plan. Bob and I both have so many memories of family feasts with people moving from the kitchen to outside to the dining room and wanted that for our new place. So now we just need visitors to make this fanciness happen...so plan your visits!

• The one room to which Bob is most dedicated is his self-described man cave aka theatre room. It's a great room (albeit a little unnecessary) but we're excited to watch movies and have people over for big sports games. I also introduced Bob to the glory of reclining couches and chairs. Apparently the American-styled couch potato is not as popular here but not for long! Bob is also trying to convince me of our "need" for a 70" TV. Needless to say this is not a priority for me but maybe he can trade me for a KitchenAid mixer? Just a thought...

• The most important thing all friends and family should take away from this post is the following: massive guest rooms and bath! Shower and tub available for all visitors and you'll note the shower head has some kind of rainfall shenanigans happening. Hope everyone is sufficiently excited for their IMMINENT visits. Thank you.

• We move in on 16 Oct and until then we are doing proper Scott Tillson weekend investigating into furniture options, complete with price comparisons, consumer reports and hours spent at the Perth equivalent of Miramar Road. I'd like to think I know what I want but then I see 25 other things that I want and then I am stymied. Bob's engagement in the process lasts until we pass the first television department which means I'm usually on my own to decide between fabrics like beachcomber ice and beachcomber alabaster and full frame or headboard only. And we haven't even been to IKEA yet. Groan. Wish us luck. 

Rainbows and Running

• So I'm not gonna lie, it's been raining a lot here lately. Like buckets. London-style. This goes against everything I was told about Perth winters/general weather and sometimes I feel I have been the victim of a grave injustice. But then rainbows like this appear and Perth starts to redeem herself. But the rainbow doesn't last forever so I better be seeing some sunshine soon!

• In addition to rainbows, another thing that brings me great joy during bouts of biblical rain quantities is food. Especially food that I have had a roll in preparing. This might be ridiculous but seeing your food from start to finish feels oddly fresh and dare I say healthy(-er)? Oh except when there's a copious amount of creme freche as in the case of my recent work "team-building" day to an executive cooking class. We made gnocchi, saffron chicken sauce, jamon serrano salad & a pear tart. From scratch. And then we ate it. Love. My. Job.

• Unlike food, running pains me. You know those people who say "Oh running clears my head." "It's like my personal meditation time." I hate those people. Running for me is like forcing a turtle to walk over hot coals: it doesn't want to do it. It can't really do it. But it must. So when given the option of running a marathon, a half-marathon, a 12K or a 4K, I naturally chose the 4K. I am, after all, an athlete. Thankfully, Bob and I share this begrudging attitude toward running so he joined me. Hearts of champions. Speed of turtles.

Freebies

• I love them. I have been known to put my email address on questionable lists just to get a free tote or water bottle. I'm still getting creepy Tea Party emails because of this. (Damn you CPAC) But one major plus of living in both London & now Perth is the presence of magazine freebies. In the US you have to mail away or enter online giveaways for the free stuff.  Oh no. Not in Pahth (Perth said with an Aussie accent...) Here you can purchase an In Style for $5 (albeit with a random Australian 'celebrity' on the cover) and walk away with a collection of John Frieda travel-size goodies. For free. Hog. Freaking. Heaven.

• So I've mentioned how people are exceedingly nice down undah. As some might have guessed, observations on this blog are not always truthtruth, mainly just Katietruth. But I can assure you that one real truthtruth is that people are freaking friendly. Just happy folk in general. One such example is on the bus: when people get off they say "thank you" to the bus driver. I mean everyone does this without fail. Even when it's raining and he's just dropped you in the middle of a gutter puddle, you say "Thank you!" or "Cheers!" Don't get me wrong, people in DC occasionally do this too (mainly my wee Tiffany Ann) but here it's everywhere. Happiness can exist on public transportation, who'da thought?

• Anyone who liked the US version of "The Killing" I highly recommend you watch the original Danish version. It has a funky Danish name but the translation is still called "The Killing" (shocker). I can proudly say I (mostly) stayed awake during evening viewings of the first season. Anyone who has experienced me at night knows that fact alone is a huge endorsement of the series. Also I can confidently say the series would have been a Scott Tillson favorite. He probably would have learned Danish by reading the subtitles and then attempted to correct native Danes on their pronunciation. This would have surprised no one.

• One element of our movie/tv evenings last week was a surprise bottle of bubbly courtesy of Bob's dad, Dietmar. Between Dietmar's midweek champagne and Ingrid's dinners/breakfasts/freshjuices, our resolve to buy our own place is slowly dwindling. 

• But, not to worry, we have more inspections (aka Aussie open houses) this weekend! In fact, I think I'm a little bit addicted to searching on real estate websites. I even have an app on my phone. Emily "FranFran" Hueber warned me about this addiction because she just casually bought a house herself (yes my friends are way more financially responsible than moi). As per FranFran's suggestion I have promised not to get overly excited about any one property until the keys are in our grubby little hands. Easier said than done, FranFran, but I will keep all readers (aka Pat Tillson) posted on our progress. Here's to years of yard work and paying for our own house repairs!

Carcs are a Thing

• You read that right: Australians love their car-trucks. They even have their own name for them: the ute, pronounced 'yoot'. Hideous name for a hideous vehicle, I know. At first I thought it was like a joke thing, like our version of the carc and only seen in older models, like the El Camino. But no, not in Oz. Here people pay >$30K for them and supe them up and drive them--with pride! Add it to the list of 'Things I Will Never Support'

• One thing I do support, however, is left hand driving. This mainly because I am amazing at it. Bob actually lets me drive him around now. He says it's emasculating but I say I make him look good. He also secretly knows I'm the better driver now. I handle those round-abouts like a pro.

• Also his dog loves me more now. The Beast (formerly known as Texas) has a clear preference for me and follows me on walks instead of Bob. This is probably a little heartbreaking for Bob so I try not to brag about it. Except publicly on my blog.

• This past week, my work had an all-day strategy/training session at an office in the CBD (Central Business District--'downtown' is not used--weird, I know). The office space was donated by one of our corporate partners and we were really grateful to get out of our nice-but-obvious-you-work-for-a-charity space. And boy, do those large banks/financial institutions/oil and gas companies know how to do it. No one has a permanent desk, you can bring your computer anywhere on the floor and reserve a little pod for working/meetings/napping. They have free coffee and snacks throughout and an abundance of well-manicured outdoor space, including giant potted plants. While it was nice to go back to my personalized desk pictures and notebooks the next day, sure did miss the free coffee and views of the CBD.

(Yes, this picture is horrible. iPhone wins some, iPhone loses some.)

Lunch in the Park

• 'Winter' in Perth is pretty similar to 'winter' in San Diego. It gets pretty chilly but by no means is it 'cold'. This means that even in the 'dead of winter', you can still have lunch outside to enjoy the bits of sunshine that pop out now and again. This is especially true when your office borders an adorable little park right outside the CBD (Central Business District).

• Wine is big here. Pretty huge, in fact. Considering the reputation of Australians as drinkers, this should surprise no one. But there is actually a good reason for it; Perth is surrounded by two major areas of wine production: the Swan Valley and Margaret River. The Bob and I went to Margaret River when we were here visiting last year and I fell in love with the chardonnay from Vasse Felix. When I got back to DC, Emily, Beth and the Wills all got to experience my delight at finding it on a menu at Founding Farmers--one of our favorite DC restaurants. There may or may not have been a screech involved.

• So imagine my excitement when the Bob announced that he got us tickets to the Good Food & Wine Festival last weekend at the Convention Centre. Got myself good and ready for some serious wine and food sampling. I was prepared to bring home cases of high quality finds as I have been known to enjoy a glass of wine now and then...BUT then we got there. And it was packed. Some of you might know about my feelings regarding large crowds. No bueno.

• Soooo this is what I came home with:

• Yes, that is in fact a semi-blurred picture of me as a beer astronaut. It was the only booth that didn't have a line. Naturally, the Bob and I chose it as our primary hang out spot. Oh and I bought some curry sauces. For all the dinners I don't make at Casa Voss. #starhousewife. So then we just bought some Vasse Felix at the wine store across from our house. Epic wine festival fail.

• Especially since we'll probably be needing some wine after we attend not 1, not 2, but 4 open houses today. Adulthood for the win.

Cornering the Mum Market

• When you grow up with Pat Tillson as your mum, you learn at an early age that you've basically won the mother lottery. PTills is in a category all her own in terms of #1ness. Few people have ever questioned this truism and anyone who does has clearly never met Saint Pat.
• And then you move to Perth and start living with the Australian Pat Tillson, otherwise known as Ingrid Voss. This is a woman who arrived on a flight from London via Dubai on Thursday at about 2pm. By 6:30pm almost her entire family (2 adult sons, 2 girlfriends, 1 husband, 1 monster dog) were present for a steak feast she had casually whipped up.
• The next morning, as you're rolling out of bed, she has already squeezed fresh orange juice, chopped pineapple, peeled an apple & made you a pre-packed lunch. With your name on it.

• And that's when you and the Bob realize that as products of #1mumness, you have been beyond spoiled since birth and your life will never be this good again. Sigh.

Waterfront Rugby

• It's pretty cool to see large rugby tournaments at parks around Perth. Especially when the men playing are 35+. Reminds me of going to tournaments with my dad at the fields in San Diego. Michael & I mainly played on the playground (meaning my rugby knowledge is about on par with my knowledge of ancient Urdu) but I just remember my dad's crazy intensity while watching the matches. Pretty sure he would have loved these waterfront versions:

• If you want some insight into what an Australian bush walk looks like (at least in suburban Perth), hike Torrey Pines and add a few intrusive plants. Oh and snakes. That can kill you. Yay Sunday outings!

• And if you want to compare your local public train poster to an Australian one, look no further. As you can probably imagine, they're hilarious.

• Life update: everything is pretty awesome. Job is awesome. Driving on the left is (mostly) awesome. The Bob is (smelly and) awesome.
• Not so awesome: being 12-15 hours ahead of all non-Aussies, especially the little nugget who stole my heart and won't give it back, one Benjamin "Jamon" Ruby. As you can see, he wants to be here with me as well but his parents are keeping him in cute baby jail. Sigh.