Crickey! We are in AustraliA!

Phrase of the day: "How ya goin?"
What I've actually been saying is, "How ya doin? Erm, goin?"

Today has been incredible and Steph is an amazing hostess!! Landing was great and going through customs was basically seamless. They didn't even search my stuff when I told them that I had food. They are pretty trusting down here I guess. I've investigated the toilets but the flush just seems to be sucked Down, not in a particular direction. I'll keep noticing in other toilets though. The spiders have met expectations and are SO COOL! We saw some pretty amazing looking ones today at Bondi Beach ((Australia's equivalent to Miami Beach)) and even witnessed a bee fly right into a spider and get immediately wrapped up! The spiders legs were on the web but her body was flipping and turning as she wrapped the bee and began to eat it(?)/suck out the juices(?) I got some cool pictures of it on my camera but I haven't uploaded them yet. I keep leaving my phone thinking, I don't need this, but I forget it doubles as a small camera! I wanted it most when we went to Jock's (Jon's brother (the farmer)) and he had a stick of cotton plant on his mantel. It was so cool to see it up close. It's really an incredible plant. There will be much more to experience!!!!

Steph has been filling us in on some of the things they say around here that are different from the states: a "bottle shop" is a liquor store. We actually passed a Drive In (drive-through) Bottle Shop!? WHAT!! Way to promote "drink" driving, as they call it. Also, when you do go to the store you're going to the "shop," which I find cute.
It's really bizarre to be in a car! Driving is on the other side and once today I thought there as a cute white dog driving the car, and another time it looked like an 8 year old girl was driving! SO Weird! It's the same with escalators and the sidewalk. I nearly crashed into a biker because he was coming toward us and I instinctively moved to the right which would have been fine but then at the last second I realized, No! The Left! So I darted to the left and he had to swerve around me! From the time I had my realization I called out, "Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" in my obvious American accent! What a dork.

Highlight of the day was certainly swimming/floating/jumping/diving in the warm, clear, blue ocean water! It wasn't a super hot day but Ben and I ran for it and jumped in and the three of us (and Many others!) hung out in the water playing for quite a while. I was amazed at how incredibly clear it was, and the colors so vibrant - the foam was literally "sea-foam green" like the crayola crayon! The beaches are absolutely stunning. They have pools on the beaches (some dug out and built, some created with boulders for walls) for lap swimming or safe kiddie pools. They pump the ocean water in or it just splashes in when the tide comes in and the colors of the water in the pools are just as gorgeous. They have two flags up on the beaches marking where swimmers can play and the rip tides aren't dangerous. These are the areas the life guards protect. At one point I ended up outside of the flags and they called to me to get back inside! It's so easy to get lost in the sound and the feeling of floating in the incredible strength of Mother Ocean, as Steph says. I slathered on lots'o sunscreen and didn't get burned but feel dried out. We were super grateful for Steph's lunch contribution of white rice with olive oil, sprouted mung beans, wakame and roasted root veggies. It was soo yummy and satisfying after playing in the water. Also satisfying: nap.

We walked through town to the store to wake up and get stimulated a little. Steph's doing a great job taking care of us, trying to acclimate us quickly, feeding us and offering vitamin C for airplane germies in our system. (I think I'm going to catch onto the nicknaming of ALL words rather quicky as I like to to that anyway: germies.) I made a yummy comfort food dinner because we're feeling so groggy and tired, of miso soup with carrots, green onions (from Steph's herb garden) and udon noodles over leafy greens. Then Steph offered us a yummy cookie which is tradition to have on the first night in Australia. It was really tasty ~ and chocolatey, of course!

Now it's time to sleep. Hopefully I don't wake up at 4 in the morning rearin to go. I don't really wanna take a sleeping pill but might need to tomorrow if I can't sleep through the night.

I am so grateful to be here. This trip is such an awesome gift and I feel so lucky to have this opportunity. I plan to milk it for everything it's worth. I hope to continue to focus in on what my intentions are for the experience I want to have so I don't get lost in the magic of it all to the point I end up, well, lost! What an amazing place I am in for this adventure! It's pretty amazing to me how perfectly aligned everything CONTINUES to be ( the last month has felt this way, to the extreme!) My heart is so happy and flowing with love and appreciation for this world and this life and the people in it! <3 data-blogger-escaped-br="br">Big Love to Everyone in the StateS!