Happy Australia Day!

The final holiday of the summer season here is Australia Day, January 26th. As best we can tell, most folks celebrate by having a sausage sizzle (grilled dogs) and drinking a few (or five or six) of their favorite beverages. And display lots of Aussie flags on cars and bodies. In the spirit of things, we threw some lamb sausages on the bbq this evening along with some corn. Dessert was pavlova with custard and strawberries - probably a twisted version of the aussie national dessert, but given our lack of mixer to make whipped cream it was the best we could do. A Tasmanian cider for me and a Coopers for Chris rounded out the menu.

We started the day by walking down to the Brighton beach, where the local lifesaving and surf club was hosting a fund-raising breakfast and friendly competition with other nearby South Australian clubs. We ordered up egg and bacon sandwiches, which were expertly cooked up on the barbie (of course!). Proceeds from the breakfast were for the nippers unit of the club – essentially the youngest members of primary school age.

Most of the beaches here in South Australia seem to be patrolled by volunteer clubs, and it is a responsibility taken seriously and with a great deal of civic pride. Our Brighton Surf and Lifesaving club has a new-looking two-story building on the Esplanade, the road running along the beach. Judging from the equipment I can see when their doors are rolled up, they’re pretty well appointed with all sorts of boats and other life-savey looking stuff.

Start of the Skulling Race

Official Uniform - Brighton SA Competitor

The competition began with an open water swimming race, out to a series of buoys then parallel to the shore and back in again. Everything seemed to relate to skills required for effective lifeguarding, and included races and relays on skulls and boards. The laid-back nature of it, with families wandering through the race area, was purely Australian. We left too early to hear the announcement of the team winning the most points, although Alison was clearly hoping that Brighton would win.

This afternoon, we headed on the bus up to Glenelg for the Havaianas Thong Challenge. Ah, you probably already have an image in mind, don’t you? And I can assure you that there were plenty of those on the beach. However, thong has a different meaning here. The challenge involved an attempt to set the Australian (and maybe world’s) record for longest line of people floating on inflatable thongs.

Sponsored by Havaianas, an Aussie-brand sporting wear manufacturer, participants paid $25 and in return received their very own inflatable thong and the opportunity to participate in the event. After some instructions, hoards of thong-carrying folk headed for the water and floated out towards ropes which seemed to be a rough guide for positioning. In general, it all looked a bit loosely-organized, but loads of fun.

Australia Day Celebrants & Thong Competitors

Slight disorganization along the thong lines

It seemed to be a mostly teenage set out on the water, and the buses to and from Glenelg this afternoon were filled with them (thongs deflated prior to boarding, please). As I heard one bloke say on the pier overlooking the event, “Oh, to be 15 again”. We’ll have to check the evening news to see which beach around Australia had the longest line. The famous Bondi Beach near Sydney took honors last year.

The Long Journey

Thanks to our wonderful friends in Decatur who volunteered to let the girls spend Monday with them, Chris and I managed to get the house in reasonable order and the final bits stuffed into the suitcases before our departure for the Atlanta airport.

The girls had been anticipating this trip for so long and with such enthusiasm that the flight to Dallas seemed pretty dull and ordinary to them. Fortunately, a train ride to the international concourse and some decent children’s play areas helped them pass the time during our layover prior to boarding the flight to Brisbane. Erin also worked very hard at socializing with the fellas in our boarding area who appeared to be headed out for offshore drilling.

Once airborne, Erin fell almost immediately asleep, slumped into an uncomfortable-looking position that she maintained for about six or seven hours. Ali, probably running on sheer adrenaline, managed to stay awake for the meal service and promptly crashed afterward. Both of them slept better than I thought they would, and far better than Chris and I).

I can’t remember exactly how many hours we had remaining in our 16 hour flight by the time we awoke, but I remember thinking “wow, we’re only halfway there”. It was a happy moment when we landed. Clearing immigration was easy, and the girls were amused by the beagles sniffing bags in customs. Thankfully, our last flight departed on time. Three hours later, we were muddling our way through baggage collection in Adelaide.

Really excited to fly to Australia

Checking out the flight bag

Despite the length of our travels, the girls have weathered it surprisingly well. We’re all having moments of fatigue linked to throwing our bodies into a time zone that is 15½ hours ahead of Atlanta (yes, we know we told everyone it would be 13½ hours ahead – sorry!). Naturally, this translates into some moments of crankiness, but those are mediated by the surprises of living in a new place.

One of the first magical discoveries was finding rainbow lorikeets just outside our front windows, where they’ve been feasting on berries in the bushes. Seeing their brilliant colors up close is a startling experience. We took a walk to the playground on Friday morning, and there were a number of the lorikeets munching on fruits or berries in a tree hanging over the playground.

Rainbow Lorikeet on the playground

Another happy find - the beach is every bit as beautiful as the tourism sites portray it.

Flat Out Like a Lizard Drinking

It's hard to convey how excited we are about this adventure while we're in the midst of mad preparation. Preparation that involves mundane tasks and long lists, making me wish I had prepared a Gantt chart back in September. We've been working on making the house move-in ready for the lovely couple that will be living in it, and I want them to be happy they decided to live here (rather than appalled at the discovery of some forgotten corner). Yesterday's jobs included a thorough clean up of the laundry area and tidying of the basement, both tasks that had been avoided for a good long time. It made me wonder if Australians speak of dust 'roos rather than dust bunnies. Because I'm pretty certain I found a dust 'roo in the making

And then there is the packing to be done. The rational part of my brain knows that this is not an expedition into unknown territories, requiring the careful preparation and packing of every single article we may need for the next 6 months. The irrational side is not convinced we can fit everything we need into 8 suitcases (plus a few carry-on bags).

In a moment of distraction (and when my main task of the day is herding those dust 'roos out the door, believe me, I can be distracted), I came across an online australian slang dictionary. And it was instantly amusing. Australian culture is famous for abbreviations and colorful turns of phrase. This is where I found another phrase for busy: flat out like a lizard drinking. It made our frenzied activity sound a lot more interesting. We're not just working on preparations, we're flat out like a lizard drinking.

When I lie awake at night and fret over everything yet to be done, I also pinch myself that in a few days, we will climb onto multiple airplanes and fly away to Australia for 6 months of work, schooling, and fun. How did we get so lucky?