"Just JUMP!!!!!!!"

Yup...here's another post...two posts in one day!! If there's great weather....and I'm not working...I'll try my luck at surfing or paddle boarding. And if I'm really feeling adventurous.. I'll hire (rent) a car and drive to other bodies of water and cool down from the hot weather!

 This was a couple weeks ago on a trip to Mt. Tambourine. It's a smaller mountain about an hour from Coolangatta. There's a ton of wineries around the mountain.. most of them around the small town of Mt. Tambourine. This is the view from the place that we stayed at overnight...

 This is the view of the valley from Mt. Tambourine...wish it was sunny, it looked like we could see to the end of the world!

 This is just proof that Christmas exists in Australia...even if it's just xmas trees on light poles....

 Yesterday we went to the Currumbin rock pools. It's only 20 minutes from Coolangatta..and probably the coolest thing I've seen since I've been here!!

 Is it weird that this sign made us more excited than scared???

                                                 This is one of our first views of the rock pools!

 Katie and Alyssa hanging out on the rocks. Katie's been visiting us for 2 weeks now!!

 Alyssa and I trying to help this kid work up the confidence to jump off...I even took deep breaths with him to calm him down....he ended up jumping 2 more times after this :)

 Me jumping off!! Definitely coming back here again...

 That's Katie sitting up there...hoping that we would tell her that she didn't have to jump off. Little did she know that we would make her jump TWICE. Both me and Alyssa missed her first jump on camera...haha!!

 Oh....and we didn't see this nice little informative plaque until after all three of us were completely reckless in the pools........WHY did Australia feel the need to post something like this???? Either way, it's not going to stop me from going to this place a few more times!!

You should all be fairly updated now.......next blog should be all about our Christmas. Not quite sure what the plans are yet, it will definitely be a unique Christmas to say the least. Until then...Happy Holidays to everyone!!

some pictures to illustrate the story!

 Fresh Garden Cafe..I work here about 3 days a week...making juices/sandwiches & working the till. My friend, Katie, took this picture...very au natural!

 This is most of the Rip Curl Crew at a Oakley product party. We go to events like this to learn more about Rip Curl products...NOT  to get free food and drinks =).

 Dreamtime Beach...about 15 minutes from Coolangatta. Very private beach..and super strange rock formations!

 Not sure what the island is called out there...BUT it's supposed to be surrounded by sharks..

 We didn't exactly hit it on the sunniest of days...BUT we didn't get a drop of rain the whole day.

 I was laying on the grass...turned my head...and this guy was just hangin' out with me!

 This is more of a secret spot on the sunshine coast..near a surf spot called Broken Heads. You gotta love the names of all of these surf breaks...!

Here's our compact car that we "hired" for the day...I drove manual on the wrong side of the car and the wrong side of the road for the first time ever!!! If your curious..the clutch is still on your left side...everything else is the exact opposite.

Aussie Lingo:

ok..i've been hearing some REALLY interesting ones lately...hope you're ready:

Skid-lid: A bike helmet

example: "eh mate, that bloke needsa skid-lid!!"

Ta: Thank you

OK....seriously, I've been hearing people say "Ta" to me for 3 months now......and I JUST figured out that it simply means Thank You...or Cheers. "Ta" is short for Thanks. Figure that one out....................

Fairy Floss: Cotton Candy

No example for this one..apparently fairies floss with cotton candy????

Plenty more pictures to come!!!

thanksgiving lives on!!

 Happy Holidays!! Last Thursday we did as much as we could to throw ourselves a "proper" Thanksgiving feast...and I think it was everything that we hoped for! Ok, so we didn't have any of the traditional political debates...and we didn't necessarily have the hugest turkey...but what we did have was more than enough to bring us back home when we needed it most. The girls and I felt a little homesick on Thanksgiving (as we should be...)...and I think this thanksgiving celebration put us all at ease. We had two American friends with us, an Englishmen, and an Aussie that took part in the festivities. We had a turkey (not as big as back home, but it's unheard of to find a turkey any bigger than 12 lbs around here), homemade mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, roasted potatoes, RASPBERRY sauce (the necessary ingredients for homemade cranberry sauce don't exist here), two types of salad, AND apple pie. All in all, I would say we did this American holiday very proud.

 Of course, it wouldn't be thanksgiving if we didn't force everyone to make construction paper turkeys! Everyone had to write what they were thankful for on the feathers of the turkeys. Surprisingly, everyone got really into it.....notice the surfboard in the arm/wing of one of the turkeys....and the cocktail glass in another turkey. Chelsiah, being the teacher of the group, was beside herself with our great artwork ;).

 How did we get so lucky to find an american MASTER chef that lives down the street from us? Who knows...but you better bet that we were thankful for Ren on this special day. He saved the day and found a  turkey for us....not to mention cooked it to perfection! (Trust me..it's harder than it sounds out here!!)

And just to throw all of you readers for a loop...we decided that there was really nothing else we would rather do than twirl fire on the beach while in our food comas! I reckon I should bring this new tradition back to the states with me...it's not Thanksgiving if there isn't an injury!! just kiddddding!

All in all I think the girls and I realized that it's not necessarily where we are but the company we're with that seems to matter the most these days. We do get a little sick for our family and friends every once in awhile, but that's when we're the MOST thankful that we came here with each other. Not to mention meeting some amazing friends out here that are willing to spend their thanksgiving with us, even those who don't even celebrate the holiday! 

Should be doing some mean bbq'ing for christmas in the next few weeks..I reckon we'll want to be cooking outside considering the weather lately. We all seem to be living in bathing suits around here!! To give you an idea...it's been around 32-34 degrees celsius lately....(december 1st being the first day of SUMMER, this is proper weather for this time of year). Oh and to save you all from googling conversion for celsius-fahrenheit....34 celsius=92.3 fahreheit. Don't think these american girls are gonna get much of a break from summer this year!! Cheers!

Aussie Lingo!

Keen- to like something or be "down" with something. 

A: Do you want to go to the movies later?

B: Yeah, I'm keen!

Snag- Sausage on the grill

ex: Heaps of snags on the bbq!