Holy Cow! Not sure of the significance of this square cow upside down in a tree, but it was strange enough that we had to have a picture of it. This is right in front of the Etihad Stadium which is very close to our apartment. Yesterday we went to church and they handed out a little paper telling us that the youth had a fund raiser going on and the were having a "Garage sale, cake stall and sausage sizzle!" I think that means a bake sale and a weiner roast, in our everyday terms! So many funny sayings - we really love to talk to the people here - lots of fun little sayings and i love the accents!

We live almost right next door to the "Etihad Stadium" where they play all their AFL games (Australian Football League Games) and they have big concerts there also. In front of the stadium were these signs that we just had to get a picture of! MAN BEANS!!! Hmmmm.... just makes me want to laugh! They are just regular old baked beans - have tried to find them in the store but haven't been able to yet. Now, the Australian Football is something else. Makes our game of football seem like we are a bunch of pansies with all our helmets and padding, infact, they call us "puffers" in relation to our football players. Their game is played with no padding, no helmets and all i know is that they are tough guys! We have watched a few games on TV and it is pretty fun to watch but i really haven't got the rules down yet.

Mmmm, mmmm, good!

Ok, so finally i got my long awaited Gelato! It is the best I have ever tasted.
Tom recommeds the cherry ripple and he is right - fabulous!

It has chunks of tart dark cherries rippled throughout a vanilla gelato.

(I have to wonder how many weight watcher points it is? But certainly I will not dwell on it!)

Ok, Tom just loves his "California Roll" so we stopped for lunch on Saturday and had a bite to eat!
It is just the little things that makes him so happy! A little Wasabi mixed with soy sauce and he was good to go!

G'day Mates!

I made it! The flight was unbelieveable - it was so wonderful. I had to keep asking myself if this was really happening to me. I flew on an Airbus 380 (no, not a Boeing plane) and it was as if I had my own private plane. The business class seats, which were so roomy that I swear there was about 4 feet of leg room and i am not kidding!. They totally recline for a wonderful night sleep. Also as they recline the top goes into this little pod type cover so it is really private and quiet. It was wonderful. When I was at the LA airport they had a security drill, but did not tell the public that is what they were doing. As I was having my luggage checked all the security men started screaming as loud as they could, "Freeze, freeze, don't move, don't move!" Everyone was silent and the whole area was still - it was very eery to be standing in the totally quiet airport with hundreds of people there. We all had to stand perfectly still for about 3 minutes until they finally told us that it was a drill and then let us all get back to business - scary! My flight left from LA at 1130pm. As i boarded, the business class and first class boards on a different ramp that takes you to the top level of the plane - I felt like I was in a simulated plane that was to be made in the future! I got situated and watched part of a movie (they had about 50 different ones to choose from), ate a Salmon dinner at 2am, after which I changed into my cotton kangaroo pajama's and settled down for a "long winters nap." Along with the PJ's that they give you, they also provide a little zipper case with lotion, perfume, lip cream, night cream, socks, tooth brush and toothpaste and then a warm, steaming wet towel to wash your hands and face. The whole time I am thinking, "This is so fun - I can't believe I get to do this." I actually slept for about 7 hours uninterrupted. I then got up about 3am, Australian time, brushed my teeth and watched another movie, did a little reading - still in my PJ's and covered with this really cozy large blanket they provide for the night. They then served breakfast about 6am - bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, yogurt, fresh fruit, and milk. We arrived in Melbourne at 830am and I went through customs, got my luggage and by 9am I was with Tom in the rental car heading for our apartment. Hard to believe that the flight takes 16 hours(going on average of 540 miles per hour) because it went by really fast. The whole 16 hours is over water - hard to believe there is that much water in the world. Sorry no pictures yet - haven't mastered that yet. I am in the mist of unpacking right now and Tom has gone to work. We will have a dinner with the Boeing gang tonite and then i will see if I can get some pictures to load tomorrow. It is cold, windy and rainy here - about 43 degrees at the moment but it feels great to be here. We do live about 3 blocks from the only Costco in all of Australia and it is brand new. We walked over there as soon as we got home and got a few things - so fun to have a store that i am familiar with right close by! Some things are exactly the same but they do have some different items, like in their food court they have the regular hot dogs, pizza and yogurt but they also sell meat pies that are so typical for australia. More to come later - I have to go unpack!