As you already know, getting to
Australia is no easy task.
The long flights are daunting and the jet lag would have to improve to be overwhelming.
Collectively, these are the main obstacles for anybody who thinks about making the journey.
Surprisingly, there were two who dared to make the trip. My sister-in-law, Christina organized a trip to Australia for November 2008. Prior to that, we had a pleasant surprise when the Frieda, the mother-in-law of our good friends the Meskos family, came to visit her relatives in Perth. Before leaving Syracuse, Frieda arranged to stop by and visit for an afternoon. I can’t express how nice it was to have a chat in Australia with somebody from CNY.
During our visit we caught up on the Meskos gossip, shared the Brandolino gossip, and exchanged our thoughts on Australia. We chatted about some Aussie oddities and had a good laugh with her family. Frieda was leaving Perth the next day so I asked her if she’d seen the sunset over the Indian Ocean, as there aren’t many people who can say they have. She hadn’t, so as we said our goodbyes I urged her to head to the beach and do so.
Word got back that she loved it. Below, in her words, are some of Frieda’s favorite things about Australia…
The beaches - how clean the neighborhoods are - especially the Brandolino’s neighborhood and their brick paved roads
I loved the path along the beach and the beautiful sunset in Perth (I’ll take credit for that!)
The blue skies every day
So much to do - swimming, surfing, running, biking, fishing
Now that I was feeling a little homesick it was time to start counting down for the big visit from my sister-in-law, Christina.
Within a few months of our arrival to Australia Christina booked a flight to visit us during in the mid to late part of November. This provided us with time to get familiar with Australia and be somewhat knowledgeable hosts. It also provided her with enough time to back out once the reality of spending two weeks with me settled in.
Initially, like any long awaited date, it seemed so far away. Almost to the point where I thought my daughter would be driving before the visit. Eventually months became weeks and as we closed in on the southern hemisphere spring (autumn north of the equator) we (read: my wife) organized all of the activities we would do.
In addition to spending time with the relies (relatives) in Perth, Christina had arranged to spend a bit of time in Sydney and Melbourne. Before coming to Perth, she spent a couple of days in Sydney. Prior to the long flight home to New York she headed to Melbourne (pronounced without the “r”) with my wife tagging along for the trip.
Typically, mid to late November in Perth is comparable to CNY during early to mid June. Most of the time it’s nice, though really hot days or chilly (even wet) days are not out of the question. Fortunately, the weather was good enough for the beach when she was here, a must thing to do when visiting Western Australia.
Naturally, we visited a wildlife area and had a mandatory morning with the kangaroos and koalas. Even though that was my third time there, it never gets old. After petting the koalas I was reminded of how awful their fur smells, which I believe has to do with their heavy diet of eucalyptus leaves. Christina loved the sheep shearing show and all the different animals we were able to pet while there. The wombat was particularly endearing when it started to go #2 as we began to pet him!
Another must to do when in Australia is a wine tour. We, well my wife and Christina, did one. Western Australia, particularly the Perth region and south of Perth have world class wineries, especially if you like the reds. To compliment the reds in the area the Swan River has an amazing chocolate factory. This too had been visited before Christina’s arrival, and eating lots of good (and free) chocolate certainly only made us want to return with a guest. I would argue that their hot chocolate was also world class. After all the chocolate tasting the girls were off on a wine tour for the day.
Another indulgence while Christina was here was some great Thai food. Thai, short for Thailand, food is in my opinion similar to Chinese food, but better! The main difference with Thai food is that the ingredients are fresher and there is an emphasis on curry. Because of Oz’s proximity to Thailand there are many high quality Thai restaurants in the area. Conversely, there are no good Mexican restaurants. We ate more Thai food while Christina was here than I have in my en-thai-re life.
We ended most of our days by consuming Australia’s finest food. No, not with Vegemite, but with Tim Tams. I feel as though I’ve made my feelings abundantly clear on this topic. Even so, I will take this opportunity to remind everybody just how good they are. Everybody, I mean everybody, I’ve sent Tim Tams to have loved them. Christina was no exception and convinced us to explore the world of Tim Tams by purchasing one box of every flavor Tim Tam made. Needless to say, I loved them all and by the end of the visit I was about 3 kilos heavier!
As you can see, we were really efficient at knocking off the things on the “must eat” list.
Christina also spent Thanksgiving in Perth. With Thanksgiving being an American holiday we felt obligated to explain to our Aussie friends how the day is celebrated. Watch football and eat heaps of food was the best explanation I could give!
Anyway, turkeys are really, really expensive here. You can forget about the deals you see at the supermarket where the bird would cost 20 cents per pound with the purchase of at least $50 of groceries. Because of that, and the fact that we were in Australia, we had an excuse to do something different. We opted to celebrate Thanksgiving by eating turkey sandwiches for lunch and having fish and chips for dinner. Fish, we agreed, was a good substitute for turkey because it is a white meat and because the fish and chips are really good here.
As you can tell, there’s no doubt that I had a good time when Christina was in town. I presume Christina did, too. Instead of assuming so, I decided to email Christina and ask her to pass along her thoughts on the trip. Below is her reply:
I was so excited to visit Chris, Sarah, Sydney, and Dominic in Australia. Not a bad place to go to spend quality time with the people you love. I hit Sydney, Perth and Melbourne and found that all three places provided a different taste of Australia. I was in and out of Sydney pretty quick but did manage to see the Darling Habour and take in a show at the Opera House, which was wonderful. The next leg of my trip was to Perth. I don't think I can really describe Perth because you have to see it for yourself. It's truly unlike anywhere I have been before. The beaches are beautiful, the population is diverse, and the Thai food is amazing! Plus, the wine isn't so bad either :) Which we were able to fully enjoy on a full-day wine tour. But, the best part of Perth is that my family is there. We packed a lot of events in the small amount of time...visiting Rottnest Island, wildlife parks, beaches and of course, my niece Sydney's favorite...Subway! (Yes, we do have Subway here and my kids are obsessed with it) We spent Thanksgiving on the beach, followed by delicious fish & chips (which Perth does really well). Every night typically concluded with laughs, wine, and Chris losing in Yahtzee. My vacation ended perfectly, with a trip to Melbourne where Sarah and I really did it up with great food, drinks and dancing!
All-in-all, it was a great trip but I certainly can't wait to have them home.
And, Chris...the flat whites do rock!
Well said Christina! As she mentioned we made a trip to Rottnest Island. That was an awesome trip, worthy of its own blog and one I will share with you next week!
