Greetings from the Land Down Under!
It's Monday morning and our lovely hosts, Renee and Lee, are at work while we sip chai tea, munch on muesli and write to you. What an amazing first 10 days here in a land where water swirls the opposite way down the drain. We arrived delirious at 7 am after losing an entire day in the sky, to Renee holding a heart-shaped sign that read "OH MY BUDDHA!! IT'S THE BUN N BOOTS' FUN EXPRESS 2010." Together we drove on the wrong side of the road and the wrong side of the car to her lovely Queenslander style home in Brisbane (more specifically Auchenflower) which is better known in Australia as Brissy or BrisVEGAS (still trying to figure that one out).
Our first few days were spent getting acquainted with the city on foot: walks along the beautiful river to see countless beautiful bridges, the modern city skyline, a beautiful botanic garden, a ferris wheel like the eye in London, and the various unique and lively districts within the city. Brisbane has a great live music scene with lots of venues and also many great cafes serving up killer Flat Whites (also known as a latte).
We kicked off the week with a trip out to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary to check off numbers 1 and 2 on our To-Do list for this OZ adventure. It was a beautiful open sanctuary in the hills over Brissy in the shade of Eucalyptus trees. We were overwhelmed with over 100 koalas to cuddle and we decided that the koala might actually beat out the lemur for coolest animal ever (that's right... take a moment for that statement). Koalas chill HARD--harder than anything or anyone. That includes you, Snoop. They couldn't be bothered to save their lives...all they do is sleep and eat some leaves in total silence. THAT IS ALL. If only we were that cool. Lone Pine allows you to "cuddle" a koala and take pictures and the money goes to conservation projects for the animals. Since this was number 1 on our list, we were all over this. We took a picture family style with our very own adopted koala child named Bentley. He smelled WEIRD and as soon as Bun put him in her arms he took a poo on her shoe followed by a burp. And we are still obsessed with him. It was an absolute highlight because Bentley was quite the poser. He looks fake in the pictures and we got lucky as not everyone else's koalas were as photogenic! Even Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs didn't have a cooperative koala. TRUE STORY. We also went to a huge field with over 100 kangaroos and wallabies and frolicked with them. We even had a staring contest with a Roo, but he definitely won as they are a bit intimidating. All in all, Lone Pine ROCKED!
Bun and Boots babysitting duties were split between Renee and Lee. Our first part of the visit was with Renee and she showed us the lay of the land and where we could grab some tasty beers. By Wednesday it was Lee's turn to show us how he really gets down with a spontaneous jam session with his pals in the living room. We offered to play the tambo and the didgeridoo but they said they had it covered. The following night Chef Lee put Thomas Keller to shame with a 5 star, 4 course meal to knock our socks off. Can you say rhubarb delight???
WE ARE BEING SPOILED!!!!!
This past weekend we set off for Byron Bay to visit Renee's hometown and meet her lovely "Mum". BB is STUNNING little beach town and the most Eastern point of Australia. This little town has everything from a dormant volcano, Mt. Warning, in the distance to a charming lighthouse on the edge of the town, and breathtaking hinterlands full of rainforest and rolling hills. People talk of how fertile the soil is in this area and say it is because of the special crystals?!? More on that later...we hope.
Within hours of being in BB, we took a walk up to the cape and lighthouse and had the surprise of our lives at the very top. HUMPBACK WHALES having a tea party in the sea below us! It takes a lot for us to be speechless, but trust us we were. There was a group of them and we were able to watch them for quite some time as well as get a video (coming soon). There was also a straggler whale left behind who decided to give us a great show with some tail flukes. A-MAYO-NAZING. These whales made the dolphins and wallaby we saw hopping by seem like flies on the wall. We enjoyed a gorgeous sunset, explained by Boots to Bun, and headed back to the beach for a silly photo session at dusk.
The night could have ended there with the whale sighting highlight (but we wouldn't be the Bun and Boots Fun Express if that were the case). Instead we decided to stay out until 4 am at a place called LA LA's which is nothing like LA. It was a sweaty, sloppy dance party but a story nonetheless. The rest of the weekend was spent checking out the shops, dining at delicious cafes, hitting the Bangalow markets, and taking in some live music at The Beach Hotel. EPIC WEEKEND and we heart Byron Bay - we are definitely going back.
We are headed up the coast this week to check out some more beaches and islands along the Queensland coast. Stay tuned for more from these two Waltzing Matildas (wikipedia it).
As the Good Dr. Lee would say: Hope life is G to the O to the L to the D back home.
XOXOXOXOXOXOX,
Bungalow n' Boot Scoot
