Bits and Ends

Over the past few days Simon and I have driven in the Yarra Valley (pronounced like the name "Tara" only with a "y" instead of a "t") which is basically out in the country where the world famous Australian wine comes from, gone out to the city (Melbourne) a couple of times, and down to the St Kilda Pier, AND I FINALLY SAW A KANGAROO!!!! No picture though...he was off in the bush about 50 feet from me and as soon as he heard simon and i approaching he took off! They are ridiculously fast and make a funny thump-thump sound when they jump. Its a lot like an overgrown and mutated rabbit.

For the most part our day goes as such: we wake up sometime before 10 am, go out into the (freezing) kitchen lol to have breakfast and pour over the newspapers. I almost always have two slices of toast and a cuppa (tea), while simon normally eats leftovers from dinner the night before. We fight over the good pages of the paper and if his parents are present at the table I always win :) his mom has explicitly told him that he is "number 2" while I'm in the house :) hehehe. Then we kind of go off and do our own thing... normally shower, get on the internet, read, etc. Later simon and I will go for a drive somewhere while I take pictures like an asian tourist of all the things I see. When we come back for "afternoon tea" or lunch is often when we decide what we'll do that night. I think simon's mom trish is making lasagna for afternoon tea today :) which is very exciting....OH!! we went to the market yesterday...like the real deal, meat hanging from hooks, seafood on ice, bread baking from every corner, people shouting out their deals of the day and constantly trying to beat out the competitor in the next booth- type market. it was fabulous! I didn't even think to bring a camera but i wish i had...especially when i realized how badly I could gross christie out with the freshly beheaded meats hanging on hooks and such :)

I'm very excited for tonight... we going to trish's sister's house (simon's aunt Jo) for tea (dinner) and we're almost certain that the main meal for tonight will be roast lamb- which is delicious..i don't care what your feelings are on Mary, her lamb is yummy- and some other roasted veggies and such. Jo is Ryan and Ben's mom (the cousins simon is closest to) and they are a ton of fun to hang out with. Hopefully they don't gang up on me and have a battle of america vs australia...but when they do i stick to these points:

1. the NFL is much tougher than the AFL (australian rules football)

2. our president is waaay cooler than their prime minister

3. ...thats about it...other than that we argue over pronunciation of words lol