This is my first blog. I like to write. I also like to keep in touch with friends and family, so why not? This is just an easy way for me to keep up with all of you. You can just get onto this address whenever you are thinking of me, want to surf the net, are bored, etc. I will try to update this as often as possible and use this as a way to document our travels/life while I'm here in Australia and to keep you guys in the loop. Warren may insert some entries from time to time as well. This will probably be a good place also to post wedding plans/updates/ideas/pics etc.
KANGAROOS!!!!! It's official, we have seen The Roo. Warren and I were like a couple of little school kids seeing them for the first time. I think Warren may have even shed a tear or two. They are so neat, they bounce!!!!! I know that you see that on TV and hear about the bouncing, pouch, etc. But in real life, to see a bouncing mammal or maybe 10 just bouncing around a field, it's really quite spectacular to say the very least. It will surely be something I will always remember....the first time I saw a roo. We stayed at a little placed in Hunter Valley (the oldest wine valley in Australia), in a house called the Hill Top Inn. It was ran by a nice older lady named Margaret. She was born and raised in this area. She is the owner/operater/cleaner/nighttime 4 wheel drive animal tour guide/cook/you name it. She is a one woman show and she has a wonderful establishment. Her house is, as you might have guessed, on the top of a hill overlooking vineyards with mountain in the distance. After a full day of wine tasting, we would pick a spot on the hillside to try to observe some animals at dusk. The kangaroos prefer this time of the day, from about 4:30 until dark to roam around. We could watch from our perch on the hill as they bounced around in the valley below. We were also lucky enough to see a wombat. These are far more rare and equally as interesting. A wombat is sort of like a pig mixed with bear. It's much like an R.O.U.S. (Rodent Of Unusual Size from the Princess Bride), that's really the best way to explain it. We heard it rustling around in the grass and I was able to get pretty close to it before it scurried away. Also, in first time Australia animal news, we saw an Australian possum. Well, Warren really saw it. I was leaving the tent to use the restroom at a nearby tree and I asked Warren to keep a look out and shine the light around...this is Australia after all, and I am sufficiently paranoid about critters in the wild that may kill me. So as I was doing the deed, a little possum decided to hop onto the nearby trash can. Warren was enthralled with him, but the problem was that I was exposed, trying to use the bathroom, and I didn't have my contacts in to see that it was only a little furry creature. I was terrified! I never did get a good look at the little fellow (Warren says he looks really cute and not at all like our American possums).
The wine was wonderful. I have a true love for wine and nature and wine tasting is the perfect combination of these two wonders. Spring has just begun here, so the vines were just beginning to blossom. Something about row after row after row of grapes on vines really makes my heart sing. Hunter Valley is just about a hour and a half north of Sydney. There are interesting grapes grown here which are not grown in the states...two in particular are the Semillion and Verdehlo. These really thrive in the Hunter Valley and are two of their most popular white wine grapes. I really didn't love either, but I prefered the Verdehlo. It's actually a portugese grape, which grows really well in warmer climates. Warren and I were wondering why it isn't grown in Louisiana. There is also a dessert wine called Muscot, which is some variety of the muscadine, or so some of the wine makers believed it to be. Also, interesting was that they drink a lot of sparkeling red wines, like sparkling Shiraz. These were so yummy and it really suprises me that these aren't more popular in the U.S. They drink these especially around Christmas time because it's so hot here and apparently it is really delicious with gamey meets like Turkey. But the Shiraz is really Hunter Valleys claim to fame. They say you can really taste the Hunter's rich soils and somehow (after a winery or two) you can.
I think this is enough for now. We are back in Coogee. Warren is busy with several projects and has project after project due until the end of the semester to keep him quite busy. One of us will post some pictures of our recent adventure onto Facebook soon. I'm off to bake some bisquits. They are gluten free so they are more like cookies, but that's okay too. Take care all.
