Yes, we are home!!

I have taken a few weeks to get this post up, but I wanted to let you know that yes, we are home! We are happy to be back and getting back to regular life, which we love so much. So here's what we've been doing for the last few weeks, and a few pictures to give you an idea of what we got to see and experience.

• April 4th - left the wonderful bay area of California and flew into Sydney Australia..stayed at The Menzies, right in the heart of the downtown harbour ..visited the Sydney Opera House, the Botanical Gardens, Sydney Wildlife World, the Sydney Aquarium, several restaurants in the Harbour, and several ferries around the area..took a ferry over to Manly (about 30 minutes from Sydney) where an old friend of Martin's lives (Katie) spent a few days at her place and visiting the amazing beaches in the area
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  April 11th - flew into Brisbane where my fabulous friend Patty and her man picked us up from the airport and let us stay at their place for a few days..enjoyed some amazing bbq (including Kangaroo) that they prepared for us, and enjoyed the company of their close friends which was ideal, we felt at home again..thanks to Patty, we were able to ride bikes around the city and get a feel for the area, went to a few street markets and took the ferry around their city
  
  
• April 13th - flew up to Cairns, where we met up with Daniel (Martin's brother) and Jeremy (our roommate and Martin's bandmate), dove the Great Barrier Reef and so lots of amazing things, took a tour through the Australia Rainforest, swam through the Milla Milla waterfall, jumped into a few lakes
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• April 16th - flew back to sydney, stayed in the Manly area again, because we loved their beaches so much, visited Katie at her restaurant to say bye
• April 18th - flew to New Zealand, drove on the opposite side of the rode, found somewhat affordable food for the first time in weeks, and had to wear a jacket for the first time in weeks.. drove all around the South Island of New Zealand, saw the Fox Glacier and the Franz Josep Glacier, the Milford Sound, the Fiordland National Park, Mt. Cook, the Moeraki Boulders, hundreds of waterfalls and lakes, probably millions of sheep, gorgeous country side, New Zealand wine country (so pretty to drive through).. ate at Fleur's Place, an amazing and fresh seafood restaurant
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• April 25th - flew home to San Francisco, and so ready to be home

To be honest, we didn't feel that far from home. The food, the people, the landscape, even the beaches, all felt like different parts of California. Sydney was almost identical to San Francisco, with a lot of asian culture and food mixed in with port/harbour culture here and there. A few things that were new to us...

• beets on hamburgers (and egg and pineapple also)
• 3 dollar cans of soda, crazy.. and no refills anywhere, fast food and restaurants
• not big into ranch or bbq; they use a lot of chili sauce (hot or sweet)
• fries are called chips
• pancakes are always served with icecream
• icecreams shops everywhere
• tipping is not as standard as here, also, tax is included in everything already, which is one reason why things seem much more expensive.. minimum wage is around 15 or 16 $.. so servers don't make as much in tips, but they get paid more, have covered health insurance, get vacation time, which no servers get here in the states, get time and a half for working sundays, and you get 4-6 weeks paid vacation a year at almost any job, as opposed to 1 in the states, and that's only if you have a fulltime office type job
• driving on the other side of the road
• not pronouncing things the way they are spelled (Cairns is Cans, Brisbane is Brisbin, Melbourne is Melbin.. just to name a few)
• a few words different here or there, nothing we couldn't figure out
• no toilet seat covers anywhere (I hated that)
• no dollar menus at fast food (everything was a little pricier than we're used to)
• no free wifi anywhere, everywhere charged a lot, anywhere from 5-10 an hour
• lots of travelling students all over.. it seems as though in other countries travelling is a huge part of life and education, which I think is wonderful.. a more travelled and experienced person is a more knowledgeable and less ignorant person.. learning about how other's communicate and cooperate and live and think is a great thing, I think.. We met people from all over, working or just travelling, as either part of their actual college education or a start to
• universal health care (or just about) most people approve of it and have close to no complaints, definitely not as many as I have with my insurance
• recycling and being green is HUGE in Australia and New Zealand.. almost everywhere you go there are separate recycling bins and even food waste bins.. it seems as though most people there are very aware that you need to be more responsible with your waste.. you have to know that everything you throw away goes somewhere, and doesn't just disappear, which probably is why everything was so clean and well kept and nowhere smelled like our Milpitas (which just smells like you're standing in a garbage)

We missed our friends and family so much and want you to know how much we love and appreciate all the time we get to spend with you... we love being home!!