4/30 - 5/6/10 (toowoomba)

Toowoomba

We will admit we have been a little slow on the blog this past week. We have had as Annie calls it, a vacation from our vacation. Annie and I have been staying in Toowoomba, a suburb about an hour out of Brisbane. We stayed with Annie’s former roommate from Japan, Jean and her husband, Jono. They have been very gracious hosts and introduced us to some of their wonderful family and friends. They also have a cute little Maltese dog that we have taken a liking to named Ally.

This past week I have been working on finishing up a video for BasicTrainingSF. I have also been hard at work on the New Zealand recap, it has proved to be one of the largest projects I have worked on in a long time. We have also caught up on some Australian movies, such the Castle and Chopper. Chopper stars Eric Bana in a breakout roll as one of Australia’s most notorious criminals. Pretty intense but fun to learn more about Australian prison lore. We have also caught up on many TV shows thanks to Jono’s brother Jake. Jake has a large collection on a hard drive and it allowed Annie to do an all day Grey’s Anatomy marathon to catch up on the season. 

Rugby is a huge part of Australian culture and Jono’s friend Nathan was a great tutor on getting me up to speed on all the different leagues and rules. Nathan tells me that the real rugby players are all from rugby league and the rugby union is full of a bunch of wankers. We have picked up all kinds of wonderful new Australian phrases.

Jono introduced us to his mother and father and we all spent some time watching rugby at their house. Jono’s father is a big fan of Blue Tongue beer and was quite interested in hearing about our brewery tour. 

Annie and I went on our first Aussie bush walk with Jean’s good friend, Kylie, while exploring some country property. We got a chance to see some of Australia’s finest, massive spiders and a large goanna as it scurried away. They sure like them big over here. Traveling isn’t encouraging physical fitness because both Annie and I were pretty worn out after the walk. 

We got to spend a day in Stansthorpe, a wine region about an hour from Toowoomba to taste a wide variety of shiraz, port, and a little moonshine (chocolaty with a hint of maple syrup). Speaking of alcohol, we were also introduced to Bundeburg rum. Bundy’s supposedly banned in several Australian pubs because it tends to encourage a little too much fighting among the locals. It brought back some memories of cloudy college days with Captain Morgan’s. We also spent a few evenings at the local pubs for some large steak dinners. Annie managed to get us a few free drinks because one of the pub owners took a liking to her.  

This past week has been a wonderful opportunity for us to learn more about Australian culture and it was just what Annie and I have been looking for from our travels. It has been great to stay with Jean and Jono and we can’t thank them enough for their generous hospitality in Toowoomba and introducing us to all of their friends and family. Personally, this has been one of the best weeks of my unmapped travels.

Comments

[mary lappan]

We will work on the lingo and see how we do.

[Seattle Annie]

First of all, that picture is adorable.

Second, way to go on the free drinks!

Third, glad you are taking some time to relax on your vacation too :)

Miss you guys!