Amy and Steven's Endless Summer.: March 2013

Written 9th December 2012

Our flight left at 9.30pm. As soon as we got on the plane to Sydney in Bangkok it was like a breath of fresh air. It has never been better to hear the Australian accent! All the flight attendants were so nice and friendly and helpful and it was so good to be understood immediately. It was nice to be served with a smile!

The flight to Sydney was 9 and a bit hours and seemed like a dream in comparison to all the bus trips we have done. I will be glad if I don't have to take public transport again for a very long time. Especially in Asia. We watched Ted which is the movie that every single DVD seller in Indonesia had at the top of their pile. It had a few funny bits but we didn't think it was that good really. It was a little too over the top. We slept for about 5 hours so that was good and arrived in Sydney at 10.50am. When we came down my left ear totally blocked up as I had a bit of a cold when we left Bangkok. So I couldn't hear well.

Alex had come to pick us put from the airport and I was so happy to see her! We went out to the car she had loaned from a friend, loaded up the surf boards and packs and headed off through Sydney. It was a rainy day when we arrived. We were so happy to be in a car with someone who actually knew how to drive and the other people on the roads knew how to drive too! I'm sure in Asia they give anyone with a pulse a license (or you probably don't even need one). It was nice to not be fearing for our lives while driving! I wanted to go to the supermarket so Alex took us to one by her house. It was so awesome. You just don't know how great our supermarkets are until you have been without of them for so long. They are HUGE and CLEAN and ORDERLY and there is SO much to choose from and so much fresh produce! I think my eyes were sparkling in delight like some sort of disney character and my smile was a mile wide. I was super excited to see some christmas decorations too because I LOVE CHRISTMAS and there is no Christmas in Asia. Alex bought some ingredients for a chicken salad (I had been dreaming about one for months) and Steve got a V and we headed off back to Alex's lovely little house near Bondi Beach.

Alex cooked us the salad

and gave us WATER OUT OF THE TAP with lemon in it. It is so amazing to have water out of the tap that you can drink! The sun had decided to shine by then so we had a picnic outside and enjoyed the delicious fresh food!

After that we went for a walk to Bondi Beach and it is a really nice place. I can see why Alex loves living there!

We walked out to the point

and back and then visited a local photographers gallery which was awesome. Once we got back to Alex's house Alex showed us her new hula-hooping skills and I had a go too and then it was time to go back to the airport already! On the way we stopped by a local park to have a look at the view of the city.

We had a lovely time with you Alex! Thanks again so much for picking us up and spending the day with us!

Back at the airport at 5pm we checked in and headed off through customs. We had a bit of time before our flight (which left at 7.15pm) and so we went to the food court as we were hungry. Eeek, we had forgotten how expensive things are in Australia. So we walked around and found the cheapest thing we could that wasn't a burger - we got a toasted sandwich, muffin and two hot drinks from Mc Cafe. Then it was time to go to the gate. We had to wait a while because bad weather on the Gold Coast had delayed the plane. The flight was quick and fine. Tiger Airways is much better than Easy Jet. When we landed we walked down the steps and across the rain soaked concrete to the airport door and as soon as we walked in there was Dad and Ronda! I was so happy to see them! I was excited as ever you can imagine to be in Australia and to be with my Dad! And I was really happy to meet Ronda. She is super nice! The whole ride home I think I didn't stop chattering my excitement!

When we got to Dad and Ronda's house we put all our gear in black plastic bags on the deck just incase we had any bed bug stowaways. We didn't think we did but thought it was better to be safe than sorry. We didn't want to take out all our stuff inside the house only to find there were bugs hiding deep inside. While Dad and Ronda were picking us up Jonny Aalbers (who was staying with Dad and Ronda for a bit with Jenna before heading back to N.Z.) had made us all a yummy salad and steak! Yum! We had been dreaming about steak for ages and we asked Dad if we could have steak and salad when we came. It was delicious. It is so nice to have so many nice kinds of food to eat and lots of healthy stuff all the time! My ear was even more blocked I think after the second flight so I still couldn't hear too well. Dad and Ronda had some spare tooth brushes so we were so happy to have some fresh ones to brush our teeth with with the TAP WATER!!! You can never really get your toothbrush fully clean when using bottled water. AND the house was SO clean and tidy and homely (Ronda has done wonders) so we could put the toothbrushes on the sink without fear of them catching some horrible disease! Yay! It was amazing to have a shower without worrying about getting water in your mouth! AND our bed is so soft and comfortable! It is so nice and relaxing being able to sleep just on sheets without fear of being attacked by either bed bugs or potentially lethal mosquitos! We had such a good sleep and slept in until 11am!

I was feeling sicker the next day. I was all clogged up and couldn't hear well still. My left ear was completely blocked. We just relaxed for a while and enjoyed being in a nice homely place and chatted to Jenna. We saw Gillian (a.k.a. Grape Grape) the water dragon and fed her some grapes.

Then we went outside and sorted all our stuff into back bags, tied them up and put them on the trampoline to get really hot in the sun (bed bugs die in really hot heat) and then I hot washed all our clothes too. We never saw any bugs but still thought we better be safe rather than sorry, bed bugs are horrid! Everyone else was at work but Dad and Jonny finished at 2pm (they start at 6am) and Ronda was back by 3pm. After that we all went to the beach. The water was freezing for some reason. Steve, Jonny and I all had a surf. It was So great to be back in the water! My little wettie kept me a little bit warm too. We had a few little fun waves. That night we had chicken and salad for dinner. Yum! It's nice to all sit around the table and chat and enjoy good food. Dad told us about mixing oil and garlic and heating it up and then using it as ear drops for ear aches so we tried that bit it didn't really help my blocked ear.

The following day we took the stuff out of the black bags and sorted out all of our gear. In the afternoon was a site barbecue so we got to have a real Auzzie barbie! It was a bit tricky talking to everyone when I could't hear well though! We played cricket at the end. And when we came back Ronda made a massive and delicious fruit salad and we had fruit salad and ice-cream! YUM! Oh and whipped cream too! When Jonny got home (after the BBQ he had gone out for coffee with some mates) he has some too and left the ice-cream on the bench over night!

The next day Steve woke up early and was working on his iPad next to me in bed at like 4am trying to think of different jobs he could do when he goes home. He then got up and went to work with Dad and Jonny. I was felling even sicker. I didn't do much, just chatted to Jenna and tried to catch up on some of the blog. I spent a lot of the time trying to solve a problem with uploading photos which blogger has had for over a week but I thought it was something I was doing rather than a problem with the site so it took me ages to realize. When Steve came back from work he went surfing with Jonny but I felt too sick. Jenna went to work. That night Ronda cooked a roast leg of lamb! It was SO delicious. We had been dreaming about Leanne's Roasts ever since we left home because they are our favorite dinner ever. Ronda's roast was also scrumptious!

We had heaped platefuls. Jonny had 3 plates even though he was going out to dinner with Jenna and some friends when Jenna got home from work! Dad made a really really yum gravy. I think he must be the gravy master or something. We also had broccoli which we love and Ronda made potato bake. Yum! Then we watched The Rescuers and started to watch The Aristocats too.

The day after that was Friday. Ronda had the day off work and Karina her daughter came over which was cool because I got to meet her and she is really nice. Ronda had done some yummy baking so I had a yummy muffin and kiwi fruit for breakfast. Mmmmm.

Ronda, Jenna and Karina took me to the doctors because I was still really sick and my ear was still blocked right up and I could hardly hear. My right ear was quite blocked too. The doctor said that I had fluid behind my eardrums which is a common problem after flying and so he prescribed me some decongestant medicine. I also got him to look at my knee that I hurt when we were walking down Mt. Warning at the end of March when we were here at the start of our trip. I had to go and get an x-ray which came back okay so he said I will need another scan done when I get back to New Zealand. I also got him to look at two patches on my face that keep peeling since we have been on our trip and he burnt one with the dry ice. It took a long time to get through all the waiting for everything. In the afternoon Steve and Jonny went surfing again but I was still feeling too sick. It was nice hanging out with Dad and Ronda. Steve snapped his favorite board when he was surfing. It had a good life though.

It even cut his foot too!

I have been hanging out with Tish on the deck and giving her lots of brushes.

That night we ate some yummy steak dianne that Ronda made and her son Michael came for tea too and he is really nice as well. :)

Here are the boys geeking it up on their i-devices.

Yesterday we got up earlyish and Steve and I went to pick up Jonny at 8am at Nerang to go for a surf. (Jenna and Jonny had left the night before to stay with some friends.) Jenna went to work and Ronda had already gone to work really early. Dad had a few things to do. When we got to D-Bar the swell was tiny as so we didn't go for a surf. We decided to go for a swim at Rainbow bay though and it was lovely! The water was so nice and warm. We had a little lay in the sun and then went and got a coffee, well I got an iced chocolate and had a yarn. Then we dropped Jonny back and Steve and I went to the factory outlet shops and bought a few cheep clothes, YAY! It's nice to wear something different! When Dad picked Ronda up from work at 1pm they came and met us there and we shared some snacks for lunch. After that we came home and relaxed and in the evening we had toasted sandwiches for tea.

Steve melted the butter for the sandwiches a little too much. The microwave instructions got a little lost in translation...

We also ate some deliciously dripping papaya. Mmmm.

Then we watched a movie called The Thomas Crown Affair which was really good.

This morning Ronda went to work and Stave and Dad put the pink bats in the ceiling. I did the dishes and worked on the blog. At 1 we picked up Ronda from work and got some supplies for a picnic lunch. We went to Ribena to get some more coffee pods and then out to the Heinz Damn and had a picnic of chicken sandwiches. It was delicious! Steve and I tried lychees which we haven't had before.