This was supposed to be fun

I’m starting to dislike the job I’ve got at GNC. Don’t get me wrong, I love supplements and the industry in general and don’t mind GNC, but there are a few things that are getting under my skin. I was thinking. I worked 7.5 hours today, for which I’ll be paid 7. To make that, I had to leave home before 8 AM and will arrive back home around 7:30. So that’s almost a 12 hour day to be paid for 7 hours of work. That hardly seems worthwhile. I’m even more stressed that Julia is still jobless. I know she’s putting in a good effort, but it’s just not happening yet, so we gotta keep plugging away. Then the past few shifts I’ve heard the manager at my store is a biatch. I work with her on Saturdays and today I realized that they weren’t really kidding. Something about this broad gets under my skin. And I told her I need the last weekend in Feb off and she gave me mad attitude, and told me I had to find someone to cover or I’m SOL. Little does she know that if I don’t find someone SHE’S S.O.L. ‘cause I’ll just quit. I’m going to apply to some places in Wollongong. I figure whatever I lose in hourly pay I can make up by working a couple extra hours, shit I spend 4 a day just travelling, and the train costs $7.20 per day! I’d start looking now but because my manager is a tool and didn’t know that I’d need the TFN (tax file number) I just signed up for it yesterday and it said it could take up to 28 days to receive! That’ll suck. So what I think I’m going to do is work there until I get all caught up in my pay and then look for something in Wollongong ASAP, and hopefully Julia can find SOMETHING soon...

It's Flyin'!

So another 5 days have passed since my last post, wow, it doesn't seem like that long! So a lot happened this poast week. More school, sure ok there's not much going on there so we won't worry about that at this point.

Tuesday night Jared arrived, at around 11:30PM after some looooooong travels. We got him settled on the couch and I went to bed also as I had class the next day. On Wednesday he and JTunes did a little apartment searching and just helping him figure out the town a little. Thursday he came with us to school and got a lot done, the banking, stuent card, housing, paying for surf trip etc... and he and I worked out in the morning. That afternoon we played at the beach and killed some waves! Good times. Then we went and got some meat at Wollworths and had a feast, after which we headed out for a bit to check out some stores as Thursday is late shopping night here. I got some board shorts for $15.

Friday: Class again in the morning and Jared met me for a workout around 10:30 and then waited for me as I was in class for an hour after that. We walked home and Tunes and I went to the beach to meet up with the girls. Jared had a date with Tim to check out some places (one in particular) and hopefully find something he likes. I think he found something he LOVES and he's got an ocean view, the F***ER has an OCEAN VIEW! He's pretty pumped for that and I'm definitely gonna have to check that place out today when I get home from work! Jared met us at the beach and we all chilled out for a little longer before making a return visit to the meat dept at Wooly's. We ate like kings again, lots of chick, rice and some brussel sprouts... ie we ate with Brussel Crowe. I got burnt, good. Oh well, aloe vera gel should do the trick. Then last night we all went out. It started with some good ole drinking games at our place and then the 8 of us went out looking for a bar. We spent more time walking around taking retarded photos of ourselves than we did IN the bars. Good times. Jared, Julia, Lee and I came home for around midnight as they were tired and I have to work this morning.

Big Week!

So it's been a whole week since my last post. It's not like nothing's happened! Lots has happened! I've just been too busy I guess to write. So hear's a quick rundown of the highlights from the past week. Class work has kept me busy and I'm getting right into things. We already have some assignments and have daily assignments and reading to do. It's interesting theough so it doesn't even really feel like school to me! I worked again this past weekend and got some reading done on the train, 30 pages of my textbook! So that's at least one good thing about spending an hour and a half travelling to and from work every day.

MONDAY JANUARY 26TH:
Woke up early (5AM) and started getting ready for our BIG day! First up was my Australia Day Aquathon here in Wollongong. It was a 900m swim and a 7km run. I haven't swam since September and this was in the ocean, so I wasn't sure how I'd fare, but also wasn't terribly worried. I shoulda been. I dunno what happened. Right from the outset I seeded myself towards the back as I didn't want to get swum over, these are Australians after all. So I got into somewhat of a rhythm and even thought to myself that I had a lot of space and it all felt ok. Then we converged on the first "buoy" (concrete block of some sort in the harbour) and I realized I was back in a typical triathlon swim. So I got beat up a little, goggle issues (I think I need to switch to my new ones as I had poor visibility) the usual stuff. I felt like it was taking forever and came out of the water after loop one and looked at my watch... it said 14:xx... FOR 450M! WTF?! So I'm trying to tell myself that maybe the course is long, maybe this lap will be faster 'cause we're more spread out now. Not so much, lap two sucked worse and I came out in like 33 minues and change... I was pissed. I've since heard it was longer than a km, but nevertheless I was one of the last out of the water... including the women who started after me. I was pissed, and felt really dizzy when I got to my shoes. OH, did I mention that I swam it topless. Nobody wears tri top here so I said F*** it and took mine off too. Whatever. After the swim though I was like whatever and threw on my team overdrive tri shirt and started running. It was pretty overcast so it wasn't too too hot and I felt comfortable. I started running and eventually got into it, and just focused on passing people. I passed A LOT of people, and didn't get passed at all (I guess that happens when you're already at the back of the pack), but nevertheless I was having fun passing a ton of men. So my run time was around 29 minutes (still waiting on official chip times) which is pretty good for me, especially since much of the run was on grass/trail/sand so footing wasn't great. i could really feel myself going faster on pavement. Oh well. Better luck next time, maybe it's time to get in the pool and learn to SWIM. :) I had fun though, and am glad i did it. PS - I got beat by a girl in my class, Katie. She started 3 minutes behind me and came out of the water well ahead of me. i caught her in the run, but not until like 5km in and didn't have enough real estate to take back those 3 mins, lol. She came in about a minute and half after me, so really a minute and a half ahead of me. all goooood.

So then we went home and changed and headed to the train to take us to Sydney for Australia day! We were all decked out in our Australia gear (hat, shirt, tattoos) and were ready for a party (vodka and breakfast juice). We met up with Katie again and her housemate Clint, some girls from a few doors down and my buddy Derek and his girlfriend (same situation as Julia) and we all travelled together. We got to Sydney around 1PM and met up with our housemates (Kym, Michelle, Lee) at Darling harbour. There was lots going on and we walked around for a bit and got a little tipsy (haha, all good fun). It's funny because I think we Canadians were the most dressed up of ANYONE there. I mean there were a ton of people dressed up and such, but we looked gooood. Some asian people asked us for pictures... ahaha. We walked to Sydney harbour as the others hadn't been there yet. The digeridoo guys were there and I got my pic taken with him and bought his CD ($10). It's good stuff. So then the big group of us walked halfway accross the bridge but it started misting... then misting harder. Really weird. So we decided it'd be best to go find a place to eat and chill out for a bit as it was dinner time and fireworks were in a few hours. We started getting chilly, and took us a while to find a place that wasn't packed, closed or ridiculously expensive. The 9 of us had a quaint little dinner and all decided to forget about fireworks and make our way home. So we did. End of story. OH wait, there were these retarded drunk (SOMEWHAT) entertaining kids on the train. But more annoying than entertaining.

I was tired. Still am. but Jared gets here tonight, so I gotta find some energy somewhere!

PS - Looking for a tri bike. Gotta make IMWA work. Gotta.

Two Firsts today

Today was a big day. It was my first day of actual classes. Mom sent me this picture, my first day of school, and now it's funny 'cause I'm going to school to be a teacher. You ask any of my family 8-10 years ago if they thought I might be a teacher someday and they'd think you were crazy. The girls (Kym, Michelle & Lee) and I left home at 7:30 to walk to campus. We got there around 8:15 and found our lecture room with a few minutes to spare. The lecture was great and the prof (Phil) is an amazing teacher. We talked about how children learn to read and write and speak English. Very interesting stuff, which seems very basic and understable when you hear it, but not something I may have otherwise thought... know what I mean? Anyways, I was fortunate enough to also have Phil as my tutorial teacher and we learnt more there. It's weird. It's school, but I don't have to force myself to pay attention after the first 5 minutes. Class ended at about 2:30PM and we walked all the way back home. It's about 7km of walking from the time we leave home til the time we get back, when you factor in a little walking around this beautiful campus. So I got home and hadn't worked out today at all. I carried my damn gym bag around all day and then when class was over I wasn't in the mood to hit the weights so I just went back home with the gals. I got home with the urge to go running. I had run a couple days ago and it felt awesome, though that was on the treadmill at the gym. This time (even though it was about 5PM and like 30C) I was gonna run outside. It was HOT and sunny, but you don't feel the heat because it's pretty windy around here, especially along the ocean. I can't describe to you the feeling of running along the beach, along the ocean, on a near perfect day other to say it's truly amazing, and like a dream come to life. I love running for the sake of the experience when I'm at home in Stittsville, running the residential streets, in the middle of winter. This for me was almost sensory overload. Then I got tired.. Then I got lost and got more tired and did I mention it's also hilly here? So I ran a little further than expected but that's all good, and my time and pace were still decent, considering I ran a portion ON the beach, ON a trail with some good brush to poke through and on a busy path.

Today was good. :)

Sick of the trains... 'cause the trains made me sick!

Today was a long day, even though I didn't work a long day (only 5 hours). I got up at 6:30AM 'cause I was super congested and couldn't sleep very well. Got my breakfast going and such. Had a quick chat with mom and dad! :) And the left the house just in time to make the train. Well I got there and there was a huge lineup (never seen one at all before) at the ticket machine. If I waited in it, I would have missed the train, so I hopped on and crossed my fingers that I wouldn't get busted ($200 Fine). I was sweatin' bullets the whole way to Sutherland but got there with no problems. There I bought the rest of my tickets that i needed for the rest of the day. I got to work in perfect time and was working with a kid I hadn't met yet. Good kid, easy to talk to, and he's taking homeopathy in Uni so we had some good shit to talk about. It wasn't terribly busy today and we mostly chilled all day. Day went by pretty fast at work and I was on my way back home before I knew it. Only problem was, because of the way these trains connect, I had a 35 minute wait in Sutherland before my painfully slow ride home to Wollongong. I left work at 4 and got home at 6:30PM... I walked around Sutherland for a while and went to the liquor store and bought some Gin. :) Zambucca is rare here :( I slept a bunch on the ride home and Julia had a meal going for me when I arrived. A long day, but I banked $200 for 5 hours of actual work, so I'll take it!

School starts tomorrow! That should be good fun. :)

Ballin'

I started my job at GNC yesterday. My shift was 8:45 – 5:45. I left home at 6:45 to walk down to the train and was expecting to get on the 7:03 train towards Sydney. Well THAT didn’t happen! The bloody thing blew right by fer cryin’ out loud! So that meant that I needed to get on the next train at 7:15, no problem because I was going to have to wait like 25 minutes at Sutherland to catch my next train. Actually, as I found out, BIG problem! This train was much slower and I actually missed my connecting train and had to wait for the next one. I called the store and Jillian (manager) was alright with it and understood as it was my second time coming out there. So I got there at 9 and we started doing a little paperwork. In my interview I was told the base pay for casual workers (it’s weird, they have casual, part-time and full-time here, part-timers are GUARANTEED hours, casual are not) is $9.67 plus I get commission AND double pay on Sundays. I was happy with that! So we started doing paperwork and under salary she wrote $19.67 hourly! WTF! Ya buddy! I just misunderstood the guy yesterday, it’s actually $19.67 per hour! Close to $40 an hour on Sundays! Which I’ll be working 5 hours every Sunday! NIIIICE! That’s plus a healthy commission as well! So we started working away and turns out it’s not terribly different than back home. The cash register system here blows Canada’s away, and is easier to use. I’m already getting the hang of it. I helped a bunch of people, mainly sports guys, same as back home. I pretty much said the same shit and it made the same sense (go figure, haha). There are a few products I need to get used to but they have a lot of the same stuff we have (Ultimate Nutrition, PVL, Cytosport, EAS, Muscletech and of course GNC). So that was a super long day but really good. I did however come down with some sort of head cold. I’m super congested and have a headache. I work again tomorrow so I’m going to try and rest up good here today. I woke up this morning and there was a note under the door from Kym (housemate) for Julia saying that a guy left a message on the phone about a possible full-time job available! SOLID! So she’ll get that later today and give the guy a call. It’s nice! Stuff is finally coming together! I finally feel confident about out money situation! I’ll only be working 16 hours per week, but will be getting paid as though it was 21! So that’s pretty sweet. I’m guestimating $400 per week net (after commission is added and taxes are subtracted) from my pay, which would cover rent, food and internet/phone for us. So that means that whatever Julia makes is travel/fun money (errrr, saving to pay off OSAP money)
Random stuff:

Terms:
How you goin’? : How are you?
Heeps : Lots

Shoe sizes are different, I’m like an 8.5 here.

Living in the fast lane

Wow! What a whirlwind. I feel as though we get SO much done everyday to get settled. Whether school stuff, house stuff, bank stuff, job stuff or just exploring, everyday has been jam packed with busy-ness. Remember how I said I met a girl in a GNC that worked at GNC in Eaton Centre? I applied that night. Got a call yesterday for an interview, which I had today. I got the job! And start TOMORROW! That all happened SO fast! It sorta takes SOME pressure off in terms of the anxiety with affording everything. We came down with some good starting cash, and I'm getting OSAP, and mom and dad said they'd help if need be, but I still felt as though I needed to find something ASAP because of all the help we've already received. I wanna make sure that I'm working my ass off to make this happen. Julia is looking hard too, spent a ton of time in here on the computer today (something like 4 hours) printing resumés, applying to jobs online and finding other potential places in town. This should be good! My job is in Miranda (about an hour train ride towards Sydney and then about 10 minutes out). The mall is ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE. Probably THE biggest mall I've ever been in. Enough for now, it's late and I gotta figure this out! :)

Opera + Sun = fun

Today was our FIRST Sydney adventure. We got there around 10AM and just started walking toward the harbour and the opera house. WOW. The whole city is gorgeous. For such a massive city centre, they have a TON of cool parks and green spaces and trees and such. We got to the harbour and were blown away. Gave me goosebumps to see this thing in person, after seeing it in pictures and on TV for so long. I just remember this being like the key landmark for the Sydney Olympics, where Simon won gold. :) We walked around there for a bit and took a bunch of pictures, but then wanted to get up on that massive bridge and see what there was to see. We walked for what seemed like forever to figure it all out. Part due to my lack of direction and part due to the fact that we wanted to take so many pictures! We finally got up on it and were walking accross, taking pictures all over and just enjoying the weather and the walk. SO MANY PEOPLE RUN IN THIS CITY. I may never want to come back. People were running around us the WHOLE time. I mean sure why not, look what they've got! We walked the bridge accross and back then made our way up to Darling Harbour where there's a bunch more to see. We grabbed some lunch and fed a bird a whole tomato, impressive. We also saw this sweet looking boat that was the fastest speed boat to circle the globe. Something like 60 days and 20 hours... We probably walked something like 20k by now. On the way back towards the train station, I saw a GNC and HAD to go it, just to see prices and such. I was in there and recognized that one of the employees said "In Canada....." and she sounded like US! Interesting. So I'm looking and this other guy comes up to me and asks if I have the gold card... HAHAHA... So I told him I worked at GNC in Canada for like 5 years and he said that so did that other girl. So I went over and started chatting with her about it and turns out we know a lot of the same people at GNC. WEIRD! But COOL! I enquired about where to drop off a resumé and she said to fill out a form online and attach my resumé, which is what she did and she got a job very quickly. So I just did that now. :) The ride to Sydney is like 1:40... Ya, long. But no worse than winter traffic in Ottawa going from Stittsville to downtown. :) And I can either sleep or do homework. I talked to a girl on the train this morning who said that a ton of people do that commute everyday. Now we're hungry. :)

Dolla dolla bills ya'll

I didn't end up sleeping there at all, but gave him $10 for letting me leave my stuff there while we looked. Whatever.
We ended up getting our 5th person today, another girl from near Toronto. So it should be good and reasonable! Ya we're all in the same program. Today we finally went to the beach, I swam in the ocean! :) It's SO beautiful down by the harbour and the beach front, it blows my mind. And we walked around the mall area to see some places we can drop off resumés. I found a couple little supplement shops, one is pretty dingy and not well organized, but it's a store that's outside and the other is in the mall, but nicer and better organized, more like a popeye's or GNC. I'd really like to work in that one, it'd be a real nice smooth transition. Tomorrow we should get a lot done. I know the NAB bank at school opens at 9:30AM so we're gonna hit that up ASAP to set up accounts and deposit my Bank Draft. Then three of us have to get our OSAP paperwork finished up to ensure we get our money on time, which can also be done at work. Then we'll walk back down to the real-estate agent's office and give him some more cash and work oout details of adding this 5th person. ALSO tomorrow we're gonna go get internet (which is balls here) at Telstra. It's like $90/month and not even THAT great, you don't even get unlimited bandwidth. We'll see what kind of deal we can get. We'll be chatting on Skype in a couple days! Jubes and I also want to investigate cell phones. Apparently you can get 'em dirt ass cheap at the 7/11 and then just use phone cards which aren't too bad either. I wanna get my tan on and figure out a training regimen. It's so damn warm here in the morning, I can run at like 5AM in shorts and a tshirt and sweat like a monkey I'm sure. It's gonna be 34C and sunny on Wednesday. sorry. :) I think all this walking is making us drop some pounds too, we're walking a ton every day. ALSO, you know that pool you can see by the harbour on the overhead pic of Wollongong? I'll be swimming there very shortly. It's free of charge and open from 6AM - 7PM. HOW SICK IS THAT?!

Blending In

Jan 11

Yesterday was awesome. Tunes and I got out around 9 and started walking towards where we were told was a Woolworth’s. Well we took a wrong turn somewhere, but found this other great little grocery store that had tons of fruit and veg and fresh breads and such. So we grabbed a few things we could carry as we were walking (bananas, pita bread, apples and water). We walked all over and ended up back at the University, looking to see some people in the admin office and go to the bank that’s on campus. On our way, we were walking down the sidewalk staring at the map, trying to figure out where we were and this car pulls up to us and asks for directions. Haha, and they even had Aussie accents! That was kinda funny. The walk was awesome though, SO scenic down here, beautiful mountains and houses and TONS of trees. We walked through the botanic garden on the way to school which was beautiful and the campus itself is absolutely stunning. So we got to school and eventually realized that EVERYTHING was closed! DAMNIT! I thought it was Friday! Ooops. So we just walked back to our place, and on the way checked in Kieraview (motel type place that’s affiliated with the Uni) to see if there was any internet we could use and pay for, for like an hour or so. Turns out it’s FREE for students, and it’s RIGHT around the corner from our place! So we went in and I ended up sending a bunch of emails to family and friends and such. Then we got back to our place and the girls were here and we went out together to Woolworth’s to do all our groceries. That was fun, their groceries carts here are nuts, the back wheels turn too! So Jubs and I grabbed some essentials for now, as we’re gettin’ low on the cash we came with and can’t get any more until I can get to a bank to open an account. After groceries we got back to the apartment and realized we forgot our toilet paper at the store! Jubs and I ran back there and luckily the cashier girl remembered us and let us grab another. J So we were walking through downtown with a 2-4 of TP under our arm. We dropped that off and headed back for some serious internet time. Kym and Michelle were already there and we were all able to login (I logged in for myself and Julia) and do our stuff. We advertised for another roommate and searched for jobs and such and of course all emailed our family and friends. We were there for at least 2.5 hours, but it seemed like 30 minutes! Then we all came back to the house and had our first “family” dinner together... And then I pretty much passed out again, and Tunes wasn’t far behind. J

It’s all come to life

Jan 10

After months of staring at this town on google earth, planning running routes, looking for places to live, checking out the general lay-out of the campus and city itself and simply marvelling at the beauty of this area, it’s come to life! We got here yesterday morning, pretty burnt, but pretty excited. We dropped our stuff off at the place we were intending on staying for the night and made our way to Tim Bartlett’s office (or what SHOULD have been his office) to meet up with the rest of the folks who were taking the tour of the apartments. I met a couple gals (Kym and Michelle) through facebook and learned that they were also looking to live with some other people, so we got to chatting with them and sort of started looking together as a group. As soon as we walked into this place, we were all in love. It’s a sweet 3 bedroom place, pretty much a townhouse/condo type thing. The three bedrooms upstairs can sleep 5, so far we’ve got 4. Rent here is $500 a week, so right now we’re paying $125 each (or $250 for Julia and I, which is $1000 per month, or about $880/month Canadian right now. When we find that 5th person (which shouldn’t be tough) our rent will go down to $800AUD or about $700CAD per month. Not too bad considering this place is big, beautiful, super close to the beach and fully furnished. We’ll also save some cash by sharing other bills 5 ways (electricity / water / cable / internet) and we may even be able to share internet with a house next door, whenever people move in, as it’s another property typically taken up by Canadians. Last night we got all of our stuff over here and got sort of unpacked, then I showered and passed RIGHT OUT.

So today the plan is to get the banking done, get some OSAP forms filled out at school, find internet to post this and email the rents to let ‘em know we’re still alive and search for jobs/print off resumés. I want to get a ton of resumés out there to find a job ASAP, so that I can put my mind to rest about the financial situation.
PS – It’s GORGEOUS here.

And we have lift-off

(After a quick de-ice of about 30 minutes, where they spray this neon green anti freeze all over the plane, looks like ghost busters shit)

I type this from the airplane, en route to LA! We’re homeless, officially. It’s a little nerve-wracking but exciting at the same time. People of the Sahara desert believe that houses are the graves of the living. First bit of “exciting news” is that we’ve already met the folks that we’ll be staying with when we arrive. That was nice to get out of the way. They seem like very nice people and it should work out really well for all of us. ALSO, we are on the same plane as Brian Burke (Leafs GM). I mean he’s not exactly my hero but shit, he’s been on TV! SURPRISE! Julia is already asleep, haha. That certainly didn’t take long. This plane is sweet, it’s got power outlets in the seats in front of us as well as a USB port. That’ll be helpful for sure! I’m about to watch Eagle Eye. More to come.

And The Journey Continues
It’s been a while, and seems longer. Now we’re on the final, short (ain’t no thang) leg of the trip. Three and a half hours from New Zealand to Sydney. Yesterday when we arrived in LA, a guy (Patrick) who is travelling with us (but going to a different school) recognized Tuna’s Jacket (IM Muskoka 70.3) and enquired. Long story short, we killed a ton of time chatting about triathlon and racing and stuff and he seems like a really chill guy. I thought he was like 23-24, but turns out he’s more like 33! Hopefully we can keep in touch ‘cause it’ll be pretty cool to have someone SOMEWHAT nearby to chat tri with. So we killed 5.5 hours in the LA airport. A group of us went for a walk over to another terminal that had more to offer in terms of food options. Jubes and I had sushi and a fruit salad, close to $30! Sheesh.

The LA to Auckland flight was what we were all dreading. Thirteen hours in the air, and we were all already stiff from the previous flight! It turned out to be pretty decent though. I was right on an isle, so perfect for getting up to go to the washroom or just to walk around. Dinner was served and Tunes didn’t get a vegetarian meal because apparently we had to let them know way in advance, because apparently vegetables are a rare commodity these days and takes more time to prepare than a chicken or beef meal. In any event, the meal was half decent and I gave her whatever she wanted off my plate and i ate her chicken. I also had three glasses of red wine. It was free so why the hell not? J This plane was better for entertainment, as there were more choices for movies and games and such. I watched a movie and bits of others and played mini golf before passing out for about 4.5 – 5 hours. Tunes mostly slept, as per usual, though says she is still tired and could easily sleep more! J We also got a breakfast in the morning where I had an omelette and Julia had a fruit platter thing and we also get a muffin, yogurt and juice. I also saw that under television they had sports which included the 2008 Escape from Alcatraz triathlon AND the New York City Marathon! That killed some more time for me!

NOW we sit on this final flight to Sydney. It’s been an unbelievable journey already. We went from seeing snow to no snow to palm trees and beautiful landscape! We’re excited to get there and get to the place we’re staying for the first bit and just be stationary for a few minutes, though we’ve got a ton of stuff to do! Today I’d like to AT LEAST get to the bank and open the account and deposit my bank draft, as well as do a little apartment searching. We met up with the two girls I’ve been in touch with at the New Zealand Airport and they seem pretty cool! I think if we were to live with anyone, it’d probably be these two girls, but we’ll see how it all comes together in the next few days. Priority number one when we arrive will also be to get in contact with our respective parents. Probably send an email or try to connect with Skype.

Are We There Yet?

(Brian) We’re about two and a half hours into our drive down to Toronto and it’s becoming more and more obvious. I have 0 patience. We’re going to be on a plane for 22 hours starting tomorrow and that’s just in the air. You can easily add another 10 hours of sitting around on the plane on the ground as well as in airports. It’s basically going to be about 50 hours of travel. We left at 9 this morning and get there on Thursday at 4PM (EST), THEN we drive an hour and a half south to Wollongong. Oh well! At least we’re making forward progress. Tunes is already delirious, singing ridiculous songs that she doesn’t even know the words to.
Not sure if it’s even hit us yet. We’ve said bye to friends and most of our family and last night said bye to Lucas (that was one of the toughest for sure). We’re packed and on our way, but I’m not sure if we’ve fully grasped the enormity of what we’ve taken on. I keep trying to think back as far as I can, to try and imagine what a year feels like in my memory. DAMN. It’s long. Some things that happened like 8 months ago feel like forever. But at the same time I’m sure the time will fly.
(Julia) Luckily for me I have much more patience than Brian, but this journey will still be very LONG. It really is crazy to think about where we’re going and how far away we’ll be from everyone and everything we know. I’m very excited, but at the same time a little apprehensive of the unknown. Everything will be fine though – we’ll have each other and we’ll be meeting lots of people who are in the same situation.
Right now I’m just happy that I have all my packing out of the way. We spent a lot of time rearranging/removing/weighing our suitcases so that we’d be under the luggage weight allowance. I probably didn’t need a lot of the stuff that I packed after all... oh well!
As for saying goodbye to people, well that was a little tough. And tomorrow both of our parents will be seeing us off at the airport – which I’m sure my mom will need Kleenex for! We’ll be back before we all know it though.

Starting to realize...

That soon, nothing will be the same. I have a certain routine. Get up, make coffee, turn on TSN and check emails/facebook/trirudy/slowtwitch. Then the focus is on my day's workout(s) (typcially the plural). What is it? How long will it be? Intensity? Focus on technique? All I have to do is work around my work schedule (where I get to think about my own training and talk to people who are into fitness and some who even run marathons and do triathlon also). All of this comfort of familiarity will be out the window. Today is basically the last day of this life I've known for a while now. By Friday I'll be on the other side of the planet, where nothing is familiar. Where I'll have 8 billion other things on my mind other than training and training may be the only thing that keeps me sane. No TSN, pretty much the only channel I watch on TV. Sure they'll have a dedicated sports channel, but I don't care about Aussie rules football, soccer, cricket... things of that nature. I'll miss this familiarity, these daily comforts and routine that I take for granted. It gives you a certain amount of confidence in knowing that things will be more or less the same, and you can focus on what you WANT to change that day. In a week, we'll have no choice, everything is changing. I'm starting to doubt that I want to go back to school, and that I want to be a teacher, but of course I do. I'd love to be a teacher, and I miss school, it's just that everything compounds and makes the whole proposition a little overwhelming.

We leave tomorrow for a 5 hour car drive to Toronto, sleep over tomorrow night there. Get up Wednesday and get to the airport for like 8:30 and fly out at noon. First flight is Toronto to LA, 5:33 duration, arriving in LA at 2:30PM Pacific time. We then chill out there for 5 hours and fly out at 7:30PM on a 13 hour flight to Auckland. Arrive in Auckland January 9th at 5:25AM their time. Ya, goodbye January 8th! Another hour and a half layover in auckland and we leave at 7AM from their and fly 3:30 to Sydney and arrive at 8:30AM Sydney time. THENNNNN, we take a 90 minute ride from the airport to campus. THEN I go for a run. Get some sort of "normality" back in my life.

The Warm-up

Welcome to our blog. We wanted to create something where we could write about our travels in Australia this next year. We wanted to be able to share experiences and photos with family and friends and really just gloat about the fact that while you're freezing your ass off shoveling your driveway, we'll be on the beach. :-)

Goodbye: Hello:

So we leave in a few days and are just finishing packing up our lives and deciding what we can and cannot do without. We'll be in the air for 22 hours, travelling for a couple days. I brought melatonin and protein bars. :)