Merry Christmas to all! I miss my peeps from back home but the way things are going in Australia, I may never come back…just joking of course (kind of). Christmas has been wonderful so far. Santa made his way here and it made for a pretty entertaining morning. Uncle Joe and Aunt Donna were so freaking thoughtful and left us each a pile of gifts and then Liz and I did a little exchange as well. She got me a mini license plate for my bike and it says STACY…which cracked me up and should make everyone else laugh if you think of that song “That’s not my name” by the Ting Tings. Apparently she couldn’t find Lindsay. I got her muffin pans and she put them to good use and made us walnut and banana muffins. Pretty unusual Christmas, don’t ya think?
Uncle Joe’s daughter made her way to Perth with her husband and two children last week and it was lovely getting to meet them. In order to make sure everyone had a comfortable place to sleep, our neighbor Maureen let us stay upstairs in her spare bedroom. Aunt Donna told us that it is pretty unusual for her to offer her place like that so she thinks that Maureen really likes us…duh, who wouldn’t? It was great for the few days that we were up there. It was like a big slumber party every night. Each night we took turns making dinner and for our turn Liz and I made another Mexican feast but this time we had mango margaritas!! Yummy in my tummy J they were a hit and so was the dinner. The family has traveled down south to spend Christmas in Albany, Australia so we are back in their place for the time being. It is time for us to get a place of our own which is kind of stressful. It is going to be difficult to find a furnished place near a train station because since it is summer time here places like that are in popular demand.
Things at work are bitter sweet because people keep leaving due to other job offers but every time someone leaves we throw them a party (hints the sweet part)! This past week my friend Aimee had her last week at work so we met at a restaurant and had a big group dinner. It is always difficult to plan things when I am burdened with my bike but Tracey was nice enough to let me stay at her place so I didn’t have to worry about finding myself and bike a ride home. After the exciting dinner, we all headed to Tracey’s house for some pop culture game called Buzz. I had never played it and I don’t remember much from playing but all I know is that it was one fun night!
The next morning, Tracey’s boyfriend, Shane, got off of work early and took us for a ride in his boat. Boat riding made me terribly home sick and all I could think of were the all the fun memories at the lake house! Once I got over my home sickness, Shane encouraged me to try wake boarding and man was that entertaining! I did manage to stand up on my second try which seemed to impress them but I never stayed up for more than like five seconds…mad skills for sure! Tracey got some good video footage so I will be sure to post that. Tracey packed a wonderful lunch so we stopped off at a little picnic area and made rolls (a.k.a. sandwiches.) We spent the entire day on the boat and I was super burnt on the whole front part of my body which made holding the 57 lb wombat a difficult task the next day at work.
Liz and I have really done a good job of keeping ourselves distracted this holiday season so that we don’t fall into a deep state of depression once we realize how much we miss home. I have decided that we are the worst backpackers in the entire world. Not only have we lived rent free in a place people could only dream of living but for Christmas Eve we treated ourselves to a lobster dinner…we don’t really know how to live on a budget! We decided we were luxurious backpackers but backpackers none the less. For Christmas dinner, we were invited to Maureen’s cousin’s house and we were told to bring something American…I thought HOT DOGS! Liz wouldn’t let me do that so we decided on deviled eggs and pasta salad. So many people have invited Liz and me to spend Christmas with their families so that we weren’t alone and it has been comforting to know that we have such great friends. Even a volunteer at the wildlife park told me that I could spend Christmas at her farm with her family…keep in mind I barely know this woman! Maureen has been so hospitable to us and she is such a hoot to be around. She is learning a lot from us as well, like how to properly use the word douche when insulting someone…we taught her this after a bottle of wine!
The Christmas dinner at her cousin’s house was so much fun. We were welcomed with big Christmas hugs (because most people thought we were just distant relatives they were supposed to know) from everyone and showered with lots of Christmas spirit. They made a special dish for us…SHRIMP ON THE BAR B! The funny thing is that Australians don’t even call them shrimp, they are known as prawns so how that saying came about beats the hell out of me. We met quite a few people that night and a lot of youngins our age so we have a few more friends to add to the list. It was fun getting to experience an Australian Christmas even though it was pretty much the same as any traditional Christmas back home with the exception of funny accents.
I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season and spent it with the ones they love! I wish I could be there with all of you and know that even though I am having the time of my life I still think of you often. I would love to hear from everyone since you don’t all have hilarious blogs that keep me updated on your life!
*Amazing Story of the week: I am not sure how many of you will actually appreciate this story so I will try to paint the picture best I can. I was cleaning up our koala enclosure and chatting with a volunteer who was doing some weeding for us when I heard a funny noise from one of our female koalas that was sitting by her self. I thought it was a bit unusual because it is normally the males that make noise and only females that are being disturbed by another koala. I walked over to her and noticed that she had some fluid down under so I watched her for a bit. She made random noises and seemed to be in pain so I made the assumption that she was giving birth. I called Maureen (the volunteer) over and we both sat there watching. I had to carry on with my work so I walked away and not five minutes later Maureen called me back over because she said she could see a hand. It definitely wasn’t a hand, it was the little itty bitty joey that she had given birth to and it was now climbing into her pouch! You see koalas are only pregnant for a month and they give birth to a peanut size joey so to actually witness the process is remarkable because the birth is virtually unnoticeable if you aren’t paying close attention. I was basically in the right place at the right time and I got to see the WHOLE THING! Just so you know how miraculous that is, only one other person working at the park has ever seen it…even people who have been working there for over five years haven’t witnessed it. Everyone was so pissed (in a joking way) that it was a damn American that got to watch a koala give birth! It was probably the coolest thing I have ever seen (do I sound like an animal nerd yet?)!
G’day,
Lindsay Ezell
LC
Snook
Ez-E
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