Australia - Mona Vale - En Garde, Nature and Vegemite!

Well friends, I made it to the land down under. My first few days here were spent in Mona Vale in the northern beaches area just outside Sydney with some family friends. Carolyn is our neighbour Barb's daughter and she got married and moved to Australia about five years ago. She, her husband Gavin, her adorable baby girl Alysa and their incredibly well-behaved dog Fudge were my hosts in Mona Vale.

First off, I had no idea Sydney would be so big! Watching it as the airplane landed, you could see the urban sprawl in every direction. Added bonus to my flight was that I was on the right side of the plane to see the harbour and opera house as we came down. I didn't actually get into Sydney to do much sightseeing this time around, as I was happy just to visit and poke around the beaches. Plus, Mehron is on her way here to meet me in less than two months and we'll be making the rounds in Sydney in June, so best save the big ticket sites for then, right?

Mona Vale, I've been told by Gavin, is the centre of the universe, which is the kind of claim you'd think would appear on the town signs, but no. Carolyn amended the statement to Mona Vale being the centre of Gavin's universe. Ha ha. It is however home to an incredible gourmet pie shop (the staple of Australian cuisine, almost as common as burgers, savoury not sweet). I spent almost ten minutes struggling to decide between spinach and feta or chicken brie and avocado (I went for the second). They must have had about thirty different kinds!



Anyway, Mona Vale is a lovely place altogether. When driving around, golden beaches peek out from random directions and you can see the sea air over the roads sometimes - that's how humid it is here. My incredibly hospitable hosts were concerned that I might be cold and put extra blankets on my bed. Too cute - me having just come from 10 degree rainy Dunedin to sunny 24 degree Sydney. I had to go shopping because all of my clothes are too hot!

Also did I mention they have a pool in their backyard? You know what I like about pools? No sharks. Also, no jellyfish. And no rip tides. Or any of the usual life threatening forces of the Australian oceans.

And first meal I was served was butterfly lamb on the bbq. At no point did they force feed me Vegemite sandwiches. Best of all, unlike the Discovery Channel portrays, I don't find a Sydney funnel web spider in my shoes every time I go to put them on, nor have I found any snakes under my bed. At least, not yet - it is still early on. Still plenty of time for the Island of Death (as my friend Emily affectionately nicknamed Australia) to catch me off guard and cause my demise.