Australia Bound!

Do you smell that?   It's something in the air...smells like...INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL!  Yep, my long dry spell in international adventures is finally coming to an end.  Sometime in the very near future I'll be packing my bags, grabbing my passport, and heading to one of my favorite places on earth, Australia! 

I was incredibly lucky to have visited Australia while in high school with People To People.   Their motto is "Promoting peace through understanding," which I think is a pretty cool tag line.  It was a fantastic experience and I've been pining to go back to Australia ever since.  I'm really looking forward to not only to visiting, but sharing it with my parents this time. 
 

Little guy smelled terrible, but it was still one of the greatest moments of my life.

I don't know why, but I was obsessed with getting this picture at the petting zoo.

To my great surprise, I learned I was a wizard at milking cows.

   Even though the trip is in the very near future, I only found out it was happening this week and we don't even know exactly what we are doing yet.  We know we will spend most of the time in Melbourne since that's where my Dad's business trip is centered, but we may also venture to other regions.  I'm hoping for a trip to Brisbane and Tangalooma, but really, just being able to travel for a reason other than needing neurosurgery is fantastic.   

There's a lot of planning that needs to happen in a short amount of time.  I've been busy researching things to do, but also busy packing in as much Australian culture* as I can to get ready. 

I am well stocked with music, compliments of my awesome People to People bus driver.  My favorites are (in all it's folky brilliance) Home Among the Gumtrees,  I Am, You Are, We Are Australian, and anything by Shannon Noll (but particularly Drive**).  I'll probably also add Avril Lavigne's second album, Clay Aiken's first album, the Southpark Soundtrack, and the Buffy musical soundtrack to the mix because that's what I listened to on repeat on my trip.  I sure had some weird taste in music as a teenager!


I'll be sitting my family down for a few movie nights with titles such as Australia, Finding Nemo, and Tomorrow When the War Began.  I may even try to get them to watch that mermaid H2O show, but I doubt we'll last very far into the first episode.  Maybe I'll recruit my 9-year-old neighbor for that one. 

Speaking of Tomorrow When the War Began, I'm doing a re-listen (for the third time) of the whole series.  I'm still blown away by how good those books are.  I got the first one for free in an Audible sale, and was hooked within the first three minutes.  If I was in charge of things, the series would be required reading for all high schools (from what I gather, it's already assigned reading at a lot of schools in Australia).  If anyone is looking for a fantastic read/listen that will entertain you and make you think, then definitely check this out.   

Feel free to offer any suggestions for further cultural explorations!  I realize I'm severely limited in my perspective and would love to remedy that. 

One other note is that I will be writing posts from Down Under in real time, but will be posting them once I'm back home.  No need to broadcast to the world exactly when I'll be out of town.

Even though my puppy would happily feast on the heart of any burglars.  Look at the vicious monster!

Cheers! 


    *And by culture I probably mean surface level stereotypical stuff I was obsessed with as a Yank teenager.
**Us kids had a huge debate with our bus driver and tour leader about whether the lyrics could be taken at face value or if the whole song was a giant innuendo.  You can guess what side the teenagers were on in that particular argument.