Sent: Sat 8/31/2002 3:10 AM
Letter from Oz!

Alrighty then, sorry about the last false alarm!

Hey there Mates! (sounds so square when I say it!)

Okay, left off in Rockhampton I do believe, giant Bull balls and all! From there we traveled by coach again up to Airley Beach. Instead of the random Kangaroo we have been seeing, we saw great groups of them just hanging around in the fields. They are so cool!

Ah, but I get ahead of myself for a moment! I forgot to mention that as we waited for that bus we had about two hours to kill. We stopped into an old pub called the Anchor Hotel though its not a hotel anymore. Our 65(ish) year old host "Bruiser" informed us that it was the third oldest pub in all of Australia. He was great, he gave us beer and information on great places to go to off the beaten path. When we had to leave we asked to say goodbye to him and he came around the bar shook Jeff's hand and then mine and planted a big fat kiss on my cheek. Warmed my heart completely. It is so strange coming to a country like this from America, we are constantly suspicious of people's intentions though they are just genuinly nice, and we have a tendancy to be very aggresive with people to get what we need but it is never necessary because they want to give you everything to make you happy. Unlike the states "your innocent until proven guilty" but if you cross that line where they feel you have betrayed or taken advantage of them I think that it could be quite bad. Bottom line, I love that you don't have to earn thier trust, they just give it to you. More people should be that way.

Side note: Did you wonder what a typical Australian brekky might be like? Of course they serve meat and eggs but they also serve baked beans or spagetti on toast. I keep trying to get Jeffrey to try it but he thinks it sounds gross!

Okay, so back to Airley Beach. We got in during the wee hours of the night, snuck into the dorm trying not to wake the other six people up and prayed that we would wake up in time for the trip we were to take in the morning. Surprise, surprise, we don't carry watches! Fortunately my inner alarm clock went off with plenty of time and we headed to the harbour to climb on to the "Avatar"! We had booked a sailing trip for three days! The ship was amazing and so much nicer than any other that we saw. It looked like a cross between a catamorand (?) and a sail boat. And apparently it is one of the fastest little sail boats in these hear parts. It was about the size of a tennis court! You could lie out on the tramps and look down at the turquoise ocean whizzing by.Within the ship was a common area, beds, kitchen, and bathrooms. The bathroom was cool because the sink faucet also functioned as the shower head when you pulled it out. Jeff and I had our bed in the exterior of the ship, it was like a little rabbit hole you climbed into via a skylight above the tiny (about 6'x6') cabins. Of course we never spent much time inside the boat, we mostly lounged around outside. The weather was finally beautiful

The ship's crew was great, consisted of three guys. We didn't have to cook anything because we had three gourmet meals, appetizers, and afternoon teas prepared for us every day (vegan treats for me!). To our surprise one of our Fraser Island buddies showed up on the same trip (21 people total). We set sail and got absolutely drenched because the water was quite choppy away from the mainland. All we did for the next three days was snorkle around coral reefs looking at sea life and eat! We would feed the fish chunks of bread and they would nibble it right out of your hands. They kept mistaking my amber ring for food and I was afraid I might loose a finger! They were quite big! There were these huge clams within the coral that came in amazing velvety rich colours, purples, blues, green.

On the ship we were warned not to do a couple of things or we would be "punished". Punishment was....1st offense - a heaping spoonful of vegemite. 2nd offense - a naked run around the exterior of the boat (bear in mind size of tennis court). 3rd offense - a naked swim, facing the sky around the boat singing your national anthem! Guess who managed to get into trouble first? I ate that spoonful of vegemite like a champion (nothing so disgusting in my life!) Personally, I think it was Jeffrey that ratted on me! He dissapeared suspiciously just before I got nabbed! At night we were rocked to sleep in our warm little cubby with our portal open to the stars smelling all the warm salty air. mmmm.

Next day we saw Giant Sea Tortoises swimming in the ocean. They can get to be 6' across we were told! We hiked up to a beautiful vista looking down over the most amazing stretch of beach I think I have ever witnessed. That is all I can say about it, you have to see the photos. In the water we swam with Giant Sting Rays and baby sharks. Our next stop, more great turtles and huge swarms of feeder fish that you could dive into and swim through. They were as far as you could see in every direction and would separate like you cut through them with a knife when you swam through then mold back together like syrup once you had past. I asked about a fish I saw while snorkling it was about three feet long, and was told that it was nothing compared to the male of the group that was four times as big! Apparently they are all born female and one becomes dominant and changes its sex to male and becomes huge! When he dies off another will change. I was feeding the fish more bread when I saw it! It started to come up to my hand and I got frightened and let it go, but the motion of my arm forced the bread right into my mask and I screamed through my snorkle as that huge creature ate it right in front of my face. All I could hear was everyone laughing thier asses off outside of the water! Afterwards we sailed to a place to anchor for the night right next to a resort island doing a controlled burn of the forest. At night it was amazing, it just glowed with monster flames! We had our first naked run on the ship as one of the guys was being naughtier than me. All I saw was a white ass streak past because I had managed to slip on the deck and slice my foot up. I tracked blood all across the ship. They wrapped my big toe up in a huge white bandage. It looked a little cartoonish! Later I told everyone that I did it on purpose so I could get the pity factor and get out of getting naked! Needless to say, I didn't get in any more trouble!

Top speed on the ship was 16 knots, though I have no idea how fast that actually is. All I know is that we caught and passed a couple of other sail boats on our way back to port! That night all passengers and crew went out to a couple of clubs and danced the night away. Someone placed Rebecca up on top of a big wiskey barrel in the middle of the club and made her dance her buns off (I won't name any names but I think you can guess who the little rat bastard was!). Anyways I made a twenty cent piece and got a free shot out of the deal! We danced until 3am.

Today is Saturday and it was a huge day for the area. They had big Sailing Races today. What a strange sport. We watched them just cruise back and forth (dozens of them) doing laps. We were actually supposed to race with two of the crew from the "Avatar" but we didn't get up in time. (no alarm and a really late night) Tomorrow we head out for Townsville about five more bus hours up the coast. We are almost at the Great Barrier Reef!

I hope all is well and I miss you all tremendously. I love you. Happy Birthday little Jordan! Austin, you can actually play with that boomarang I sent, I promise it won't get broken. I love you buddy! See you all very soon!

Rebecca, Queen of the Run on Sentence. (did I mention that I never read over these emails? I am sure it shows!)

Sent: Mon 8/26/2002 8:21 PM
If you could only see where I am writing this from!

Hey there family and friends,

I left off in Noosa, which was kind of a rest spot for us, traveling is tough what can I say. We spent a couple of days there. The highlight of the visit was there amazing National Park that I spent a full day discovering. I walked very slowly and silently to see as much as I could, very meditative. They have these amazing Lace Monitors here the one I saw was about two and a half feet long, all black with yellow and grey flecks on it and they are extremely quick and hide very well in there surroundings. The low point is that we had a room in an amazing old colonial building housing the local YHA that was located directly above the bar and was separated by what seemed to be the thinnest wood floor ever. The noise was unbelievable! Not to mention that we sucked the smoke out of the bar and into our room all night. The cherry on the sundae? Had to be the couple making out on the couches directly outside of our room for about three hours!

We went up to Hervey Bay after that and slept like babies. Hervey Bay is notorious for the fact that it has Humpback whales that visit it every year and instead of just cruising through as is common they remain in the bay with thier young for about three months every year. There had been recent sitings of some Orcas there killing the Humpbacks as well. Really quite amazing. Instead of whale watching, however, we decided to embark on a self guided 4X4 tour of Fraser Island. We were to go over with seven others, three Brits, two Irish, one Brazilian, and a guy from Spain. We all zipped off to the market and bottle shop the night before and bought all the supplies we would need for the three day trip and headed off the next morning at 5:30am in a Landcruiser crammed with nine people, all of our luggage(minimal to say the least), all of our supplies(mostly beer), tents, and camping gear. None of which we were instructed in how to put together or where any of it was located strategically in the truck! Did I mention that it was raining from the start?! Well, it continued for the next three days! Imagine nine people stuck in a 4X4 all mildewy and sweaty for three days! Help me I wouldn't have the energy to do it again very soon. We mudbogged for three days down dirt roads, saw amazing lakes of freshwater that contrasted amazing turquoise against the white of the sand, and set up our tents well into dark the first night during the strongest downpour. Everything was soaked, tents, us to our bones, sleeping bags, and we all huddled (standing room only) around a gas stove that refused to work properly! With all this in our first night it was amazing to see how high spirits were, we all had continuous good humor and smiles. There really was nothing to do except laugh at ourselves and the situation!

Second day there, still no end to the rain, we piled everything still soaked into the jeep again including our pruning selves. We went to an overlook called Indian Head to try to view Tiger Sharks and Rays below in the water but the water was churning. Then up to the Champagne Pools that is the only salt water that you are supposed to swim in on the island. They are pools just to the side of the sea, separated only by a rock outcropping. The surf comes in and pounds against the rocks bringing in new water and lots of spray. Jeffrey and I decided if you can't beat them, join them and went swimming anyways, we were wetter just standing around already. The pool had beautiful fish in it, fortunately they couldn't or wouldn't kill us.

Wisely, we decided to set up camp early that night. This time we had it down. Soggy, we still smiled and laughed, of course we had brought with us an exorbidant amount of beer! We saw our first dingos here, it is funny to see them advertised as some kind of cute puppy here on all the brochures, but in reality they are quite crafty little creatures and should be feared. They ripped a poor boy apart recently and it is in all the papers, people still try to feed them. That night we said to hell with the sharks and stingers and went swimming in the ocean even though we were told not to go in past our knees. We saw huge jellies washed up on the shore that were about two feet in diameter and purple, we were told that these were small! All the fish are so strange and scary looking, one was dead (I think) on shore and was covered in spines and seemed to have an actual face on it! That night we huddled around an actual campfire because the would we had collected had finally dried out enough for us to use it.

The next day the sun shown for a short while and everyone was absolutly joyous, running around like children! We took down camp quickly and hiked an hour up to Lake Wabby, another beautifully blue lake surrounded by monstrous sand dunes, then on to Lake McKenzie to swim in an even more stunning lake with water so cold and fresh and blue(it looked like the color that people paint there pools interior). We got back that night and rushed to wash everything we had brought with us! What a bonding experience with the others, we all exchanged email addresses to swap horrific photographs with eachother! Everyone said they had a fantastic time!

The next day we headed up to Rockhampton, which is supposed to be the beef capitol of Queensland (lucky Rebecca!). There are huge statues of Bulls everywhere and I wonder why they all have such obscenly huge testicles hanging off of them! Gross! One the way up here we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn.

We headed to Great Keppel Island the next day after about 6 & 1/2 hours of bus time to get here. Took a fairy across and again, overcast and a bit drizzly and cold, but I refuse to let it get the best of me, I will enjoy it no matter what. The boat ride was a bit harsh and I was worried about Jeffrey's tender tummy because the boat was surging forward and upwards and sideways but he made it. We are a bit worried about the upcoming three day sail trip to the Whitsundays we have planned! We have been camping once again for the last two nights here, but the conditions are better because we have cover and the tents are permanant. Though everything is completely soggy and mildewy from all the rain. When we got breaks in the weather we managed to hike around the island which is mostly National Park save for one small resort and the camp setups. We hiked down to the snorkling beaches that it was to choppy to snorkle in and decided to swim anyways, quick little skinny dip! We were told that the sea creatures here were rather harmless, reef sharks and rays mostly. The island has no fresh water so everything you eat tastes like salt, try brushing your teeth with salt water sometime! That night I had a nightmare about something trying to get into our tent and woke to find Brush Tailed Possums crawling over the top of our tent which was open so I could watch them, they're quite cute! I didn't know what they were until the next day when I asked the man at reception what they might have been, he said "it was either a possum or a big fat PYTHON!" He apparently had no idea that that would not scare me, I continued to tell him about Zephyr! Guess who was scared after that conversation! Rat Bastard!

Anyways, we have finally dried out and the weather is beautiful again, tonight we drive all evening on the bus once we get back to the mainland and leave to sail to the Whitsundays, please wish us calm seas and lovely weather for that one!

I love you all dearly, Rebecca

Sent: Thu 8/15/2002 8:08 PM
It's me again!

Hey there my beauties!

I am getting a bit behind on these damn things so let us just hurry them along a bit more!

We got to Brisbane on the 9th of August. We immediately phoned the EDAW office and were invited to come and join them for a few Friday drinks at the office by the firm principal! We got the whirlwind tour of the office and drinks were popped into our hands! It was by far the most casual office visit that I have ever experienced. I should have prefaced this by saying that Jeffrey had met the principal's wife when he did the summer student program for EDAW in Colorado. We later got whisked of to a local pub by an employee there for drinks and a going away party for someone we had never met. We topped the evening off with a visit to an extra schwanky bar for drinks and big fat cigars! I couldn't stop thinking of lovely Heather because the design of the bar was absolutely delicious!

Next day we headed to Michael and Adrienne's home for a bbq (principal and wife). We got a prime tour of the area and got to meet there three little rugrats who were great and absolutely brimming with energy!

Also while in Brisbane, we hiked along the South Banks which was one of the best examples of LandArch that I have seen this far. Beautiful park with unbelievable arbors, waterways, etc. People sunbathed in the middle of a park on the man made beaches as you walked by on the sidewalk, strange feeling. We hiked on through the botanical gardens and local Sunday markets and saw our first Kookaburra, another strange looking bird with the most amazing call. We now need to learn how to immitate it with the didge!

Interesting sidenote observation...We saw this on a bathroom stall..."If you are caught masterbating indoors the penalty is decapitation" I don't know where exactly but I thought it was quite an interesting fact to pass on!

We continued to stumble along, heading towards Chinatown without much of a game plan when we heard some sexy blues coming out of a little bar and decided to go in for a few ales and listen for a bit. Needless to say we spent the better part of the afternoon there! Please remember that we are unemployed and that is what you do when you are unemployed! There was this older gent playing banjo and guitar with the most amazing smoke and whiskey voice, I loved him!

Later in the week we met with Michael again, what an amazing man. So helpful and straight forward. He offered to help us out in a half dozen different ways, speaking on our behalf. We got some work information together for him to distribute but it really looks like it is going to be very difficult for us to work here, they really want us to work for at least two years and we aren't sure how to do that and continue to pay the bills as we probably wouldn't be making that much money compared to the states.

That night we decided to get all spiffy and go to the Centre of Performing Arts to see "Bill and Mary" which was a play about a beautiful friendship that develops between Sir William Dobell, the painter (who's work we saw displayed in the South Bank Cultural Centre Art Museum) and Mary Gilmore, the poet. What a woman! Boy was it powerful! Later on we humiliated ourselves singing Kareoke(?), not very pretty!

Last night we got into Noosa, still on the coast, and spent the night relaxing with beer, pizza, pool, and ping-pong. Overall a good night!

Okay, that is it, I am caught up. Better stories coming up as we will be sailing to Fraser Island in a few days...I love you all and adore all the great letters you keep sending to us.

Mushy kisses to all, Rebecca

Sent: Wed 7/31/2002 10:19 PM
I think we found heaven on earth!

Hey there all you beautiful people,

So many adventures and so little time.... We stayed in a little sleepy coast town named Port Macquarie on our way up to Brisbane from Sydney. We think that we saw about all they had to offer in the couple of days that we were there.
First we hiked along the Kooloonbung Creek Nature Preserve through the billabongs (waterways), Eucalypt forests, and mangroves, we spotted more amazing birds ( I have lost track of the names of all the birds, there are so many here and they come in blazing colours!), and some pygmy possums snuggled up in there tree crotches. We tried to spy some koalas but they were no where to be seen.

Later on we went to the koala hospital at feeding time, which is strictly run by vollunteers. I think I found my new calling in life! What a wonderful place and even more wonderful people donating there time to fix these loving little creatures up after bushfires and car accidents. They then wean them off the place and reintroduce them to there natural habitats. I was so moved that I asked about vollunteering my time. Side line for Austy only....The koala's looked like grey little bears that you could snuggle in your arms and they had big black flat noses and big tufts of hair coming out of there big ears! I will send you photographs when I get them developed! Love you bud!

We walked along the beaches here for the first time, saw a pelican (peli, Jeff wants to kill me for calling them that, says I am putting on the old accent, I just like to get his goat, so I say it a lot!) anyways it was the size of a small car! Well maybe a swan, but it was enormous. The beaches are beautiful, still not quite warm enough here for a dip (plus we are still scared from reading Bill Bryson's book In a Sunburnt Country (or something)) but we did break out some shorts today.

Monday was our day to take off for Byron Bay but in the morning we managed a beautiful hike through the tree tops in the Sea Acres Rainforest along a boardwalk. We had been told that it was the only remained virgin rainforest of its kind in all of New South Wales, if that is so, it's quite heartbreaking... It was lovely and smelled delicious like damp earth and decaying leaves. We saw Flying Fox (a huge bat with an approximate wingspan of 1meter!) and some Bush Turkeys and were told to keep our eyes pealed for a Wallaby and her Joey (mama and baby kangaroos) but we were out of luck because we didn't spot them.

Then off to Byron Bay by bus where we did see a Wallaby and her babe in a field along side of the road! I was so excited I startled some of the surrounding passengers with my gasp!

So, now we are in Byron, which is a sweet little hippy town, tons of veggie-heads and a nightlife that doesn't shut down at 6pm like Port Macquarie. We are contemplating crashing here for a week, a month, a lifetime and just surfing all the time! Anyone interested in renting a house with us? Ladies you don't need to wear most or any of you bathing suit here! Side line for Mom~but of course your little angel would never take hers off in public! Wink Wink! The waters are magical and spiritually cleansing here, I feel as if I have bathed in these waters and washed away some of the unsettled feelings I have been feeling...Mmmm. Did I mention that it took a while for us to get into the ocean? Still scared as to which waters we should swim in and where(box jellies, sharks, crocs, I could go on for an eternaty), but we are watching the locals carefully.

Okay and with that I am off once again, hope my long emails are not too much of a burden to all of you, no offense taken if you delete. And then I leave you with a little story....She knew her heart was enormously full of love and tenderness and at points it threatened to burst out of her body when she saw all the love and beauty in the world. But she wasn't afraid because she knew how to vent a little bit at a time to avoid the distinct possibility of her heart clawing its way out of her chest... I love you all very much.

Rebbie

Sent: Mon 7/29/2002 11:54 PM
Letter from Down Under!

Okay, so where did I leave off?

Day eleven of our tour...

We did interview with the Sydney EDAW office, the firm principal was wonderful, he gave us a full two hours of his time! He seemed interested but needed to find out more about how to go about the process of hiring. At the end of our tour, Andrew pointed out that they had a very unique boardroom, and indeed it was, the full glass wall overlooked this ancient cemetary. Spooky but beautiful.

The next day was raining so we went to the Australian Museum. My favorite exhibits had to be the body art exhibit and all of its shock, and the Aborigine and Indigenous People exhibit. They also had a great gem show and we also got to see all the local bugs, spiders, and birds all looking absolutely horrific in death. Afterwards we got to enjoy a bottle of champagne overlooking the harbour and opera house at sunset.

Another interesting observation on my part, at least for me. Australian television, we saw a commercial in which this beautiful woman kills her husband and mops up the blood before the cops get there with her ultrathin maxipad. Well if that couldn't sell a product I don't know what could!

Next day, we took a train to Bondi Junction to check out Centennial Park. There were a million different types of birds there. Amazing. Hundreds of screeching cockatoos, parrots of every size and color, etc. The down side is that it was exceptionally frigid that day so we weren't able to check out the well known Bondi Beach. Instead we went to the Museum of Contemporary Art and then met our pal Jamie and attended a Buddist meeting. I have heard about a retreat in the Blue Mountains here and think that I might attempt one when we come back to Sydney.

Day Seven, we took a train to the Olympic Park. The people we met along our way reinforced our overall judgement on them before. They are something else. You don't even realize that you are lost and they are already offering there help. This leads us to believe that we must stick out a bit more than we origionally suspected as tourists. The park is a virtual wasteland . It was eerie walking around in a place like that and there were no people there to fill it, and all for a few weeks of events! Highlight of this desolate place was that we got to swim in the olympic pools!

Friday night and we have a date with our friend Emily and she joins us at our hotel where we have been invited to partake in a big house barbie. Emily was our token Aussie, the rest of us were foriegners, Irish, Brazilians, Japanese, etc. The Brazilians made this wicked drink by the pitcher which consisted of crushing fresh limes, adding a bit of sugar and a whole lot of vodka. We passed it around like the matte gourd.

Saturday, don't need to say much. Day of rest and relaxation. I think that Brazilain drink snuck up on us!

Sunday, we took a trip up to the Blue Mountains with our pal Emily. This was our first Australian driving experience and I think that it will take a lot more to get used to flip flopping our driving procedures...So, we hiked the rim walk in Leura (afraid the whole time of deadly spiders and snakes) and then into the town of Leura for lunch ( I had a risotto-pumpkin ball rolled in sesame seeds! Vegelicious!) and a trip to the biggest candy store ever. We then went to Katoomba afterwards to see the Three Sisters and hike down the Giant Staircase which consisted of over 900 steps down to the valley floor carved out of stone. Stairmaster hasn't gotten anything on that place! It nearly killed us all.

Monday morning and we packed up and moved on out of our little apartment in Kirribilli to travel by bus to Port Macquarie. This was the bus trip from hell. First, we had to stop at a halfway point to switch buses, then the one we get settled into finally we hear a bunch of screaming from the back and one Aussie yells "Watch yerself mate!" "Shit house water comin' yer way!" We lifted our feet just in time to miss the toilet overflow from the back of the bus. Throw in a couple of chickens and we might be back in Central America! And we paid for 8,000km of bus travel last night in advance! So, once we switched buses then dealt with toilet water the bus driver announces that we will be stopping for dinner. And this is only 15 minutes after our last stop. He talks up this amazing meal that has been basically voted five stars or something them we pull into a Mobil station. Unbelievable! He also announces that we will stop for tea in about an hour and a half too. Can you believe these Aussies? So what it boils down to is that we purchased 8,000km of travel time and we are spending 8 and 1/2 hours traveling what could have been a 4 and 1/2 hour trip so that we could stop for a spot of tea and eat at a gas station! Basically, I spent most of the trip staring out the window at the beautiful stars and wished that all of you could have been doing the same with me.

And on that note, I love you all and I will write more later ( you can bank on it!) Austin, I saw a Koala finally, I will tell you all about it later! Love you Buddy!

Rebecca, Rebel, Rebbie, Auntie Pee-Pee, Rat Bastard....

Sent: Sun 7/21/2002 9:35 PM
G' day

Hey there my beauties!

We are on day three of our travels here in Sydney. It is a lovely place. Jeffrey has always said that I would never survive in a city because I am always smiling and striking up conversations with strangers...this is the city for me! People here are wonderful. They look you right in the eye, offer help without being asked and are very genuine when asking how you are, and they never have something more interesting to look at as they pass you on the street. I love it.

So, day two of our travels took us into Darling Harbour after a leisurely breakfast and yummy soy lattes. We must be putting about 7 or 8 hiking miles on a day. First stop, was the Sydney aquarium. They have an exhibit on the Great Barrier Reef, it was lovely being able to touch and see all the corals, fish and jellies. Touch the corals, see the fish and jellies (please remember that everything here will kill you!) Especially the Moon Jelly which was lit with what appeared to be some kind of black light making the jellies seem eerily irridescent as they floated through the water. My favorite part, however, the sharks. You could walk through this glass tunnel, and it felt like you were in the ocean with all these menacing creatures around you. Sharks, Rays, Turtles, and these huge glass sucking creatures (can't recall what they were). It was amazing to be able to watch every inch of a monstrous shark as it cruised overhead.

After that we had some lunch and Jeff harassed a bunch of seagulls that were begging bites. Then off to meet a pal I used to work with in California, Jamie, who is also here in Sydney. We spent the better part of the afternoon listening to schwanky jazz and sipping local brews on the harbour outside of the Sydney Opera House, and what a sunset! We were told to stay out of the Harbour because it is full of sharks and that makes me wonder about the people I see kyaking in it in the mornings. I am watching very closely but haven't seen anyone go down yet!

Today hasn't been much more exciting than chore day as we are opening accounts and contacting EDAW for work, though we did have a rather pretty Ferry ride through the harbour this morning, still looking for shark fins!

So, I will leave you for now with a couple of interesting observations I have made here. Well, interesting for me (and probably my pal Marya, because she will want to put these on her beautiful website as keepers!), but then again I am my biggest fan! We noticed a car named the ka2, that makes it the ka-ka car, can't imagine that it is a very big seller. Secondly, I saw my favorite billboard, it stated..."California has issued six driving licenses to people named Jesus Christ". I don't really know what it was in reference to and honestly don't care, it's just funny!

And then....I love you all very much and hope these letters aren't going to be too much of a clog to your inboxes because they will be coming on a regular basis...and no you can't unsubscribe!

My love you all of you, Rebecca

P.S. thanks for the lovely responses, we love to hear how you are all doing on your side of the world, you know who you are!

Sent: Fri 7/19/2002 10:30 PM
Guess where we are!

Okay all you little R.B.'s out there!

First, I would like to apologize to all of you for this group email thing. It is the most efficient way right now though. Second, if I have left anyone off the list that needs to be, please let me know.

We have just arrived in Sydney Australia today, 6am on the 20th of July to be exact. We lost the 19th as we crossed the international date line, we ceased to exist! The good side is that we will get two of the same dates going back, flashback to "Groundhog Day". Anyways, the flight was unbelievable just because it took six hours to cross the states, Boston to San Francisco, and another fourteen to get to Australia. The later of which was in complete darkness the entire way! We got a total of six shitty movies to watch and I was served a vegan meal which I like to call polenta pucks in pita bread, that was a little alliteration for all you smarty pants out there! (Did I spell that right? Operating on very little sleep here)

So we showed up in Sydney and were really surprised by how small the airport seemed. Podunk was what I believe my buddy Jeffrey called it! From there we took a train to Kirribilli where we had a hotel reserved. We were at home immediatly as there was a personal note with a key for our room hanging on the door of the hotel welcoming us to Sydney. The owner of the hotel, Mary, is probably going to be our mother figure for the following week, she is so great! We had a liesurly breakfast this morning and I already tried "Vegemite" which seems to be a very dense yeast mixture, it spreads like nutello and is a nasty brown color, I decided I needed to develop a taste for it because it is such a big local thing but I haven't had something so icky in a long time, flashback to polenta pucks in pita! (insert Wayne's World fuzz out)

We have been hiking around Sydney since then, it feels like it should be around 9pm now but a glance to the clock tells me that it is only nearing 3pm. Rebbie is tuckered. We have already hiked from Kirribilli, which looks across the bay to the Sydney Opera House, accross the gigantic Harbour Bridge into downtown Sydney. Through a beautiful Saturday market selling Aborigine art and photos, blown glass, roasted corn, amazing furniture made from local woods, and all the while the market reaks of yummy spices from a local vender selling whole spices.

From there we hiked to the Sydney Opera House, just a hike around though, we will try to take a tour inside in a few days. Then off to the Botanical Gardens. We actually skirted the gardens too, I think we are waiting to really be able to appreciate it after some sleep. I think we are starting to understand the layout of the city now, a lot less intimidating than the maps try to lead us to believe. Sydney seems rather smaller than we imagined. And this pleases me. I love the architecture this far. Such and eclectic mix of times and styles. Its quite yummy.

Other than that... Rebel got hungry and her pal Jeffrey desperatley grabbed for the guide book for the first time yet and led her to an amazing vegetarian chinese kitchen. First Australian food experience bad, second excellent. We are 0 for 0 folks. Looks like the little veggie will fare pretty good overall (even without the bowls of grass her pops likes to mow for her!)

Now it is time to rastle up my pal and make him take me back to the hotel so we can get some sleep. A couple of personal notes first though... Thank you all you stabbies for the icing on the cake of my California experience. It makes me start crying every time I think of that send off you gave us and all the beautiful things we have shared in the past three years. (Keep it short and sweet Rebbie!) The only way I could have really shown you all just how much you mean to me is if I tore my heart from my chest and threw it on the table for you all that evening. I love you all. To my east coast family...I miss you already. Jordan with your little yellow blanky stuffed in your mouth. Splashing with Austin the wet little seal in the water. I will see you very, very soon. Momma, Papa, my beautiful sissies, I love you. Jen try to keep those crazy pimentos away from Missy...Shawn your on my "Big S" list because Jeffrey threw your sweet little "Turner's Trash" comment at me today and he still hasn't changed out of those Massachusetts fireman shirts yet!

Now I go because I am leaking again...my love goes out to all of you...

Rebecca Leigh (A.K.A. Rat Bastard)