Monday, September 29, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Aussie Aussie Aussie
A day at Sydney Fish Market
We ate the whole thing!
Grandpa Ted and Grandma Janet Doyle
Cheers to Grandpa's Birthday lunch
The beach we live down the road from!
Australia Photos
Sean, Myself and the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Skyline
Sean in the Aquarium at Syndey Harbour
Shark!!
Some Aussie Photos
The first Aussie birdy I saw!
Sean walking through Darling Harbour
My first handful of Aussie cash!
Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House
Thursday, September 18, 2008
MY FIRST TASTE OF AUSTRALIA
(Craig, Ryan, TRACEY, Renee, Myself and Sean)
It has been three weeks to the day I arrived and was greeted by my wonderful boyfriend, Sean, in Sydney on August 28, 2008. The weeks prior were filled with goodbyes, lots of hugs and best wishes from family and friends. My finale show was one of the greatest times of my performing life and I will never forget the amazing turnout and the good times we all had. My mother, father and brother Eric spent the afternoon with me before taking me to Sky Harbour Airport and sending me off on my trek to a new home down under. I hugged my father numerous times and kissed him goodbye reluctantly. I also hugged Eric and my mom over and over again while waiting in line to get my bags checked. My mom was so strong during the last half-hour before I walked on and out of her sight. She just wanted to make it a happy goodbye, and it was. Thank you mom! I remember hugging her so tight as if I would never let go. I did eventually :) and was on my own and on my way. Little did I know that I was in for the longest trip of my life!
Once I arrived in L.A. I had a 3 hour layover before my non-stop flight to Sydney. Near the end of the 3 hours I met a family who was on their way home to Australia and they gave me the run-down on what I was in for upon arrival and what to do when I get to my destination. I became full of excitement after meeting them. I told them about my singing and intention to sing everywhere I could and even signed a CD for them! They were thrilled! The flight was 14 hours and change. I boarded the plane a.k.a. Boeing 747 at 12:05 am Aug 27Th, sat down in my cosy little window seat and began chatting away to my new neighbor, Daphne, from Queensland. She was very informative and seemed to be delighted with my company throughout the flight. We were served a meal right away and afterwards I watched a movie since I was too excited to sleep just yet. When I became so tired and I couldn't open my eyes any longer, I tried my best to get into a comfortable position for sleeping. This is NOT the easiest task when you are inches away from a snoring Daphne and leg room is nil due to the seat directly in front of me. It wasn't easy, but I did manage to get about 6 hours in. I kept looking out the window in hopes to see some light. After 10 hours I just wanted to be there already! I decided to watch a couple more movies to pass the time and had a little cereal for breakfast from the flight-attendants. I was thrilled to see the continent from my window about 20 minutes before landing and began to fix my face for my reunion with Sean. I was filled with excitement and ready to explore Sydney even with only 6 hours of sleep before any jet lag could kick in, which it did eventually! I went through customs without any trouble and threw my two 50lb bags on a trolley that was FREE and headed to baggage screening. I couldn't believe I didn't have to pay a dollar just to borrow a cart for my bags! I made it through screening and asked one of the men, "..now where do I go next?". He simply said, "You are free to go hun, right out the exit doors.", and that was a relief! I walked about 20 feet and there Sean stood with a bouquet of Native Australian flowers at 7:30 am in the morning! I made it safe and sound and have been ever since.
We had to exchange my American dollars at the airport before driving to Darling Harbour, where we stayed for the weekend and explored Sydney, and the money they use is the most beautiful cash I have ever seen! I had to really keep telling myself it wasn't play money for the first few days. We ate at little cafes on the water front, explored the Sydney Opera house, walked all over Sydney Harbour and Darling Harbour, went to the aquarium, the fish market and took the ferry underneath the Sydney Harbour bridge! Sydney was so beautiful but too fast paced for my taste. So I was ready to leave by the end of the weekend and ready to see the small town I would be living in on the Central Coast called Terrigal. Once we arrived we drove around and Sean showed me the area and how close the beach was to the homes. We then made it to his parents home in Wamberal, the town next to Terrigal. I was greeted with his parents, Craig and Tracey Doyle, and welcomed with hugs and presents. (Lots of Australian candies and cookies!) Soon after I met his younger sister and brother, Ryan and Renee. It has been only 3 weeks and they already feel like family to me. I truly am being looked after here and that is such a wonderful feeling.
Living at the Doyle residence has been a great way for me to get to know Sean's family and that has been a blessing. They are such wonderful people and have been such a help to me. Most days I am running errands around town with Tracey and getting used to the roads and on others I get to relax and watch movies while everyone is at work or at school. There was one day when I was in the household all by myself, and a Magpie(Aussie bird) flew straight through the backdoor! It flew into the living room at the front of the house and then proceeded to fly into the kitchen. All I could hear was clinging and clanging. So I ran to the back of the house with a blanket over my head to see what happened and there were bottles knocked everywhere! Oh no! By then I thought my heart was going to pop out of my chest and I was 100% scared shitless! The backdoor managed to fly shut so I ran undercover to open it while the Magpie took another round around the house. It then zoomed straight past my hiding little face and out the back door. That was the highlight of the day and made a great story for some laughs at the dinner table! Each night we set the dining room table and eat dinner as a family. Tracey fills up the plates with set portions and hands them out to us at the dinner table. I told her it was buffet style at my house! Tracey and Craig have friends in America and have traveled there numerous times and knew exactly what I was talking about! Another funny time was when I tried to help clean up the kitchen and ran their dishwasher. I put the liquid soap in like I am used to, turned everything on and left the kitchen. I returned finding soap coming out from the bottom of the machine! I went upstairs to tell Tracey that I may have put a little too much soap into the dishwasher. She laughed and said, "ummm Holly...you used one of the soap tablets right?..." When she realized what I meant and that I put liquid soap in she began to laugh and I joined in relief! Apparently they just don't put liquid soap in their dishwashers! It wasn't too bad off and I have used the tablets ever since! They also hang their cloths to dry on the line out here in Australia. Just about every family does this! So I have been getting pretty good at hanging up my cloths and living without a dryer. We found a place in Terrigal that is minutes from the beach and I got a job at an upscale bar/restaurant coincidentally named Doyle's Tavern. I have also been driving on the LEFT side of the road and doing very well at it! Sean's father, Craig, has been campaigning to be re-elected as a Councilor in their local elections. I helped hand out 'how-to-votes' during the week prior to the elections and got paid in appliances for our new place! He was re-elected with 60% of the votes and is now working on getting his Deputy Mayoral position back. He is the main reason I got the job since he is good friends with the owner. It is good to have friends in high places! So far things have been going very well and I cannot wait to get settled in the new house and start planning some adventures around this country! I have already played my first gig at the election celebration party in honor of Cr Craig Doyle and from that I have gained so much more. I will post more photos as soon as I get the chance. I hope you all enjoyed the first story of my travels. You will be hearing from me soon :)
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