Crack of dawn Thursday - Oz begins

Thurs (26/09/13):

5am was the grossly unholy hour at which the alarm clock bleated it's unequivocally torturous squealing, tearing us from the sweet sanctity of our dreams. But resentful we weren't: for today was the day that the globetrotting might of the Steve and Sop dynamic duo crossed over the equator for our very first foray into the vast sunny unknown that was the southern hemisphere. The flight was a swift 4 hours. Movies were watched, cheeky 8am stir-fries were consumed, the possibility of consuming an early morning complimentary beer or 5, a tempting carrot-on-string mental conundrum which never quite made it past the prototype possibility phase into action, and boom, we arrived! It really was a boom. Shortly before landing, the pilot informed us of a 40kmph cross wind which of course we scoffed at. This turned out to become slightly reminiscent of an ordeal (a very brief one) as it basically meant the plane shuddered and wobbled, like an infant making his/her's first clumsy steps, as it hurtled towards the ground at 100's of miles an hour. After initially bonking down on what was most definitely not all of the wheels - at a rather squiffy angle- we were in Australia! This was, in most part, due to the usually perfect weather (as per all the brochures and unfaltering accounts of it's inhabitants), not really being in the mood to present us with a fine advert of it's apparent ability, as we'd come prepared for. Basically, it was raining. This didn't dampen our spirits as we took solace in the far more sociable 20 degrees and nervously trudged through the infamously strict Australian customs, unsure if a speck of dust on a hiking boot was to prevent/delay our entry or not.  

The afternoon and eve was spent in the energetic company of Jeff , a brief drive around the local area (more on this in our next post) and the grand tour of Casa Soliss (our abode for the next 2 and a half weeks). It wasn't long before dinner was on the cards; which, as the sun had decided to make a cameo appearance, was cooked on the barbecue with a beer in hand. We had humongous prawns from a local fishmonger and salad, all washed down in true Aussie style - with a cold beer. Happy times.