Hamburger with the Lot

Today at lunch I tried for the first time a typical Aussie burger called "Hamburger with the Lot". It consists of meat burger, tomato, beet slices, lettuce, onion, fried egg, bacon, pineapple, cheese and BBQ sauce. It is a lovely meal.

Sunset at Nhulunbuy

Sue, Beemer and Simon arrived in Sydney Friday October 26. Peggy arrived in Sydney early Monday October 29 went to visit the dogs at the Quarantine station for about 20 minutes and returned to the airport for her flight to Nhulunbuy, Gove. The dogs will stay in Sidney and will fly to Nhulunbuy on November 25.

We are in our permanent residence now. It is a 3 bedroom house with a back patio and a back yard. The dry season takes a toll on the grass and since I moved into the house 3 weeks ago I have had to water the lawn every day to get it to grow back up. It is looking better and will be nice and green by the time Sue, Beemer and Simon arrive.

The weather is beginning to change. It is the middle of a very mild spring similar to south Texas. The days are getting a little longer but it will not change much since we are only 12 degrees south of the equator. The temperature and humidity have increased as the summer season approaches (nights 25 C, days 35 C). Late December is the beginning of the summer, rainy, humid and cyclone season.

Life here is not dull at all there is always some event going on. October 6 there was a night party to celebrate 100 years of safe swimming in beaches around Australia that are supervised by life guards. The party took place at a remote beach known as “little Bondi” after a famous beach located in Sydney known as Bondi beach (pronounced Bond-eye). This was an amazing event, 300 people attended, guys dressed in shorts, shirt and bow tie, ladies in black dress. A great band composed of people that work at the refinery.

I am playing volleyball in a tournament held on Wednesday nights. Friday nights we go to the surf club to socialize, drink a few beers (tinnies), hamburgers (tomatoes, lettuce and beets. Yes, beets, Australians love beets in their hamburgers), sausage, chips (French fries). We also attended the local community theater a week or so ago. Fishing is a favorite sport. I have been fishing once since I arrived here. I did catch a nice red fish but that was all.

Peggy is getting use to driving on the left side of the road and trying her best at not getting lost around the city. She has a valid Nhulunbuy drivers license now. She started working as of Tuesday November 12. The lady just doesn’t want to stay still for a minute. She traveled last night to Darwin to meet a few people that she will be working with. Darwin is the biggest city closest to us and is located about a hour and a half west of us by plane. She is coming back tomorrow morning Tuesday 20.

We continue getting used to the Australian accent. It is a challenge but we are beginning to pick on a few words, so no worries mate. Soon you will notice a few changes in our vocabulary. So far all is lovely. I'll quit for now and go for a morning tea. Cheers.