An Attempt at an Introduction

We're officially bloggers! Welcome to our site - thought it'd be a nice way to keep you all updated on our lives abroad. First stop -Australia! We can't wait til you come and visit and share in our adventures. Enjoy!



Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Stranded in Toowooooooomba

Well, it's been a week since we've embarked on this road trip, and we've found ourselves stuck in the city of Toowoomba, which is about an hour from Brisbane. We decided to follow the flood instead of the sun, haha. The weather seems to be letting up, but it's the integrity of the surrounding roads that is holding us back from moving forward with our adventures. But, since being here for 3 days now, we've had quite a few new experiences to tell our grandchildren.

We missed the thick of the flood by about 3hrs when we arrived. The city was just so completely eerie and deserted - big rigs were parked on the side of the road, street lights were out and we saw overturned cars!! Our first stop was, of course, McDonalds, for their free wifi and delicious treats. Since "living" in Toowoomba, we've gotten to know the place pretty well, making friends with the night staff of the mall and hanging out with some local police to get info on when we can get out of here. Christina and I have taken on "mall walking", which, I know is usually for senior citizens in velour track suits, but it has been our outlet to letting off energy of living in a camper van. We've also acquired these sweet 80s outfits from our many hours of perusing the aisles of Target and Big W (aka Walmart). Thank goodness the movie theaters opened up yesterday, and we were able to watch Tangled (a definite tear-jerker..someone dies at the end!! muahaha...) So, despite the national crisis, we've been able to keep warm, dry, fed, and entertained. It's amazing how quickly this town has pulled together in such a small amount of time. Yesterday, we went to a grammar school-turned-evacuation center to take showers. Dudes, never take showers for granted!! It was such a delight after 2 days of using baby wipes to prevent nappy rash. Everyone in Toowoomba has been absolutely helpful and welcoming and if anything, this is probably the best place to get caught in.

We were told today that we won't be able to get out of here for another 3-4 days, due to road conditions, so we're thinking of ways to pass time until then. Purchasing Toowoomba T-shirts and more mall walking are definitely on the top of the list. We've been visiting the mall everyday, to brush our teeth in the bathrooms and stay away from the rain. This internet cafe that I'm currently typing at has also been a frequented spot of ours. These gamers here are pretty intense, it's kinda difficult for me to concentrate above their dramatic cursing and communication via headsets. So, please send us all of your positive thoughts to get out of here soon because we're due to fly out to Perth on the 19th. But we need to get to Sydney in order to due so, which is about 4-5hrs drive away. We just want the sun, is that too much to ask for?? And yes, we are applying sunscreen religiously :)

So far on this trip, we've been able to see and do so many incredible things, and though this is a slight detour in our plans, we are still in high spirits and looking forward for what's to come. On our journey to Toowoomba, we were able to visit Grampians National Park. This was our first day out, while we were still in the state of Victoria. It's kinda like their version of the Grand Canyon, and it was absolutely beautiful! The pictures don't do it justice.


Along the way, we drove up the coast between Melbourne and Sydney - the scenery was so breath taking. We never get bored on these long drives because we are mesmerized by what we see, and we are also having fun trying to pronounce all of the names of the different cities. My favorite is still "Wollongong". Oh, and "Ulladulla"!! I know right? So much funner than "Fresno" or "Barstow" -- booooring, but no offense to anyone from there or has any connection to those places :) One day we went to a privately owned zoo and got to interact with the local wildlife. Koalas smell sooo good!! It's cuz they eat Eucalyptus, so we've found out (and maybe some really good smelling deoderant).






(you can click on the pictures to make them bigger)

Hopefully in the next coming days we'll have good news and can continue on the road trip. Perth, Cairns, New Zealand and Mama Kalemkeris' arrival are coming up too! Yay for 2011 so far :)