Port Stephens and the livin is easy

G'day mates. How you going? That's always the question Aussies ask and I cannot seem to do it. Paul has been practicing his Aussie slang as of late and has incorporated "how you going?" to his vernacular. It seems impossible for me to see it either through habit from saying "how's it going" or from speech therapy classes. Whatever the reason, Aussie is not my style. But it suites Paul. Spellings are also quite different from the US. "Tyre" instead of "tire", "centre" instead of "center", using "c" when we use "s". All very new but not so strange. And the sign off line is always "cheers".
Anyway, enough with linguistics. Our weekend starts out on Friday at the Taste of Sydney festival. This was of course a festival with all sorts of restaurants featuring their wares and dishes. We went with a few friends from Paul's work and had a blast! Although we did think of it as a sort of scam. Not only was there an entrance fee, but you had to buy "crowns" or little vouchers in order to buy dishes or what have yous. So, you were forced to spend money. But it really didn't matter, we had fun with good friends. I also need to invest some time in taking pictures of our new friends so that you can see that yes we have made friends and that we are indeed having a blast. We just get lazy. We will soon since we will be soon going to an opera (La Traviotta) at the Sydney Opera House!!! Also, our friends will be attending a rugby game with us in 2 weeks. So plenty of opportunities.
Saturday, Paul and I went to Port Stephens by way of convertible. I'll tell you, if there is one car to have when you live at the beach, it is a convertible. It's so refreshing and we just relished it. Of course, it rained a little. I don't want you to get the idea that it has done nothing but rain here. On the contrary. During the week it is gorgeous weather. Sunny. Yet, it seems the weekends are made for rain. But we didn't care, and plus the rain was very intermittent.
So, here's the silly story. There is this place called Hunter Valley where supposedly world class wine is made. I wanted to go there and check out a winery just to say that I did and seeing that it was on the way, we didn't see any harm. So, I type the name into the GPS and click on the first name I see that seems to deal with Hunter Valley...We made it to a touring company that takes you to Hunter Valley, but yet, is not Hunter Valley...UGH! Needless to say, Paul got a big kick out of it and will not let me live it down. He's just soooooo funny. Luckily, it was not out of the way from Port Stephens, so we did not have to backtrack. But I must note to myself that GPS's are not reliable.
We checked into our bed and breakfast and found we were the only ones there for the weekend. Sweet! Bed and breakfasts have become our big thing now because we like the idea of being with locals who can give us such great recommendations to restaurants, activities, and you know they aren't just trying to sell you services, but want to see you have a great time. They are more familiar with the area than any hotel staff. Hostels are great too, but the idea of a breakfast in the morning made fresh to order instead of just a cup of cereal really does the trick. I am pretty sure that even if we did not have anything planned for our weekends, we could have asked our hosts and they would have been more than happy to tell us what they think is best. Yay for locals!
After a brief nap, Paul and I went for some sea kayaking! I have kayaked but Paul has not and now is considering buy us a couple of kayaks. Or at least plans on doing more in the future. Canoes are ok, but you have so much more control in a kayak. We enjoyed our time in the sea and even saw a Blue Penguin, the smallest penguin in the world! We got out on a beach, drank some sparkling wine given to us and then we walked around with some pelicans!
The Australian Pelican is the second largest in the world and is so hilarious. I think every animal in Australia has a certain kind of attitude where they feel they can be inquisitive and friendly because, what is that human gonna do? I can kill it! Seriously...Australia is home to the deadliest creature on Earth: the box jellyfish. Not kidding. People die from that thing. No worries though...they live more near Northern Territory. I will not be seeing them. I really really hope I never see them. But it's so funny 'cause kangaroos will let you come up and look at them, koalas don't care, and pelicans just want fish from you. Animals here really just can take care of themselves.
After our kayak fun, we asked our guide where was a good place to eat. He told us about The Pointe Restaurant which was really close to our B&B. What a great suggestion! This seafood restaurant is a hard find, but really is world class to me! We loved it! I would go back to eat there if I could. You could not have asked for better fish or scallops. Then off to bed we went!
Which was not as restful a night as we could have hoped. Not because our place was not hospitable or comfortable. But the kookaburras...were so loud!!! Either they were fighting each other, or with other birds that make a terrible sound but they were laughing and yelling all night long. I woke up a couple of times terrified that someone was getting murdered outside our window! The next morning our hosts laughed at that and then told us about the celebrity koala who hangs out the house and will get into the car with you if you leave the door open for him to climb in. Funny creatures.
On Sunday we went on a dolphin watching cruise and found a couple of pods. They were beautiful, but we did not see them for much longer. It was just nice to lay out on the boat and enjoy the company of each other.
Back on land, Paul tried to go snorkeling in the freezing water. We swore that when we were kayaking the day before the water was much warmer, but for some reason it seemed ice cold the next day. Too bad for us it was low tide and the water murky, so any snorkeling was to be a wasted effort. Oh well. Maybe next week at Kangaroo Island we will have better luck! Yup, next week is Kangaroo Island and we are excited to go to South Australia.
Well that was our weekend. I hope you all are enjoying the posts and the pictures. Not many pictures this week, the focus was more about relaxation than anything else. Nonetheless, hope you enjoy it!

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