Wedding Mania continues for my family...

So, yes, I HAVE been experiencing a little of that bridal withdrawal I heard so much about. No longer the center of attention, no longer an event to plan :) ha! I guess I'll have to channel it into another wedding since...

MY SISTER IS ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dude did not even wait a week after our nuptuals to pop the question to my lil sis. Way to exercise some restraint, there, bud! Or else I woulda gone all Thunder Being Stolen!!! a la Monica. We knew he was planning to ask her in the next few months, but we didn't expect it so soon. He actually proposed like the day before we went on our honeymoon. I didn't find out until after we were safely in Australia (loooong day of flights as you know). They were in Vegas, visiting his grandmother and staying at the Bellagio, natch.

But bless my family's heart (as we southerners say) because mom and dad have another wedding next July! No rest for the weary! Ha! I am pleased to report that I am the matron of honor, and have readily been dishing out advice and planning tips, as well as vendor recommendations. It kinda sucks to be so far away from her now (I used to be just an hour) and I'll miss a lot of the appointments and stuff.

But, a big congratulations to my gorgeous sister and her new fiance! He is a stand-up guy, and gets Jay's and my approval.

More pics

In honor of my 28th birthday, and our 1 month wedding anniversary, here are some more wedding pictures.

1) dancing
2) my mom and sister breaking it down! And you can see the lovely bridesmaids dresses.
3) finally have a minute to taste some yummy chocolate fondue
4) picture of some of my family :) And, you can see how wonderfully the table turned out -- the ribbon, the bamboo, the brown boxes, etc etc.
5) my cousins, Corey and Mark, out of the deck of the country club -- beautiful sunset!
6) Corey and me

I also spoke with our photographers, and the proofs should be ready this weekend, yippee!

Day 11, our Final Day

Today’s plan was to revisit The Gap and Watson’s Bay, the places I’d fallen in love with the sweeping views and endless blue Tasman Sea. We took the Ferry (took pics of the Opera House from the Ferry); it was quite a windy day, even for the beach, but with predictably perfect blue skies.

We had a quick lunch of Kebabs—beef with sweet chili sauce for me, with fries, and a can of Coke for $9AUD—cheap! We had to laugh when the TV in the kebab place starting the Dr. Phil show. Gotta love him.

This time, we spent more time reveling in our surroundings—not only the rocks, cliffs, and ocean, but also the views of the harbour and city on the other side of the radius. In fact, we sat on one of the benches, high up, overlooking the city and split a Cadbury Milk with Caramel Bar. (Good and rich, even for “cheap” chocolate). We relaxed and admired the city we now BOTH loved so much.

We took the 1:45 ferry back to Circular Quay, and spent a few more hours exploring George Street, both George and Pitt Streets had become quite familiar territory by now. Jay bought a rugby jersey, and I found a little bit of artistic heaven in Dymocks Stationery Shop (imagine if Barnes and Noble had it’s own stationery shop). I found some delightful Aussie scrapbook supplies, including a stamp of the Australian continent (can’t wait to use in my Australia albums). A nice little fix!

For dinner, we weighed our options. We could track down a new place to eat, and perhaps be underwhelmed with the quality for the cost, or we could revisit Zia Pina where we’d be guaranteed fantastic food for a good price. So of course, we chose Zia Pina! We bought two Cokes, placed a carry out order, and picked up our pizzas. Then we headed for Circular Quay and ate “our last meal” on the benches by the lights on the water, with the Opera House on our right and the Harbour Bridge on our left. It was a beautiful, romantic, fitting, and perfect meal. We sat there for a while, eating, ruminating on us, our trip, the best moments in our relationship (surely this was one!), and lots more.

I cannot put into words how much I will miss this city. It is full of such natural and structural beauty, and such classy and interesting people. It is lively. It is soothing. It is the most perfect city I’ve ever been to. Australia is such an experience, a life-changing one.

Loving Sydney is quite a bittersweet feeling; knowing you can’t just visit it any time you want (because of cost and distance). However, we will be back—we have to go back. It has been the honeymoon, the trip, of our lives – and is forever a part of our past and future.

Stay tuned in the next couple of days for some more wedding candids. We hope to get our wedding proofs in the next week or two.

Australia Day 9 (and back to Sydney!)

PeeWee's at the Point

I had read that Pee Wee's had the best view in Darwin, with food and service to match (they don't seem to understand that the name Pee Wee's does nothing for it, moniker alone!) So Jay and I booked reservations for Tuesday night. The view was true to promise: gorgeous. Our 6pm reservations ensured we'd see the sun setting. The food was delicious: We started with Garlic and Herb flatbread with a to-die-for tomato chutney. My "main" was: sesame crusted Barramundi filet served with ginger and sweet onion sauce, bok choy, and coconut scented jasmine rice with a tamarind kaffir lime dressing.

The only thing that marred the experience was overhearing our waiter lamenting that we weren't drinking, or drinking by the bottle or anything like that. That really ticked me off. I don't drink, and Jay's not going to drink 6 glasses of wine by himself, so there was no need to order a bottle of wine. The waiter's attentiveness fell off dramatically. I felt like telling that him"I wish I could be sorry that my lifestyle choice does nothing to pad your wallet, but I'm not." He did, however, lose the glass of port Jay was planning to order at the end of the meal. At any rate, the food was good and the view was good, and it was a great value.

Day 10 --Back to Sydney

As relaxing and enriching as Darwin was, I was SO stoked to be returning to Sydney for two more days. Sydney has just captured my heart.

Our flight to Sydney from Darwin was at 1:30am, with arrival at 6:05am, a true red-eye. (I did not sleep well on the plane). (There was a dense fog over the city, the most inclement weather we’ve had in Sydney, but it soon lifted). We took the train this time into the city (bought a one day trains/ferries pass at the airport to use all over Sydney), this time landing back in Circular Quay for our last hotel stay. The staff remembered from our booking that we were on our honeymoon and wanted a great room, so we got an Opera House view! These are the views I have while typing this blog entry:

Our mission for our last days in Sydney was to truly ABSORB. Not to necessarily cram sights in, but to revisit our favorites, to relax and watch, to sit and see what makes Sydney so beautiful and memorable. First, we took the ferry to Neutral Bay, to really see the suburbs of Sydney. This ‘burb had special meaning because it’s where Jay stayed with his aunt and uncle for 6 weeks in 2000, his previous visit to Sydney. It was cool not only see the older houses and iron work in the neighborhoods, but also walk to suburban streets with shops and small cafes. Truly a different side of Sydney. We then took the bus to Balmoral Beach at Mosman Bay—another true “locals” haunt. Less brisk of a lifestyle. Beautiful beach and park, lots of families and joggers (there was a huge group of church kids doing a scavenger hunt). There was a neat stone bridge “across” the tide and onto a grassy park overlooking the bay and in sight of Northhead, one of the cliffs. Had a quick lunch (mango chicken wrap for me, caesar salad for Jay) at Café Balmoral. Not very filling, but delicious nonetheless.

We then visited Chinatown, and walked to revisit Darling Harbour, one of my favorite Sydney spots. So many cool things to do and see. We visited the DH Galleria, and in particular, the Sydney Art Gallery where Jay and I fell in love with a painting of Bondi Beach. Now, it doesn’t take much for Jay to fall in love with a painting—Art is his background after all—but even with my artistic interests and craft-based background, I’m not as moved by art, nor as appreciative of, as he is. However, this unusual painting, with the ocean depicted in a fierce, almost “eye of the hurricane” shape was astounding. It encompassed much of what we love in art and life: the color blue, the ocean, inventiveness, abstractness. It was 36x48, and a once-in-a-lifetime, one-of-a-kind original painting (not print) – and about $3000 American dollars. Honestly, it was a good value to people who can afford to collect art, but not to broke newlyweds like us J We hope that one day prints may become available (we have the artist’s name), but for now, the painting will forever be etched in our minds.

By the time we exited the mall, it was dark and the city lights were alive with color. Sydney is just stunning at night, with the colors on the water.

We didn’t want to spend a lot on dinner, but we were craving Italian, so we asked the concierge for recommendations. For pizza, he recommend Zia Pina (in “The Rocks” area). He did NOT steer us wrong. It was an absolute GEM of a tiny, rustic pizzeria, crammed full of patrons, with some of the best pizza Jay and I have ever had. We ordered a large garlic, cheese, and tomato sauce pizza. So full of flavor and very garlicky! Apparently, the place is famous not only with locals, but celebrities as well: Pictures of Jacqueline Bisset, Aerosmith, Joe Montana, Martina Hingis, Steffi Graf, Jon Tesh, and various famous Aussie rugby, tennis, and cricket players all lined the modest walls. An absolutely delicious way to end our night.

I will be writing the Day 11, the finale night in Sydney, recap tonight and likely posting when we return home. Very tired, and we have to get up early tomorrow (it's 9:50pm here in Sydney) for our flight to Los Angeles.

Day 8, Trip to Katherine Gorge (and Day 9)

Sorry, had to start loading some photos in Photobucket b/c they were taking forever to load in Blogger.

Day 8

Our day began early—as the pickup at our hotel was 6:20a.m. I had selected the AAT Kings Tours after reading good things about this reputable company off of TripAdvisor.com. The company did not disappoint, and were first-rate from the beginning. Our motor coach was spacious and comfortable, with A/C and bathrooms on board.

After picking up passengers at other hotels, we departed for Katherine around 7a.m. As we left Darwin, I was pleased to see the landscape widen, more “bush”-like, as they call it. True Territory landscape. Katherine was about 3.5 hours away, and we were to make a couple of shorts stops along the way. The first was Adelaide River—a small pub/hotel truly

in the middle of Nowhere, Australia. Its claim to fame, as mentioned by our driver, Ray, (who was nothing if not FULL of information and commentary throughout the entire journey. He almost never shut up, in a good way, usually!) was the huge, now-stuffed bull that was in the famed movie “Crocodile Dundee.” “Charlie” is there for his closeup for anyone who wants it. He is quite the icon in the area. We made a 20 minute stop so that we could have a quick breakfast (our own expense). Jay and I both got bacon and egg sandwiches and cokes. It was nice to get that bit of protein in our stomaches in preparation for the long day ahead. The Adelaide River pub is a true Outback pub—it had that slightly depressing, lazy-day feel, but full of local color and flavor. Definitely felt like it hadn’t changed much in 50 years.

We hopped back on the bus, and listened to more of Ray’s (age 70+) commentary on aboriginal life (he himself was half-raised by Aboriginals in cattle-land as his parents died when he was really young), Australian culture, landscape, types of snakes, spiders and other wildlife, as well as a plethora of other topics.

Our next stop was Pine Creek, a rather deserted “post-California gold ru

sh”-feel of a town. We stopped at the RR tracks which housed a turn-of-the-century small locomotive (wood-fire burning). It was closed (Ray had forgotten, bless him), but he knew enough to tell us to stay away from the toilet facilities. He “didn’t wa

nt us getting Crook” by getting bitten by one of the zillions of poisonous spiders. NICE. Gotta love the Outback. Truly—we really wanted to feel that thirstiness, that remoteness, that heritage of the Outback.

We pushed on toward Katherine; Ray let us know that Katherine (as well as other bodies of water, Mary and Edith (Falls)) were named after sisters. The Katherine river was named by an explorer, Stuart (whose namesake is a major highway throughout Darwin and beyond), b/c he fancied a gal named Katherine. However, apparently her name was actually spelled with a “C” (Catherine), and so she gave him the boot for not knowing the correct way to spell her name.

Next, we visited (other sister) Edith Falls, a beautiful little area with a peek int

o the rocky structures that were to come. A large placid watering hole with falls. Plenty of good photos here. If we had had more time (only about 30 minutes), we would have swum in the crystalline water—so tranquil, very “sleepaway camp”-esque, except more pristine. Walking back from the watering hole, I had an “exciting” experience: I nearly ran into a snake! There is nothing more terrifying to run into in the Outback, b/c of the ten most poisonous snakes in the wo

rld, ALL ARE AUSTRALIAN! How’s that for crazy? (thanks to the brilliant travel writer Bill Bryson for that nugget). Surely, the one I saw slithering mere feet from me was poisonous, and based on our depiction, Ray determined it a “Red-Bellied Black Snake”: Venemous, but not enough to kill. Good to know! (Here’s how the situation actually played out.

Me: “Oh my god!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s a snake!” (runs)
Jay: “Cool, where’s my camera?!?!?” (snaps several photos of scary snake)

We finally reached Katherine around 12:45pm. The third largest city in the

Territory, but you’d be hard-pressed to tel. We had a lunch (included in the tour price) buffet at the Welcome Center—it was actually pretty good! Ham, chicken, potato salad, slaw, rolls, and fruit salad, among several things.

We then headed across the way to the crowning jewel of our trip: a 2 hour boat cruise through

Katherine Gorge. Like “Grand Canyon-light”. It was absolutely stunning. We did two different Gorge passages, and both were spectacular. The bleached-brick red rock, up to 60 meters high, contrasted with the azure sky was quite breathtaking. The rock was so beautiful cut and molded by nature—I really enjoyed the short walk on the gorge walls in between gorges. Just a beautiful experience—really made our trip to the Northern Territory complete. We really needed this nice contrast to beachy Darwin and to help us appreciate all of Australia.

Had a dinner of fish and chips back at Adelaide River (same place) on the way home. Arrived back at our hotel around 8:45pm—a full day of adventure!

Day 9

Slept until about 9 am this morning, our last day in Darwin. Today’s agenda encompassed two things: Crocodylus Park and dinner at Pee Wee’s at the Point.

We made a quick stop at the open-air mall (not nearly as cool as it sounds, truly)—Jay got more film and a coke, and a Lipton Ice Tea for me (it really bothers me when this beverage is called ICE tea. It’s not ICE tea, it’s ICED tea, as in, the tea is ICED. Anyway, got a quick breakfast a Darwin-based bread company (really wished we’d discovered this place earlier!) I got a bacon and cheese savory pastry (1.20 AUD), and Jay got a chocolate crossiant (2.30 AUD). Really hit the spot. Headed over to the Darwin Tourism office to buy our bus passes to get to Crocodylus Park.

While waiting for the bus, we window shopped for about 20 minutes. Took to bus out—way out—to Crocodylus Park. We then had to cross two very busy highways, like nomads/hitchhikers, and then walk about 3/10 of a mile to the Park. Very bizarre. Away from civilization. It didn’t take long to feel as though we’d rejoined civilization, however: we entered the park, and busy kids were everywhere! Quite the bustling place. 25 AUD per person (although we used a 10% off coupon too). Got there just in time for the 12:00 tour/feedings. The HIGHLIGHT was holding a baby crocodile!!!

Very cool. I was a bit nervous (especially with the guide just handing it off to the adult crowd while attending to the kids), letting us knowthat the baby croc’s tail could knock our teeth out! The feedings were cool, too…the crocs (about 350 or so in the pool) would jump for the meat. We also visited the breeding pens, where the guide lured several of them out of the water (by banging a metal pole on the concrete, no less). She told us very interesting stuff, like the differences between saltwater crocs (territorial, the really mean killers) and freshwater crocs (more docile, we pose no threat to them unless provoked). The funny thing is, they’re very open about exactly what happens to the crocs later on – many of them are bred for handbags and croc meat! They even sell the merchandise in their gift shop. At the same time, they’ve got a program--that has taken the number of crocs from near-extinction to a population that has to be controlled—that has done a lot for research and science.

Dinner at Pee Wee’s to be posted later……………

End of Day 6, and days 7 and 8

adding this stuff as I can...

END OF DAY 6, TERRITORY DAY

We took at taxi down to Mindil Beach for the special Territory Day celebration. As you might infer, Territory Day celebrates when the Northern Territory gained their independence for their own governments. The legendary Mindil Beach markets normally only run Thursdays and Sundays, but they were running one on Saturday especially for Territory Day. Territory Day is also the ONLY day all year Territory citizens are allowed to shoot off fireworks; in fact, they are the ONLY state in ALL of Australia that allows fireworks for that one day. So you can imagine, the crowds came out in droves to eat and celebrate, and watch a fireworks show from the beach.

The markets had many, many, many food booths full of delicious foods – anything Chinese, Greek, Thai, Italian, French, Malay, Indian, even Aussie food like Kangaroo burgers. We walked all the way up and down the strip before deciding what to feast on: Cajun chicken and avocado crepe for Jay (7.50AUD), and prawn dumplings and noodles for Emily (5.50AUD). We settled on the grass to eat our treats, watching the people bustle back and forth, families relax and children play, and the hungry consummation of food. We, of course, had to have dessert with the many options available. We got our treats and this time settled onto the sand in preparation for the fireworks, food in hand: I had a banana, nutella, and whipped cream crepe (heaven for 5.50AUD) and Jay had boysenberry ice cream (3AUD). Just delicious. While all of the Territory Day-goers were anticipating fireworks, for us, the main attraction was watching the stunning sunset. Beautiful dusky roses, oranges, blues—reflecting on the glistening sand. The most gorgeous sunset I have ever seen. THIS felt like a honeymoon to us.

The fireworks came in two sets: the first was set off by amateurs on either side of us on the beach, a sort of precursor to the real stuff. Around 7pm, the fireworks set off by the NT Government started, set to the dance music of the local radio station. Some of the best I’ve seen, especially the finale, which almost filled the horizon.

It’s worth noting that it was 88* today, in one of the “coolest” months of the year (June and July) with the lowest humidity. This was the tropical weather we’d been anticipating!

Day 7

Jay and I walked to Cullen Bay around 12:30 (it’s interesting; Northern Territory “time” is kept like we do in the U.S.; unlike Sydney which is on the internationally preferred Military Time), after Jay finished watching the American Pepsi 400 (for those who care, Tony Stewart won). The Bay felt deserted; it was quiet. The time, we ate at Buzz Café (where we’d seen a crowd dining yesterday)—again, on the water. We had a neat triangle-shaped table squeezed on the boardwalk walkway. I had an Aussie beef burger (and chips) – an interesting meat mixture with chopped onions and other unknown fillings mixed in. Very tasty. Jay had beer-battered barramundi (just ‘barra, as they call it), one of the chief dishes of the territory, with chips. The portion was so huge, Jay could not finish it. He also had a Victoria Bitter; quite enjoying his Aussie beers here and there. I had another expensive Coke—and no refills, even though it’s fountain!

After lunch, we walked up to the “beach” area of the Bay, and onto the sand. I searched for some more shells (I plan on labeling and displaying jars filled with finds from each Australian beach we’ve visited) and Jay played around with the water patterns and flow of water in the sand. Very relaxing, with the sun hot on the water. We then rested about 15 minutes under the shade of the palms, looking out on the bay. The heat was stifling; we really felt it today. It was probably 90*. We have been doing our share of walking each day, a couple miles at least, and so we thought it worth it in the heat peak of the day to call a cab to take us to Mindil Beach, around 3:30. The markets were to start around 4pm, anyway.

The Sunday tents were in greater number that the previous day’s—tons more arts and crafts tables. Many types of wares—especially jewelry--or jewellery, as is the British spelling used in Australia. You have to wade through the junk, but you can find some neat things. I bought a handmade necklace—a star pendant made from polished coconut and hung from wax cording. Only 10AUD. Upon arrival, Jay and I cooled off with an ice cream in the palm shade—boysenberry (again) for Jay, and lime swirl for me.

People watching is at its best in this environment; so many sights, sounds, tastes to interest the senses. Lots of music playing; from the not-so-good singer-songwriters, to the very cool traditional aboriginal music played on the ancient digereedoo. For dinner, I had a fresh mozzarella and basil pizza made to order in a brick oven (perfect crispy, crusty, bubbly goodness) and Jay had Chinese—honey chicken and fried rice. Yes, eating comprises a lot of our time here in Australia, but we have been enjoying each other, soaking up the atmosphere, and eating some good food.
We each bought a hat at the market, partly in preparation for our Katherine trip. Jay got a “Crocodile Dundee”-esque straw hat (he can wear any hat well), and a floppy pink hat with a wide brim for me. We talked for a few minutes with the vendor, who had lived in Atlanta (attended several Braves games!) and had friends in Myrtle Beach (who own one of the T-Bonz franchises there. Small world, nice guy. He even recommended a restaurant to us, saying only somewhat cheekily “it’s fine, silver service dining—so put on your finest shorts and thongs!” Only in the Territory!

Day 8, Our trip to Katherine Gorge, was absolutely FANTASTIC. Details to be posted soon.

Australia Days 4, 5, and 6

Sorry for the late posting and formatting/bold issues; I cannot &*(&*&-ing correct it, and we're paying by the minute for internet access.

Day 4

Thanks to a determined Qantas reservations specialist in, of all places, Tucson, AZ (and his connections to the Airport Duty Manager at LAX), our bags are apparently on a plane to Sydney set to arrive tomorrow morning at 6am. They will then have to be transferred to Darwin, since we leave at 7:40pm for Darwin, Northern Territory.

Got a slightly earlier start this morning, due to the (appreciated!) phone call from the AZ Qantas guy. Broke our Hungry Jack’s tradition and had breakfast at Café Rimini, one of the many cafes and espresso bars around Sydney. Seriously, one would think all Sydneysiders partake of are sushi and espresso. At Café Rimini, we had a slightly ADD waiter who had traveled four times to the US

– Vegas twice, LA, and NYC. Jay and I both had pancakes (8.90 AUD), which were basically crepes—thin but dense and chewy. Delicious. We each had eggs as well (1 AUD/ea); diet coke for me and Earl Grey tea for Jay. Upon leaving, it dawns on me that this one place we keep passing and I keep salivating over, Cupcakes on Pitt, is right down the street. Gourmet cupcakes, beautiful eye candy! We stop in to indulge. I contemplate Dark Chocolate, but figure I’ve had chocolate cupcakes—go for something different. I end up with

Passionfruit, and Jay gets Honeycomb. Both were delicious, a little piece of art.

Next, we stop at the Opera House to use the TOILETS, and decide to pick up a few trinket

s as well. A Christmas ornament in the distinct shape of the Opera House (7.95 AUD) as well as a couple of gifts.

Our primary destination for the morning is the Royal Botanic Gardens, a beautiful park a

nd vegetation-rich walkway around another side of the Harbour. We enjoy even more views of the water, the Opera House and Bridge—plenty more photo opportunities. I marvel at all forms Sydney offers: water, rich vegetation, concrete, sand. It’s all there in perfect balance. We stop at Queen Macquarie’s Chair, a “bench” carved from stone that the governer carved for his wife in the early 1800s. The street was named after her because she took her walks on this road. Very interesting piece of Sydney history.

As we continued to walk to our next activity, the National Gallery of New South Wales, we see many exercisers—runners primarily, but also those engaged in football “matches”, sparring withboxing gloves, etc—and it’s evident how much athletics are a part of Sydneysiders’ lifestyles.

We spend about an hour and a half at the art gallery—the most interesting exhibits to me are the depictions of Australian landscapes throughout its rugged history, as well as the aboriginal art. Very moving, simple.

Jay finally had his “pies” – we got two type of meat pies and a sausage roll and spinach and cheese roll with Cokes for lunch. Typical Aussie street fare. Really good, really filling.

To close out our afternoon (we needed to be back at the hotel—where the concierge are graciously holding our bags even though we checked out at 9am—by 5pm to leave for the airport) we caught up on more Sydney shopping. Truly, it is a shopper’s paradise in Sydney—everything from Cartier and Louis Vuitton to the tiniest of girly boutiques sandwiched in QVB. I picked up a much-needed change of shoes (boots simply would not do in Darwin)—Bright green Billabong flip flops on sale for 5 AUD (down from 17.95!) I also picked up a cheap pair of cargo shorts (12.95 AUD) to tide me over in Darwin until our clothes arrive. I must say, I have been very low-maintenance—or should I say, not very whiny about our lack of frills—while our baggage has been missing. Wearing the same jeans for 5 days, washing the couple of changes of clothes and underthings I packed in the carry-on—I am proud of myself! Ha!

We had plenty of time at the airport to sit and relax—no red flags or long lines at Sydney airport. Our flight to Darwin—during which I snoozed as best I could—was 4 and ½ hours. We got another meal—yay! I have gotten very excited each time Qantas has served us a meal—must be the novelty of it. I don’t think I have ever had a meal in the US traveling domestically. Everything is so cute and compartmentalized. Love it.

Arrived in Darwin about 12am. Took a taxi out to our hotel—can already contrast this seemingly sleepy beach town with cosmopolitan city. Here’s hoping we have a fantastic time in the real Outback!

Day 5

Already a marked difference in the scenery and lifestyle, now that we’ve entered the Northern Territory. This morning we called our parents on a phone card (bought specifically to track down our luggage—speaking of, it should arrive tonight around midnight). We departed for the CBD, the Darwin city district, around 10:30. Found a breakfast place and enjoyed a huge meal: “The Big Foot” for Jay (15AUD): a veal cutlet, a lamb shank, two fried eggs, bacon, sausage, two pieces of toast. What can we say? We’re on our honeymoon! Jay enjoyed each bite topped with barbecue sauce. I had an omelette with ham, onions, peppers, and tomatoes. We continued our walk into town, peeking into shops of all kinds. Definitely a simpler way of life here! We did encounter a really cool find, Palspaley Pearls, an exquisite boutique that supplies Tiffany and Cartier with pearls! The pearls were absolutely exquisite (earrings and pendants start around $780 AUD!) One of the associates told us some fascinating stories about the company’s beginnings, who has worn Paspaley pearls, and even let me try on a pearl necklace (baubles the size of jawbreakers) worth $472,500 AUD (or $354,375 American dollars!) Probably the most expensive piece of jewelry I will ever wear!

Unfortunately, I had forgotten to put the memory card back into my digital camera, so the only pictures I have of me wearing it are on a Fuji disposable camera.Walked all around town, which apparently proved exhausting, because we came back and laid around at the hotel for a few hours in the afternoon: Jay watched rugby, and I napped.

For dinner, we went to Charlie’s for dinner, an Italian place that’s been in Darwin for 42 years. If you think about how long the Northern Territory has really been “civilized” (according to history, only about the last 60 years or so), that’s pretty remarkable. It was interesting, to say the least. Old Charlie and the service definitely moved at a snail’s pace – even for Darwin time. (Which is ½ hour time zone behind Sydney time. One of our taxi drivers said they often refer to slow people as “Adelaides” (as in the city) b/c they’re always running a half hour behind!) My pasta dish was excellent: Penne with bacon, tomatoes and onions. Nice little peppery build to it. Jay was less than thrilled with his filet (which seemed a bargain at 23AUD)—the cut was not good and it was overcooked. We dropped by Woolworth’s on the way home to pick up Coke Zeros, water, some breakfast bars, and some Tam Tam’s (Australian cookies). Then turned in for the night. About 12:40am, we received a phone call from the front desks that our BAGS WERE HERE!!!!!!!!!!!! Hallelujah! Six days into our honeymoon, we finally received our luggage. I hugged mine when Jay brought them upstairs.

Day 6
It’s Territory Day! Got up and headed down to Doctor’s Gully around 10 a.m. for the Aquasense Fish Feedings. This is one of the most popular activities in Darwin; for 8AUD you have the ability to hand-feed milkfish, catfish, and mullets. It was a lot of fun! The mullets ate pieces of bread right out of our hands. We saw bigger fish by throwing it out farther in the water. Lots of fun.

Next we headed down toward the beaches. By this time,

it is definitely getting warm! H

ere is that tropical weather we’d been wishing for. We walked down to Mindil Beach, site of the famous markets which we’ll visit tonight and possibly Sunday. The water was absolutely beautiful; very clear and
tranquil. Luckily, wemissed prime “Box Jellyfish Season”, which is May through

October. Apparently

a sting from one of those can literally kill you. There are signs everywhere. We didn’t venture too far into the water, just collected many shells, took
pictures, and absorbed the beautiful scenery. It was not crowded, just a few couples and families laying out and playing in the water.

We stayed at the beach for about 45 minutes, then headed back up the way to Cullen Bay. Cullen Bay is definitely a more upscale area; plenty of nice restaurants and beautiful yachts and boats on the water. Jay and I had lunch at Bella Amore, our favorite meal to date. We ate on a shaded deck overlooking the boats; the temperature was perfect. I had coconut-dipped prawns with mango dipping sauce, rice and bread, Jay had pizza, salad, and beer. It was nice and leisurely. We definitely want to come back down to Cullen Bay and look around some more. I will post about tonight’s activities later on, I wanted to go ahead and give an update.