My Byron Bay Birthday

My 34th birthday started the week before January 27, when Zack brought home these beautiful yellow roses for me. Unfortunately, they only lasted a few days, but they were gorgeous while they lived!













In Byron Bay, I awoke on my birthday morning to find my mom had made "Aubree's Dessert," a treat we used to make as kids. I'm not exactly sure why it was named after me, but I remember making it over at Aunt Kathy and Uncle Greg's house one time and it didn't have a name, so I think we started calling it that. Anyway, it made for a good first breakfast, but then we had scrambled eggs and toast outside under the veranda.





I also got a morning "Happy Birthday" serenade from my mom and Aunt Kathy. This video absolutely cracks me up every time I watch it, and this was the second version, because I didn't have my camera ready the first time they did it (they are completely sober by the way-this is just how crazy they are!).

It was a rainy day (of course), but we managed to get out and walk around town. Zack scheduled a surprise massage for me, so I got to relax for an hour. For dinner, we all went out to a nice Italian dinner near the water. It was a wet, windy adventure to get there, but the food was good (and the martinis were delicious!).

When we finally managed to escape wet and windy Byron Bay a few days later, I arrived home in Melbourne to more beautiful flowers courtesy of Adam and Emily. I may not have gotten the beach birthday I was hoping for, but I'd say it was a pretty decent day anyway!

Byron Bay was a Bust

This weather forecast might give you an idea of our time in Byron Bay. Now this is in Celsius, so it actually was pretty warm, but it rained. A lot. And the wind blew. Hard. We were getting the remnants of a cyclone occurring in Northern Queensland.

We still managed to get out and walk around the city (mostly because there was nothing else to do), but we wore our raincoats all day long and waded through puddles everywhere we went.




















Australia Day, a day meant for BBQs and playing cricket games on the beach, was basically rained out. The beach was closed, parades and events were cancelled, and everyone huddled in restaurants and shops looking depressed.

The streets and yards of Byron Bay were a mess. These were just a few of the branches on the ground in the backyard of our rental house.

We watched a lot of the Australian Open to pass the time, played some cards, and ate at various restaurants around town. There wasn't much else we could do. Our kayaking with the dolphins was cancelled. Our snorkeling trip to Julian Rocks was cancelled. Even our flight out of Byron Bay was cancelled, and we had to stay an extra night (the last thing on earth we wanted to do!). And then the power went out! So we ate and played some cards by candlelight for a few hours before it went back on. My poor parents and aunt and uncle had to miss the first day of their New Zealand trip.

My family finally did get out of Byron Bay the next day, but they had to take a shuttle bus to the Gold Coast airport and catch a connecting flight before they could go to New Zealand. On the way, they took a few pictures of the streets that were flooded. Meanwhile, Zack and I went to the beach one last time before heading back to Melbourne (of course it started raining while we were there), and we got a few pictures of some of the damage done to the big trees in the area.

So Byron Bay was definitely not the place for the glorious beach vacation I had envisioned for Australia Day weekend. We managed to make the best of it, eat some good food, and have some laughs, but overall, I'd say Byron Bay was a bust!

P.S. We did watch the movie The Impossible while we were there. It's about the tsunami that happened in Thailand a few years ago. That kind of put things in perspective!

Byron Bay Lighthouse

On Saturday, we headed out in the cloudy, gray weather of Byron Bay to walk to the lighthouse at the end of the peninsula. The hike took us through the woods, along the water, past some beautiful overlooks, and finally to the big white lighthouse. The intermittent rain and constant strong wind didn't stop us from enjoying the views and getting some pictures. We even saw a large Eastern water dragon. Enjoy!

The most Easterly point in Australia!

The weather only got worse from here on out, so get ready for cyclone-related posts coming soon!

Beginning of Byron Bay

On Friday, we arrived to a cloudy Byron Bay. After avoiding the lizard in the window and checking into our house (aptly named "Shirley Blue"), we walked around and explored the funky, little town.

We ate at the Railway Bar, where a mix of locals and tourists enjoyed fish and chips, local beer, and live music.

Then we stopped by the market, where my dad got a song played for him by giving a dollar to this man dressed in gold.

We picked up some groceries for the house and then headed down to the beach to enjoy the sunset. It was a pretty good start to the weekend, and we would have soaked up the dry weather a bit more if we had known what was to come!

A Day with the the Dills (and Padleys)

Catching up with my mom and dad.

As you probably gathered from earlier posts, my mom, dad, aunt, and uncle came from Michigan through Melbourne on their way to New Zealand at the end of January. We spent a long weekend in Byron Bay, but more about that later. Before leaving for our disastrous "beach" weekend, we had one day (a Thursday) in Melbourne, and we tried to make the most of it.

Uncle Greg and Aunt Kathy enjoying Australia.

I met up with them all at their hotel in Southbank, and we walked across the Yarra River to the CBD to meet up with Zack and enjoy lunch at an outdoor cafe on Degraves Street. We had little cupcakes for dessert and wandered down some of the famous alleys and arcades of Melbourne.

We walked down Bourke Street Mall, browsed the souvenir shops on Swanston Street, had the obligatory stop in front of Flinders Street Station for some pictures, walked through Federation Square, and enjoyed the graffiti on Hosier Lane.

I let them rest at their hotel for a few hours before they were invited over to our house in South Melbourne for dinner. I made them Thai food, using fresh ingredients from the South Melbourne Market and recipes we learned at our cooking class in Chiang Mai. We had tom yum soup, green curry with chicken and rice, and mango sticky rice for dessert. The weather was still beautiful, so we carried our dining room table out to our patio and had a little outdoor party. Emily and Adam were staying at our place during this time, so they made a delicious appetizer and helped dinner run smoothly!

After eating, Zack and I performed a few songs we had prepared on the violin and guitar (my mother's request). I had a few silly gifts for my visitors, which I think my mom and aunt enjoyed a little too much (as seen below!). After the food and laughs, they headed back to their hotel to catch up on sleep.

In the morning, we went to St Ali's for brunch before heading to the airport for our flight to Byron Bay. They got to taste some good Melbourne coffee and enjoy the brunch culture of South Melbourne. More to come about our interesting weekend...

Do I look like my mom or dad?

Treats For Me

Yesterday I got a nice surprise in the mail...a package from my friend Jennifer. She sent me all sorts of American chocolate and treats! And since Zack is currently in the US for work training and can therefore buy his own treats, I don't have to share. Thanks Jennifer!

P.S. The tortilla, lime, and salt chocolate isn't quite as good as enjoying margaritas with you, but it is oddly tasty!

Awesome Australian Open

Madison Keys on her way to a win!

So this blog post is about a month late, but better late than never I guess. We went to the Australian Open again this year. One day we got a grounds pass and cheered on American Madison Keys (maybe we're distantly related?). We also saw Marcos Baghdatis, a guy from Cyprus who was entertaining because the crowd was full of people singing and cheering in Greek. I can't remember who else we saw, but the weather was warm and the tennis was good!





The next day we bought some day tickets to the Hisense Arena so we could see some higher ranked players. I enjoyed watching Serena Williams again, with nearly front row seats. I just wish I had brought my good camera, because security wasn't checking lens sizes this year, and I could have gotten some awesome shots! Anyway, at one point in the match, Serena twisted her ankle or did something to her foot and went down. It was kind of a scary moment. Trainers and such rushed over to her, and the match was delayed for a bit. But after getting it wrapped up, she was good to go, and she still easily won.

Australian life is consumed with the tennis for the last couple of weeks in January. If you're not at the matches, you're watching them at whatever restaurant or bar you're at, or it's on your television at home.

"Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi"

I really enjoy the Australian Open, though I had never watched tennis before moving here. There were several nights where we stayed up late to see who would win. It also kept us entertained in Byron Bay when there was nothing else to do in the crazy rain. It's so cool that this international event takes place in the city where I live and that I can just decide to go check it out one morning, hop on a tram, and be witnessing top-ranked players play tennis just thirty minutes later!