Byron Bay

Oh gosh, it's been weeks since my last post. Quite a bit has happened since then. For starters, I started work. And by started, I mean, I woke up at 4:15am four days in a row last week and walked 25 minutes to work in complete darkness. I learned how to open the store and set up for morning trade. Although the early morning hours may take some getting used to, I think I might enjoy the 5:15/30-2:00pm shift. Once my store opens (once again our opening date has been pushed back yet another week) my commute will only be about four minutes. I might luck out and be able to sleep until 4:45 - that wouldn't be so bad. I also worked a few shifts this past week and am scheduled for a few more next week. Things are looking up and within a couple weeks I might just have a normal work schedule.

To celebrate my first week of work (and most likely my last free weekend for a few months), Conor and I rented a car last Friday and drove two hours south to Byron Bay, New South Wales (NSW). My friend Katie seems to get quite irritated with my Australian state abbreviations. You see, with large cities in the U.S., like Boston, L.A., and Chicago you do not need to specify the state. Although I may not need to specify Queensland (QLD) for the city of Brisbane (but be honest, how many of you knew that Australia was comprised of states? And if you did, what state is Sydney located in?), it is noteworthy to mention that I traveled from one Australian state to another. Let me just name the seven Australian states and their capital cities for you: Queensland (Brisbane), New South Wales (Sydney), South Australia (Adelaide), Tasmania (Hobart), Victoria (Melbourne), Northern Territory (Darwin), Western Australia (Perth). And then there's Canberra located in Australian Capital Territory (A.C.T.) Now you may have just learned something. Maybe?

Anyway, we drove (on the left side of the road) to Byron Bay and spent two days and two nights hanging out on the beach. It was delightful. We hiked along the beach, through the hills, to Australia's most easterly point. You could see the coastline in both directions for miles. We also went kayaking, played trivial pursuit, swam, ate fish and chips and ice cream...it was a great two days! We hope to take Conor's brother Dylan with us to Byron when he comes to visit in a couple months.

We are planning a BBQ for the upcoming weekend. On Sunday afternoon we are getting together on Kangaroo Point with a handful of friends to celebrate ANZAC Day! Australians and their holidays...there's one every other week!

Tomorrow: Sunny and 31 degrees Celsius (87.8 degrees Fahrenheit)