Quarantine Is Over!

Disclaimer, this is a really old post that I never finished and am just posting now :)

If you know us at all, you know we love our dog. That actually is an understatement, I am obsessed with Bone Crusher. But how could I not be, he is so handsome!

I mean look at that face! 

We've had him now for 6 weeks and I am so glad he is here. This week Chris started traveling for work, its nice to have someone to keep me company! We were so excited to get him from quarantine. Jules and Oscar were less excited to drive us there...at 8 am...on a Saturday....on Jules birthday. But they are the best, so they did! We didn't really take any pictures of the facility, honestly, I was just so excited to see him.

The fence driving up - its very serious!

Apparently people think they can buy these dogs - back off! 

Once we drove in we had to wait until exactly 9:30, about 20 minutes, for the doors to open. I could see them unloading the truck with all the dogs, there must have been 30 dogs in their respective crates in an open air holding room. There was a guy from a transport company there who I talked to for the 20 minutes of waiting. He was picking up 5 dogs that were flying again (poor puppy's) to their final destinations to see their owners. There were also 2 people that had driven all night from Melbourne (about 10 hours) to pick up their two dogs from Canada - they had not seen their dogs in 8 months! I can't imagine! They also did not have teeth. I also can't imagine that.

Once the doors opened, we headed in and they checked our paperwork and IDs. Once they verified everything, they lead us back to the holding room. It was just tons of crates full of all different types of dogs. They let Bone Crusher out and he just bolted for the 4 of us, he was one happy man. The rest of the dog went crazy, its was really, really loud.

He surprisingly was not as stinky as I thought he would be, don't get me wrong he smelled, but it wasn't that bad.

I feel like everything with moving him here aligned for us - they shorted the quarantine period from 3 months, to 30 days, to 10 days; we learned that day the Sydney quarantine facility is in the process of closing, the only facility will be in Melbourne. I don't know if we would have brought the little man if there were so many obstacles pilled up against us.

When we got home we also bought a couch that day. The couch came in 2 huge boxes, so clearly Chris built a fort for Bone Crusher. It was adorable! I am actually not sure who had more fun with the fort :)

Thanksgiving Down Under

Thanksgiving week was a big week in the Speelman household! I started work that Monday and then we hosted a party on Saturday to celebrate. It was strange to start week after all of my time off on Thanksgiving week! I was definitely not planning on drinking until about midnight on Friday with new co-workesrs, grocery shopping at 1 AM and then waking up at 7 AM to cook....but hey you only live once. #YOLO as the kids say.

Of course we celebrated in style. We wanted to really give the Australians a true thanksgiving experience, that meant fancy dress. (Fancy dress is what Australians call costumes, it still gets me a bit confused, fancy dress = cocktail in my head)

The whole family 

The cutest turkey out there!  

We had a mix of American and Australian friends over and one Frenchmen. The food all turned out well, it was my first turkey. Most of the ovens here are fan forced, I am not sure if I like them more or less. It does cook faster. We took the turkey out to baste and discovered it was already done in only 3 hours (it was a 7kg bird). Please also notice the baster - we could not find one anywhere, so we used a tomato sauce bottle, empty of course.

Chef Oscar made an appearance and I forced him to wear this apron.

Our kitchen is soooo small - three of us in there was intense!

The spread - thanks to Hayley for the photo I stole from her blog.

And of course there was a drinking game, it was called chug a beer as fast as you can. This consultants have a way with coming up with creative games.

We had a great day with great friends! My only regrets were not taking a picture of everyone and not saving leftovers for Jules :) This is sure to be an annual event!

Visitors!!!

We were so excited that Cool Mix (one of my college, called uni here, friends) and Topher were flying though Sydney after their 40 day honeymoon in New Zealand. They were only here one night and it could not have been more perfect (well other than the torrential downpour they get stuck in trying to find "the basement"). Seriously people, you have no idea how nice it is to see friends in Sydney!

We went to Mr. Wong's for dinner. It was SOOOO Good, I have been dreaming about the twice cooked pork cubes daily since Wednesday.

If you visit Sydney Mr. Wong's is a great place to go! And you will look cool, cause its in an alley, there are a few restaurants right near it as well if the wait is too long. 

Good Food Month

October was good food month in Sydney. The marquee event is the Noodle Markets. It's the equivalent to Taste of Chicago, except you don't have to look over your shoulder for gang bangers with guns. You do have to look out for camera bandits, like this guy, at a moments notice he might snap a photo of you.

The markets are in Hyde Park, which is right near the CBD (Central Business District). There are tons of people and tons of vendors - all asian inspired. The food was delicious. And you can buy a bottle of wine, awesome.

A converted shipping container into a bar

Some sort of Korean fried potato.

The dumpling machine. So many dumplings.

Interesting desserts.

October has been a good month in Sydney, that's for sure! 

Museum of Contemporary Art

I've mentioned it before, but there are a ton of museums in Sydney and for the most part they are free!  Right next to the harbor bridge is the museum of Contemporary Art.

I was lucky enough to go when there were two visiting exhibits - contemporary aboriginal art and young Australian breakout artists. The former I can't get enough of; the later was interesting, but I just don't get some of it, you will see why. The aboriginal art is so colorful and there is so much to look at from far and up close.

Here is a close up shot of this painting, its a complex web of tiny dots on top of dots.

This painting was laid out on the floor. It is depicting traditional landscape with the modern world coming in with cars.

Here is an up close of a simple painting. Even the black background are dots. Its amazing the time and detail that goes into these!

And now on to the young Australian artist exhibit. Ummmm, what? I mean I get it, kind of, but why? Grandma's of the next generation will start making quilts like these as family heirlooms.

Again, why? This "quilt" had to have taken some serious time, but it is seriously strange. I bet the artist is a preppy blond girl.

 And this, art. Some people just don't get it.

The permanent portion of the museum has a lot of fun and thought provoking exhibits. I like this superman, but it's a woman!

This one made me laugh. I don't think Americans would hang something like this in their museums, I could be wrong.

I would definitely recommend stopping by this museum when you are exploring the city!  

Sculpture by the Sea

I've been frequenting museums while I still have some free time. (Did I mention yet that I have a job?!?!?!?! I start 24/11!) Most museums here are free, if there is a pay portion it is generally a special exhibition. The culture geared toward learning and making museums available to everyone is pretty incredible.  

Currently the event Sculpture by the Sea is happening in Sydney near Bondi, one of the famous Sydney beaches (did I mention it is FREE). We had heard about the event from many different Australians and it sounded cool, but I didn't realize just how amazing it really was until I experienced it for myself. If you haven't planned a trip and you want to visit us, I would recommend this time next year - its late spring so the weather is beautiful and if your visit coincides with this event you will have a great Sydney experience! 

There are over 100 sculptures along the coast between Bondi and Tamarama beaches. Its about a 2 km (a little more than a mile) stretch. The walk is beautiful on its own, but add the thought provoking and beautiful sculptures and its stunning. 

The start of the walk, The Iceburg's at Bondi

I'll post some of the photos I took here, but do your self a favour and google image search "Sculpture by the Sea Bondi" and see some of the previous years works - melting ice cream truck, massive toothpaste tube, faucet flowing into the ocean - the creativity is pretty amazing. 

These were my favourites. I was so into this one that I didn't even really focus on taking a photo. The wood it is carved out of is massive. I have a hard time imagining the amount of work that went into completing this. 

This one was also beautiful. Walking around it the reflection would change. The circle actually changes directions and there is other unpolished detail in the closer photo.  

I had seen pictures of this one online before I saw it in person. It reminded me of a slinky. As you walk around it, you see a new and different sculpture.  

This is the perfect place for this wooden whale.

I almost didn't see this peacock. It almost blends in with the bright sun. Its tucked in a tiny corner of Tamarama beach. My Grandma used to have peacocks, so I of course know my family will love this one. 

 

Now on to the experience. This is an overview picture toward the end of the walk toward Tamarama beach. You can see just how many sculptures there are.  

I love this rhino on the beach. 

This is a fan favorite. A big fry pan that really makes you think about what all those bronzed beach goers are doing frying in the sun. Its pretty cool.  

My 10 year old humor loves what number this older man is going to represent :)

Looking though this sculpture you can see the massive rainbow sculpture at the front of the beach. 

I like this one, I wanted to love it, but I just couldn't. I do think it is creative and funny. Its made of lipstick. 

Which way is the horse going???

I was talking to a staff member and these dudes were one of his favourites. The sculpture is called "what you looking at" but we think it should be called "bogans." It makes me laugh too. 

This one was also really cool. Its a massive rock cut into pieces and polished in some areas. 

So simple, but beautiful.

I love this one - the saltwater pools are everywhere in Sydney and so Aussie (at least I think they are). 

There is one stretch that has these massive piles of colorful trash. These are bottle caps all strung together with other trash and filled with trash also. It really makes you think. 

This sculpture sits right on the point looking out across the ocean. I am sure it is beautiful at night, sunrise and sunset. 

Last one, these are everywhere on the side of a cliff. There is something to look at every time you turn a corner.  

I'll definitely be going again so that Chris can see it. I think I might try to get out there for sunrise one morning - 6 am yikes, but I feel like I need to experience a sunrise at the beach before I start working and why not see this again also.

I hope the artists and organizers know how special this event is!